Last week, MAS lost a friend and long-time collaborator with the sudden death of event designer Robert Isabell.

Since 1983, when then Chairman Stephen Swid introduced him to MAS to work on a dinner at the Four Seasons honoring Philip Johnson, Robert designed all but one of MAS’s annual galas. “The one time we tried another designer, the party was terrible,” said Mr. Swid, “The next year we went back to Robert, and never stopped using him. He was the one of the most creative event designers New York has seen.”

In partnership with Robert, MAS established a tradition of holding its benefit every year in an unusual and unique venue — a practice which, without him, we could never have successfully carried out. Together with Robert, MAS could pursue sites as distinctive as the top floor of the then unoccupied McGraw Hill building when we honored Hell’s Kitchen native Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1992. Continue Reading>>

Architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable was born and raised in New York City. She attended good schools, but believes that “being in New York was the education.” In 1963, Ms. Huxtable became the first architecture critic at The New York Times (indeed, the first architecture critic at any daily newspaper in the United States). She won the first Pulitzer Prize for criticism and was a MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Above all, she is a writer who knows what she thinks and says it.

Members of the Municipal Art Society and the Architectural League of New York are invited to join Ms. Huxtable and MAS President Emeritus Kent Barwick on Wednesday, January 21, at 7:00 p.m., for what will doubtless be a fascinating conversation between two of the city’s most eloquent voices in the fields of architecture and urban planning.

Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.

Departing MAS President Kent Barwick was awarded the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal at the MAS Gala Benefit earlier this month in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the city of New York. Held in a clear tent on the plaza of the iconic Seagram Building on Park Avenue and surrounded by some of New York’s most important buildings, a series of guests, including New York Governor David Paterson and a chorus line of former Rockettes, toasted Mr. Barwick and his excellence in leading the Municipal Art Society. Click on the ‘play’ icon above to watch a slideshow of the event. [All photos: Steven Tucker]

To celebrate their 100th Issue, Architect’s Newspaper asked the leaders of the New York architecture and development community what their favorite buildings of the recent past are. MAS President Kent Barwick pointed out the simple but immensely popular Apple Store cube on Fifth Avenue in the plaza of the General Motors Building, for “[giving] back what is so often missing from buildings of that period – people.”

In other news, the Triborough Bridge is officially being named after Robert F. Kennedy next week spurring the need to change hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of road signage. Continue Reading>>

For 58 years now, the Municipal Art Society has honored a New Yorker who has made an outstanding contribution to the city of New York. Starting in 1950, this great honor has been bestowed upon an impressive list of personalities including legendary architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable (1982), Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., (1991), William (father of Wallace and New Yorker writer) Shawn, Philip Johnson (1983), Senator Moynihan in 1992, and for the revival of Tribeca, Robert DeNiro and Margot Gayle in 1997 and (dare we say it?) Robert Moses in 1959.

But the magic of the evening comes in our steadfast and stubborn refusal to hold the event in a hotel ballroom. We pick, every year, a place in New York that is architecturally or historically fascinating. We’ve held the event on an empty floor of the Raymond Hood’s 1931 Art Deco masterpiece, the McGraw Hill building, with candlelight and stunning views. Or, how about our 2001 dinner at Gordon Bunschaft’s late Modernist skyscraper Lever House? Or, in 2006 at the-then partially restored, but still magnificently decorated, Park Avenue Armory.

This year is no exception. This Tuesday evening, MAS supporters will enjoy cocktails at the Four Seasons, then dine under a clear tent on the plaza of the extraordinary Seagram Building which celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Continue Reading>>

At the Annual Benefit on November 11, with great pride and shared gratitude, MAS will present its highest honor to our President Kent Barwick who, after almost 40 years of service, steps down as president of MAS at year end.

Kent Barwick has been the soul of the Municipal Art Society for almost four decades, leading the charge to save Grand Central, Radio City Music Hall, Lever House, St. Bartholomew’s Church, to name just a few of his accomplishments. In some of his boldest strokes, Kent stopped the plan for a massive tower that would have cast shadows across Central Park, and prevented a potentially disastrous rezoning of Times Square that would have extinguished its celebrated bright lights. He is an outspoken and passionate advocate for a magnificent new Moynihan Station, for a revitalized waterfront and, most importantly, for engaging citizens in the shaping of their city. Continue Reading>>

Last Saturday, at an award reception at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens received the 2008 Brendan Gill Prize from MAS for his multimedia musical composition The BQE. Mr. Stevens’ “symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City’s infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway” was selected by the Brendan Gill jury for “capturing the energy, vigor, and verve of our incomparable city.”

Above is a brief slideshow of the evening, attended by MAS members and patrons. To join the Municipal Art Society, click here.

A select group of MAS donors gathered last night on the roof of the Battery Park Parking Garage where Tribute in Light is installed to watch the illumination up-close. Architect’s Newspaper reports from the roof, where MAS Chairman Philip Howard, President Kent Barwick, and Senior Vice-President Frank Sanchis spoke describing MAS’ role in bringing Tribute in Light about both initially and now annually. Representatives of Space Cannon Italia, producers of the 7000watt xenon-bulb lamps, then described how the lights work and are arranged and focused to produce the strongest beams of light ever aimed from Earth into the sky.

For more details about the lights themselves, click here to watch a short video, or here to read a FOX news report on the technology that produces this remarkable sculpture in light.

To add to yesterday’s news coverage that the residential population of lower Manhattan is growing since September 11, 2001, a new study reported in Crain’s New York Business today shows that the amount of public space is shrinking dramatically.

In other news, the number of visitors to Governors Island has almost doubled this year. Continue Reading>>

MAS President Kent Barwick released a statement yesterday urging the City to save Astroland; the amusement park announced yesterday that it will close forever this Sunday, unable to negotiate an extension on their lease with Thor Equities (New York Times; New York Post; Bloomberg.com).

The MASterwork award winning Diane von Furstenberg Studio Headquarters boasts one of the most spectacular and technologically advanced skylights in the city (New York Sun)

In other news, the final hearing of the State Economic Development Corporation yesterday on the proposed Columbia University expansion again revealed the opposition between local business owners and the local development corporation Continue Reading>>

The Municipal Art Society recently named Vin Cipolla, a nationally recognized leader in the preservation, arts and business communities, as the new President of the organization. Mr. Cipolla will assume his position with MAS in January 2009. He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Park Foundation and was formerly Executive Vice President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the country’s largest historic preservation organization. Mr. Cipolla will succeed Kent Barwick, current president of MAS.

“We are excited to welcome Mr. Cipolla to lead MAS as it enters a new period of growth and influence in New York City,” said MAS Chairman Philip Howard. “His outstanding expertise in both the private and public sectors will be critical to our efforts to promote good development while preserving the city’s character.” Continue Reading>>