Panel Discussion: Designing Governors Island

Panel Discussion and Open House
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
6:00-8:00pm

Van Alen Institute
30 West 22nd Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10010
212-924-7000

In 1996, Van Alen Institute launched an ideas competition called "Public Property," to which over 200 individuals submitted design proposals celebrating the significance of Governors Island to public life in New York City. Myriad civic and public organizations have since engaged in imagining Governors Island's reuse, culminating in the 2003 formation of Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC).

As the future of Governors Island takes shape this spring and five internationally-renowned design teams present schemes for the site's redesign*, Van Alen Institute joins GIPEC and its partner organizations in celebrating the recent history of Governors Island, its relationship to the New York Harbor, and the role of design competitions in defining and developing public sites in New York City.

Van Alen Institute will host an Open House and Conversation on Wednesday, June 13 from 6:00pm—8:00pm featuring a display of the original design brief, winning proposals, and attendant materials from the 1996 competition.

Panelists will include Ray Gastil, Linda Pollak, Tracy Metz, Damon Rich and moderator Chee Pearlman.

*"The Park at the Center of the World: Five Visions for Governors Island", an exhibition of the five current proposals for Governors Island, is on view at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY, until August 25, 2007.