Walking Tours

Meet at North side of Pulitzer Fountain in Grand Army Plaza, near Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, across from the Plaza Hotel. 

Using East 57th Street as a backdrop, experience the evolution of Modernism: from proto-Modern buildings by Ely Jacques Kahn and Walker & Gillette, to classic Modern designs by Harrison & Abramovitz and Edward Durell Stone, to Late Modern structures by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Cesar Pelli and Postmodern designs by Kohn Pedersen Fox, Helmut Jahn and I.M. Pei—as well as Paul Rudolph’s unique Modulightor building and Rafael Vinoly’s supertall 432 Park Avenue. Also included are historic structures by Henry Hardenbergh, Schultze & Weaver and Emery Roth, as well as several Art Deco and Modern interiors.

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

AIANY Guide: Kyle Johnson AIA

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at NE Corner of Fifth Avenue and East 40th Street, under the canopy of BCBGMaxazria.

Before Bryant Park became New York’s “Living Room” and home to the New York Public Library, it served as a potter’s field, reservoir for the Croton water system, and the site for the Crystal Palace Exhibition. During the Great Depression, Robert Moses implemented a sweeping new landscape plan. Following a decline in the social and physical conditions in the 1970s and 1980s, a major transformation designed by Hanna/Olin was completed in 1990. Today, this successful public and private initiative serves as a model for other open spaces in New York and beyond.

The architecture lining the perimeter of Bryant Park presents a microcosm of the development of Midtown. Keynote projects include the NY Public Library by Carrère and Hastings, the Radiator Building by Hood and Foulihoux, One Bryant Park by Cook+Fox, the Grace Building by SOM, and and The Bryant condominiums and Park Terrace Hotel by David Chipperfield. Numerous support buildings contribute to the overall context completing the urban design and the architectural story of the park.

Urban design and architectural issues will be discussed including NYC zoning, business improvement districts, the evolution of skyscraper design, and how good design and public programming have ameliorated difficult conditions and helped shape an oasis in the crowded city. 

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour.

AIANY Guide: Joseph Lengeling AIA

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at the south facade of the Cooper Union Foundation Building, between Cooper Square & Bowery/3rd Ave.

PLEASE NOTE: This tour uses content presented on our previously-titled Architecture on Cooper Square, Bond Street, Lafayette Street, and the Bowery tour.

The rich and diverse architectural context of NoHo’s Historic Districts continues to inspire innovative contemporary design. The highly-crafted execution of many of the recent buildings in the neighborhood shows reverence for the earlier masterworks. 

Tour highlights, among the numerous newer buildings in NoHo, include Morphosis’ Cooper Union Engineering Building, Herzog & de Meuron’s 40 Bond Street, DDG Partners’ 41 Bond Street, and Selldorf Architects’ 10 Bond Street.  Also encountered is a fine group of 19^th century landmarks, including the Cooper Union Foundation Building, Astor Library (now the Public Theater), and the De Vinne Press – all grappling to find the appropriate architectural language for taller buildings.  Louis Sullivan’s Bayard-Condict Building’s dominant vertical expression clearly illustrates the way forward.

Along the route, a discussion of technological and stylistic breakthroughs, including the transition from masonry load bearing to steel frame construction and the appearance of more varied cladding materials, ties the tour’s sites together.

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour.

AIANY Guide: Alex McLean, Assoc AIA

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at Roosevelt Island Tram Station on Roosevelt Island.  

View a sampling of buildings spanning four centuries on the island formerly known first as Blackwell’s Island, later Welfare Island, and—since 1973—Roosevelt Island. Join us and explore a new community planned by Philip Johnson & John Burgee, the recently completed FDR Four Freedoms Park designed by Louis Kahn in 1973, and the new Cornell Tech campus.  Other highlights include the restored Blackwell farmhouse and Good Shepherd Chapel, James Renwick’s Smallpox Hospital ruins, housing by Johansen & Bhavnani, Sert, Jackson & Associates, and Gruzen Samton, and new Cornell Tech buildings by Morphosis and Weiss/Manfredi. 

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Guide: Kyle Johnson, AIA

AIANY and the AIANY Architecture Tour Committee and its tour guides will not be held liable and assume no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Walking tours endorse the initiatives of FitCity – promoting physical activity through design.

Please Note: Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at NW corner of Broadway & Houston St., at side of Crate & Barrel.

This once gritty neighborhood now dubbed NoLIta (North of Little Italy)—and its busy boundary streets, particularly Houston and Bowery—have been sprouting new developments including art galleries, hotels and residential buildings. Architectural highlights include SANAA’s New Museum, Norman Foster’s Sperone Westwater Gallery, and buildings by Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron, Toshiko Mori, and SHoP, among others.

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

AIANY Guide: Kyle Johnson, AIA

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at the Washington Square Arch in Washington Square Park.

With a wealth of impressive NYC architecture to explore, it is hard to know where to begin. Look no further than AIANY’s new tour: Architecture Power Hour: Exploring the Washington Square Neighborhood.

The one-hour walking tour, led by expert AIANY guides, begins at the Washington Square Arch, a Roman-inspired marble monument from NYC’s Gilded Age. The route then heads South to explore various buildings, many of which are owned by NYU. Throughout, we’ll explore the basics of design vocabulary and architectural styles, concluding at I.M. Pei’s Silver Towers and Picasso’s concrete Sylvette sculpture. This power hour will expose you to a variety of architectural movements, including Greek Revival, City Beautiful, and Modernism while also exploring the sites of key land use battles during the City’s urban renewal period.

Guests are encouraged to conclude their tour with a visit to the adjacent Center for Architecture, the leading cultural venue for architecture and the built environment in New York City. And if one hour leaves you wanting more, AIANY offers over 20 different regularly-scheduled walking tours of NYC’s neighborhoods and urban spaces. Visit our website for the latest schedule and for additional details.

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

AIANY Guide: Tim Hayduk

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

Meet in Chelsea Waterside Park at the end of West 22 Street (west side of 11^th Ave).

The creation of Hudson River Park and High Line Park in the waterfront area formerly occupied by commercial shipping and related uses have stimulated extensive new development.

View a stunning variety of new architecture in West Chelsea, as well as portions of Hudson River Park and the innovative design of the High Line, around which these new buildings are clustered.  Included are buildings designed by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Norman Foster, Annabelle Selldorf, Enrique Norten, Shigeru Ban, Neil Denari, Ennead Architects, Bjarke Ingels and Jeanne Gang.

Tours will run rain or shine. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. Registration is limited to 15; walk-ups are not guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

AIANY Guide: Kyle Johnson AIA

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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.

Meet at the Madison Avenue BID offices, 29 East 61 Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10065.

Join AIANY and the Madison Avenue BID as we 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 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 early in the twentieth century, many of those 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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Please Note: AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.

Your registration for this event constitutes your agreement to specific and limited use of your email address, and possibly your image or voice, in related communications. Learn more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Contact info@aiany.org with questions.

As a reminder, AIA National policy requires participants to attend the entire educational portion of an event to receive continuing education credits.