Archive

1. Mina Morales

   May 6, 2026 3:40 pm Comments Off on Mina Morales

   Mina Morales is a queer Mexican multidisciplinary artist, curator, and organizer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores themes of liberation, death and rebirth, and divination as a practice for navigating life’s transformations. Mina is dedicated to creating spaces and places where artists, especially queer artists and artists of color, can freely express themselves across mediums and connect with others working toward political and artistic change. She believes community is essential to collaborative, interdisciplinary art-making as both a site of political power and collective action.

2. Join us at the Bond Street Bash 2026!

   April 29, 2026 11:39 am Comments Off on Join us at the Bond Street Bash 2026!

   

   Bond Street Bash 2026

   Thursday, June 4, 7–10 pm
   Van Alen Institute
   303 Bond Street, Brooklyn

   Convene with Van Alen’s entire community to celebrate our shared values and work toward more equitable citymaking. Uniting architects, artists, activists, policymakers, and community leaders, Van Alen will recognize the achievements we’ve been able to make together. ​Please join us in this celebration of design excellence at Van Alen’s Urban Room.

   Get tickets

   For questions and details regarding sponsorship, student tickets, or artist rates, please reach out to Kate Overbeck, koverbeck@vanalen.org.

   Honorees

   Each year, Van Alen honors community leaders, design partners, and changemakers aligned with our mission to create more equitable cities. Join us at the Bash to celebrate their vision, work, and impact.

   

   NEXUS AWARD
   Justin Garrett Moore
   Program Director, Humanities in Place, Mellon Foundation

   Justin Garrett Moore advances citymaking rooted in justice, inclusion, and shared power. He’s built the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program into a national force for equity, following 15 years shaping NYC’s public realm through city government. As he transforms the institutions shaping our cities, he consistently centers the voices, histories, and communities too often excluded from design. Justin’s leadership has redefined who design serves.

   

   TORCHBEARER AWARD
   Carla Swickerath
   Principal, Studio Libeskind

   Carla Swickerath has spent more than two decades leading some of the most complex and consequential architectural projects of our time, while advancing a design approach that emphasizes memory, community, and meaningful urban transformation. A longtime champion of Van Alen, Carla has brought a strong commitment to equity and community-centered design while challenging us to act with greater intention and boldness.

   

   COMMUNITY CATALYST AWARD
   Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez
   Executive Director, Office of Street Vendor Services, NYC Department of Small Business Services

   Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez shines new light on the immigrant communities that make our city vibrant. Her advocacy and legislative victories while leading Street Vendor Project paved the way for the newly-created Office of Street Vendor Services within the NYC Department of Small Business Services. We know Carina will lead this office with deep integrity and her longstanding commitment to all those who call New York City home.

   Get tickets

   Sponsorship

   

   Van Alen Staff

   Kate Overbeck

   Director of Strategic Partnerships

   Email

3. Gallery Talk: Designing for Caregiving

   April 27, 2026 11:11 am Comments Off on Gallery Talk: Designing for Caregiving

   Designing for Caregiving
   Tuesday, April 28, 6–8 pm
   303 Bond Street, Brooklyn

   ​How can we design homes for new family typologies that expand well beyond the confines of the nuclear? Join Cynthia Davidson in conversation with The House Transformed participants Tei Carpenter, Rocio Crosetto, and Erica Goetz.*

   ​Refreshments will be served.

   On view at Van Alen Institute through May 22, The House Transformed presents new ideas for domestic architecture. Featuring participants from local and global contexts, the exhibition rejects conventional notions of nuclear family and a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the house. These models and drawings explore alternative concepts for collective living, multigenerational households, and caregiving.

   *Please note: due to unforeseen circumstances, Rossana Hu is no longer able to participate in this event.

   RSVP

   Related Projects

   

   Urban Room

   Ongoing

   Exhibition: The House Transformed

   On view through May 22, The House Transformed presents new ideas for domestic architecture.

   See Project

   

   Ongoing

   Urban Room

   Using our HQ to host public programs and as a flexible community space.

   See Project

4. New York Reviews Architecture: Issue #50 Launch Party

   11:05 am Comments Off on New York Reviews Architecture: Issue #50 Launch Party

   

   New York Reviews Architecture: Issue #50 Launch Party

   Thursday, May 7, 7–11 pm
   Van Alen Institute
   303 Bond Street, Brooklyn

    

   Fifty issues later, New York Review of Architecture is older, wiser, and still infested with rats. Come celebrate the Big Five-O with NYRA. Pour one out for the Union Carbide Building, ponder the enormity of Norman Foster’s JPMorgan Chase headquarters, and shake it like Mother Ann Lee as we toast to fifty fabulous issues. Who knows? You might even meet a special supplement you’ll want to take home…

   ​

   All tickets include entry to the party and a copy of NYRA #50. ​Open bar generously provided by Kings County Distillery and Talea Beer Co.

    

   Doors at 7 pm, readings at 8 pm.

   RSVP

5. CB6 Full Board Meeting

   11:00 am Comments Off on CB6 Full Board Meeting

   CB6 Full Board Meeting

   Wednesday, May 13, 6:30 pm
   303 Bond Street, Brooklyn

   Brooklyn’s Community Board 6 holds their monthly Full Board meeting at Van Alen Institute. Open to the public.

   For more information about Brooklyn Community Board 6, calendar updates, and meeting agendas, click here or email Mike Racioppo, District Manager at mike@bkcb6.org.

   ---

   The Urban Room at Van Alen Institute is a flexible, accessible, street-level space located at 303 Bond Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 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. Van Alen regularly hosts meetings for many local groups, including Brooklyn Community Board 6, the Gowanus Oversight Task Force, and Gowanus Mutual Aid, as well as a community fridge operated by One Love Community Fridge.

   For values-aligned nonprofits and community groups, Van Alen offers this space and meeting tech at no cost, while private and corporate space rentals support our mission to create more equitable cities through inclusive design. To inquire about using our space, fill out this form.

   Ask about using our space

6. We <3 Cookie Cutter Housing

   April 23, 2026 10:57 am Comments Off on We <3 Cookie Cutter Housing

   We <3 Cookie Cutter Housing

   Thursday, May 14, 6–8 pm
   Van Alen Institute
   303 Bond Street, Brooklyn

   RSVP

   Join us for a lecture and conversation with Daniel Jonas Roche, Brad Isnard, and Zara Pfeifer — exhibition curators of Jessor — on the history of radical, affordable housing in New York City through a new lens. On view at Citygroup through May 23, Jessor features original photographs, drawings, and biographical research about Herman Jessor, the most prolific affordable housing architect in New York City history.

   ​Between 1925 and 1974, Herman Jessor designed over 40,000 units of cooperative housing, often generic in appearance. With his primary clients — the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, and United Housing Foundation — Jessor oversaw the construction of Co-op City, Penn South, Rochdale Village, and Starrett City, to name a few.

   This lecture will revisit Jessor and the politico-economic machine which supported the astounding volume of mass-produced, limited-equity cooperative housing he achieved. For architects, planners, and politicians that aspire to build a “Mitchell Lama 2.0” program in order to tackle today’s housing crisis, learning from the immigrant architect Herman Jessor is a good place to start.

   ​This event is free with RSVP. Light refreshments will be served.

   Event Schedule

   ​6 pm: Doors open
   6:30 pm: Lecture
   7:15 pm: Reception

   RSVP

7. Powerhouse Arts Community Day

   April 22, 2026 1:42 pm Comments Off on Powerhouse Arts Community Day

   Powerhouse Arts Community Day

   Saturday, May 16, 11 am–5 pm
   Powerhouse Arts
   322 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn

   Join Mookntaka and their playful inflatable sculptures at Powerhouse Arts Community Day. Creators of our public art project Friends from the Canal, Mookntaka (MOO-kin-tah-kah) is a Brooklyn-based artist duo by Mark Zlotsky and Karyn Lao. They believe in art that encourages people of all ages to connect through play.  Meet the artists, learn more about the process of making Friends from the Canal, and join the project’s scavenger hunt.

   Friends from the Canal is produced by Van Alen Institute and made possible by a Public Realm Grant for Commercial District Lighting awarded through the NYC Department of Small Business Services; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

   Learn more and RSVP

   Related Projects

   

   Common Build

   Ongoing

   Friends from the Canal

   On view through August, these inflatable, illuminated sculptures by artist duo Mookntaka are a playful welcome to Gowanus.

   See Project

8. 10 can’t-miss architecture & design events to see this April in NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Buffalo, Shenzhen, and Milan

   March 30, 2026 10:30 am Comments Off on 10 can’t-miss architecture & design events to see this April in NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Buffalo, Shenzhen, and Milan

9. 4 Architecture Exhibitions To See in New York City This Spring

   March 4, 2026 11:33 am Comments Off on 4 Architecture Exhibitions To See in New York City This Spring

10. Photos: The House Transformed opening reception

    February 26, 2026 5:12 pm Comments Off on Photos: The House Transformed opening reception

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    On February 24, friends new and old ventured out after a historic blizzard to celebrate The House Transformed.

    On view at Van Alen Institute through May 22, The House Transformed presents new ideas for domestic architecture. Featuring participants from local and global contexts, the exhibition rejects conventional notions of nuclear family and a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the house. These models and drawings explore alternative concepts for collective living, multigenerational households, and caregiving.

    The exhibition debuted at the Princeton University School of Architecture and is curated by Mónica Ponce de León with Shoshana Torn and Massimo Giannone.

    Learn more

    In the News

    Press

    The Architect’s Newspaper

    The House Transformed, an exhibition curated by Mónica Ponce de León, opens at Van Alen Institute

    Read More

    Related Projects

    

    Urban Room

    Ongoing

    Exhibition: The House Transformed

    On view through May 22, The House Transformed presents new ideas for domestic architecture.

    See Project

    

    Ongoing

    Urban Room

    Using our HQ to host public programs and as a flexible community space.

    See Project