Michael Murphy and John Cary on Design For Good

How does a first-year grad student of architecture end up designing a ground-breaking hospital in Rwanda? Find out on my latest Common Edge Podcast as I talk with Michael Murphy, co-founder of MASS Design, which just won a National Design Award. And then stay tuned for John Cary, author of Design For Good: A New Era of Architecture For Everyone, which features projects by MASS Design and other firms that are tightly integrating architectural design and social justice. Both Murphy and Cary have a lot to say about what the profession should be doing to break down the barriers that …

Justin Davidson on the Common Edge Podcast

ICYMI, I interviewed Justin Davidson, architecture critic for New York magazine, for the Common Edge Podcast. We talk about his new book, Magnetic City, and a host of other architecture and urban design issues, such as how the role of the architecture critic has evolved; the imminent collapse of the skinny condo tower market; and why he’s optimistic about the still evolving World Trade Center site.

Talking Bikes, Street Design and Safety on The Common Edge Podcast

For the second episode of the Common Edge Podcast, I talk to two transportation experts who were at the forefront of remaking New York City’s streets over the past ten years. Janette Sadik-Khan was New York’s transportation commissioner under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She caused some controversy by moving quickly to redesign streets that hadn’t been changed in fifty years, most notably Times Square. In her book, Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, which is now out in paperback, Janette reflects on the conflicts she encountered along the way, including a “bikelash” in Williamsburg and attacks by then mayoral candidate Anthony …

Richard Florida on the inaugural Common Edge Podcast

I interviewed Richard Florida for the inaugural podcast produced by Common Edge Collaborative, a nonprofit established by Martin Pedersen to engage the public in architecture, urban planning and design. Richard Florida’s first book, The Rise of the Creative Class, catapulted him to academic stardom by identifying the trends that were revitalizing American cities. His latest book, The New Urban Crisis, takes a hard look at the dark side of all the trends he identified fifteen years ago, and how cities will have to solve daunting problems on a global scale. http://commonedge.org/the-common-edge-podcast-richard-florida-and-the-new-urban-crisis/  

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WXY video on leading the Brooklyn Tech Triangle plan

Adam Lubinsky, managing principal of WXY architecture + urban design, on developing Downtown Brooklyn into a 21st Century tech/innovation economic engine.  

NDC’s Non-Profit Model for Infrastructure Development

Filling the Funding Gap for Social Infrastructure By Daniel Marsh | March 1, 2017 Across the U.S., communities like Scranton need both low-cost financing and management help to build and repair infrastructure. In his first address to Congress, President Trump received a standing ovation for one of the few issues with bipartisan support: increased spending for infrastructure. As expected, his proposal relies on public-private partnerships to pay for America’s crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels and more. But even if the Trump Administration can move an infrastructure bill forward, it’s safe to say there will still be large gaps to fill. As …

Parks as Infrastructure

WXY was invited to submit an article for the AIANYS Winter Quarterly magazine focused on transportation and infrastructure, so we wrote about parks! It might seem incongruous but that is, in fact, how Claire and her design team at WXY approached two very different park designs—the Brooklyn Strand and the Rockaway Boardwalk—as opportunities to resolve a host of infrastructure issues and to facilitate resilience and connectivity. “It is not enough for parks to exist as single-use islands of tranquility. Today’s parks need to do much more: build infrastructure, provide connectivity and increase resilience—as well as offer urbanites of all ages …

Lloyd DesBrisay on Modernist Preservation

It was a pleasure to work on this important piece by Lloyd DesBrisay, co-founder of DesBrisay & Smith Architects, about his work on the Yale University Art Gallery and its impact on modernist preservation for Common Edge Collaborative. How the Restoration of Louis Kahn’s Yale Art Gallery Helped Kickstart Modern Preservation 01.30.2017 By Lloyd DesBrisay I have a distinct memory from my days as an architecture student at the University of California Berkeley in the late ‘80s. During an architectural survey class taught by Spiro Kostof, Louis I Kahn’s Yale University Art Gallery popped up in the slide show. “Nice …

NYC Zoning @ 100

I have a piece in the January, 2017 issue of Planning Magazine about New York City’s rezoning, the most ambitious inclusionary housing code in the country. Will it have a real impact? Only if comprehensive community planning comes first. Click the PDF link below. “We designed a process as much as we developed a plan,” says Adam Lubinsky, PhD, AICP, who is a managing principal at WXY architecture + urban design, which was responsible for facilitating the East Harlem steering committee and developing the plan. “The idea was to get ahead of the city’s rezoning and allow people to look …