In his second book exploring the urban vernacular of Queens, Rafael Herrin-Ferri shifts his focus to the green spaces that accompany the houses and small multi-family buildings of the "World’s Borough." As varied and colorful as the façades featured in All the Queens Houses, these spaces introduce an organic, botanical element to the streetscape.
Semi-formal lawns in the French and Italian traditions sit cheek by jowl with the improvised arbors of Chinese vegetable gardens, Caribbean-inspired flower gardens, brightly colored Hindu courtyards, elaborate handcrafted water features, life- size replicas of fauna, and countless other displays of idiosyncrasy and cultural diversity. Through its photographs and text, this book paints another portrait—softer and greener this time—of the dynamic and multicultural landscape that is Queens, New York.
About Rafael Herrin-Ferri:
Rafael Herrin-Ferri was born in Barcelona to Spanish and American parents in 1972. He was raised in Ithaca, NY, from the age of 7 with intermittent schooling in Valencia and Seville. He attended the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University, graduating in 1996.
After working at several architectural firms in San Francisco and Barcelona, including an internship with Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT), he returned to New York City in 2003. He has continued to work as a professional architect in various award-winning studios based in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In 2013, he began to study the various facets of the Queens urban vernacular via photography. In 2017, he exhibited a large selection of his photographs at The Architectural League of New York. Four years later, he published his first book: All the Queens Houses: An Architectural Portrait of New York’s Largest and Most Diverse Borough(Jovis, 2021), to critical acclaim. After another four years, the companion book, All the Queens Gardens: Everyday Landscaping in New York’s Largest and Most Diverse Borough (Jovis, 2025) was published. Also in 2025, a short documentary titled All the Queens Houses, by Sean Mowry, premiered at the DOC NYC film festival. Rafael lives in the multicultural capital of Queens (Jackson Heights), with his wife, daughter, and Boston Terrier.
Click on the pink “Book Here” button to book this event for free!
I registered already, how do I join the event?
After signing up for the event, you will receive an email with a link from Zoom. Simply click on this link to join the event! Please check your junk mail if you can’t find your Zoom link.
I missed the event, can I watch the replay?
Yes, you can! All registrants will receive an email with a link to watch the recording within 2 days of it airing live. You can also stream the recording in our on-demand video archive (accessible to members at the Fan tier and higher), along with 300+ other past webinars!
This post contains affiliate links, which means Untapped New York earns a commission. There is no extra cost to you and the commissions earned help support our mission of independent journalism!
