Building Tours

The Far Rockaway Library in Queens is designed as a collaboration between Snøhetta and Brooklyn-based contemporary artist José Parlá to reflect Far Rockaway’s diversity and dynamism. Clad in fritted, colored glass, with a gradient reflective of the Long Island sunrise, the design balances transparency and translucency to welcome the community. Serving as a gathering place and resource for knowledge, the library symbolizes resilience and provides a platform for shaping the neighborhood’s future.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Snøhetta

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

This tour is sold out. Please add yourself to the waitlist.

The Domino Sugar Refinery is the lone remaining historic building within a 19th century industrial complex. The historic shell was once an agglomeration of three conjoined buildings, each with its own idiosyncratic floor-to-floor configuration. Rather than navigating the misaligned window heights, Practice for Architecture (PAU) designed a new building that nests inside the existing masonry structure. By pulling back from the existing walls, ideal and standardized floor heights were achieved, while creating a unique interstitial space.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Practice for Architecture (PAU)

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

Located at the main entrance of Socrates Sculpture Park at Vernon Boulevard, the CUBES houses the park’s educational and administration programs: 960 square feet at ground level offer flexible multi-purpose indoor space for education programming and exhibits, with a 480 square-foot shaded deck area for outdoor classes and programming; and 1,200 square feet of open space at the second level house office and administration space.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: LOT-EK

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

This tour is sold out. Please add yourself to the waitlist.

Development firm Tankhouse and architecture firm SO-IL have collaborated to introduce Nine Chapel, a new Downtown Brooklyn condominium building that reinvents outdoor space for vertical living. Draped in a shimmering skin of perforated metal, the building’s eye-catching exterior absorbs light and stands out, creating privacy for indoor-outdoor spaces while allowing transparency for vast light and views. Nine Chapel offer 27 homes that each feature at least two exposures and private outdoor space

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: SO-IL

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

A new downtown home for the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art, the project is the culmination of two years of close collaboration between the architects and ISLAA to develop a flexible response to support the growing institution and its evolving program. The space comprises 4,000 sqft of exhibition space across two levels, as well as a research center, archives, staff and conference spaces, and more.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Overhead Architecture

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

The Triangle Fire Memorial honors the victims and legacy of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire—a pivotal event in US and labor history. Its textured, stainless steel “ribbon” on the building where the fire took place extends to the windowsill of the 9th floor, where many of the victims jumped to their death. The names and ages of those 146 victims are cut into this ribbon and mirrored onto a reflective panel.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Charles Lauster Architect
Designers: Uri Wegman and Richard Joon Yoo

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

In 2000, the historic Beaux-Arts style Guardian Life Building insurance building was adapted into the W New York – Union Square by Rockwell Group. The firm has recently completed a major renovation of the hotel. The tour will include guest rooms and public areas, including the lobby, restaurant, and the building’s magnificent ballroom, with ornate detailing, marble columns and double-height ceilings, that has been converted into a lounge that will be open to the public.

Please note: this tour is not accessible by wheelchair and will involve climbing stairs to the roof.

Architect: Rockwell Group

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

Newly opened in 2024, this 700,000-square-foot, mixed-use development is the third residential building on the historic Domino Sugar Refinery site in Williamsburg. It features two towers atop a shared seven-story podium: a south tower with 55 floors and a north tower with 39 floors. Anchoring a new 11-acre public park and adjacent to Domino Square, the project is part of Two Trees Management’s redevelopment, enhancing the neighborhood’s historic and waterfront connections.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Selldorf Architects

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 
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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

HELP ONE, a four-building mixed-use complex, comprises nearly a full city block in East New York, Brooklyn. Phase I of this sustainability-focused project provides affordable and supportive housing for vulnerable and underserved populations at Buildings A and B. The complex design deploys setbacks, height and palette variation to complement the three unique street contexts it fronts. HELP ONE is the winner of Interior Design magazine's 2024 NYCxDESIGN Award in the Supportive Housing category.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

NYU worked with Ennead Architects to design renovated facilities that highlight the importance of the arts on campus and reshape the visitor experience. Among the major improvements are the Cottrell-Lovett Gallery and the creation of the Cottrell-Lovett Study Center, which enables researchers, faculty, and students to have more direct access to the collection of nearly 6,000 objects. Ennead created an elegant solution to expand the gallery, add accessibility, and increase storage.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Ennead Architects

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

This tour is sold out. Please add yourself to the waitlist.

Commercial office design was forever changed with the completion of SOM’s Lever House in 1952 as the first International Style building in the United States. SOM restored its façade in 2001, and returned again in 2023 to complete the building’s restoration. With a completely updated plaza and outdoor spaces, a revitalized lobby, and new mechanical systems that improve energy efficiency, the project has recaptured this midcentury icon’s original splendor as Park Avenue’s premier boutique office.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) 

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

The Sunset Park Library Branch is one of the Brooklyn Public Library’s busiest locations, serving a community that includes many non-native English speakers, students, families, and seniors. With a space too small and outdated to adequately address the needs of its patrons, Brooklyn Public Library partnered with the Fifth Avenue Committee to develop a new, greatly expanded library and affordable housing site. The space is outfitted for the modern era, with the collections, technology, and flexible space needed to accommodate many uses and serve a large, diverse group of patrons.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Mitchell Giurgola

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, occupying half of the historic Stonewall Inn, anchors the only LGBTQIA+ National Monument in the National Park Service. Honoring the legacy of the Stonewall Riots, the birthplace of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, the center features immersive programs, curated exhibitions, and art installations in a thoughtfully designed space. Operated by the PrideLive, the center offers a powerful experience, encouraging reflection on the ongoing fight for LGBTQIA+ equality.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: EDG Architecture + Engineering

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

New York Hall of Science's (NYSCI) Great Hall was designed by Wallace K. Harrison for the 1964 World's Fair and is one of the few structures that remains standing. Harrison's design is made up of 100-foot-high undulating walls with 5,000+ cobalt-blue dalle de verre panels set into the structure. The Great Hall is one of the most remarkable spaces in the city, on par with Grand Central Terminal's main concourse and NYPL's Rose Reading Room.

Tour ticket includes same-day free general admission to New York Hall of Science.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Original Architect: Wallace K. Harrison

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

New York Hall of Science's (NYSCI) Great Hall was designed by Wallace K. Harrison for the 1964 World's Fair and is one of the few structures that remains standing. Harrison's design is made up of 100-foot-high undulating walls with 5,000+ cobalt-blue dalle de verre panels set into the structure. The Great Hall is one of the most remarkable spaces in the city, on par with Grand Central Terminal's main concourse and NYPL's Rose Reading Room.

Tour ticket includes same-day free general admission to New York Hall of Science.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Original Architect: Wallace K. Harrison

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

This tour is sold out. Please add yourself to the waitlist.

Pier 17 is a major new addition to the public life of Manhattan’s Seaport district. The 300,000-square-foot building is home to a wide range of uses that contribute to the vitality and continuity of public space along the riverfront. At ground level a sheltered, open-air pedestrian experience offers a mix of dining, gathering, and smaller-scale retail integrally connected to the surrounding promenades and parklands of SHoP’s East River Waterfront.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: SHoP Architects

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour. 

—

This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October. 

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.

The 1.75 million square foot restoration and expansion of PENN 2 creates the future of the workplace atop the busiest transportation hub in North America – Penn Station. The transformation of the 1963 office building includes a new high-performance façade, an iconic free-spanning addition called The Bustle, a 288,000-diode LED art installation, 75,000 square feet of new outdoor area, and world class amenities and office space as part of the larger PENN DISTRICT master plan.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: MdeAS Architects

Meeting location will be emailed to registered attendees the day before the tour.

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This program is organized in conjunction with Archtober. Archtober is a NYC-based platform that promotes the discovery of architecture and design through experiences and content, culminating in a month-long festival every October.

All Archtober sales are final. No refunds available.