Open Call: 2019 Innovation Exhibition

The Innovation Exhibition will be presented as part of the 2019 Summit for New York City. Now in its tenth year, this signature event attracts a diverse audience of policy-makers, industry leaders, and engaged citizens from across the five boroughs. Through a series of panel discussions, keynote lectures, presentations, and performances, the Summit connects participants in a day-long dialogue about the most important issues affecting New York and other global urban centers.

The 2019 Summit, Fight for Light, will explore the economic, environmental, social, and public health impacts of light and air in urban neighborhoods. This year’s Summit is a component of a larger citywide initiative in partnership with New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) that seeks stronger protections for the natural resources that are essential to the health and happiness of city dwellers.

Continue reading for more information about last year’s Innovation Exhibition.

A Look back at the 2018 Innovation Exhibition

View creative design concepts featured at the 2018 MAS Summit for New York City

Another Country
By The James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center

The James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center, designed by Marpillero Pollak Architects, transforms the grounds of DeWitt Clinton High School into a destination for learning, growing, health, and community, connected by accessible trails. In the “Community Hub,” neighbors will engage in permaculture practices. The “School Hub” will be a versatile education and garden space including the “Welcome Table.” We envision a model community school that inspires resiliency, sustainability, and personal responsibility.

Intersection@theCornerstore: Identity and Place
By 3×3 Design and the Flatbush Junction BID

Initiated to bridge communities in a neighborhood undergoing change, a multimedia and participatory art project narrates the personal journeys of ten small business owners through collaboration with artists and students in Flatbush, Brooklyn. A virtual art walk prompts reflection on how small businesses shape neighborhood cultural identity and vitality.

Monument Lab: Virtual Reality Tour
By Monument Lab

Monument Lab is a public art and history initiative based in Philadelphia. Composed of a curatorial team led by Paul Farber and Ken Lum, they ask open research questions and build prototype monuments in public spaces. Through their practice, they cultivate contemporary artworks, generate publicly sourced civic data, and co-author interpretive experiences. Project goals: to unearth the next generation of monuments and change the ways we write the history of cities together.

New York City Nature Goals 2050 (NYC2050)
By Natural Areas Conservancy

New York City Nature Goals 2050 (NYC2050) is a citywide coordinated network of groups and organizations working locally and citywide for environmental action and justice. NYC2050’s 25 targets are a superstructure to frame nature activism and stewardship in NYC and to bring groups together to create solidarity. As an organized network, they coordinate and advance collective action for nature-based solutions to culture, policy, and infrastructure.

“Opening the Edge”
By Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with New York City Housing Authority; proposed by Jane Greengold; © 2018 Design Trust

“Opening the Edge” engages NYCHA residents and their neighbors in redesigning a now fenced, unusable grass space at the edge of Wald Houses in Lower East Side, to make it a lively public space, usable by both residents and neighbors. It directly empowers its participants to work together to shape their environment.

Planning to the People: Web Tools for Public Engagement
By Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, PC (KPF)

At KPF, they’re working to make the master planning process more accessible. They’ve built a web app, called Scout, and a twitter bot, @KPFCityBot, that allow anyone to create their own neighborhood and see how it performs according to numerous metrics. Interacting with planners becomes as simple as clicking “like”.

Resilient By Design—South Bay Sponge
By James Corner Field Operations

Developed as part of the Resilient by Design initiative, the South Bay Sponge explores how green infrastructure on a large scale can protect cities in the face of climate change and sea level rise, as well as improve their social fabric and collective well-being, leading to more resilient urbanism.

Streetmix
By Streetmix

Streetmix is a platform that brings urban planners and community members together to design cities collaboratively. Think of it like a multiplayer SimCity: a friendly virtual world that helps city planners design safer, more equitable real-world places. With Streetmix, city-building becomes inclusive, empowering, and accessible.