AIA New York organizes several different walking tours throughout Manhattan and the boroughs, with a special focus on modern and contemporary architecture. Expert guides, all members of AIA New York, walk intimate groups of visitors through some of New York City’s most distinctive neighborhoods, exploring the city’s rich history and stunning new buildings, as well as creative examples of adaptive reuse, urban planning, and development.
Questions? Email [email protected].
Upcoming Walking Tours
Walking Tour: Mid-Century Modernism Along Manhattan’s 53rd Street
In-Person- General Public: $30
Meet at Greenacre Park, on the north side of E 51st St between Second and Third Avenues
Manhattan’s 53rd Street corridor, especially from Third Avenue to Sixth Avenue, is a benchmark for the development of NYC’s 1961 Zoning Resolution, a re-writing of the 1916 Zoning Regulation, the nation’s first comprehensive city zoning regulation. In addition to several of NYC’s iconic post-WWII buildings, such as the Lever House and CBS Building, is the creation of “heroic” open public space—the wide-open Seagram Building plaza to the intimate enclosure of the Paley “Vest Pocket” Park. While 53rd Street is primarily a commercial corridor, one finds high-rise and low-rise residential, a house of worship, an iconic hotel, and a globally recognized cultural institution. The underlying theme of the walk will be the post-WWII development of modern urbanism in NYC as demonstrated in the transition from the 1916 Zoning Resolution to respond to a post-WWII economic boom, the development of modern, high-rise office buildings with open office plans, and the increased use of the automobile. The 1961 Zoning Resolution coordinated use and bulk regulations, incorporated parking requirements, and emphasized the creation of open space.
AIANY Guide: William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + D
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AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 19 attendees. A personal audio system will be in use for this tour. To insure each guest will receive a device, please arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to the start time. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Cancellation Policy:
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.
Walking Tour: Modern and Contemporary Architecture on Roosevelt Island
In-Person- General Public: $30
Meet in front of the entrance to the Church of the Good Shepherd 15 minutes prior to tour start time.
This tour will begin with Nelson Rockefeller’s ambitious efforts to redevelop the island, previously occupied by institutions, such as the New York City Lunatic Asylum serving the city’s sick and destitute, into a mixed-income largely car-free “New Town in Town” following a master plan prepared in 1969 by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. While that plan was only partially completed due to the fiscal crisis of 1975, many buildings were designed by leading Modern architects of the day: John Johansen, Josep Lluís Sert, and Kallman & McKinnell.
Four decades later, Cornell Tech, a new graduate campus of Cornell University, opened in 2017 with bold design and exceptional energy efficiency. When completed, The House, designed by Handel Architects, was the tallest and largest building ever built to the demanding Passive House Standard. Other highlights include the restored Blackwell farmhouse and Good Shepherd Chapel, James Renwick’s Smallpox Hospital ruins, and the Eastwood Apartment Complex. Finally, at the island’s southern tip, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Memorial, designed by Lou Kahn in 1973 and finally realized in 2012.
AIANY Guide: John Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA
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Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Cancellation Policy:
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.
Walking Tour: Contemporary Architecture and Historic Landmarks in NoHo
AIANY Member: $25
Meet at the South Facade of the Cooper Union Foundation Building at 7 East 7th Street, between Cooper Square and The Bowery. Please arrive 15 minutes before the start of the tour.
The rich and diverse architectural context of NoHo’s Historic Districts continues to inspire innovative contemporary design. The highly crafted execution of many of the recent buildings in the neighborhood shows reverence for earlier masterworks. Tour highlights include Morphosis’ Cooper Union Engineering Building, Herzog & de Meuron’s 40 Bond Street, DDG Partners’ 41 Bond Street, and Selldorf Architects' 10 Bond Street. Also encountered is a fine group of 19th-century landmarks, including the Cooper Union Foundation Building, Astor Library (now the Public Theater), and the De Vinne Press, all of which grappled to find the appropriate architectural language for taller buildings so clearly illustrated by Louis Sullivan’s Bayard-Condict Building’s dominant vertical expression. Along the route, a discussion of technological and stylistic breakthroughs, including the transition from masonry load bearing to steel frame construction and the appearance of more varied cladding materials, will stitch the tour’s sites together.
AIANY Guide: Alex McLean, AIA
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Cancellation Policy:
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.
Policies
AIANY Walking tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.
Accessibility
Please note that AIANY walking tours are not ADA accessible. However, since accessibility requirements can vary from person to person, please email [email protected] prior to purchasing your tickets for more information.