VAN ALEN REPORT is a broad, sweeping examination of the present and things to come, intended to catalyze fresh thinking among those who shape cities—designers, planners, policymakers—as well as anyone eager to learn more about how the future of the built environment will impact their minds, bodies, and everyday lives.
VAN ALEN REPORT is an interdisciplinary digest that explores how people and communities can successfully adapt to change. Published semiannually online, VAN ALEN REPORT gathers expert perspectives on subjects that are redefining society’s relationship to cities and the built environment on a local, national, and global scale.
VAN ALEN REPORT 20
Heatlhy Brains Healthy Cities
Van Alen Report 20 explores the complex relationships between the built environment and the brain, advancing ways to translate research into practice for healthier cities. Articles are being released serially on this site as of January 2019. Click below for the first article, and subscribe below to receive future articles via email.
VAN ALEN REPORT 19
America’s Infrastructure
For the first Van Alen Report in twelve years, we examine the dire condition of America’s infrastructure. Experts from various disciplines participate in a sweeping exploration of how leaders may repair the nation’s infrastructure in ways that support better and more just outcomes for all.
VAN ALEN REPORT 18
Civic Exchange: Competitions and Dialogues
VAR 18 looks at recreation, featuring projects on a competition for a new information system for Lower Manhattan, a competition for a recreational pavilion in Coney Island’s amusement park, and an exhibition about the accessibility of recreation and leisure across cultures and economic levels.
VAN ALEN REPORT 17
Variable City: Taking it to the Streets
VAR 17 centers on the Variable City project, which looks at Fox Square from multiple perspectives and interdisciplinary methods to emphasize art’s role in city design.
VAN ALEN REPORT 16
OPEN: New Designs for Public Space
Van Alen Report 16 is a special edition focusing on the exhibition OPEN: Design for Public Space.
Unfortunately, the report is not available online, but is availible at our office.
VAN ALEN REPORT 15
The /Swiss/ Section
VAR 15 explores the exhibition, The/Swiss/Section, on designing and building in Switzerland, while paying attention to signature cultural projects and spaces of everyday life.
VAN ALEN REPORT 14
Information Exchange: How Cities Renew, Rebuild, and Remember
VAR 14 is a special edition on the exhibition “Renewing, Rebuilding, Remembering” about how cities change after disaster, which features 7 cities: New York, Beirut, Berlin, Kobe, Manchester, Oklahoma City, San Fransisco, and Sarajevo.
Unfortunately, the report is not available online, but is availible at our office.
VAN ALEN REPORT 13
Take the R Train: Riding the Rails from Downtown to Long Island City
VAR 13 follows the R train, focusing on new projects along the way such as SHoP’s Rector Street Bridge and MoMA QNS as a reflection on culture centers and the arts.
VAN ALEN REPORT 12
Urban Design Now
VAR 12 asks, “What is Urban Design?” and features the exhibition, “Renewing, Rebuilding, Remember” on seven cities that have rebuilt after disaster.
VAN ALEN REPORT 11
Designing Queens Plaza: A Design Ideas Competition
VAR 11 looks at the design ideas competition for Queens Plaza, which considered the space as representative of both change and continuity in the city.
VAN ALEN REPORT 10
Recreating the City
In the wake of 9/11, VAR 10 explores how to rebuild after tragedy in an interview with Natalie Fizer and Mabel O. Wilson on Monuments and Memorials, and features a piece on BAM and cultural districts by Barrett Feldman.
VAN ALEN REPORT 9
Architecture + Water
VAR 9 features the exhibition “Architecture + Water,” an interview with Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis and a letter from Nicholas de Monchaux on the design of Olympic cities.
VAN ALEN REPORT 8
Park=City: Designing Downsview Park, Toronto
VAR 8 explores urban park design through a competition to design Toronto’s Downsview Park. The winning design, Tree City, is a combination of park lands that connect to the city around it while remaining a natural site.
VAN ALEN REPORT 7
TKTS2K: An Icon at the Crossroads
VAR 7 focuses on the design competition “TKTS2K: An Icon at the Crossroads” to design the iconic ticket booth in Times Square.
VAN ALEN REPORT 6
Digital Dilemma: Where Is the ‘Public’ in e-topia?
VAR 6 asks, “Is public space dead?” and features TKTS2K in Times Square, Megadesign vs. Other Urbanisms and Pier 40 Park.
VAN ALEN REPORT 5
Community Property: What Drives Public Design?
VAR 5 asks “How can a city get the best public architecture while fully engaging the community in the process?” The edition features the “Pier Pressure: Design By Collage” competition, Community Design and other issues in public design.
VAN ALEN REPORT 4
Industrial Evolution: Transforming the Urban Waterfront
VAR 4 explores the transfer of New York City’s waterfront to the public realm and what that means for recreation, entertainment, and tourism.
VAN ALEN REPORT 3
Health and the City
VAR 3 looks at topics from the “In Recovery” forum like Public Health/Public Space, Defensible Space and Environmental Justice, in addition to Green Skyscrapers, Governors Island, Culture Exchange Competition Dinkeloo Fellowship, and River Project Exhibition.
VAN ALEN REPORT 2
Real Downtown/Virtual Downtown
VAR 2 covers the Fall 1996 Program Schedule about Heath and the City and Public Private Property, as well as the 1996 Paris Prize Competition, the Future of Work and the Future of Downtown Forums.
VAN ALEN REPORT 1
The very first Van Alen Report defines the issues and programs that make up the 1996 Projects in Public Architecture: Real Downtown/Virtual Downtown, Public-Private Property and Health and the City.