Winter 2020 — AIA New York

Center for Architecture galleries will close early at 6pm on Wednesday, November 13 for a special event. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Please join us another time!

Oculus Winter 2020 Cover 2500px

Winter 2020: Accessibility and the City

A Publication of the AIA New York Chapter, Vol. 82, Number 1

Cover: The Robert W. Wilson Overlook, designed by WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, is a new immersive landscape formed from a previously undeveloped 1.25-acre portion of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It features an accessible design that allows visitors to wind slowly upward, taking in views of the garden’s Cherry Esplanade and surrounding areas. Photo: Michael Stewart/Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Table of Contents

News & Articles

Letter from the President

Charting NYC 2020

by Hayes Slade, AIA, and Kim Yao, AIA

Letter from the Editor

Accessible Design for All

by Jennifer Krichels, Winter Issue Guest Editor, editor@aiany.org

Contributors

Beyond the Center

On View: Design for Different Futures at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

At the Center

On view: Single-Story Project and Cairo Modern

Hunters Point Library, Queens. Photo: Steven Holl Architects.

Accessibility by the Book: The Case of Hunters Point Library

by Stephen Zacks

In Print

Wright and New York: The Making of America’s Architect

by Stanley Stark, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP

Index to Advertisers

Winter 2020

Letter from the Executive Director

Access 2020

by Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA

Features

The renovation of the Ford Foundation in 2019 included a tactile sidewalk at the 43rd Street entrance along with the addition of doors large enough for wheelchairs. Photo: Garrett Rowland/Gensler.

The Trouble With Accessibility

People with disabilities are often treated as passive and reluctant to participate. The opposite is true.

by Peter Slatin

Wayfinding, part of the accessible station lab at Jay St-MetroTech on Thu., October 10, 2019. Photo: Marc A. Hermann/MTA New York City Transit.

Alex Elegudin’s Daunting Task: Making the Subway Accessible

James S. Russell, FAIA, speaks with NYC Transit accessibility advisor Alex Elegudin.

by James S. Russell

Magnusson Architecture and Planning recently completed renovation of Selis Manor, an apartment building opened in 1980 for blind and visually impaired residents. Photo: Courtesy of Magnusson Architecture and Planning.

The Comforts of Home

The research behind designing residences and hotels for those with disabilities.

by Fred Bernstein

The ticketing lobby along the ground-floor West Connector, westward view, with electronic ticketing kiosks and seating. The blackened steel is inspired by the Taniguchi-designed stainless-steel portals and marks the passage between old and new galleries, such as the David Geffen Wing, part of the new western expansion passing through the 53 West 53rd Street building designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Photo: Iwan Baan/Gensler.

A MoMA That Invites Everybody In

How DS+R reinvented one of the city’s premier art institutions into a fine-tuned machine for viewing, listening, and thinking.

by Bill Millard

New York-based design studio Brandt:Haferd's concept for an intergenerational residence won the North Coast Community Homes #ZeroThreshold Design Competition in September 2019. Photo: Courtesy of Brandt:Haferd.

As more and more architecture firms establish best practices surrounding accessibility, new and on-the-board projects find innovative ways to support people of all abilities.

OP-ED

Accessible Architecture Goes Beyond the Physical

My daughter is growing out of her stroller now, but when I...

by Will Wong, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Spacesmith

Oculus at US Modernist Library

View a digital archive of back issues from Oculus, and other publications

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