• Van Alen Books Launch Party
• Call for Portfolios: Design Speed Dating
• Ideas Wanted: Life at the Speed of Rail
• Designing the Parks Awards and Studio Initiative
• In the Field: Upcoming Programs Around Town
• Members Save at Van Alen Books

VAN ALEN BOOKS LAUNCH PARTY

We’re thrilled to announce the debut of Van Alen Books, our new storefront book emporium and public reading room. As the newest initiative of Van Alen’s ground-floor project space, this much-anticipated venue will be New York’s only bookstore and gathering place devoted singularly to architecture and design publications. We’ll have much more to share about our full program of readings, performances, debates, and discussions this spring. But first, pencil in April 21 for a very special launch party—we’ll send details as the date approaches. For more about Van Alen Books, read previews of the space in The Architect’s Newspaper and The Real Deal.

CALL FOR PORTFOLIOS: DESIGN SPEED DATING

Attention young designers: On Saturday, April 30, we’re rolling out the next edition of Design Speed Dating, our ongoing series matching emerging professionals with established critics in round-robin portfolio reviews. Don’t miss this chance to present your work to a prime audience of New York’s most influential architects, developers, educators, publishers, and design personalities—and earn your portfolio a place in Van Alen’s Design Archive. Four fantastic designers will be selected for this round; to be considered, please email your portfolio as a PDF attachment, 5 MB maximum, to vai@vanalen.org.

IDEAS WANTED: LIFE AT THE SPEED OF RAIL

Van Alen Institute’s call for design ideas for high-speed rail in America is now open! Life at the Speed of Rail seeks projects and scenarios that engage a new rail network at all scales, be it architectural, metropolitan, regional, national—anywhere high-speed rail will change our lives. We need you—the architectural design community, planners, graphic designers, and artists—to show us what this new rail system will look, feel, and sound like. Be sure to visit the competition website for updated content and competition Q&As, and check out the blistering Life at the Speed of Rail Twitter feed for the latest on all things high-speed rail. We’re awarding 10 of the most thought-provoking entries $1,000 each—submit yours by May 21.

DESIGNING THE PARKS AWARDS AND STUDIO INITIATIVE

What will the national park of the twenty-first century look like? Since 2008, Van Alen Institute has been a key partner in Designing the Parks, a multi-agency initiative to develop and implement a new set of design principles for the U.S. National Park Service to mark and celebrate its centennial. On March 22, Van Alen joined National Park Service officials, advocates, and designers for the inaugural Designing the Parks Awards, held at Federal Hall National Memorial in Lower Manhattan. The awards honored standout public parks around the world, and congratulations to all the winners—especially New York’s contingent, who won four of the 16 awards for Brooklyn Bridge Park, Teardrop Park, Concrete Plant Park, and Hudson River Park’s Tribeca Section. Find a full list of winners here.

Following the ceremony, Van Alen’s Olympia Kazi discussed the Institute’s role in the Designing the Parks Studio Initiative. This summer, Van Alen will conduct interdisciplinary design studios nationwide to test the draft design principles against diverse conditions found within the national park system. The studios will be led with a distinguished committee of advisors including Ethan Carr (University of Virginia), Nette Compton (New York City Parks Department), Susannah Drake (dlandstudio), Jeanne Gang (Studio Gang), Steven Handel (Rutgers), Setha Low (CUNY), William Morrish (Parsons), Aekta Shah (Harvard), and Gullivar Shepard (Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates). Stay tuned for more on our Designing the Parks collaboration.

RICHARD SENNETT TO DELIVER CCNY'S MUMFORD LECTURE

Author and urban theorist Richard Sennett will deliver the seventh Lewis Mumford Lecture on Urbanism at 6 pm on Monday, April 11. Sennett, whose pathbreaking works on sociology and urban life include The Uses of Disorder and The Craftsman, will speak on “The Edge: Borders and Boundaries in the City.” The lecture, at the City College of New York’s Shepard Hall, is free and open to the public.

FINE ARTS FEDERATION OF NEW YORK OPEN MEETING

On Wednesday, April 20, the Fine Arts Federation of New York hosts an open annual meeting with the theme of “Sitting in Traffic: Embedding Art in Transportation Infrastructure.” Special guest Wendy Feuer, the Assistant Commissioner of Urban Design and Art for the New York City Department of Transportation, discusses the city’s street-savvy adventures in public design. The event takes place at the National Arts Club at 5:30 pm. Rsvp to info@fafny.com.

CORE 77 DESIGN AWARDS

Submissions are open for Core77’s annual juried selection of excellent design. The awards honor wide-ranging design endeavors whose value can be commercial, cultural, social, environmental, or discursive—and each of the 15 categories includes its own student section. The deadline is May 3. See the awards site for more information.

CONNECTIONS: THE GOWANUS LOWLINE COMPETITION

Nonprofit design group Gowanus By Design has launched the Gowanus Lowline Competition, which seeks ideas for connections in and around Brooklyn’s beloved but woefully polluted canal. As the waterway begins a Superfund clean-up, entrants are asked to explore pedestrian-oriented architecture that engages the canal and surrounding properties. The registration deadline is May 1.

MEMBERS SAVE AT VAN ALEN BOOKS

We can’t wait for Van Alen Books to open—and we know you can’t, either. Start supporting our new center for architecture and design publications by joining Van Alen Institute, where as a member you’ll receive a 10% discount on purchases at the bookstore. Of course, there are many more great reasons to become a member, including updates and publications, invitations to special events and seasonal brunches, and other benefits from the larger Van Alen community. If you are not yet a member, we encourage you to join us by signing up here. 

And remember, it’s easy to keep in touch with Van Alen: We’re wherever you are! Browse our home page at www.vanalen.org, find us in your in-box via our monthly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Van Alen Institute’s ongoing programs are made possible through the generous assistance of our individual contributors and partners, and are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and by Furthermore: a project of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. We gratefully appreciate their assistance, and acknowledge the generous support of the following organizations: