American City X

Description

The New City Books series explores the intersection of architecture, landscape, infrastructure and planning in the redevelopment of the civic realm. American City X looks at the impact of strategic design interventions, or opportunistic urbanism. The premise of the work is that innovative and compelling works of architecture can change the way a city is perceived and enhance the way it functions through incremental growth based on available assets. These projects are notable both for the caliber of designers and the speed with which they have emerged, and are significant in demonstrating the possibilities for smaller post-industrial cities. With Syracuse, New York, as a case study and working with a range of clients of a variety of approaches, these projects are driven by academic, civic and non-profit groups, as well as private real estate concerns, often working in partnership. From landscapes to building and infrastructure, institutional to residential, renovation to new construction, the work addresses issues of sustainability, material and formal experimentation and programmatic invention.

Mark Robbins is director of the International Center of Photography in New York and former dean of Syracuse University's School of Architecture, director of design at the National Endowment for the Arts and curator of architecture at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.