I ♥ Public Space

I (heart) Public Space Has Moved!

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Thu, 5 Apr 2012 08:40:00 -0400

PLEASE NOTE: We've moved this blog over to designtrust.org/blog. Check it out!

The Subtle City / 02

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:20:00 -0400

Spotted this late at night on the A train, when I was headed home to Brooklyn from Penn Station, and just happened to look up:

In this little intervention, someone has replaced "lean" with "kink," which means to form a sharp twist or curve.

Opportunity: Bring Young Urban Leaders to Your City

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:56:00 -0400

In May of 2010, I was lucky to be named a Next American Vanguard by Next American City. By becoming a Vanguard, I earned the privilege - and honor - to connect with 30 inspiring urban leaders from across the country for a two-day conference that inspired, challenged, educated, and empowered us (you can read a recap of my experience here). Unfortunately, the 2010 conference was the last one to happen.

In March of this year, the recently reorganized Next American City released an RFP to bring back the Vanguard for 2012. This time around, they are using a slightly different approach, one where cities apply to host and co-produce the Vanguard conference:

We are now looking for a city where we can hold this year's Vanguard. We seek a local chamber of commerce, foundation, economic development corporation, marketing and tourism bureau or other entity to help provide us with a venue, engage the community and financially the project (click here for the specifics). The deadline for partners to apply is April 9 and the winning city (and Vanguard application for attendees) will be announced in early May.

This is a great opportunity for a city to show off its urban renewal projects to a leading media organization, learn from the country’s smartest emerging leaders and get consulting time with bright young thinkers. Attendees are often executive directors of nonprofits, city council members, artists, private sector leaders and others involved in the direction of their cities. Over the course of the conference’s two days, the Vanguard creates a network of cross-country relationships that result in new partnerships and ideas for cities

I know you might be thinking: "What do we need the Vanguard for? We've got Ted!"

Yes, there's Ted. And Tedx. And...the list goes on and on.

But as inspiring and thought-provoking as the Ted talks are, Ted is not grooming the urban leaders of tomorrow. That is what makes the Vanguard conference so vital - it is the only annual conference dedicated to enlightening, inspiring, and networking the next generation of urban leaders.

So what are you all waiting for? Empower the next generation of leaders that will make real, positive change in our cities - bring the Vanguard back.

Find all the details, and a link to download the RFP here.

Permits, Police and Protests: Your Rights In Public Space

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:37:00 -0400

Public space is a pillar of democracy, providing a physical context for the exchange - and sometimes clash - of ideas. In New York City's public sidewalks, public parks and public streets, everyone has the right to engage in peaceful protest activity. Now, the New York Civil Liberties Union has compiled a guide to First Amendment rights in public spaces, including handy sub-sections addressing "Your Rights in Zuccotti Park and Public vs. Private Spaces" and "Your Rights When Interacting with Police."

All day, all week: Know your rights.

An excerpt is below; the full run-down can be found at http://occupyyourrights.org.

Can I have a press conference, rally or demonstration on a public street or sidewalk? Yes. Parks and public squares are traditional public forums for First Amendment activity. While these public spaces hold a cherished place in our political history, the Constitution permits the government to impose a variety of rules designed to address public safety as long as they are applied to all speakers in the same way. The government cannot restrict speech based on the content of the message.

The government may require a permit for the use of certain spaces or the use of amplified sound. For example, it is necessary to obtain a permit to march in a street that is accessible to vehicle traffic. A permit is not necessary to march on the sidewalk, so long as demonstrators do not block pedestrian passage, building entrances or streets. Demonstrators should also leave at least one-half of the sidewalk free for use.

If your demonstration does not require a permit, then you do not have to notify the police about it. Whether you notify the NYPD or not, expect police officers to show up. These will likely include uniformed officers, some higher-ranking officers, police on motorcycles or in vehicles (if your event involves a march), and officers from a unit of the NYPD that uses video cameras to record potentially illegal activity.

Can I hold a press conference, rally or demonstration in front of City Hall? You are entitled to have a rally, press conference or demonstration on the steps of City Hall or in the plaza directly in front of the south steps. (City Hall Park also is open for such events, but these are subject to the normal rules for events in city parks.) You do not need a permit for events in front of City Hall, but you do need to schedule your event with City Hall Security.

To schedule an event, or check the availability of the steps, call the City Hall Security Police Desk at (212) 788-6688. Groups are limited to 300 people, only a portion of the steps is available for events, and only one event can use the steps at a time, so reserve early. To access the City Hall steps, everyone must pass through a metal detector. Finally, you will not be able to bring any signs that are attached to rigid objects (such as wooden stakes or poles); use cardboard tubing or hold your signs by hand instead.

Can I have a press conference, rally or demonstration in a city park? You are entitled to distribute materials, participate in small gatherings and participate in First Amendment activity (such as taking pictures, making a speech or performing), in city parks during operating hours. You also have the right to hold a rally, press conference or demonstration in a city park but you may need a permit. There is no fee or permit requirement to demonstrate in a privately owned public space, such as Zuccotti Park. To find out if a space is a city park or a privately owned public space, visit nycgovparks.org.

Study: Design Drives New York's Innovation Economy

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:41:00 -0400

From Donna Karan to Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the Garment District to Gensler, a new report released by Center for an Urban Future demonstrates how New York City's design and architecture community is fueling our "innovation economy."

In Designing New York's Future, CUF argues that New York City's design and architecture schools deserve some major props as economic drivers. New York graduates twice as many students in design and architecture as any other U.S. city. And these graduates are robust entrepreneurs, plunging into start-ups and generating local jobs -- "something that has eluded most of the city's scientific research institutions."

Burn.

Indeed, this study comes fresh on the heels of the announcement of the new Cornell/Technion tech campus planned on Roosevelt Island, which the city lured with the promise of land and $100 million in infrastructure improvements. If, as the study suggests, design is just as vital to New York City's economic development as technology, where's our big investment? Or, more critically, how do we link design and technology to leverage the economic benefits of both? New York City may lack Silicon Alley's "frontier spirit" but we do have thousands of design grads with talent and energy to do big things. And, of course, they're better dressed.

To read Designing New York's Future report in full, click here.

Infographic courtesy of the Center for an Urban Future

Call for Video Fellow

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:47:00 -0400

Deadline: March 23, 2012 by 5:00 p.m. EST

We're looking for a Video Fellow to produce between three to six high-quality, web-based videos (each three minutes or less) that will serve as advocacy and education tools for our Five Borough Farm project. These videos will be prominently featured on the forthcoming Five Borough Farm website, the Design Trust website, and could potentially be shown at various urban agriculture events throughout New York City. Read the full fellowship description.

The fellowship is anticipated to last approximately six months, beginning late March/early April 2012. The Fellow will receive a modest cash stipend, to be determined during the selection process. The Fellow will be selected based on their strong qualifications, ability to work collaboratively, and professional expertise.

Send your resume and cover letter as a single PDF, along with links to relevant work samples, to: fellowship@designtrust.org. Only those candidates under consideration will be contacted. No phone calls please.

The Subtle City

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0400

First, I need to make two caveats before proceeding:
1. I am not a professional photographer, nor an aspiring one
2. I am not about to tell you anything new or original

But.

I am a city-lover, an avid walker, and a big fan of field trips, both natural and urban. I am addicted to that sense of adventure and discovery and the little thrill that can happen when you are in a new place, or when you are training your senses to experience an old place like it's new.

So, I have begun a secret little project for myself, it's called The Subtle City. This is my effort to notice and then document little discoveries - urban oddities, interventions, quirky moments, etc. - as I move about the city. My goal is to share one discovery each week.

Here is the first one: a piece of graffiti scrawled on an empty storefront's window in Lower Manhattan. I love how it's written, the blue color, the bad grammar, and, most of all, the sentiment.

Walking the BQE

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:02:00 -0400

Take a few minutes to scroll through Walking the BQE, a project by David Kennedy Cutler and Robert Hult. Cutler and Hult write: "Over the past 10+ years living in and navigating Williamsburg/Greenpoint, we have grown to know the spaces, structures, and detritus which seem the direct result of such transitional and undesirable space. We aimed to expand our local understanding of the highway and see directly its effect on all of the neighborhoods it intersects."

Alexandra Lange Teaches Us How To Read a Building

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:51:00 -0400

"Design is not the icing on the cake but what makes architecture out of buildings and the places we want to live and eat and shop rather than avoid," critic Alexandra Lange declares on the opening pages of Writing About Architecture: Mastering the Language of Buildings and Cities, published earlier this year by Princeton Architectural Press.

This book is both a how-to guide and a design literacy call to arms. Lange provides a set of critical tools for analyzing the built environment, drawing on the work of design luminaries like Frederick Law Olmsted and Ada Louise Huxtable to illustrate her points. And in doing so, she sparks renewed appreciation for the voices that have defined and shaped our urban experience. (I find it impossible to stroll the narrow sidewalks of Greenwich Village without "intricate street ballet" popping into my head. Thanks, Jane.)

Most importantly, Lange nails the case for making design criticism accessible -- unshackling it from the ivory tower echo chamber and architecture blog ghetto: "What we need are more critics--citizen critics--equipped with the desire and vocabulary to remake the city."

Indeed, writing about buildings and cities forces us to evaluate our surroundings. Employing a critical eye, we start to recognize what works and what doesn't. We become alert consumers and engaged citizens. And then we can fight for the kind of city we want to live in.

But first, we need a good foundation. Read it and get ready to unleash your inner Michael Kimmelman.

Presenting: Small, Local, Infinitely Variable

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:49:00 -0400

Against the backdrop of rising real estate pressure and fragmented public policy, how can cities capture - and leverage - the value of local production? Program director Jerome Chou tackles this topic through the lens of garment factories and neighborhood farms at Urban Reset, a national conference hosted by North Carolina State University next weekend in Raleigh.

Here's a description of Jerome's session, Small, Local, Infinitely Variable:

In cities around the country, new condos, office towers, and tourist destinations typically grab economic development headlines. But cities are also incubators for many types of small-scale enterprises that provide job opportunities and neighborhood amenities for a broad range of residents – not just the “creative class.” The Design Trust for Public Space, a New York-based planning and design nonprofit, is currently completing two projects that demonstrate the importance of local production to a diverse urban economy and many other municipal goals: Making Midtown, about Manhattan’s Garment District, and Five Borough Farm, about urban agriculture in New York City. How can municipalities make room for manufacturing and urban farms and gardens, even in the face of real estate and land use pressures? This talk explores the tools that planners, designers, and nonprofit advocates can use to influence public opinion and city officials, and how we can assign value to the seemingly intangible benefits of clustering, community development, and public space.

To learn more about the conference, check out http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/urban-design-conference/ or follow the conversation on Twitter via @UrbanDesignNCSU.

Fellow Spotlight: Andrew Bernheimer earns AIANY Design Award

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Wed, 7 Mar 2012 12:26:00 -0500

It's not everyday that a New York architect draws design inspiration from Slavic folklore. Rarer still is that a dwelling created for Baba Yaga, a witch-like figure who flies around in a giant mortar and eats small children, is recognized alongside projects like, say, the Brooklyn Detention Center or the Sabah Al-Salem University College of Education in Kuwait.

But dreams can come true. Making Midtown fellow Andrew Bernheimer's The House on Chicken Feet: Fairy Tale Architecture enchanted the the jury at the AIANY Design Awards 2012, earning an Unbuilt Work Merit Award. (See a full list of winners, announced last night, here: http://aiany.aiany.org/files/AIANY_Design_Awards_Winners.pdf.)

Working with online journal Places, three firms - Bernheimer Architecture, Leven Betts and Guy Nordenson and Associates - explored the relationship between "the domestic structures of fairy tales and the imaginative realm of architecture." This whimsical exercise was created in partnership with Andrew's sister Kate Bernheimer, a fairy tale author and editor.

Here's how Andrew describes the key architectural elements of the House on Chicken Feet:

The house is located on a clearing along a major flight path to the Vladivostok airport. The white and red knights, signifying daytime and nighttime, are the airplanes that travel along this corridor at different times of day. The house, made from a thickly insulated steel frame, is wrapped in tree bark and bulges, like a chicken’s belly perched on a steel structure. A spinning turntable sitting on a large thrust bearing allows the house to spin and reorient itself. A large Corten steel box mimics the airplane landing path, and serves as the entry and exit point for Baba Yaga, whose broom rack sits within that space. A small, wood-burning stove occupies the main living area, compact but deformed.

Baba Yaga's House. [Design by Bernheimer Architecture]

Out and About: Vertical Urban Factory Exhibition at NYU

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Tue, 6 Mar 2012 11:59:00 -0500

The East Asia edition of former Design Trust Fellow Nina Rappaport's well-received (and very timely) Vertical Urban Factory exhibition opens Tuesday, March 6th at NYU. The show runs until May 18th, so you have plenty of time to pop over to NYU and ponder how East Asian cities are developing new factories and industrial spaces.

Vertical Urban Factory
March 6 - May 18, 2012

Department of East Asian Studies

New York University
41 East 11th Street, 7th Floor

Free and open to the public
Gallery hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday
Opening reception: Tuesday, March 6th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Council Breakfast Recap: Building the Whitney Downtown

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 2 Mar 2012 16:11:00 -0500

Image courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Cooper, Robertson & Partners

Construction is underway on the Whitney's downtown site, a 200,000 square-foot, Renzo Piano-designed building that will create a new permanent home for the institution's expansive collection of American art at the southern tip of the High Line.

Before the Whitney opens its cantilevered Gansevoort Street entrance to the public in 2015, our recent Council Breakfast invited Design Trust Council members to preview of the building model and hear the story of downtown's growing cultural footprint from two leaders propelling this revitalization effort: Whitney Museum director and curator Adam D. Weinberg and Diller Scofidio + Renfro co-founder Ric Scofidio.

Council Breakfast is an exclusive event series linking Design Trust Council members to curated programming spotlighting the leaders and ideas shaping New York City public space. To learn more or become a Council member, click here.

Garment District, February 28, 2012, 12:58 PM

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:52:00 -0500

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times, via City Room

This is why we're Making Midtown.

Fellow Spotlight: Nevin Cohen and Tom Vanderbilt

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:23:00 -0500

New York media taps the expertise of Design Trust fellows: Five Borough Farm fellow Nevin Cohen talks to the NY Daily News about urban agriculture expanding on industrial rooftops in Brooklyn and Queens, and Made in Midtown fellow Tom Vanderbilt pens an opinion piece about safer streets for the Times.

Opportunity: Public Policy Lab Issues First Call for Fellows

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0500

Former Design Trust deputy director Chelsea Mauldin - now the executive director of the new nonprofit organization Public Policy Lab - just issued her first Call for Fellows and we are happy to help spread the word here:

Calling all service designers, design researchers, interface designers, innovation experts, housing-policy experts, and more! We are currently seeking fellow candidates for Public & Collaborative: Housing Services, a partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development and Desis Lab at Parsons the New School for Design.

This initiative will explore opportunities for delivering more effective, efficient, and satisfying public services and for facilitating service solutions developed by citizens. Working together, our fellows and other members of the project team will assess HPD’s current service offerings and generate concepts for improving service delivery, for tenants and the agency.

Deadline to Apply: 9:00 AM, Tuesday, February 21. Read more about this fellowship opportunity on PPL's website.

To Nanette Lepore, Garment District Indispensable

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Thu, 9 Feb 2012 12:49:00 -0500

The headline of this THIRTEEN op-ed says it all: Without the Garment Center, There Would Be No Nanette Lepore.

Nanette Lepore runs her namesake fashion line out of 225 West 35th Street, a handsome industrial building in the heart of the Garment District. The cluster of manufacturing, design, and skilled labor in this neighborhood helped propel Nanette from a fledgling East Village start-up to a multi-million dollar global brand. Reinforcing key findings from our Made in Midtown study, Nanette writes:

"From early on, I saw that small local manufacturers afford emerging designers the ability to start small and grow their production as orders increase. The other advantages to producing locally include more thorough quality control, easier management of inventory and a quicker turnaround time to fill orders an meet spur-of-the moment trends."

The Garment District isn't just essential to Nanette's business. It's vital to New York City's fashion industry and overall economy. The numbers:

The city’s biannual Fashion Weeks generate $773 million in direct visitor spending a year, making fashion one of the largest industries in New York City.

There are 856 fashion companies headquartered in New York City; that’s more than Paris, Milan, and London combined.

The New York fashion industry employs 165,000 people. Of those people, 24,000 work in manufacturing jobs.

The industry generates $9 billion in total wages and $1.7 billion in tax revenues here.

Glimpses of Nanette Lepore's Garment District space, taken in Winter 2011 by Made in Midtown fellows Interboro Partners

Opportunity: Call for Public Art in the Garment District

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:52:00 -0500

The Fashion Center Business Improvement District is seeking artists for a public art installation on the outdoor plazas on Broadway in the Fashion District for this coming Summer, 2012:

"As part of a program to enhance the public environment and to increasing community access to art, the FCBID is inviting artists living, working, or operating in New York City to submit qualifications for consideration as the first step of a proposal process

In the second step, selected artists may be invited to submit developed proposals for their installations. Of these, one or more artists may be selected to enter into an agreement to work with the FCBID to install their work for up to two months in the summer of 2012. FCBID will consider installing between five and fifteen sculptural artworks (from one to three works per plaza). All works will be subject to approval by NYC DOT."

You can find all the details and the application on the BID's website.

Deadline: February 24, 2012

Freedom of Assembly: Public Space Redux Video

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:47:00 -0500

Free live streaming by Ustream

Bjarke Loves Public Space

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:37:00 -0500

Times Square's red-light district days may be long gone, but Danish architect Bjarke Ingels shows some LED-infused love with a new sculpture at 46th Street and Broadway. Did someone say heartthrob?

Rendering courtesy Bjarke Ingels Group

This Valentine's Day-themed installation is the fourth edition of the Times Square Alliance's "Heart Sculture" project and part of the organization's ongoing efforts to enliven the street-level experience of one of New York City's most heavily-trafficked public spaces.

Fellow Spotlight: Andrew Bernheimer to Lead The New School M. Arch

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Mon, 6 Feb 2012 13:56:00 -0500

Making Midtown fellow Andrew Bernheimer has been named director of the Master of Architecture program at Parsons the New School for Design, succeeding David Leven of Leven Betts Studio.

“Andrew is an exemplary architect, whose diverse experience engages both the practice and pedagogy of the discipline,” said Bill Morrish, Dean of the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons, the first integrated school of architecture, interior design, product design and lighting design in the country. “In his work and teaching he has demonstrated a commitment to innovation, and expanding ideas about the practice of architecture and its connection to related disciplines.”

Andrew Bernheimer, AIA is a Brooklyn-based architect and principal of Bernheimer Architecture, where he "aspires to improve the lives of those in need through socially-conscious design." Mr. Bernheimer's work has been featured in numerous publications, including theNew York Times, Metropolis, Architecture, and Interior Design.

Previously, Mr. Bernheimer was a founding partner of the award-winning firm Della Valle Bernheimer. The work of the firm was published in a monograph entitled "Think/Make" in 2009 by Princeton Architectural Press.

Freedom of Assembly: Public Space Redux

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:05:00 -0500

Up until September 17, 2011, Zuccotti Park was a sleepy downtown spot, catering to World Trade Center tourists, Century 21 shoppers, and Lower Manhattan office workers. The Occupy Wall Street movement changed all that, pushing Zuccotti Park into the spotlight of social movement and igniting some complex questions about public space use, ownership and accessibility in a democratic society.

Tomorrow morning at the Center for Architecture, Design Trust executive director Susan Chin joins a panel of of design, philosophy, planning and civic experts to explore the parameters and criteria for the design and use of public space in Freedom of Assembly: Public Space Redux. The event is free and -- unlike an alarming number of privately-owned public spaces -- open to the public.

Photo courtesy DoTank Brooklyn's Aurash Khawarzad

Opportunity: NYC Dept. of Transportation Looking for Artists

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0500

Magda Sayeg of Knitta Please created this piece for the pARTners program in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that uses knitted tubes to spell out "Plan Ahead."

The "Intersections" mural underneath the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo.

A seasonally-painted concrete barrier near Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Calling all artists! The NYC Dept. of Transportation has two open calls out right now for artists to help enliven our city's public infrastructure:

pARTners
Commissions artists to produce site-responsive art in collaboration with community-based organizations
Deadline: March 9, 2012

Barrier Beautification
Commissions artists and designers to produce murals for concrete barriers that typically separate bicycle lanes from traffic
Deadline: February 24, 2012

Application packets and additional information for both programs can be found on the NYC DOT website.

Fellow Spotlight: Rob Stephenson Awarded CCNY Darkroom Residency

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:54:00 -0500

Senior Citizens Block Association of Mermaid Avenue, Brooklyn, 2011, Courtesy of Rob Stephenson

Current Photo Urbanism fellow Rob Stephenson was selected as one of four photographers to participate in the CCNY Darkroom Residency Program. The residency offers emerging New York City photographers much-needed workspace as well as access to the CCNY community and programs. Each year, a three-person jury selects four artists for the residency program. The jury included independent curator Tracy Adler, artist Deana Lawson, and CCNY Board member and artist Lucas Thorpe.

Rob will use the darkroom to print from large and medium-format negatives for his Photo Urbanism project, From Roof to Table.

Out and About: Photographer Jan Staller Lecturing at ISE

lmcbeth@designtrust.org (Design Trust for Public Space) — Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:59:00 -0500

The talented New York photographer Jan Staller (and friend of the Design Trust's Photo Urbanism program) is giving an artist lecture next week at the ISE Cultural Foundation. The talk is part of his current exhibition there, “Heavy Duty Landscapes,” which features 16 large-format photographs that "portray an otherworldly place that somehow feels familiar. . .and strangely beautiful,” according to the New York Times.

Jan Staller
Artist Lecture
Wednesday, February 8th
6-8:00 pm

ISE Cultural Foundation
555 Broadway (between Prince and Spring Streets)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-925-1649
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm

No Admission Fee
No RSVP

And if you can't make it to the talk, there is still time to see the show, which will remain on view through March 2.