Photo by Frank Guittard for New New York: The City We Imagined/The City We Made, 2010
“There is a strong perception amongst New Yorkers that theirs is a city characterized by perpetual and ever accelerating change. In truth, the reshaping of New York’s built environment is less constant and more cyclical, occurring in periodic bursts of activity linked not only to mayoral policies, but advances in material and construction technologies, global and local economic trends, and real estate cycles. The inauguration of a new mayor for the first time in 12 years has prompted a great deal of interest and debate over Bloomberg’s legacy, but most would agree that the three-term mayor presided over one especially active burst of physical transformation in New York City.”
On Monday, the Architectural League released an online compilation of material considering this outpouring of design, development, and construction activity through the lens of two major exhibitions—New New York: The City We Imagined/The City We Made (2010) and Fast Forward (2007)—and their related programming. Visit “Conversations on New York: 2001–2010” on archleague.org to view the original exhibition websites, videos of programs with former NYC commissioners, urban designers, and architecture critic Paul Goldberger, as well as the original Urban Omnibus-produced film Archipelago, which explores a day in the life of five New York neighborhoods: Hunts Point, Jamaica, Mariner’s Harbor, Downtown Brooklyn, and Chelsea.