Walking Tours

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 in person 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, and 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. 

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

—

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 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