NYC Design Week 22

The NYCxDESIGN Festival returned this May 2022 for its 10 year anniversary.

Over the years the Festival has attracted thousands of national and international visitors to New York City. It’s a celebration of design, a place to share new ideas, and a chance to find inspiration through the power of creative thinking.

NYCxDESIGN Showcases the best of New York City design in person – and virtually – through open studio tours, workshops, public installations, talks, tours, and more.

The festival is all about connection, networking and uniting designers from all disciplines. It creates so many special moments that you truly feel a part of a community bigger than yourself, your studio and your own profession. It’s a very magical thing to experience. We highly recommend it.

What’s so special about New York anyway?

Frankly I’m shocked you have to ask, but I’ll tell you anyway. We’re the agency that does Branding with Balls, because we love to make a bold statement or create something instantly memorable. New York City exemplifies this attitude 24/7. It’s in the very air you breathe. It’s an obvious understatement to say that New York City, and New Yorkers themselves have balls. Bold, brash and beautiful. NYC is unforgettable.

New York is endlessly inspirational.

Everywhere you go, you’ll find new ideas, creative energy and an infectious sense of overriding ambition. As the song goes: “Now you’re in New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of… these streets will make you feel brand new.” They really do.

We could go on like this forever, but you get the idea. New York is positively bursting with intriguing, interesting and imaginative things. Architecture, food, music, art, theatre – a feast for all the senses – on every corner.

This was tough but our highlights are…

The High line
Amazing public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. Saved from demolition by neighbourhood residents and the City of New York, the High Line opened in 2009 as a hybrid public space where visitors experience nature, art, and design. We loved it.

Red Rooster at Harlem
Located in the heart of buzzing Harlem, Red Rooster celebrates the roots of American cuisine alongside the diverse culinary traditions of the neighbourhood. What a place! There are so many amazing foodie delights in NYC, but this was our top of the list.

Guggenheim
Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Guggenheim Museum in NYC and it is now a part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our stand out exhibition was Vasily Kandinsky: Around the Circle – which will certainly be inspiring our work at PLOTT.

Fotografiska
Fotografiska is a destination to discover world-class photography. Their mission is to inspire a more conscious and inclusive world through the power of photography – we think they nailed it!

Studio tours
Amongst some of the best was the architecture studio A+I which showcased some of the incredible work they are doing to change the workplace to create inspiring spaces for employees. We also visited the Centre for Book Arts, a letterpress publisher who practices traditional techniques. They gave us a fascinating history of letterpress and let us have a go at hand typesetting.

Flatiron building tour
With the departure of its longtime tenant, the building is joining a growing list of classic New York skyscrapers that are reinventing themselves. We got to have a sneak preview of the interior and learn about its fascinating history from the Janitor – who has worked there for 40 years!

Grand Central Station
Modelled on Roman imperial baths, Grand Central was built to reflect a new and innovative appreciation of the urban character and the changing needs of a booming metropolis. What a great design brief! We even discovered the whispering gallery, an acoustic oddity caused by the unusually perfect arches that compose the gallery.

Brooklyn Brewery Tour
As big fans of Brooklyn beer, a visit around the brewery seemed only fitting… when in Rome!

Parks & Recreation
Cycling around Central Park was certainly a high point, but there are so many other urban parks with their own personalities and vibes. On our doorstep in Lower East was Tomkins Square Park which was our personal favourite. Great for a spot of people watching.

Wall Street Bull
We thought we had balls at PLOTT but the charging bronze bull on Wall Street certainly put ours in perspective! We had a fondle of course. Why? We were told it brings good luck.

The Edge, Hudson Yards
Not for the faint hearted – the Edge is the highest sky deck in the Western Hemisphere with a GLASS floor. It’s suspended in mid-air, giving you the feeling of floating in the sky with 360-degree views you can’t get anywhere else.

Barcade
So many bar choices to choose but we loved Barcade for its retro gaming that brought back all our early Nintendo memories!

We could go on….. And on 🙂