Dear AIA COTE colleagues,
New York City in June...a great way to start the summer and an excellent host city for all of the positive energy at A’18! From Battery Park to Bryant Park to the Highline to Times Square, NYC proved that density and livability are not mutually exclusive.
Some highlights from the conference (more below in “Seen & Heard”): The beta version of the COTE Top Ten Toolkit has launched! The COTE Top Ten recipients were celebrated: Common trends among projects included the use of existing buildings (almost half) and integrating into a larger social/cultural community beyond the property line; listening to the neighborhood. And the student winners were amazing; I heard one student remind us that “Delight is just as important as performance.” Indeed.
Being in New York was such a powerful reminder of what it takes to create and safeguard a livable city for all. New York City’s Public Design Commission shows how a more vibrant, diverse and livable city starts with affordable housing in Design Guidelines, which illustrate the best of housing design at different scales, densities, and neighborhoods (none of which are single family). Density and livability coexist and it behooves all of us to understand this and redefine what a dwelling unit could be, what the definition of family is and how home does not have to be a single-family house.