Untapped Cities Behind the Scenes NYC Tours and Events: October 21st – October 27th, 2019
From special events by the city’s leading cultural institutions, to uncovering the secrets of New York City’s most iconic sites, Untapped Cities brings you exciting new behind-the-scenes experiences every week. This week, watch architecture firms compete for the top prize at a live pumpkin carving event, discover new public art on a walk through Hudson Square, meet a founding principal architect at the offices of his firm, and more!
Tuesday, October 22nd
Tour the Studio of Lang Architects with Founding Principal Drew Lang
Hudson Woods, Courtesy of Lang Architecture
Go inside the studio of Lang Architecture to see the work that goes into their stylish designs. Untapped Cities Insiders will get to tour the firm’s Lower Manhattan office space with founding Principal Drew Lang. Lang will share with Insiders a presentation of behind-the-design information on recent projects including Hudson Woods, a development of twenty-six sustainably designed homes in the forest of New York’s Catskills region, Splinter Creek in Mississippi and a New York City townhouse renovation. Through this presentation and Q&A with Drew Lang, Insiders will learn how the firm achieves their mission of “connected design — holistically uniting place, purpose and experience to elevate daily life.” You can join this tour for free if you are an Untapped Cities Insider! Not a member yet? Become an Insider today to gain free access to behind-the-scenes tours and special events all year long!
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Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Learn about the secrets of one of NYC’s most iconic buildings
- See Grand Central’s hidden tennis courts
- Peek into the entrance of the glass walkways
- Learn about the design flaw as large as Grand Central Terminal‘s main atrium
- Discover a multi-million dollars jewel hidden in plain sight and more!
Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal
Wednesday, October 23rd
Secrets from Below: Underground Tour of the NYC Subway!
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Explore City Hall Park as the birthplace of the NYC subway system, including elements of the famed, decommissioned City Hall Station you can see right in the park
- Learn about the comically short route of the mythical “Subway before the Subway,” Alfred Ely Beach’s Pneumatic Transit System
- See the architectural ghosts of the now nearly forgotten, and partially abandoned, Chambers Street station then nicknamed the “Grand Central of Downtown”
- Use the 6 train as your own time machine as you ride through abandoned subway stations
- Discover the remnants of Union Station as you learn about a hidden art installation thousands of riders walk by everyday
Underground Tour of the NYC Subway
Hudson Square Canvas Walking Tour: Public Art and Placemaking on Varick Street
Ryan Muir for the Hudson Square BID, © 2019
Untapped Cities readers are invited to take an art walk along Hudson Square BID’s new public art initiative, Hudson Square Canvas on Varick Street. Featuring five original artworks by four artists, this public urban art gallery highlights Hudson Square’s grand architecture and creative energy. The tour will discuss the artwork as well as the unique challenges and purpose of creating art in the public realm, and how public art lends itself to a neighborhood wide place-making initiative. The tour will be led by a member of Hudson Square BID staff. You can explore the canvases through this digital map. On the tour, guests are encouraged to look for the blue squares on the street for photo opportunities and post your experiences to social #hudsonsquarecanvas
Hudson Square is an energizing and vibrant neighborhood of digital wizards, brilliant broadcasters, talented trendsetters, serious scientists and global brand beacons. It is where ambition meets action. Purpose-built and on a human scale, Hudson Square is engaging, inventive, industrious and vibrant. Since 2009, the Hudson Square Business Improvement District (BID) has brought the creative energy from inside our neighborhood’s buildings out onto the streets with the creation of our innovative outdoor spaces and community programs. This tour is free!
Hudson Square Canvas Walking Tour: Public Art and Placemaking on Varick Street
Urban Renewal in the Suburban Age: The Struggle to Redefine the American City
Attend the talk Urban Renewal in the Suburban Age: The Struggle to Redefine the American City at the Brooklyn Historical Society to explore how cities changed after WWII. Trace the complicated history of efforts to reimagine cities in the face of an increasingly suburban landscape in the decades following World War II through the lens of the life of famed urban planner Edward Logue. Harvard professor Lizabeth Cohen, who looks at this pivotal moment in urban history in her book, Saving America’s Cities, is led in conversation by Columbia University’s Kenneth Jackson. The story of Logue’s clashes with the likes of both Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs to bring renewal projects to fruition highlights the complexity of creating vibrant, equitable cities. You can join this event for free if you are an Untapped Cities Insider! Not a member yet? Become an Insider today to gain free access to behind-the-scenes tours and special events all year long!
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Friday, October 25th
Pumpkitecture! Architectural Pumpkin Carving Competition
Photograph by Dan Cole, Courtesy of the Center for Architecture
Start off your Halloween weekend at the Center for Architecture’s third annual Pumpkitecture! competition! 20 New York City-based firms will go gourd to gourd to once again compete for the Pritzkerpumpkin. Come witness architects live-carve extraordinary structures and vote for the People’s Pumpkin.Who will squash the competition? Who will summon the Brutal ghost of Marcel Booeuer and invoke the spirit of Michael Gravesyard? Will the Crowned Curibita be inspired by Frank-o-Lloyd Wright’s Guggengourd? See for yourself at Pumpkitecture! Festive food and beverages included. You can join this event for free if you are an Untapped Cities Insider! Not a member yet? Become an Insider today to gain free access to behind-the-scenes tours and special events all year long!
DATE: Friday, October 25th, 2019, 6:00PM-8:30PM
PRICE: FREE for Untapped Cities Insiders! ($15 for the general public)
CAPACITY: 10 guests. Spots allocated on a first come, first served basis.
REGISTRATION: Opens Friday, October 11th, 2019 at 12PM EST
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Saturday, October 26th
Secrets from Below: Underground Tour of the NYC Subway!
Take a ride through the living history of the world’s largest rapid transit system (in area) by weaving in and out of the past and present transit hubs of lower Manhattan. This unique tour is designed to give a comprehensive history of the NYC Subway system, from its groundbreaking in 1901 up through the creation of the three different proprietary lines which were unified into the system we know today. We’ll uncover information and learn about spaces even the most seasoned commuter might not know about.
Underground Tour of the NYC Subway
See our full list of upcoming tours and Insider events!