FALL PREVIEW: New Exhibitions and Events at Van Alen
September 21, 2026
It's our busiest season at Van Alen! See all our fall programming at a glance — including exhibitions, panel discussions, book launches, and special events.
Fall 2026 at a glance
It’s our busiest season at Van Alen Institute! Our latest exhibition Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design opens October 8, accompanied by a series of public talks and our annual open house. Below, browse through our exhibition programs, panel discussions, book launches, and special events.
For new announcements and program updates, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, and visit vanalen.org/events for all event details. (We’ll also keep this page up to date.)
Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design
On view October 8–November 13
Mondays–Thursdays 10 am–5 pm; extended hours TBA
303 Bond Street, Brooklyn
Van Alen’s archive is one of the most significant collections of US architectural history in existence. Much of it has never been made public. Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design invites five artists and design teams to create original responses that ask: What does this archive tell us about who design has served — and who it hasn’t?
Participating artists and design teams:
- Annie Barrett, Daniel Pittman, and Paula Vilaplana
- Kholisile Dhliwayo
- Friends Making Work
- PROPS SUPPLY
- Gillian Waldo
Exhibition-Related Events
Opening Reception
Thursday, October 8, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Join us for a festive cocktail reception to toast the exhibition’s artists, who have each created an original response to Van Alen’s design archive.
Van Alen Fall Fest
Saturday, October 17, 12–4 pm
Open to the public; RSVP recommended
Stop by our annual open house to learn more about Van Alen, view Open Access, and meet the exhibiting artists. Stick around for seasonal treats and make your own art inspired by our design archive!
The Architectural Anarchive: Reimagining the Design Archive
Monday, October 19, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Shannon Mattern (Metropolitan New York Library Council) leads a discussion around how archives determine what’s worthy of collection and preservation, and the role of the architectural archive in an age of extractive technologies.
The Accidental Archive
Thursday, October 22, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Writer and artist Divya Mehra leads an interactive workshop to explore our own personal archives, asking questions about the value of the mundane and what it means to embrace our own archival practice.
An Archival Séance with Marina Otero Verzier
Thursday, October 29, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Architect and researcher Marina Otero Verzier, in collaboration with Paula Viliplana, conducts a seance-inspired performance that tunes into the spirits of those not present in the archives.
Panel Discussions
Exhibition Talk: They Have Watches but We Have Time
Tuesday, October 13, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Iskander Guetta and Quang Vinh Nguyen discuss their exhibition They Have Watches but We Have Time with Cruz Garcia and Nathalie Frankowski (WAI Architecture Think Tank). On view at the Swiss Consulate October 2026–January 2027, the installation considers time as a material of design through one of its main instruments: the clock.
PUBLIC ART PARTY #4: Future Shook
Tuesday, October 20, 5:30–8:30 pm
Get tickets
Van Alen Institute hosts the fourth edition of PUBLIC ART PARTY, a bi-annual community-building event for people working across every part of the public art ecosystem. Speakers include Jean Cooney, Executive Director, Creative Time; and Shaun Leonardo, Executive Director, Socrates Sculpture Park; and PUBLIC ART PARTY creator Mia Pearlman (moderator).
Culture of Place
Thursday, November 5, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
In this panel presented by the Van Alen Vanguard, Farida Abu-Bakare (WXY), Curry J. Hackett, and Tura Cousins Wilson (SOCA) explore what architects can learn from the people already doing the work of building community.
Book Talks
Book Launch: At the Edge of Where God Built by LE.FT Architects
Tuesday, October 27, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Ziad Jamaleddine and Makram el-Kadi of LE.FT Architects launch their new publication, which critically examines their diverse body of work and expands discussions of Islamic architecture.
Issue Launch: Perspecta 57: Archival Ferment
Wednesday, October 28, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Join editors M.C. Overholt, Alex Whee Kim, Sarah Hye Yeon Kim, and Brian Christopher Orser in celebrating issue #57 of Perspecta: The Yale Architectural Journal, the oldest student-edited architectural journal in the United States.
Author Talk: A Right to Housing? by Samuel Stein
Wednesday, November 4, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
In collaboration with AIA Brooklyn Housing Committee, Samuel Stein discusses the politics of housing policy and a genuine right to housing could look like in practice with Andrew Brown, Director of Programs, Van Alen Institute.
Book Launch: Junior Architects
Monday, November 9, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Join a conversation hosted by Suzanne Lettieri and Anya Sirota, editors of Junior Architects: New Paradigms in Design Education, which examines equity in architecture and design education in the US.
Book Launch: Material Variance by Lola Ben-Alon
Thursday, November 19, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
Edited by Lola Ben-Alon, Material Variance aims to expand architecture and design’s material lexicon and unsettle its disciplinary boundaries. Lola discusses the publication alongside a site-specific installation by the Natural Materials Lab at Columbia GSAPP.
Special Events
Please Don’t Flush!
Tuesday, September 22, 6–8 pm
Free with RSVP
For Climate Week NYC 2026, theater artists Sabina Sethi Unni presents Please Don’t Flush — a municipal comedy that pairs music and laughs with resources about flooding.
Brunch & Build Competition: Designing Housing for 2035
Sunday, September 27, 12–3 pm
Free with RSVP; limited to 50 spots
In this design sprint hosted by Slow Construct, explore one of architecture’s most urgent challenges: how we will live in 2035.
Public Space as Living Lab
Friday–Sunday, October 9–11
Register here
Organized by the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and X-Topia, this immersive workshop introduces architects, urban designers, planners, researchers and public-sector professionals to scientific protocols for measuring human experience in public space.
Friends from the Canal (Extended Run!)
Now on view through February 2027
Gowanus, Brooklyn
We’re delighted to announced the extension of Friends from the Canal, a multi-site installation of inflatable, illuminated sculptures by artist duo Mookntaka. After their debut in April 2026, they’ve quickly become a beloved fixture of the Gowanus streetscape.
Amidst new development and environmental remediation, this multi-site public art installation imagines gentle creatures emerging from the Gowanus Canal to investigate the commotion and meet their neighbors. These three “cheerful mutants,” known as Loofa, Shelby, and Pebbles, have unique silhouettes inspired by the canal’s aquatic fauna. During the day, they’re colorful, welcoming creatures, and at night, they provide a soft, radiating light.
Locations: