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AIA New York organizes several different walking tours throughout Manhattan and the boroughs, with a special focus on modern and contemporary architecture. Expert guides, all members of AIA New York, walk intimate groups of visitors through some of New York City’s most distinctive neighborhoods, exploring the city’s rich history and stunning new buildings, as well as creative examples of adaptive reuse, urban planning, and development.

Questions? Email tours@aiany.org.

See Calendar

Upcoming Walking Tours

Sat, Mar 30 10:00 am

Walking Tour: Historic Buildings and New Interventions in SoHo

2 LU / 2 HSW
AIANY Member: $25
General Public: $30

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: Arthur Platt, 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.

Sat, Apr 6 10:30 am

Walking Tour: The Architecture of Park Avenue South

2 LU / 2 HSW
General Public: $30
AIANY Member: $25

Meet inside the atrium space of the Philip Morris building at the SW corner of 42nd Street and Park Avenue.

Park Avenue below Grand Central Terminal and Park Avenue South (formerly Fourth Avenue) pass through the historic neighborhoods of Murray Hill and Rose Hill and the more recently named Flatiron and NoMad districts. Once the insurance row of Manhattan, today these neighborhoods feature a lively mix of commercial, residential, and institutional uses, including transformed Class B office buildings and recent ground-up additions.

Within this corridor lies an encyclopedia of the architecture of New York City. Charles Follen McKim, Stanford White, and James Renwick Jr. prominently represent the 19th Century, while projects by Cass Gilbert, Ely Jacques Kahn, and Harvey Wiley Corbett usher in the first forty years of the 20th Century. Contemporary work by Ennead Architects, Michael Graves, Renzo Piano, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Christian de Portzamparc, Gwathmey Siegel, and Kohn Pedersen Fox are also highlighted on the avenues and adjacent blocks.    
  
This tour examines urban design and architectural issues in Park Avenue South, including NYC zoning, the Manhattan grid, POPs bonus plazas, Class A and Class B office buildings, and façade organizing principles.

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

Health and Safety Guidelines:

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

Fri, Apr 12 5:00 pm

Walking Tour: Madison Avenue, High Fashion, and Historic Preservation

2 LU
AIANY: $25
General Public: $30

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

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. 

Fri, May 17 5:00 pm

Walking Tour: Madison Avenue, High Fashion, and Historic Preservation

2 LU
General Public: $30
AIANY Member: $25

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

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. 

Wed, Jun 5 6:00 pm

Walking Tour: LGBTQ History in Greenwich Village

AIANY Member: $20
Student with Valid ID: $20
General Public: $25

Pride is celebrated to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a key turning point in the LGBTQ rights movement. In its immediate aftermath, new activist groups emerged fighting for liberation and visibility. However, New York City has a long and vibrant LGBTQ history that spans several centuries.

Join Ken Lustbader from the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project on a walking tour of pre- and post-Stonewall historic sites associated with early LGBTQ activism and community, all of which influenced American culture and politics.

Starting at Christopher Park, across from Stonewall, learn about the long-standing oppressive practices which led to the 1969 uprising and, before that, the 1966 “Sip-In” at Julius’ Bar. Stops along the tour will also highlight locations that have been especially impactful on the lives of LGBTQ people, including the starting point of the first-ever NYC Pride March (in 1970), popular gay and lesbian bars such as the Duchess and the Snake Pit, and places connected to the Mattachine Society, the Gay Activists Alliance, Radicalesbians, and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR).

Speakers:
Ken Lustbader, Co-founder and Co-director, NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

About the Speakers:
Ken Lustbader is a co-founder and co-director of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. For over 30 years, he has been a national leader in issues related to LGBT history, documentation, and historic preservation. His prior work experience includes serving as the Historic Preservation Program Officer at the J.M. Kaplan Fund, consultant for the Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund, and Director of the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Program. Lustbader holds a B.A. in Economics from Vassar College and M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.

Fri, Jun 14 5:00 pm

Walking Tour: Madison Avenue, High Fashion, and Historic Preservation

2 LU
AIANY Member: $25
General Public: $30

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

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. 

Policies
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.

Accessibility
Please note that AIANY walking tours are not ADA accessible. However, since accessibility requirements can vary from person to person, please email tours@aiany.org prior to purchasing your tickets for more information.