NYC & COMPANY, CITY OFFICIALS AND DESIGN INDUSTRY LEADERS ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF SECOND ANNUAL NYCxDESIGN

NYC & COMPANY, CITY OFFICIALS AND DESIGN INDUSTRY LEADERS ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF SECOND ANNUAL NYCXDESIGN

—Official Citywide Celebration of Design to Feature Events
Across the Five Boroughs from May 9 to 20—

 —New York City to Showcase Design Community and Celebrate Contributions to Public Design—

New York City (May 7, 2014) — NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon today joined New York City Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora, NYCEDC Executive Vice President and Managing Director Eric J. Gertler and leaders from New York City’s design industry at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to announce details of the second annual NYCxDESIGN—the City’s official annual citywide celebration of design. NYCxDESIGN exhibitions, openings, installations, shows, talks and open studios will showcase the City’s diverse design community from Friday, May 9, to Tuesday, May 20. This celebration highlights the administration’s continued commitment to build upon New York City’s tradition of leadership and innovation in design and manufacturing. For more information, or to register an event for this year’s program, please visit nycxdesign.com. 

“New York City is a design capital, a status that generations of New Yorkers in a number of creative fields have worked hard to help us achieve,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen. “The design industry continues to be a cornerstone of our culture and economy in neighborhoods citywide, and together with everyone participating in NYCxDESIGN, we look forward to celebrating the creativity and vibrancy that makes our City so great.” 

“New York City welcomed more than 54 million visitors last year, and NYCxDESIGN is yet another chance for NYC & Company to showcase everything the five boroughs have to offer,” said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company. “Whether we are promoting NYCxDESIGN, spotlighting cutting-edge hotels through The Design Collection, or informing visitors where they can experience great design in all forms throughout the five boroughs, NYC & Company is committed to keeping a strong design industry central to New York City’s image around the world.”

The NYC Department of Design and Construction is committed to bringing world-leading design and construction to City projects. DDC’s Design and Construction Excellence program emphasizes high architectural standards to ensure that all City buildings, regardless of size, are creatively designed, functional, sustainable and built to last. Through this program, architects and other consultants are selected based on their qualifications, demonstrated creative capability and relevant experience. Twenty-four New York City–based firms are participating in the current round of the program. In addition, last year, DDC participated in Built/NYC, a pilot program with the City Council to recruit New York–based designers to create furnishings for DDC-constructed civic buildings.

“We are delighted to help celebrate New York’s design community at this year’s NYCxDESIGN. New York–based firms play a key role in our efforts to bring world-leading design and construction to City projects. Through our Design + Construction Excellence program, we’re creating civic buildings and public spaces that are sustainable, resilient, distinctive and of high architectural quality,” said DDC Commissioner Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora.

NYCEDC manages a broad range of projects that support the design community. These projects include Design Entrepreneurs NYC, an annual mini “MBA” program that equips fashion designers with business skills; the Fashion Production Fund, which assists emerging designers by providing production financing at below-market rates; and New York’s Next Top Makers, an annual competition that accelerates the growth of six makers as they continue to scale in NYC. Freelance design professionals, especially those working in the technology sector, are among the many New Yorkers who have taken advantage of NYCEDC’s incubator ecosystem, which provides affordable commercial space across the City.

“Programs such as NYCxDESIGN allow entrepreneurs and businesses to network, grow their ventures and boost New York City’s entire economy,” said Kyle Kimball, President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “Design is vital to our City’s prosperity and quality of life, and I applaud everyone participating in this year’s NYCxDESIGN events for their commitment to growing this important sector.”

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs regularly works with architects and other design professionals, providing funding for capital projects at nearly 200 cultural organizations in all five boroughs. The agency works in partnership with these organizations and colleagues at City agencies to foster designs that attract new audiences, enhance visitor experiences, save energy and establish arts organizations as neighborhood anchors within their communities. DCLA also provides funding to cultural groups that celebrate and promote design through exhibitions, education and other programs that engage New Yorkers and visitors throughout the year.

“New York City is a global hub for individuals and organizations working in the field of design,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. “NYCxDESIGN recognizes the amazing breadth of this industry in all five boroughs and gives New Yorkers an opportunity to learn more about the new ideas and products generated by our design innovators.”

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural NYCxDESIGN—when nearly 200 organizers staged more than 300 unique events—this year’s festival will bring together participants from fields including, but not limited to, architecture, fashion, graphic design, the arts and culture, product design and manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, interior design, interaction design and landscape and urban design. On nycxdesign.com, the festival’s official website, users can log in and submit additional events to be listed. Design fans can also sign up for updates on the latest news and special offers from NYCxDESIGN.

Events taking place across New York City include:

• 
  1939/1964 World’s Fair Anniversary Festival (5/18)

• 
  2014 Pratt Design (5/12–15)

• 
  3D Printing for Designers Working in Objects and Furniture (5/17)

• 
  7 Deadly Sins of Design Computation (5/13)

• 
  Accommodating Design: Times Square Hotel Tour (5/10)

• 
  AEC Technology Hackathon 2014 (5/17–18)

• 
  AEC Technology Symposium 2014 (5/16)

• 
  AIANY 2014 Design Awards (4/24–6/17)

• 
  Alessi Cocktail Event (5/19)

• 
  ALL-TOO-FAMILIAR TANGLE by Karlis Rekevics (6/27)

• 
  American Design Club presents: FIELD DAY (5/10–19)

• 
  ARCHEO by Various Artists (4/17/14–3/1/15)

• 
  Architizer A+ Awards (5/15)

• 
  Art Museum Day (5/18)

• 
  Avenue Road Open House (5/17)

• 
  Beyond the Supersquare (5/1/14–1/11/15)

• 
  Bill Cunningham: Facades (ongoing exhibition) (5/9–20)

• 
  Bill Cunningham: Facades exhibition tour (5/10)

• 
  BIRD GOD DRONE by Nick Hornby (11/1/13–10/31/14)

• 
  BKLYN DESIGNS (5/9–11)

• 
  Blu Dot ICFF Party (5/18)

• 
  Bronx Lab: Reimagining the Grand Concourse (5/11)

• 
  Carrying Coca: 1,500 Years of Andean Chuspas (4/11–8/3)

• 
  Celebrate Active Design (5/19)

• 
  Century: 100 Years of Type in Design (5/1–6/18)

• 
  Charles James: Beyond Fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (5/8–8/10)

• 
  Cocktails and Conversations – Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA (5/16)

• 
  Collective Design Fair (5/8–11)

• 
  Considering the Quake: Seismic Design on the Edge (2/13–5/26)

• 
  Cooper-Hewitt’s Design in the Classroom Takeover (5/9–19)

• 
  Cooper-Hewitt’s Design Tales Toddler Programs (5/13–20)

• 
  Cooper-Hewitt’s Design by Hand Public Lecture with Heath Ceramics (5/8)

• 
  Cooper-Hewitt’s Design by Hand: Heath Ceramics Family Workshops (5/10)

• 
  Creative Mornings at Parsons Festival: David Kelley (5/16)

• 
  Curated Show of Work by Pratt Designers (5/9–11)

• 
  Curator-Led Tour of Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography (5/15)

• 
  David Weeks Studio Open House (5/16–20)

• 
  Derlot Editions at WantedDesign! (5/17–18)

• 
  Design for a Better World (5/20)

• 
  DESIGN IT. BUILD IT. FUND IT., IDSA 2014 Northeast District Design Conference (5/15)

• 
  Design of Addictions: How to use design to influence behavior (5/15)

• 
  Design Process as a Problem-Solving Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (5/14)

• 
  Design Taco (Powered by The Design Gym) (5/12–18)

• 
  Designer City: How Innovative Solutions Transform Urban Life (5/16)

• 
  designME! at WantedDesign (5/17–19)

• 
  Diane Von Furstenberg: It’s a Wrap! 40 Years of the Wrap Dress (5/12)

• 
  The Dutch Masters & Aldo Bakker (5/9)

• 
  Embodied Architecture (5/18)

• 
  Emerging Public Spaces (5/10)

• 
  ENCOUNTERS (5/9–20)

• 
  Energetic City: Connectivity in the Public Realm (5/19)

• 
  Engineers Design – A Town+Gown Event (5/15)

• 
  EXPOSED: Contemporary Jewelers and the Photograph (5/13)

• 
  F-1, a Contemporary Art Jewelry Show (5/3–31)

• 
  Fab Presents Happy Modern Living and First Things First (5/15–20)

• 
  Failing “Fast Forward” for Designers: How to innovate from your mistakes (5/13)

• 
  Fashion Institute of Technology 2014 Graduating Student Exhibition (5/7–22)

• 
  FIT Fashion and Textile Studies MA Symposium: Modes of Modernity (5/10)

• 
  FitCity 9: Promoting Physical Activity Through Design (5/19)

• 
  FLOCK by Art Students League (5/14/13–5/13/14)

• 
  Foscarini Celebrates NY Design Week (5/17)

• 
  French Design Connection (5/17)

• 
  Frieze New York (5/9–12)

• 
  Fritz Hansen Cocktail Event (5/18)

• 
  FURTHERMORE: RISD Furniture Design MFA (5/16–19)

• 
  Garman Furniture Showing @ WantedDesign (5/16–19)

• 
  Glenn Adamson at Collective 2 (5/10)

• 
  GOED – good stuff from Holland (5/9–18)

• 
  Herman Miller Collection Pop Up Shop (5/18)

• 
  Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts & Context in the Civil War exhibition tour (5/18)

• 
  Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts & Context in the Civil War (ongoing exhibition) (5/9–20)

• 
  How Does the Brain Respond to the City? (5/13)

• 
  HxRefactored (5/13–14)

• 
  IFDA NY Take A Seat – Designer Chairs for Charity Auction (5/14)

• 
  Illuminate: Design in Light (4/2–5/31)

• 
  The Imprint of the City (5/9)

• 
  In Dialogue with the Kyoto Masters of Japan Handmade (5/17)

• 
  IndustryCity/Design (5/10–20)

• 
  Innovators with Norman Foster: From Guastavino to the Moon (5/14)

• 
  International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) (5/17–20)

• 
  INTRO/NY (5/15–19)

• 
  Irene Mamiye Open Studio, part of Tribeca Open Studio Tour

  
  (5/9–12)

• 
  ITP - NYU Spring Show 2014 (5/19–-20)

• 
  La Tlapalería presents: Armas Benditas (5/17–19)

• 
  Lábrica – Guatemalan Design (5/17–19)

• 
  The Lee Family of New York: Chinatown Since 1888 (10/23/13–6/7/14)

• 
  Letters to the Mayor (4/30–5/24)

• 
  Ligne Roset Cocktail Event (5/19)

• 
  Luxxbox at WantedDesign (5/16–19)

• 
  MACHINEMADE Launch Party (5/15)

• 
  MAIZA EDITIONS Design Exhibition (5/16–19)

• 
  Makers & Brothers (5/16–19)

• 
  Materia Designs’ New York Design Week Debut (5/16–18)

• 
  MEDUSA by Charles Ginnever (12/6/13–11/30/14)

• 
  MFA Fashion Design and Society Exhibition (5/14–23)

• 
  Midtown Manhattan: Modernism Evolving – East 42nd Street, the United Nations, and Vicinity (5/10)

• 
  MOCATALKS: David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s New Opera: An American Soldier (5/15)

• 
  More Than Textile | Masataka Hosoo and Anna Karlin (5/18)

• 
  New York Design Awards – Presentation (5/20)

• 
  NoHoManhattan – Design (5/16–20)

• 
  NYC ACRE Design Jam 2014 (5/10)

• 
  NYC Makers Studio Visits (5/10)

• 
  Oculus Book Talk: Francoise Astorg Bollack, Old Buildings New Forms: New Directions in Architectural Transformations (5/12)

• 
  OHNY Standard Motors Building Tour (5/16)

• 
  Oil & Water: Reinterpreting Ink (4/24–9/14)

• 
  OPEN IXD: MFA Interaction Design Thesis Festival (5/14)

• 
  Orange Feast: An Installation by RPNYC L’Orangerie Foundation (5/14–6/13)

• 
  OUTER SEED SHADOW #01 by Juanli Carrion: Public Art Community Garden (5/15–31)

• 
  Outside In: Film screening and panel discussion (5/19)

• 
  PARK AVENUE PAPER CHASE by Alice Ayecock (3/1–7/20)

• 
  Paths to Pier 42 Community Build Day (5/17)

• 
  Polis: 7 Lessons from the European Prize for Urban Public Space [2000-2012] (3/27–6/21)

• 
  REPURPOSE/Lighting Intervention (5/10)

• 
  RISD Furniture MFA (5/16–19)

• 
  The Roof Garden Commission Dan Graham with Günther Vogt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (4/29–11/2)

• 
  Salvadori Center Annual Cocktail Benefit (5/7)

• 
  School of Visual Arts 2014 D-Crit Conference: Lingua Franca (5/2)

• 
  School of Visual Arts MFA Design: Venture Thesis Launch (5/3–17)

• 
  See Concept at WantedDesign (5/17–19)

• 
  Sight Unseen OFFSITE (5/16–20)

• 
  Small Things Matter: A Partnership between Parsons BFA Product Design and Areaware (5/16–19)

• 
  Socrates Sculpture Park Spring Opening (5/11)

• 
  Spark Workshop – Positioning Strategy with Jennifer Rittner (5/20)

• 
  Trigger Design Show (5/6–14)

• 
  Twofivesix 2014: A Videogame Arts & Culture Conference (5/16)

• 
  Urban Mindfulness (5/17)

• 
  Urban Nature: Between Human and Non-Human (5/16)

• 
  WantedDesign Conversation Series – “What’s Happening Abroad?” (5/17)

• 
  Waterweavers: The River in Contemporary Colombian Visual and Material Culture (4/11–8/10)

• 
  What Is Well-Being, Really? (5/14)

• 
  Why Not Smile / Hoon Kim (5/15)

• 
  WITH – Pratt Institute Graduate Communications Design 2014 MFA Thesis Exhibition (5/12–6/13)

NYCxDESIGN is produced by NYC & Company in conjunction with a steering committee that includes leaders from AIA/NY; AIGA/NY; American Design Club; The Architectural League of New York; Base Design; Behance LLC; The Center for Arts Education; Cooper Union; Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Core77, Inc.; David Stark Design and Production; Design Trust for Public Space; ESI Design; Etsy, Inc.; Fab.com; Fern Mallis, LLC; FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology); Frieze Art Fair New York; International Contemporary Furniture Fair; International Interior Design Association; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Arts and Design; The Museum of Modern Art; New York City Council; New York Design Center; NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; NYC Department of Design and Construction; NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; NYC Department of Transportation; NYC Economic Development Corporation; Parsons The New School For Design; Pentagram Design; Pratt Institute, School of Art & Design; School of Visual Arts; Shaw & Co! Productions; and WantedDesign.

About NYC & Company:

NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For more information, visit nycgo.com.

-30-

NYC & Company / Kimberly Spell 212-484-1270
NYC & Company / Caroline Peck 212-484-1270