01-09-2025
Living in the Shade: NYCHA Open Space Past, Present, and Future
Join us for Living in the Shade: NYCHA Open Space Past, Present, and Future. Co-curated by Matthias Altwicker and Nicholas Dagen Bloom, this exhibition in the FXCollaborative gallery highlights the significant role of open space in the daily lives of millions of public housing residents who have called NYCHA developments home since 1934.
The exhibition will run from January 9 - February 27, 2025. Viewing by appointment only. Please call 212-627-1700.
Visitors will trace the rise of this unique environment through large-scale annotated models of NYCHA developments, archival and contemporary photographs, renderings and site plans, and community testimonials and photographs.
Since its inception in 1934, NYCHA has distinguished itself from other American housing authorities by prioritizing landscape design, management, and public programs. NYCHA created verdant superblocks that, at their best, still offer natural beauty and abundant areas for play, community life, and relaxation. The exhibition will trace the evolution from the high-quality designs of the 1930s to the standardized, postwar superblock strategies. The show will examine how initial efforts to integrate nature into living environments evolved to meet residents' changing needs, particularly as active recreation and community programs became a priority in the 1950s and beyond.
Living in the Shade assesses the successes and failures of NYCHA's landscaping efforts, acknowledging that while many designs initially fell short, a renaissance in NYCHA spaces is underway. A new generation of residents, administrators, and designers has rediscovered NYCHA open spaces as sites for comprehensive renovation, city parks, modern playgrounds, murals and public art, resilience strategies, farming, and more.
Redesigned NYCHA open spaces promise a better life for public housing residents, their neighbors, and New York City.
Co-Curators
Matthias Altwicker is a practicing architect and Professor of Architecture at the New York Institute of Technology. Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, has written many books, including Public Housing That Worked. Together, they have a substantial exhibition and program development track record surrounding public housing, including co-curators of two previous exhibitions: Affordable Housing in New York at Hunter College (2015) and Housing Density at the Skyscraper Museum (2020), which was featured in The New York Times.
The exhibition will run from January 9 - February 27, 2025. Viewing by appointment only. Please call 212-627-1700.
Visitors will trace the rise of this unique environment through large-scale annotated models of NYCHA developments, archival and contemporary photographs, renderings and site plans, and community testimonials and photographs.
Since its inception in 1934, NYCHA has distinguished itself from other American housing authorities by prioritizing landscape design, management, and public programs. NYCHA created verdant superblocks that, at their best, still offer natural beauty and abundant areas for play, community life, and relaxation. The exhibition will trace the evolution from the high-quality designs of the 1930s to the standardized, postwar superblock strategies. The show will examine how initial efforts to integrate nature into living environments evolved to meet residents' changing needs, particularly as active recreation and community programs became a priority in the 1950s and beyond.
Living in the Shade assesses the successes and failures of NYCHA's landscaping efforts, acknowledging that while many designs initially fell short, a renaissance in NYCHA spaces is underway. A new generation of residents, administrators, and designers has rediscovered NYCHA open spaces as sites for comprehensive renovation, city parks, modern playgrounds, murals and public art, resilience strategies, farming, and more.
Redesigned NYCHA open spaces promise a better life for public housing residents, their neighbors, and New York City.
Co-Curators
Matthias Altwicker is a practicing architect and Professor of Architecture at the New York Institute of Technology. Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, has written many books, including Public Housing That Worked. Together, they have a substantial exhibition and program development track record surrounding public housing, including co-curators of two previous exhibitions: Affordable Housing in New York at Hunter College (2015) and Housing Density at the Skyscraper Museum (2020), which was featured in The New York Times.