Walking Tours

New York Midtown South Art and Architecture Tour

Situated at the heart of New York City, Midtown and its surrounding neighborhoods are the dynamic epicenter of the metropolis. This locality’s frenetic energy finds physical translation in the dazzling lights of Time Square and the ascendant skyscrapers of the business district. During this Midtown Manhattan Architecture Tour, we will chart the history of Midtown through its architecture, starting with examples from the early twentieth century and culminating with the latest additions to this area’s urban landscape.

Important Projects Featured on this Tour:

Bryant Park, Lusby Simpson, 1847-1933
NYC Public Library, Carrere & Hastings, 1911
American Radiator, Hood & Foulihoux, 1924
David Chipperfield, Bryant Park Residences, 2018
Bank of America Tower, Cookfox and Adamson Associates, 2004-09
1095 6 Ave – Salesforce Tower, Kahn & Jacobs, 1971-73, KPF, 2010
NY Times Building, Renzo Piano, 2007
Morgan Library, McKim Mead & White, 1918; Renzo Piano, 2012
Empire State Building, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, 1930-31
121 East 22St, OMA, 2007
Flatiron Building, Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg, 1902
Madison Square Park, 1856

New York Soho and the Village Art and Architecture Tour

From the historically diverse communities to cosmopolitan hot spots, the Lower East Side, Bowery, and SoHo have a fascinating history captured by the area’s architecture. During this tour, we discover this history by looking at some of the defining architectural typologies of these neighborhoods including the cast iron industrial spaces of Soho and tenement apartments of the LES as well stand-out contemporary buildings such as the New Museum by SANAA, Prada flagship boutique by Rem Koolhaas, and Copper Union by Morphosis.

Important Projects Featured on this Tour

Washington Sq. Park 1827
Washington Sq. Arch, Stanford White, 1889
NYU Bobst Library, Phillip Johnson, 1971
Washington Mews, Maynicke & Franke (converted), 1830’s (1916)
Jefferson Market Library, Frederick Clarke Withers, 1874-77
40 Bond Street, Herzog and deMeuron, 2008
Public Hotel, Herzog and deMeuron, 2013
City Hall, J. Mangin & J. McComb, Jr., 1812
Tweed Courthouse, Kellum Leopold Eidlitz, 1881
Hall of Records / Surrogate’s Court, Horgan & Slattery, 1907
Municipal Building, McKim, Mead & White, 1914
Engine Co 31, Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, 1895
Chatham Towers, Kelly & Gruzen, 1965
Eldridge St. Synagogue, Herter Brothers, 1886
Lower E. Side Tenement Museum, 1863
Bowery Savings Bank, McKim, Mead & White, 1895
New Museum, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), 2007
Little Singer Building, Ernest Flagg, 1904
Condict (Bayard Building), Louis Sullivan (Architect), 1898
NYU Silver Towers, I.M. Pei & Associates, 1966
51 Astor Place, Fumihiko Maki, 2014
Cooper Union, 1850
Cooper Union Engineering, Morphosis, 2009

Meet at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl New York, NY 10012

The SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, created in 1973, is dominated by remarkably intact mid-19th century architecture. Originally designed for both commercial and manufacturing uses, most of these buildings have been adapted for residential use. Meanwhile, over the last three decades, several entirely new buildings have been approved by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission as “appropriate" for inclusion within the district.

This tour looks at these recent buildings as well as significant historic sites to examine a range of design strategies—some highly contextual and others more interpretive—for historic districts. The following buildings are included, among many others: Scholastic Building by Aldo Rossi, 40 Mercer by Jean Nouvel, 529 Broadway by BKSK, 27 Wooster by KPF, XOCO 325 by DDG, the 1857 Haughwout Building, the meticulously restored 101 Spring Street (Judd Foundation), 478-482 Broadway by Richard Morris Hunt, and the 1904 Little Singer Building by Ernest Flagg.

AIANY Guide: Tim Hayduk

Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy:
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

New York Financial District and Ground Zero Art and Architecture Tour

At the southern tip of Manhattan, east and west sides of the island converge in the stunning eruption of skyscrapers, defining New York’s iconic skyline. During our Financial District Tour, we will explore the dynamic contrasts of old and new in this part of the city by examining its distinctive architecture, which speaks to New York’s colonial past as well as showcases some of its boldest contemporary developments. Key sites that will be discuss include Battery Park City, Wall Street, Frances Tavern, Stone Street, Trinity Church, World Trade Center, the 9/11 memorial, Fulton Station, and the revitalization of the East River waterfront.

Famous buildings featured on this Tour:
Battery Park City, Various, 1990s
New Amsterdam Plain and Pavilion, UN Studio, 2009
Trinity Church, 1846
Federal Reserve, York & Sawyer, 1924
Equitable Building, Graham & Associates, 1915
Federal Hall, Town & Davis, 1842
60 Wall St., Kevin Roche & John Dinkeloo, 1988
Woolworth Building, Cass Gilbert, 1912
Custom House, Cass Gilbert, 1907
Chase Manhattan, Gordon Bunshaft (SOM), 1960
Marine Midland Building, Gordon Bunshaft (SOM), 1967
Zuccotti Park, Cooper, Robertson & Partners, 2006
9/11 Memorial, Michael Arad and Peter Walker, 2011
9/11 Museum, Snohetta, 2014
WTC1, David Childs (SOM), 2015
WTC2, in-process
WTC3, Richard Rogers, 2018
WTC4, Fumihiko Maki, 2015
WTC5, Kohn Pederson Fox, in-process
WTC7, David Childs (SOM), 2015
Oculus Path Station, Santiago Calatrava, 2015
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Santiago Calatrava, 2020
Perelman Performing Arts Center, REX, 2023
Fulton Station, Grimshaw, 2015
East River Waterfront, Shop Architects, 2011
Schemerhorn Row, Unknown, 1810-1812
Brooklyn Bridge, John Roebling, 1883
8 Spruce Street, Frank Gehry, 2010

New York Chelsea and the High Line Art and Architecture Tour

In a city renowned as an international art hub, the West Village and Chelsea stand out as two of New York’s most architecturally and culturally vibrant communities. The lively area around Washington Square Park is home to the NYU campus and many of its remarkable buildings. Directly north of the West Village, the converted industrial warehouses and factories of Chelsea are now home to one of the world’s densest concentrations of galleries making this area a driving force in the art world. Specific examples that will be discussed include Washington Square Park, NYU buildings, the Whitney Museum, the Standard Hotel, the High Line, Hudson Yards, Javits Center, Penn Station, and more. This tour will award 4 AIA-CES credits for continuing education by the American institute of Architects.

Important Projects Featured on this Tour:

High Line, Diller Scofidio & Renfro, James Corner, 2008-2015
Whitney Museum of American Art, Renzo Piano, 2015
Standard Hotel, Polshek Partnership Architects, 2009
One High Line, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, 2023
Diane Von Fustenberg HQ, Work AC,
Little Island, IAC building, Frank Gehry, 2007
100 11th Avenue, Jean Nouvel,
HL23, Niel Denari
Porter House, Shop Architects
520 West 28th Street, Zaha Hadid Architects,
Maritime Hotel, Albert C. Ledner, 1960s
Hudson Yards, Kohn Pederson Fox, 2018
The Shed, Diller Scofidio & Renfro, 2020
15 Hudson Yards, Diller Scoffidio + Renfro, 2019
The Vessel, Thomas Hetherwick, 2019
35 Hudson Yards, SOM, 2018
The Spiral, BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, 2021
1 Manhattan West, SOM, 2022
The Javits Center, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, 1986
Penn Station, McKim, Mead & White, FX Collaborative, ASTM, 2023

New York Upper West Side Art and Architecture Tour

Situated between Central park and the Hudson River, the Upper West Side of Manhattan is home of some of the most prestigious academic and cultural buildings in the city. This is one of the prominent residential areas in the city, situated in between the parks and well connected by subway. Projects featured on this Upper West Side Architecture Tour include Lincoln Center for the Arts, Hears Tower by Foster and Partners, VIA W57 by Bjarke Ingels Group, Fordham University School of Law, St Jones Cathedral, Columbia University and its many buildings.

Important Projects Featured on this Tour:

Time Warner Center, David Childs (SOM), 2004
LVMH Building, Christian de Portzamparc, 1999
Museun of Arts and Design, Allied Works Architecture, 2008
15 Central Park West, Robert Stern Architects, 2008
Foster + Partners, Hearst Tower, 2006
VIA West 57, Bjarke Ingels Grop, 2016
Fordham University School of Law, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, 2014
Lincoln Center Redesign, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2011
Vivian Beaumont Theater, Eero Saarinen, 1965
Avery Fisher Hall, Max Abramovitz, 1962
Metropolitan Opera House, Wallace Harrison, 1966
NY City Ballet, Phillip Johnson, 1964
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Gordon Bunshaft
Alice Tally Hall, Pietro Belluschi, Diler Scofidio+ Renfro, 2011

Additional projects in the 4 hour Tour:

American Museum of Natural History, Mould, Vaux & Post, 1887, Polshek Architects, Studio Gang, 2023
Columbia University Campus, McKim Mead White, 1896
Alfred Lerner Hall, Bernard Tschumi, 1999
Columbia Northwest Building, Rafael Moneo, 2010
Diana Center Bernard College, Weiss Manfredi, 2010
Columbia Manhattanville campus, Renzo Piano, 2017
Columbia Medical Center, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2016
Columbia Business School, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2022

A new gem of the Bronx River, Starlight Park, has opened as a reclaimed, reconstructed, and expanded park. When you cross the pedestrian bridge at East 177th Street, you will enter a vital link along the Bronx River Greenway. This 13-acre park now features a synthetic turf multi-purpose field, picnic area, two new playgrounds with spray showers, basketball courts, multi-use pathways, and floating docks. More than three-quarters of a mile of new greenway will connect Starlight Park with Bronx Park to the north and Concrete Plant Park, Hunts Point Riverside Park, and Barretto Point Park to the south.

Landscape Architect: NV5

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.

Domino Square is a new one-acre public space that will expand the public realm along the Williamsburg waterfront and connect it more seamlessly with the surrounding neighborhood. Designed as a new civic room, the Square features welcoming and active edges with neighborhood-oriented retail and a central plaza for various events such as farmers’ markets, community gatherings, movie nights, arts and cultural performances, and ice skating in the winter.

Architect: Studio Cadena
Landscape Architect: Field Operations

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.
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 Science Playground at Pier 26 offers visitors—young and old—an opportunity to interact with and learn about the Atlantic and Short-nosed Sturgeons, endangered fish that are symbols of the Hudson River Estuary. Visitors can see how the fish live in their habitat, climb the net waves, slide from its tail or even crawl through its digestive system, as it searches the sandy river bottom for food.

Landscape Architect: OLIN 

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 redesign of Robert F. Wagner Park raises the level of the landscape and structures to conceal a flood wall and to decrease vulnerability from storm inundation and flooding. Thomas Phifer and Partners’ Wagner Park Pavilion will provide a welcoming sanctuary with a community room, restaurant, restrooms, parks storage, and an accessible roof deck that provides sweeping views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. The Pavilion will achieve ILFI Net-Zero Carbon Certification.

Please note: this tour is not accessible by wheelchair. 

This is an active construction site tour. All attendees must complete a signed waiver and wear hard hat, high visibility vest, and steel toed shoes in order to attend. Archtober staff will provide hard hat and high visibility vest. If you do not wear steel toed shoes you will not be allowed on the tour.

Architect: Thomas Phifer and Partners

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.

425 Grand Concourse, designed by Dattner Architects and developed by Trinity Financial and MBD, is one of the largest Passive House projects in the country. This mixed-use development includes 277 affordable housing units, a medical facility, supermarket, and CUNY Hostos student services center. PHIUS certified, it consumes 70% less energy than traditional buildings, providing a sustainable model for healthy living in a district with high childhood asthma rates.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Dattner 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.

The East Midtown Greenway (EMG) is a linear park stretching from 53rd to 61st Streets on the East River to close a gap in the nearly continuous 32-mile greenway around Manhattan. Elevated on structure above the river, EMG provides waterfront access where none has existed since the construction of the FDR. A product of multidisciplinary collaboration, EMG offers lush planting, a separated bikeway, gathering spaces and seating, all with spectacular views of the river corridor.

Architect: Stantec

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.

Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula builds on the site’s history as part of NYC’s active waterfront, creating a more resilient urban shoreline that allows New Yorkers to reconnect and engage with the Hudson River. Inspired by community feedback, the park balances active and passive spaces for lounging, fitness, and recreation and transforms a former DSNY operations site to reflect the neighborhood’s needs, celebrate its history, and imagine a new future for the estuary.

Please note: this tour is accessible by wheelchair.

Architect: Field Operations; nARCHITECTS

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.

Meet at the Madison Avenue BID offices: 29 East 61 Street, Third Floor, New York, NY 10065

Join AIANY and the Madison Avenue BID as we set out to discover the history behind Madison Avenue’s landmark buildings and explore how high-fashion retail has been incorporated into the district to create a world-famous shopping destination. The area has evolved from brownstones built in the 1870s and 1880s to lavish Beaux Arts townhouses by celebrated architects such as McKim, Mead & White, Carrère & Hastings, and Ernest Flagg, to luxury apartment buildings designed by Rosario Candela, Emery Roth, and others. Since the early 20th century, many of these historic residential buildings have been transformed to accommodate prestigious stores. The tour will examine architecture from 1870 to the present on and near Madison in the East 60s and 70s, an area entirely within the Upper East Side Historic District. We will consider how landmark designation has preserved the avenue’s distinctive character.

This monthly tour is offered in partnership with the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), a public-private partnership established in 1996 with the goal of enhancing the quality of life for the community and its visitors. The BID focuses on public safety, sanitation, promotion and advocacy for the district, striving to make Madison Avenue a more attractive and dynamic place in which to shop, live, work and visit.

AIANY Guide: John Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA

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Health and Safety Guidelines: 

AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

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.

The AIANY Committee on Residential Architecture, formerly known as Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN), has organized a bus outing through the countryside of the Mid-Hudson Valley and Berkshires, taking in the autumn foliage and making its way to Shaker Mount Lebanon and Hancock Village, the original capital cities of this remarkable communal society. Shaker villages espoused egalitarian ideals, where women and people of color were given leadership roles on equal footing with white men. AIANY is inviting you to join this all-day, private tour of two historic intentional communities in rural New York and Massachusetts. The experience has been curated to compliment the work presented in Shaker Architecture, Diversity Driving Innovation, a Center for Architecture symposium co-produced with Shaker scholars Jerry Grant and Maggie Taft.

Departing from the Center for Architecture, guests will at arrive at Hancock Village in time for a guided walk through the historic grounds, tour of the Great Stone Barn, and a catered lunch. The second destination will be Mount Lebanon to experience the remarkable Shaker landscape architecture and their most significant structure: the Shaker Meeting House. Afterwards, there will be a wine and cheese reception at the home of Dennis Wedlick and Curtis DeVito in nearby Stanfordville, New York. The construction, spaces and finishes of this 21C abode were all inspired by the form-follows-function Shaker design inventions that inspired residential architecture and interiors throughout the world.

Tour Schedule:
8:30 am: Depart Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY 10012)
11:30 am: Hancock Tour at Hancock Shaker Village (34 Lebanon Mountain Rd., Hancock, MA 01237.)
12:00 pm: Lunch/Tour
2:00 pm: Leave for Mount Lebanon Tour at Darrow School (110 Darrow Rd, New Lebanon, NY 12125)
3:30 pm: Leave for Stanford
4:00 pm: Wine and cheese at Wedlick/DeVito Residence (43 Bowen Road, Stanfordville, NY 12581)
5:30 pm: Return to Center for Architecture

Tour Curators and Reception Hosts:
Dennis Wedlick, FAIA, Chair, AIANY Committee on Residential Architecture; Founder, Principal Emeritus, BarlisWedlick Architects LLC
Curtis DeVito