MAPPING COMMUNITY | AIANY

The AIANY talk at the Center for Architecture this evening was called 'Mapping Communities'. The guest speakers were three policymakers: Robert Cornegy (Brooklyn councilmember); Mark Levine (West Harlem councilmember); and Liz Kruger (state senator). They presented their views on the funding and construction of public buildings and facilities within the city, the delays for certain developments, and the acceleration of other developments (notably the rapid real estate market).

Each of them highlighted the importance of building schools well within a city filled with different groups of people. The administration construction policies on certain buildings are highly bureaucratic and complicated. Some of the panel members called for a more streamlined and transparent process. Senator Kruger suggested offering developers incentives to build facilities for the community (such as schools, libraries, affordable housing) within their construction plans in order to offset the impact of overcrowding. She mentioned that these large housing developments often are not planned well, not factoring in facilities such as schools and firehouses. The accompanying exhibition at AIANY explains all these points in more detail.

The question and answer after the talk centred quite heavily around the role of the architect in this whole process: what was their relation to the community and the policymakers in the city? And can they make a difference or talk a more central role in the construction industry?