NYC’s annual festival of architecture and design
October 1–31, 2019
New York City’s ninth-annual Archtober, a month-long celebration of architecture and design, is set to take place October 1-31, 2019. Organized by the Center for Architecture in collaboration with 80+ partners and sponsors, the 2019 installment of the festival gathers events ranging from daily building tours and lectures by design experts, to architecture-themed competitions and parties.
This year, Archtober is excited to announce two new partnerships. The festival will be joined by NYC’s three public library systems—Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Public Library—to highlight their work as active community centers and reach even broader audiences across the five boroughs. Check in regularly to see our expanding library programs, which will include tours, panel discussions on new library construction and the future of libraries, and special architecture-focused story time! Also new this year are the festival’s Weekend Getaway partners, which offer audiences opportunities to enjoy the architecture amidst the fall foliage. This year’s partners include the Glass House, Grace Farms Foundation, and Art Omi.
The festival’s popular Building of the Day series of architect-led walking tours continues, with an exciting line-up of 29 contemporary and iconic buildings to be released in early September. The “Workplace Wednesdays” series also returns with Deborah Berke Partners, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, Ennead Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Thomas Phifer and Partners. Each week, one of these firms will invite the public to their offices for a special behind-the-scenes tour and workshop, talk, or presentation.
“Now in its ninth year, Archtober looks forward to showcasing the work of more of our collaborators than ever before! We are excited for our growing network of partners, both institutional and professional, to be bolstered by the addition of NYC’s library systems, allowing us to reach an even broader audience across the five boroughs,” says Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director of AIA New York and the Center for Architecture. “The festival will also expand beyond the bounds of the city, highlighting some of the unique architecture of our region, just a short train or car ride away.”
From lectures to film screenings and design workshops, Archtober partner events run the length of the month. “National Design Week,” put on by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum returns once again, along with the celebrated Architecture and Design Film Festival. The Municipal Art Society will host its the “2019 Summit for New York City,” which will focus on the economic, environmental, social, and public health impacts of light and air. From October 16-20, Brooklyn welcomes the National Organization of Minority Architects’ annual conference, “NOMA ’19: Believe the Hype.” And don’t miss Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s “Responding to Wright: Architects Design for the Guggenheim,” featuring talks by several architects who have designed exhibitions within the iconic space.
Opportunities for touring NYC’s architecture go beyond Building of the Day. Open House New York Weekend will provide unparalleled access to sites across the city. Don’t miss additional tours throughout the month by the Historic House Trust of NYC, the South Street Seaport Museum, the Museum at Eldridge Street, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Untapped Cities, and more! And to see the city from the water’s edge, join Classic Harbor Line, in partnership with AIA New York, for daily architecture boat tours. New offerings include a “Architecture and the Lights of Gotham” nighttime tour of our city’s lit up skyline.
Archtober invites audiences of all ages to celebrate the impact of design. This year, the festival offers an expanded offering of family programming, from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s Teen Design Fair, a family program at the Museum at Eldridge Street, the Queens Foundation for Architecture’s “Architecture for Kids” event at the Queens Historical Society. The Center for Architecture has also grown their family offerings for the month, which will include a “Build a LEGO City” Family Day and a “Build and Wear” Halloween costume workshop.
The Center for Architecture will also host a series of festive, Archtober-branded events for all. During “Pumpkitecture,” 20 architecture firms will carve pumpkins into architectural works to win the Pritzkerpumpkin. At Trivia Night, organized with Curbed New York, experts will try to stump the audience with questions about architecture, design, and NYC’s built environment. Prizes and bragging rights abound!
Archtober guides will be available at the Center for Architecture, our publicly facing institutional partners, and at select hotels and bookstores across the city. Looking for a book recommendation? Curated shelves, with book selections by Archtober partners, will be up at McNally Jackson and Rizzoli Bookstore.
Visit our website, archtober.org, to see our lineup of events.
Institutional Partners
AIA New York / The Architectural League of New York / Architecture and Design Film Festival / Art Omi / Austrian Cultural Forum New York / Bard Graduate Center / Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation / Brooklyn Botanic Garden / Brooklyn Children’s Museum / The Brooklyn Heights Association / Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 / Brooklyn Public Library / Building Energy Exchange / Center for Architecture / City College of New York, Spitzer School of Architecture / Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum / Culture Now / Danish Cleantech Hub / DOCOMOMO New York Tri-State / Finnish Cultural Institute in New York / Ford Foundation / Four Freedoms Park Conservancy / Fraunces Tavern Museum / General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the USA / The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York / The Glass House / Grace Farms Foundation / Hispanic Society of America / Historic House Trust of NYC / The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, The Cooper Union / Japan Society / Judd Foundation / Met Breuer / Municipal Art Society of New York / Museum of the City of New York / Museum at Eldridge Street / Museum of Modern Art / New York Botanical Garden / New York Institute of Technology / New York Landmarks Conservancy / New York Passive House / New York Public Library / New York School of Interior Design / nycobaNOMA / NYU M.A. in Historical and Sustainable Architecture / Open House New York / Pratt Institute / Prospect Part Alliance / Queens Foundation for Architecture / Queens Public Library / The School of Constructed Environments at Parsons School of Design / Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons School of Design / Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / South Street Seaport Museum / Statue of Liberty Museum / Syracuse University / Tenement Museum / UN-Habitat / Urban Archive / Urban Democracy Lab at NYU Gallatin / Urban Green Council / Van Alen Institute / Vilcek Foundaton / Villlage Alliance / Village Preservation / Wave Hill
Professional Partners
A/D/O / Bespoke Careers / Classic Harbor Line / Cosentino / Edison Price Lighting / Freebird Books / Havwoods / The Lit. Bar / McNally Jackson / Phaidon / Rizzoli Bookstore / Tra Publishing / USM
