Growing out of the popular exhibit Unpacking My Library that looks at the book collections of some of the most influential architects working today is the new accompanying book Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books. Join moderator Barry Bergdoll, the Philip Johnson chief curator of design at MoMA, next Tuesday, December 8, at MAS, for the launch of this book and a fascinating discussion among renowned architects Stan Allen, Billie Tsien, Bernard Tschumi, and Tod Williams about their personal book collections and the importance of them to their careers.

Unpacking My Library is a publication of Urban Center Books, the MAS bookstore, and is published by Yale University Library. It is on sale now in the bookstore and copies are also available online at www.urbancenterbooks.org.

The exhibit Unpacking My Library is on display at MAS now through mid-January. For more information and gallery hours, click here.

Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books
Tuesday, December 8, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at MAS
$15, $10 MAS members. Reservations and pre-payment recommended. Purchase tickets online or call 212 935 2075. MAP.

Dr. Dickson Despommier, panelist at the upcoming 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum Re-Imagining New York: Designing Urban Farms to Feed our City, recently spoke to Tamara Coombs of MAS about why he sees urban “vertical farms” as key to the future, not just of cities, but of the planet.

Ten years ago, Columbia University microbiology professor Despommier began investigating different approaches to agriculture that would feed the additional 3 billion people that are estimated to be born in the next 50 years. This research project, which he conducted with the help of his students, has grown into a popular website The Vertical Farm Project, an op-ed in The New York Times and a new book coming out next year, and garnered attention from municipalities (Newark, NJ), architecture and engineering companies, and the Obama administration along the way. Continue Reading>>

Ahead of the upcoming 2nd Annual Jane Jacobs Forum — which encourages New Yorkers to re-imagine their city with urban farms, MAS’ Tamara Coombs and forum panelist and greenhouse director at Gotham Greens Jennifer Nelkin, discussed the prospects of developing commercial-scale agriculture in New York City and how to grow fresh produce at the South Pole.

Join us at the Jane Jacobs Forum on November 3 to delve into the economic development and urban design implications of the fundamental question: Can New York, a city with a growing population and shrinking acreage, eventually grow enough food within its boundaries to become self-sufficient?

Moderator Neal Peirce of the Washington Post, will be joined by Ms. Nelkin and other expert panelists including, microbiology Professor Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, landscape designer Dan Albert of Weber Thompson architects in Seattle, Colin Cathcart of Kiss + Cathcart architects in Brooklyn, environmental studies Professor Nevin Cohen of The New School, and Ian Marvy executive director of Added Value in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The Jane Jacobs Forum is sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Related to the forum is the exhibition Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil — currently on display at MAS through Friday, December 4. Visit MAS.org/exhibitions for more details.

There was a time in New York when the appointment of a young person to a community board made the headlines (or close to it). That was back in 1977, when the word “planning” was still a part of the term to describe the 50-member, unsalaried community boards that represent the city’s 59 districts (there were 62 boards in 1977). Current Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is a case in point. His commitment to public service spans three decades. Appointed to Manhattan Community Board 12 (Washington Heights/Inwood) at the age of 16, Stringer learned the value of public participation and community involvement at an early age.

In a 1977 interview with the New York Times, a then-teenaged Stringer already had ideas for his community: “My board could be supportive of after-school programs and at least get a committee going — go into schools and organize activities like escort service for old people, cleaning up the parks and all sorts of things (sic).” Continue Reading>>

Last Wednesday, MAS hosted an all-star panel of park designers, administrators, and other experts to discuss the latest on some of New York’s most exciting park projects. The projects ranged in scale from small — the new Concrete Park Project in the South Bronx — to extremely large — Fresh Kills in Staten Island and Riverside South on the Upper West Side. The presentations and discussion focused on the challenge of developing sustainable parks on challenging sites in a time of economic uncertainty.

For those who were not able to make the event, we’ve put together a highlight of the Fresh Kills presentation – a project that, as its administrator Eloise Hirsh acknowledged, MAS was instrumental in making happen. For more information, visit www.mas.org/freshkills.

Join MAS President Vin Cipolla and an expert panel tonight for a fascinating discussion of the future of parks in New York City. The city’s parks system is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion that seeks to intertwine natural and designed environments, and the primary focus of this panel is a trio of exciting new parks that have been developed through a variety of innovative approaches in this regard.

Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx would never have been created without the hard work and thoughtful programming of the community; Riverside Park South offers 21st century design, telling references to the past, and private financing; and Freshkills Park, at two and a half times the size of Central Park, was a beautiful wetland that became a despised landfill, and is now being transformed into a place for play and pleasure.

Urban Parks in the Twenty-First Century: Creating a New Model

Wednesday, May 27, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society MAP
Tickets are $15, $10 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.
Moderator: Vin Cipolla, president, Municipal Art Society; vice chairman, National Park Foundation. Panelists: Eloise Hirsh, administrator, Freshkills Park, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation; Thomas Balsley, FASLA, founder and principal designer, Thomas Balsley Associates; Linda Cox, executive director, Bronx River Alliance; and Peter Harnik, director, Center for City Park Excellence, Trust for Public Land.

On Monday night, join world-renowned architects Peter Eisenman and Michael Graves for a discussion of their personal book collections and the books that have most influenced their work. Interviewed by MAS Chairman, David Childs, this is sure to be a lively conversation and is a rare opportunity to see and hear these influential architects in person.

The event kicks off Unpacking My Library, an exhibition by the MAS bookstore, Urban Center Books, of New York architects and their books. The first of ten in a series, the exhibition documents Peter Eisenman’s relationship with books by combining an interactive exhibit visually scanning the bookshelves, with a video interview, and more. With a different architect every month, the exhibition continues through 2010 with Michael Graves, Toshiko Mori, Stan Allen, Liz Diller and Ric Scofidio, Michael Sorkin, Henry Cobb, Steven Holl, Bernard Tschumi, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.
Support generously provided by Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown.

An Evening with Peter Eisenman and Michael Graves
Monday, May 4, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society of New York MAP
$25, $15 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075.

A few years ago, many believed that manufacturing was dead in New York City. But now it is widely understood that manufacturing jobs are critical to a diverse, decentralized, and healthy economy as well as to a greener New York. Manufacturing jobs are also good jobs, which pay $10,000 more per year than restaurant work or entry-level retail jobs. Plus, over 60% of manufacturing jobs come with health care coverage, unlike most restaurant and retail work.

Join us tomorrow night and listen to an outstanding panel discuss opportunities and challenges ahead from their varied perspectives.

Manufacturing a Greener New York: More Industries, More Jobs
Tomorrow Night – Tuesday, April 28, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Reception to follow.
At The Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, MAP.
Moderator: Adam Friedman, executive director, New York Industrial Retention Network. Panelists: Andrew Kimball, president and chief executive officer, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.; Omar Freilla, founder and director, Green Worker Cooperatives; Rebecca Lurie, director of development, Consortium for Worker Education; and Dawn Ladd, founder and president, Aurora Lampworks.

$15, $10 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212 935 2075.

Transforming America’s Cities: Creating a National Urban Policy, the first panel discussion in the MAS series The City in the Age of Obama, will take plan next Tuesday, April 21. About 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, yet for decaades the Federal government lacked a comprehensive approach to developing and implementing an effective strategy concerning urban America. In February, President Obama created the White House Office of Urban Affairs, now led by former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, to oversee all federal urban programs and integrate policies that link transportation, housing, economic development, energy and environmental issues. A panel of policymakers, academics and practitioners will discuss how stakeholders can capitalize on this opportunity to fundamentally rethink our federal urban policy and ensure that smart investments are made at the municipal level.

Vicki Been of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University, will moderate the panel. Speakers include Eugenie Birch, University of Pennsylvania; Christopher Jones, Regional Plan Association; Toni Griffin, City of Newark; Anthony Shorris, Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management. 

Tuesday, April 21, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society. $15, $10 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. 

Ahead of the panel discussion City of Art: New York’s Hidden Treasures Revealed which MAS is hosting on Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 pm., leading environmental artist George Trakas talked to Elizabeth Werbe of MAS about his recent public art work in New York City.

Widely acclaimed for numerous projects in North America and Western Europe over the past thirty years, Trakas has recently completed a major piece of work for the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn. Commissioned by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art program, his creation makes approximately 1,000 feet of shoreline accessible to the public. Continue Reading>>