How do we educate the public about what we do?
How do we explain architecture?
First, we must educate the public about the value of design. They need to know why we build what we do where we do so that they can be better participants in the design process. We should be providing the narrative and overlaying the physical reality of place with its cultural heritage and archeology. We could begin to showcase our work by creating a virtual museum of America’s best buildings. Many of them are our design award winners.
Abby Suckle served as AIA NY Vice President for Outreach from 2010-2012. What were some of her initiatives?
Archtober
2011 - 2021 Archtober, New York City’s Architecture and Design Month was conceived as a citywide festival celebrating architecture and design with the AIA as the lead organization. All of the museums, cultural institutions and organizations participating coordinate their activities, programs, and exhibitions and marketing punctuated by events like the Architectural Film Festival and Open House New York. There are special features such as the buildings of the day which highlight something new or relevant in the city. Abby has also put the app together and created the digital content.
Statistics. Over the past 10 years, there have been 100,000 visitors a year, 700 events and 100 partners.
In 2020 they began scaling the festival and expanded beyond New York City.
Architecture Boat Tour of New York
New York City has 524 miles of coastline which has been transformed from an industrial zone into a residential and recreational. Abby initiated the tours in the summer of 2010 in order to celebrate the city’s changing waterfront. She ran an internship program to create the map. She was also involved in training the guides who were all AIA members. 4 tours were offered the first summer. They proved immensely popular. By 2017 there were 3 boats, 300 departures annually, over 16, 000 tickets sold, 30 private architectural tours, and a 6th edition of the map. There was even a Champagne Cruise for Landlubbers given by the guides at the Center for Architecture and the New York State Convention in Saratoga Springs.
Cocktails and Conversations
2012 : 2021 - 59 Programs and counting
Abby started Cocktails and Conversations to have a Friday night program at the Center for Architecture that was fun with alcohol. It pairs an architect with a Journalist and a bartender who makes a drink in the spirit of the architects work. The program was so successful that the first 40 were assembled into a book.
At the book launch November 2018.
Summer Streets
Summer Streets is a multi-day, annual car-free event held the first three Saturdays in August. Park Avenue is closed from 7am till 1pm from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street. Abby’s role was to create a gallery guide to the public art and architecture along the route both physical and digital. Free architectural tours were given of each of the major areas near the rest stops.
Attendance (from the New York City Dept of Transportation)
2017: 273,375 2016: 220,590 2015: 287,436 2014: 238,578 2013: 289,982 2012: 256,332 2011: 250,106 2010: 171,800 2009: 205,000
The AIA Table
Ideas City
IdeasCity is a collaborative, civic, and creative platform that explores the future of cities with arts and culture as driving forces. Founded in 2011, IdeasCity builds on the New Museum’s mission of “New Art, New Ideas” by extending the Museum beyond its walls into the civic realm. Abby participated in the first two.
2013 on the Bowery
cultureNOW: The Museum Without Walls Website and Mobile App received two awards.
CultureNOW’s digital national gallery or museum of the world outside expanded to include over 20,000 sites, 110 collections of public art, and 2500 podcasts. The app and website are being redesigned currently and should be up by the end of 2021.
A preview of the upcoming platform.
2011 : NYC Big Apps 2.0 Award
2012 : The American Institute of Architects Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement Award
