Project Series

Ongoing

Urban Room

Urban Room at Van Alen Institute
303 Bond Street, Brooklyn
Drop-in hours: Mondays–Thursdays, 10 am–5 pm

The Urban Room at Van Alen Institute is a flexible, accessible, street-level space located at 303 Bond Street in Gowanus. It’s a place for civic-minded organizations to meet and diverse groups to come together in dialogue, and serves as an information hub for the Gowanus community.

In addition to our public programs, we host the Brooklyn Community Board 6 general meeting and a community fridge operated by One Love Community Fridge. For values-aligned nonprofits and community groups, we offer this space and meeting tech on a sliding scale, while private rentals support our mission to create more equitable cities through inclusive design. To inquire about using our space, fill out this form.

Van Alen is committed to ensuring that all of our events are inclusive and accessible for all participants. Our event space is on the ground floor and ADA-accessible. If you require accommodations or have any questions about access needs, please email vai@vanalen.org and we will do our best to support your participation.

We want to keep the Urban Room free, active, and open to all. In 2026 alone, we’ve hosted three design exhibitions and dozens of public programs serving thousands of participants — all free and publicly accessible.

To support these activities, we’ve launched Friends of the Urban Room — a new community of people who help make this possible. If you’ve enjoyed a program at Van Alen, or believe that community-led design projects and emerging designers deserve a platform in New York City, consider becoming a Friend.

Support the Urban Room at any level meaningful to you. Donate by December 31, 2026, and you’ll be recognized on our website as a Founding Friend!