Our Future City: NYCxDESIGN’s City-Wide Exhibition Returns Oct. 1

A New City in the Sky by Elizabeth Von Lehe of HDR on behalf of ASID
The Future of New York is Made of Dreamers by Ignacio Serrano Perez of Milton Glaser Inc.

New York’s Leading Designers Contribute Original Artworks that Envision a Better Future for the City
Poster Sale Proceeds to Benefit Silicon Harlem

NYCxDESIGN is pleased to announce that the second city-wide exhibition, An Ode to NYC, will return this October to reconnect people to the heartbeat of NYC’s design scene. In light of the last twelve months and the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the city’s streets, people, and culture, this year’s theme of “Our Future City” will reflect new beginnings. NYCxDESIGN has tapped into the expansive design ecosystem of the city, partnering with a host of showrooms, cultural institutions, and cutting-edge design businesses to showcase the original works, as well as appointing a new crop of talented designers who were tasked with painting a vision of tomorrow with one-of-a-kind poster designs. Thanks to this spirit of collaboration and participation across the design sector, An Ode to NYC will reach countless New Yorkers this fall, channeling the city’s unique capacity to support our community through design.

The 2021 collection of posters will be distributed city-wide to window front locations. They will also be showcased digitally on the expansive screens installed at The Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center, Fulton Center, and on-board the NYC Ferry’s fleet. The public can discover all of the works through a digital map hosted on nycxdesign.org that highlights over 75 locations across the five boroughs. All of the posters will be available for sale on Poster House’s website which is also accessible via QR codes at each of the exhibit locations. This year is particularly poignant, as proceeds from the poster sales will benefit Silicon Harlem, a nonprofit that works towards digital equity in the city, to redress the many communities that had no internet access during the pandemic, affecting their access to healthcare and education.

The second edition of the poster campaign will feature creations from 16 designers that represent New York’s vibrant and diverse design landscape, such as Debbie Millman of SVA, Paula Scher of Pentagram, Suchi Reddy of Reddymade, Amaurys Grullon of Bronx Native, Karim Rashid, Ghetto Gastro with New Studio, Sloan Leo of FLOX Studio Inc., Ifeoma Ebo of Creative Urban Alchemy and BlackSpace Urbanist Collective, Julian Alexander of Slang Inc., Ignacio Serrano Perez of Milton Glaser, Elizabeth Von Lehe of HDR, Toni L. Griffin of Urban American City with Siena Scarff, Liz Collins, Rich Tu, as well as firms Triboro Design, and Practice for Architecture & Urbanism. The breadth of artists and designers offering their vision and talent to this program, as well as the support across the breadth of the design sector, reveal the incredible power of NYC’s design community to come together and lead the city into a brighter future.

Valerie Hoffman, Program Director, NYCxDESIGN, remarks, “New York City is home to many of the world’s most talented and beloved designers, including those who came together during the first iteration of An Ode to NYC to inspire civic pride when it was needed most. This year our designers have created original art that demonstrates the need for unity as we imagine a better future for NYC. We couldn’t be more grateful for their immense creativity, and we are thrilled for New Yorkers to experience this moment with us again.”

Executive Director of NYCxDESIGN, Elissa Black, adds, “We are delighted to partner with Silicon Harlem, an incredible organization that works tirelessly to create equitable digital infrastructure for our city, and to support underserved communities most heavily affected by the pandemic. We could not have achieved this without the support shown by our local design community, including several beloved showrooms, small businesses, and retailers. As such an important thread in New York’s cultural DNA and overall economy, the design industry once again underscores the power of art as a vehicle for change during this period of recovery.”

An Ode to NYC is generously supported by the A&D Building, Artistic Tile, Caesarstone, Cosentino, Design Within Reach, Eventscape, Fabricut, Herman Miller, Kohler, Pindler, Room & Board, Sherle Wagner, The New York Design Center at 200 Lex, The Shade Store, and Tile Bar. Each of these partners will showcase posters in their showrooms or retail locations.

Posters will also be on display across a range of small businesses in each of the five boroughs including Astoria Bookshop, atmos USA, Awesome Brooklyn, BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center, Bronx Brewery, Bronx Native, Brooklyn Blooms, Brooklyn Tea, Canal Street Market, Collier West, Collyer’s Mansion, Clay and Kiln Studio, Da Spot, Heath Gallery, Historic Richmond Town, Housing Works Thrift Shop, Housing Works Bookstore, IC Store by WantedDesign, Juniper, Lockwood, M Collection, Magpie, Mama Foundation for the Arts, Michele Varian, MOJO Mousse Bar, Mud Australia, Onderdonk House, The Primary Essentials, VAN DER MOST MODERN, Adoro Lei, Harlem Haberdashery, Harlem Shake, La Bonne Soupe, MakerSpace, Queens Bully, Settepani, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Studio Zung, Sushi Sen-nin, The Potter’s Wheel, The Boogie Down Grind, UrbanGlass, Bronx River Art Center, Textile Arts Center, and Brooklyn Circus.

A map that will indicate all of the 75+ citywide poster locations will be available at www.NYCxDESIGN.org.

NY∞ by Rich Tu on behalf of AIGA NY
Beautiful Future by Amaurys Grullon of Bronx Native

About NYCxDESIGN

Design is core to New York City’s identity and creative DNA. At NYCxDESIGN, our mission is to support, empower, and grow the city’s incredible design sector. Our internationally renowned Annual Design Festival, established in 2013, showcases the immense talent and diversity of the city’s designers, makers, and manufacturers, along with cutting-edge design businesses and districts, and world-class cultural and academic design institutions. The Festival attracts 300,000+ national and international visitors to the city, generating significant economic activity across the boroughs with hundreds of events about design and innovation, creativity, culture, inclusivity, sustainability, and resiliency. As a non-profit organization, NYCxDESIGN also runs an impactful year-round program increasing diversity, equitable opportunity, and inclusion within the city’s design professions. We educate the city’s young adults about design and inspire them to become the city’s designers of tomorrow. With new executive leadership, and recently granted 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, NYCxDESIGN is catalyzing an exciting and thriving design sector for all of New York City. NYCEDC and SANDOW Design Group are key, ongoing supporters of NYCxDESIGN. The 2021 presenting sponsor of the organization and its programming is Caesarstone, and this year’s media partners are Metropolis, Luxe Interiors & Design, Interior Design, The New York Times, The Hearst Design Collection (House Beautiful, Elle Decor, and Veranda), Vox Media, The Architect’s Newspaper, Sixtysix, Architectural Record, Brownstoner and Design Milk.