The first Breakfast Club of the new year will take place on January 25th at Buro Happold’s offices at 100 Broadway from 8:30-10:00 AM. Board Member Toni Griffin will be presenting her research on shrinking cities, and we’re very much looking forward to a productive and thought-provoking discussion. You’ll need to be registered in order to get into the building, so please make sure to RSVP if you know that you’re planning to attend.
We’re happy to be back on track with our monthly Breakfast Club series: on Tuesday, November 22nd, we’ll meet at the Center for Architecture to discuss the Institute’s plans for the US Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture from 8:30-10:00 AM. This will be an opportunity for Fellows to learn more about the subject of the exhibition and how they can get involved. We’ll provide coffee and light refreshments. Please RSVP if you plan to attend so that we can get an accurate head-count. We’re looking forward to seeing you soon!
Hopefully, you were able to make it out to the Center for Architecture last week for the panel discussion Architecture and the Dea[r]th of Drawing, which featured Board Chair Michael Sorkin; kudos to Fellow Rick Bell for hosting such an envigorating discussion of the current state of drawing in architecture! Recently, we learned that Fellow Theo. David is this Spring’s visiting professor at the Pratt in Rome architecture program, where the students are required to develop and present their design studio projects through drawing. We’re considering organizing a Breakfast Club to further the discussion, so if you are interested, please get in touch.
Our next Breakfast Club will take place from 8:30-10:00 AM on Thursday, December 16th at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place) in New York. This Club will be an opportunity for Fellows to get a detailed update on the plans for spring’s Urban Design Week. We’ll also be discussing the myriad opportunities for folks to get involved in this exciting event! Breakfast Clubs are open only to Fellows and their guests; RSVP today to info@ifud.org.
Fellows packed the reading room at the Center for Architecture this morning to discuss the innovative new public spaces that the city is carving out of New York’s streets with representatives from the NYC Department of Transportation. A photo album featuring several images from the Club is now live on the IfUD’s Facebook page — go take a look! If you weren’t able to join us, we hope to see you at next month’s Club; check the next Institute Update for details.
Our next Breakfast Club will take place a week from today at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place) in New York from 8:30-10:00 AM on Wednesday, October 6th. Some of the most interesting new public spaces in New York are being carved out of city streets by the Department of Transportation to calm traffic. They raise a number of really interesting urban design questions, and we’ll be discussing those and the idea of shared spaces in an urban environment. DOT Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability Andy Wiley-Schwartz and New York-based artist Mary Miss will join Fellows Claire Weisz of WXY Architecture and William Kelley of the Union Square Partnership to help kick off the conversation. Breakfast Clubs are limited to Fellows and their guests. Please email to RSVP.
Institute Fellows gathered at the Center for Architecture this morning, along with several distinguished guests, for a stimulating discussion of land use policy in New York City, and the work of the current Charter Revision Commission. Guests included Councilman Brad Lander, Commission Member Hope Cohen, the Related Companies’ Jay Kriegel, and Hunter College professor Tom Angotti. It was great to see so many of our Fellows at the Club; stay tuned for information about our next event, which should be coming up in September. In the meantime, check out the Facebook photo album from today’s discussion and, if you miss the Club but are still interested in learning more about land use, don’t miss the AIANY’s Land Use Education Forum tonight at 6:00 PM at the Center for Architecture.
The Municipal Arts Society of New York will host a day-long conference Land Use & Local Voices: Is the City’s Land Use Process in Need of Reform?, from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM next Wedesday, July 21. The event’s panels will explore various perspectives on New York City’s land use process and consider proposals to improve it. As the IfUD’s next Breakfast Club, scheduled for the following Wednesday, July 28, will cover the city’s ongoing charter revision process as it pertains to land use and project approvals, Fellows may want to attend the MAS event to bone up on their land use knowledge in advance!
The next Breakfast Club for Fellows and their guests will be held at the Center for Architecture, at 536 LaGuardia Place in Greenwich Village, at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, July 28. We’ll be discussing the land-use elements in New York City’s ongoing Charter Revision process, and what the ramifications for development and design will be if there are changes in the ULURP and approvals process. For those of you who’d like to brush up on the topic, take a look at Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s excellent report for the Charter Revision Commission (PDF available for download here), or read IfUD Fellow Tom Agnotti’s recent article on the process in the Gotham Gazette. For more information on upcoming Commission meetings (the next is set for Monday, July 12), see the city’s web site. In the meantime, mark the 28th on your calendar, and send an email to info@ifud.org to RSVP if you know you’ll be able to attend. See you soon!
Mark your calendar: the Institute’s next Breakfast Club will take place on Thursday, June 24, at the Architectural League of New York’s The City We Imagined, The City We Made exhibition at 250 Hudson Street. We’ll be meeting there in the exhibition gallery at 8:30 AM to discuss the show with its creators. We’re very excited to be working with the League on this event, and we hope that you’ll join us for what promises to be a lively and enlightening look at the past decade of development in New York.
Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved.