Join AIANY’s Civic Leadership Program (CLP) at the Center for Architecture for the first of two public CLP events in 2019. An Information Session and Happy Hour will take place at 5pm preceding the talk, which will begin at 6pm.

In an era of rapid change, our collective response to emerging threats plays out across the built environment in ways both small and monumental: bollards and fences are introduced to deter malfeasance, while seawalls and coastal berms are raised to harden the city against storm surges. In New York and other cities worldwide, the deployment of new infrastructural boundaries has sought to keep pace with real and perceived dangers, changing the shape of the built environment for generations, and transforming the way we see, inhabit, and think about civic spaces. But what impact do these barriers have on our shared environment? Can they be made to enhance, rather than impede, civic engagement? Perhaps more importantly, what role does the practice of design play in the practice of democracy?

This session will explore the complex nature of protective boundaries in the public realm, drawing on multiple perspectives from architects, artists, and scientists, as well as public agencies and servants, culminating in a town hall discussion open to all attendees. This is the first of two public events by the AIANY Civic Leadership Program (CLP), which was founded with the mission of cultivating deeper civic engagement and responsibility among architectural professionals.