Urban Design Week: Sept. 15-20

Urban Design Week is a new public festival created to engage New Yorkers in the fascinating and complex issues of the public realm, and to celebrate the streetscapes, sidewalks, and public spaces at the
heart of city life. Through an open-call ideas competition and a rich roster of discussions, tours, screenings, workshops, and events across the five boroughs, UDW will highlight the fact that cities are made by collective effort, and that each of us can play a part.

Of Particular Interest for Us:

Friday, September 16: Crowd-Gathering: Enhancing Civic Engagement with Authentic Digital Practices: Since the mid-1990s all sectors of society began the process of grappling with the possibilities and limits presented by new digital media and networks. Today, community organizations, government, planning, design, and architecture, all are looking for ways these new digital “environments” can enhance public dialogue in the civic realm. This new digital media mix allows new strategies for civic engagement that, when integrated with traditional offline practices, can radically enhance the way we think about cities, from the way we make our places to the ways we build movements for community change. This round-table discussion will examine this paradigm shift, share tested strategies and best practices, and point out how tool-centered approaches don’t work as well as human-centered approaches.
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm, Center for Architecture, 536 La Guardia Place [Map]
Free [Register]

Friday, September 16: All Aboard! Trains on Film
Join Friends of the High Line for the first of three open-air film screenings that celebrate the industrial history of the High Line, which once carried freight trains delivering dairy, meat, produce, and other goods into the warehouses and factories on Manhattan’s West Side. Paying homage to the history of trains in cinema and on the High Line, All Aboard! Trains on Film is a 28-minute compilation of iconic scenes from more than 100 films, ranging from cinematic classics to modern favorites. Featuring moments of passion, sorrow, humor, and more, All Aboard! Trains on Film shows how station platforms, rail corridors, train compartments, and box cars are so often the backdrop for pivotal scenes in film. All Aboard! Trains on Film was directed by Tony Impavido, produced by Wendy Keys, and edited by Brian Angelotti.
7:30 pm – 8:00 pm on the High Line at 14th Street [Map]
Free / Open to the Public

Sunday, September 18: Elastic City: “Site Reading” Walk in Lower Manhattan
Composer/performer Pamela Z will lead participants on a walk that creates musical scores from the graphic features (micro and macro) of downtown Manhattan. Participants will form a roving experimental sound and performance ensemble that will interpret and play the neighborhood’s building facades, sidewalk hardware, public art and street markings to make a contrapuntal, chance-based chorus. This walk holds 12 people.
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm / 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm, meet at 60 Spring Street [Map]
$20 [Register for 2:30] [Register for 6:30]

Tuesday, September 20: US Premiere: Urbanized
Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, the third in a design trilogy that includes Helvetica and Objectified. The film looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Join director Gary Hustwit and special guests from the film for a preview screening, with a post-film discussion to follow.
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm & 8:30 pm – 10:00 pm at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 E Houston St, Manhattan [Map]
$20-$25 [Register]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *