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From July 15 to September 7, 2009, the National Constitution Center will host Into the Open, an innovative exhibition featuring the work of 16 architectural groups. Through vibrant installations and displays, Into the Open explores the original ways architects are collaborating to foster civic engagement and build better communities. Immersive, bold, and interactive, the exhibition aims to inform, as well as encourage discussion and participation.

On “First Friday,” August 7th the Center, in partnership with Slought Foundation and the Community Design Collaborative, presents dialogues with several featured designers from Into the Open alongside their contributions to the exhibition. This event features designers Teddy Cruz, whose photo narrative of the U.S.-Mexico border is prominently displayed on front lawn of the Center; Jonathan Kirschenfeld, principal of Jonathan Kirschenfeld Architects; Damon Rich, founder of the Center for Urban Pedagogy in Brooklyn, NY, who also serves as an urban designer and waterfront planner for the City of Newark, NJ; and Michael Sorkin, respected architecture critic and professor. These public conversations will take place with Kirschenfeld and Rich in the Center’s Posterity Hall at 5PM, and with Cruz and Sorkin at 6PM in the F.M. Kirby Auditorium.

Teddy Cruz’s work explores the dynamics of urban conflict on both sides of the United States-Mexico border, from the affluence north of San Diego to homelessness and neglect in Tijuana. Cruz has been recognized internationally, in collaboration with community-based non-profit organizations such as Casa Familiar, for his work on housing and its relationship to an urban policy more inclusive of social and cultural programs for the city. He holds a Masters in Design Studies from Harvard University. Cruz received the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome and the 2004-05 James Stirling Memorial Lecture On The City Prize. He currently serves as an Associate Professor in public culture and urbanism in the Visual Arts Department at University of California at San Diego.

Jonathan Kirschenfeld is the principal of Jonathan Kirschenfeld Architects, an internationally recognized firm for design excellence over a wide range of public and private architectural commissions. Jonathan Kirschenfeld Architects most recent large-scale project, The Floating Pool, drew major television, radio and print coverage during its inaugural summer season at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The 20,000 square foot facility, an example of the firm's commitment to sustainable design, hosted over 50,000 visitors during its eight week season, and won an international 2007 Award of Excellence from the Waterfront Center. The Pool was also honored as the runner-up in the prestigious 2007 Cooper-Hewitt Museum People's Choice Design Award, and recently won a 2008 Masterwork Award, a 2008 Building Brooklyn Award, and was chosen as one of 15 projects to be exhibited in the American Pavilion at the 2008 Venice Biennale. Aside from his role as principal, Mr. Kirschenfeld has taught at graduate programs including Columbia University's School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Pratt Institute, and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Damon Rich is an artist and designer whose exhibitions use video, sculpture, graphics, and photography to investigate the political economy of the built environment. Rich has been awarded a New York State Council on the Arts award for his work with adult literacy and architecture, as well as a fellowship from the MacDowell Colony for his work on the history of urban renewal. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Storefront for Art and Architecture and SculptureCenter (New York City), the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Liepzig), and Netherlands Architecture Institute (Rotterdam). In 1997, he founded the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people understand and change the places they live, where he served as Creative Director for 10 years. His project, The Subsidized Landscape, diagrams the complex financial underpinnings that determine the construction of housing in the United States and explores how financial incentives flow among tenants, investors, developers, and builders. The Subsidized Landscape interactive model and a large photo montage of the urban landscape are on display in the exhibition.

Michael Sorkin is Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Design at the City College of New York. From 1993 to 2000, he was Professor and Director of the Institute for Urbanism at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Sorkin's long academic career has also included professorships at Cooper Union, Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, Michigan University and University of Nebraska. Sorkin lectures widely and is the author of several hundred articles on architectural and urban subjects. For ten years, he served as the architectural critic for the Village Voice, and he currently serves as contributing editor for Architectural Record. Sorkin is also President of Terreform, a non-profit organization engaged in urban research and advocacy, and President of The Institute for Urban Design.

Parking for this event is available for $9.00 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change, so please call the Constitution Center on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.

For more information please call 215.409.6700. Please note that this program is subject to change.

Related Links:
Community Design Collaborative
CUP
Jonathan Kirschenfeld Architects
Michael Sorkin Studio
Slought Foundation
Teddy Cruz Faculty Page