Institute for Urban Design » Urban Design Week

Fellows in the News: Blesso, Chin, Enquist, Fowle, Gorlin, Hoffman Brandt, Jahn, Libeskind, Norten, Safdie, Schrag, Sorkin, & Wilks

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:56:20 +0000

PMc Mag called Matt Blesso “New York’s Host with the Most”; Susan Chin was announced [PDF] as the new Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space; the launch of an effort to find an architect for the re-vamp of Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier (pictured at left) led to rumblings that both Phil Enquist and Helmut Jahn are considering throwing their respective hats in the ring; Bruce Fowle served on the jury for the AIA’s National Healthcare Design Awards; Architectural Record profiled Alex Gorlin’s contemporary take on the rowhouse in East Brooklyn; CCGSAPP’s new blog features an interview with Alfredo Brillembourg and Denise Hoffman Brandt on their new co-edited issue of SLUM Lab, which debuted during Urban Design Week; Daniel Libeskind was announced as the architect for a new wing at his iconic Jewish Museum in Berlin; FastCo Design has a great story on the collaboration, in Villahermosa, Mexico, between Board Member Enrique Norten and Barbara Wilks on a new museum and park; Moshe Safdie’s Kauffman Center just opened in Kansas City; Jonathan Schrag was appointed to serve as Deputy Commissioner for Energy in the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; and Board President Michael Sorkin’s new book, All Over the Map, has been receiving rave reviews from the likes of the Guardian and the Telegraph.

Urban Design Week: That’s a Wrap!

admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:13:25 +0000

We’re pleased to report that the first-ever Urban Design Week festival was a huge success! More than 3,500 people attended almost 40 events over the course of six days–526 showed up for the opening party alone, where we launched the new publication By the City / For the City: An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York. You can now purchase copies of the Atlas online.

Word about the festival traveled quickly around the world in early September thanks to early articles in Domus, ArchDaily, Time Out NY, New York Magazine, GOOD, and Abitare, as well as a radio spot on WNYC Culture and a small screen appearance on WNET’s MetroFocus. Urban Omnibus ran an in-depth interview with Executive Director Anne Guiney on the day before the UDW Launch Party. During the festival, reports from outlets like The Atlantic, Treehugger, and FastCo Design kept public interest high.

A hearty THANK YOU from all of us here at the Institute to everyone who participated: attendees, partners, sponsors, volunteers, city officials–the list goes on. We’re thrilled to have had you involved, and we look forward to seeing you next year!

Fellows Events & Exhibits: September 1-15, 2011

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:26:45 +0000

Patron Denise Scott Brown will participate in a discussion with Basurama at the BMW Guggenheim Lab on 9/3, and Board Member Saskia Sassen will be represent the Institute abroad: she’ll give an introductory speech at the AUDI Urban Future Summit in Frankfurt on 9/12 before heading over to Amsterdam to speak at the PICNIC design festival on 9/15. And don’t forget: Urban Design Week will kick off with a party at the BWM Guggenheim Lab on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on 9/15!

Opening & Closing Events of Urban Design Week Announced!

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:59:57 +0000

With the full schedule set to come online next week, we’re excited to share news about the opening and closing events of the IfUD’s first-ever Urban Design Week festival, to be held in New York City next month. On Thursday, September 15th, we’ll kick things off with a party and announcement of the winners of the By the City / For the City design competition at the BMW Guggenheim Lab, the mobile urban laboratory (pictured at left) that’s just opened on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Then, after a week of events celebrating the city’s public realm, we’ll close on Tuesday, September 20th with the US premiere of Helvetica and Objectified director Gary Hustwit’s new documentary Urbanized. Tickets are limited, so get yours today if you plan to attend!

By the City / For the City: LAST WEEKEND!

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:05:28 +0000

There are just a few days left until the July 31st deadline for the IfUD’s By the City / For the City design competition! Don’t miss this opportunity to have our top-notch jury review your design ideas and have your work featured in An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York. The Atlas will be discussed and celebrated across New York City during Urban Design Week, from September 15-20, 2011. Don’t waste this last weekend–register now and get to work!

By the City / For the City: Deadline Extended to July 31st!

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:58:22 +0000

Over the past few weeks, with the deadline for the IfUD’s By the City / For the City design ideas competition drawing closer, we have been contacted by many planners, artists, and architects about entering, but for whom early July is a particularly busy time. As a result, we have decided to extend the deadline to July 31st, 2011, to give everyone working on entries some breathing room!

Our goal in creating By the City / For the City is to reflect the incredible range of ideas, skills, and efforts that go into shaping public space, and so we will document it all in An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York, a book whose contents are being created by the hundreds of people who have participated in the process at each stage.

Ultimately, the decision to extend the competition deadline is rooted in our desire to give designers more time to visit the website, choose a challenge somewhere in the five boroughs that represents an opportunity where design could bring transformative change, and create a brief proposal that gives visual form to those ideas. All entries will be published in the Atlas and celebrated at the first-ever Urban Design Week festival in New York this September 15-20.

While the deadline has been extended, we strongly encourage designers and artists who plan to enter the competition to register by July 24th so that we can better plan for the printing of the Atlas in time for UDW. Anyone with questions about the competition can contact us at urbandesignweek@ifud.org. Good luck to all who enter!

By the City / For the City: Only Two Weeks Remain!!

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:32:17 +0000

Don’t forget: today we are exactly two weeks out from the deadline for submissions to the By the City / For the City design ideas competition! Thursday, July 14th, is the last day that we will accept entries, up until 12:00 midnight (EST). The competition invites architects, planners, and other urbanists to create design proposals that address the 550 ideas for improving New York City that we crowdsourced from New Yorkers this spring. All entries will be published in An Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York, & exhibited during Urban Design Week, (Sept. 15-20, 2011). Register here today! We can’t wait to see what you come up with…

By the City / For the City Design Competition Launches

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:08:34 +0000

The design competition phase of By the City / For the City has officially begun! Architects, planners, artists, designers, and other urbanists can visit our competition website to navigate ideas and trends, define a site or situation that they’d like to address, and create proposals between now and Thursday, July 14th. Tell your students, tell your friends–tell everyone! You can learn more about the competition and the jury at the Urban Design Week website.

IfUD Launches Ideas Competition to Imagine the Future of NYC

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:30:03 +0000

Today marks the public launch of By the City, For the City, a new ideas competition that will provide the foundation for September’s Urban Design Week festival in New York City. From April 11-30, we’re inviting everyone to share their ideas for how to improve the city’s urban fabric. Then, in May, we’ll launch an international design competition, enlisting top architects, planners, and urbanists from around the world to create proposals that address the issues that the public is most interested in. To share your idea, visit the BtCFtC website. We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

Next Breakfast Club: December 16

admin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:18:25 +0000

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.