One of the most significant events in the annual design calendar took place in New York City this week: the Dwell on Design exhibition returned to the Big Apple for its second year, highlighting innovative new ideas relating to architecture and products, and tackling topical issues across the design industry. The variety of themes covered on stage during the course of the weekend was remarkable, with highlights including talks on:
- Reimagining a More Resilient New York
- The Intersection of Architecture and Furniture Design
- How Small Spaces Are Transforming the Design Industry
- Future Cities: An Interdisciplinary Response to Climate Change
- 3D Printing and Intellectual Design
- Reinventing the Suburb
- The ‘New Skyscraper’
- Green Design in the Heart of the City
Paul Goldberger and Eric Owen Moss talk it out on stage in New York
There was also a particularly lively debate during the keynote conversation between Vanity Fair architecture critic Paul Goldberger and architect Eric Owen Moss, who discussed the trials of avant-garde architecture. Speaking in reference to Frank Gehry’s upcoming challenges in Los Angeles, Moss lamented that “If you fail, you’re out, if you succeed you’re out.” Goldberger quickly responded: “It’s the paradox of the avant-garde.”
Further highlights included discussions by architects Morris Adjmi, Alexander Gorlin, and Chad Oppenheim, while landscape designer Thomas Woltz chatted with architect Howard Elkus about the challenge to create a neighborhood from the ground up in the new, 28-acre Hudson Yards development. In the realm of products, a host of innovative new developments were exhibited by photographers Tom Haga and Lena Johnsen and designers Carl Hansen & Søn.
The event formed part of the ongoing celebration of architecture that is Archtober — a month-long design festival now in its fifth year and hosting events and exhibitions across New York City.
