Dear readers,
The dog days of summer are upon us. While the end of July and first weeks of August are slow and hot, the pandemic has upended our normal expectations for time, for the seasons. It feels less like a time unto itself. This moment feels very connected to the last two months of protests and organizing, but also like a period anticipating the unknown of this coming fall.
We’ve also been slow and our latest issue, number 13, finally went to press. You should find it in your physical mailboxes any day now. If you are not a subscriber yet, you can become one at nyra.nyc.
In this latest issue, we are excited to share two articles that explore the relationship between architecture and the carceral state. Sben Korsh’s article, “Brutality,” analyzes recent interest in Brutalist architecture by academics and experts. Their attention to form, Korsh argues, is often willfully blind to the way everyday people—especially people of color—perceive and are affected by imposing concrete structures, many built as schools, prisons, and symbols of state power in the 1970s. Likewise, Mark Talbot’s article, “Policing Aesthetics,” contextualizes the new design for the 40th Precinct Police Station in the Bronx. The building, whose form harkens back to the blockiest of concrete masses rendered in the heydey of 70s Brutalism, is a product of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). What does the look of this building say about the NYPD’s relationship to the city it patrols?
Also in the upcoming issue, you’ll find a unique edition of Skyline that records the chronology of many of the open letters sent to universities, schools of architecture, and institutions calling for diversity and racial inclusion. These open letters coincided with political organizing that followed the murder of George Floyd, protests against police brutality, and calls for anti-racist policies in the United States.
Nevertheless, while we’re taking a break and will not publish a print issue in August, our next issue, number 14, will be released in September. We’d love to receive your letters, comments and pitches for new articles. The New York Review of Architecture is particularly interested in publishing articles by writers and designers whose racial and gender identities have been underrepresented within the discipline of architecture and within the design professions. Email editor@nyra.nyc to contribute.
Here are a couple themes and ideas:
A recent article on Common Edge, “Is Architectural Licensing Necessary?” compares the United States’ architectural licencing system to other countries. In light of the profession’s continued gender and racial disparities, is it time to abolish licensing and rebuild architectural practice from scratch?
Also, as architects organize and challenge the status quo within our discipline we welcome articles that further research and analysis of the carceral state. What has become of Perkins Eastman’s study on Borough-Based Jails? How has the conversation about closing the infamous Rikers Island developed with broader support for abolition?
Finally, while things are slow, there are actually some events this week! Email skyline@nyra.nyc to write up an event for our column, Skyline.
On Monday: GSAPP’s Thomas de Monchaux delivers the presentation Greater Than the Sum of its Parts: A Shared History of Collaboration on Zoom.
On Tuesday: The New York Architectural League presents a lecture by Joel Sanders and Seb Choe called Body Politics: Social Equity and Inclusive Public Space
On Wednesday: The New York Historical Society: Treasures from the Library: The Origins of Central Park and the Architectural League: Panel Discussion: Social Distance, Health, and Inclusive Public Space
On Thursday: The New York Architectural League presents an event in collaboration with us (the Review) called New Grounds for Design Education, in which Sanjive Vaidya, the Chair of the Department of Architectural Technology at CityTech (CUNY) will moderate a discussion of open letters on diversity, inclusion and anti-racism including organizers from Taubman, UVA, Yale, GSAPP, GSD, Rice, Cooper Union, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, UCLA & UPenn.
On Friday: Join The Society of Architectural Historians for Celebrate the Book: Race and Modern Architecture. This book launch will feature Irene Cheng, Charles L. Davis II, and Mabel O. Wilson for a conversation about their new edited volume, Race and Modern Architecture: A Critical History from the Enlightenment to the Present (2020), moderated by Patricia A. Morton.
You can find these and more events on our website, nyra.nyc.
A special note about our event this Thursday, New Grounds for Design Education: We’d like to thank all the participants who will be discussing their anti-racist organizing and the process of drafting open letters to architecture schools and institutions. You can rsvp here.
The event will feature organizers from Taubman, UVA, Yale, GSAPP, GSD, Rice, Cooper Union, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, UCLA & UPenn.
The organizers include:, Emily Ebersol, Lexi Tsien, Alice Chai, Ian Svilokos, Jeremy Benson, Breanne Taylor, Allison Shawn Conley (GSAPP), A.L. Hu (GSAPP), Aldo Cherdabayev (GSAPP), David Isaac Hecht (GSAPP), Sanjana Lahiri (Cooper Union), Alice Petrosova (Cooper Union). My-Anh Nguyen (NOMA), Kami Beckford, Tya Winn, NOMA, LEED Green Associate, SEED (alumna) and DJ Butler, NOMA (Syracuse student- NOMAS President), Aria Hill (NOMAS at Virginia Tech President)
Organizations include: Student DEI committee at Syracuse, the NOMAS chapter at Syracuse, GAGA (GSAPP Alumni Group for Action)
We hope you can attend the event this Thursday and we’d love to hear from you with your thoughts on our publication, ideas for articles or pitches for reviews of buildings, spaces, and landscapes (old and new).
Stay safe,
Dante
P.S. Check out Design Yard Sale's ongoing auctions. 100% of proceeds go to two great organizations working to confront anti-Black racism, Colloqate and the Bail Project. The New York Review of Architecture donated a risograph print from our first-ever fundraising edition. The print is an unrolled elevation drawing of Reiser + Umemoto’s iconic O-14 tower in Dubai, completed in 2006, and is signed and numbered by the architects in an edition of 35. You can bid on the work starting July 27. And if you're outbid, don't fret — we'll hold a limited sale of the remaining prints later this summer.