A STREET SEAT FOR VAN ALEN INSTITUTE

You’ve heard all about our Ground/Work competition to envision a new office and program space for Van Alen, with a strong connection to the street and the city at large. Emerging designers are still welcome to submit portfolios by our June 13 deadline—full details here!

Now, as part of our relocation to the ground floor of our 22nd Street building, we have applied to the New York City Department of Transportation’s Street Seat Program, an initiative that provides outdoor public seating in the parking lane. These seasonal installations create well-designed public spaces that invite people to linger and provide amenities that support walking, community commerce, and street life.

Next spring, we aim to install this neighborhood-scale public space adjacent to our storefront, providing a place for neighbors and pedestrians to meet, enhancing the greening of our block, and encouraging local business activity. We envision the Street Seat as an integral part of our new street-level space, to be designed in concert with our reimagined ground floor.

VAI is currently seeking support for our street seat plans from Manhattan’s Community Board Five and approval from the Department of Transportation. On April 22, we presented our preliminary proposal to the community board’s Transportation Committee (download PDFs of our slide presentation and our written comments), and have been sharing our vision and gathering ideas from the neighborhood and beyond.

We want to know what you think. If you can, please join us tonight, June 3, for an Open House Happy Hour from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Van Alen Books to learn more about our Street Seat plans, swap ideas with our neighbors, and help us enhance street life for New Yorkers.

If you can't make it tonight, we invite you to learn more about our street seat plans by visiting our website. If you support our application, please sign our Street Seat statement of support by clicking here. Feel free to email questions or comments to vai@vanalen.org or call us at 212-924-7000. See you tonight!

NEXT UP AT VAN ALEN BOOKS: LA FORUM AND DS+R

Van Alen Books gets a dose of the West Coast this Thursday, June 6, as we welcome the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design to celebrate the relaunch of the LA Forum Newsletter. The spring 2013 issue—the first print edition in more than a decade—features architect Frank Escher on the clinical restoration of the Eames House and The Retronaut’s Simon Reynolds on past futures, as well as an interview with Radio Iris author Anne-Marie Kinney and a centerfold by James Michael Tate. Join us at 7 p.m. as we celebrate the return to pulp and ink with a panel discussion between editor Mimi Zeiger, architect John Southern, and graphic designer Neil Donnelly. A live interview with Hitha Prabhakar, author of Black Market Billions, follows the panel and will be published in the fall 2013 issue.

And on Thursday, June 20, we welcome Diller Scofidio + Renfro to Van Alen Books for a film screening of Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line, a 54-minute documentary offering insights into the firm’s history, completed projects, and unique process of reimagining the public identities of two major New York urban spaces. The film includes commentary from the architects as well as interviews with New York City planning commissioner Amanda Burden as well as critics and theorists Mark Wigley, Anthony Vidler, Martin Filler, and more. Before the film, Liz Diller and Ric Scofidio will join directors Muffie Dunn and Tom Piper for a conversation about their work, moderated by VAI executive director David van der Leer. Stop by for the screening, and pick up a signed copy of DS+R’s latest book Lincoln Center Inside Out.

RIVER CITY PROGRAMS: LOST RIVERS DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

Join us on Friday, June 7 at 6:30 p.m. for a special screening of Lost Rivers, presented as part of Van Alen Institute's River City exhibition and program series. In nearly every industrial city around the world, rivers have been a defining feature of civic life—we built houses along their banks, our roads hugged their curves, and their currents fed our factories. But as cities grew, polluted rivers became conduits for disease and other urban ills, buried underground and merged with sewer networks. Chronicling recent initiatives to revitalize once-forgotten waterways, including the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul and the Saw Mill River in Yonkers, Lost Rivers draws on insights from visionary urban thinkers, activists, and artists around the world to bring to life new urban ecologies. Producer Katarina Soukup of Montreal’s Catbird Films will join for a Q&A following the screening. Please RSVP to rsvp@vanalen.org.

MEMBERS' EVENT: HARD-HAT TOUR OF GOVERNORS ISLAND

We're looking forward to our sneak peek of the new Governors Island on Tuesday, June 11! Van Alen members are invited to join us for a behind-the-fence tour of the construction site soon to open as the heart of Governors Island’s new park and public space. With the project’s first phase nearing completion, this extraordinary site in New York Harbor has been transformed into a visionary public landscape with 30 new acres of park, key visitor amenities, and 21st-century infrastructure. Led by representatives of the Trust for Governors Island and the West 8 design team, this after-hours tour will explore the new park space and provide insight into the collaborative design and construction process. Visit our website for event details, and find out more about the Governors Island Park & Public Space Master Plan here. Space is limited, so please RSVP to rsvp@vanalen.org. Not a member? Join us today!

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS

The Center for Urban Pedagogy is seeking NYC-based visual thinkers working in print, motion graphics, animation, information design, and interaction design to be Public Access Design Fellows. Collaborate with CUP and a community organization to break down a complex policy or planning issue for the group’s constituents. Apply by June 10.

The Storefront for Art and Architecture is seeking entries for the Competition of Competitions,  asking architects, artists, economists, philosophers, writers, and citizens at large to commission visions for the future in the form of a competition brief. Register by June 22.

Forward, the scholarly journal for associates of the AIA, is seeking submissions for its fall 2013 issue on the theme of temporality, presenting exemplary works that reflect on the roles of time, duration, authenticity, and presence in design. Submit by June 14.

The ONE Lab Summer Session 2013 on Productive Cities will take place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, exploring the emerging discipline of global urbaneering by assembling innovators from architecture, landscape architecture, material science, urban design, biology, engineering, and media art. Apply by June 15.

Wonderland’s Rethinking Felberstrasse competition seeks innovative solutions for the urban fringe of Vienna. Contribute your best realized or unrealized project and get a chance to be architect-in-residence working with international colleagues and local experts in developing a sustainable strategy for the project area. Submit by June 16.

SUPPORT AN EXCITING NEW CHAPTER AT VAN ALEN

This year marks an exciting new chapter for Van Alen Institute, as we transform the ground floor of our building to house a reinvented office and event space that is more accessible and participatory in public life. Now is a great time to join Van Alen as we refocus our mission to analyze, advise on, and activate designs, public policies, and experiences of the public realm. Our ongoing work is possible in large part due to the active participation of Van Alen members in all our programs and events, and we value your support as we develop new design initiatives, competitions, and exhibitions investigating the role of architecture and design in civic life. As you visit our bookstore events this season, don't forget that members receive a 10% discount at Van Alen Books, as well as invitations to special events and other benefits. Find out more about our membership opportunities and how you can join us here.