By Margaret Castillo, AIAGreetings from Amsterdam! Last week, I traveled to Holland with five leading New York designers and David Bragdon, director of the Mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability to participate in the second half of the international exchange we organized around the exhibition "Glimpses of New York and Amsterdam in 2040." The exhibition, which is on view at the Center for Architecture until September 10, was co-organized with the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture (ARCAM). (The exhibition is also on view in Amsterdam, until August 13.) We hosted a delegation from Amsterdam in early June, which included participating designers from Amsterdam (Barcode Architects, DELVA Landscape Architects / Dingeman Deijs Architect, Fabrications, Space & Matter, van Bergen Kolpa), Ton Venhoeven, founder/architect of VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism and the Chief Government Advisor on Infrastructure, Aga Khan winner Bjarne Mastenbroek, and leaders from ARCAM. It was an exciting week, and the enthusiasm and ideas that came out of our visit to Amsterdam were equally inspiring. The New York teams were dlandstudio, Interboro Partners, Solid Objectives - Idenburg Lui (SO-IL), W Architecture & Landscape Architecture, and WORKac.

Of the exhibition, Bragdon said, "I think it is important to learn from other cities. The images of the future presented in the Glimpses of New York and Amsterdam in 2040 exhibition show us how to be creative in our problem solving. They help us to look beyond boundaries and to challenge our assumptions." Bragdon was a member of the exhibition's advisory committee, and participated in New York programs at the Center for Architecture in early June. In Amsterdam, he debated with Zef Hemel, deputy director at Spatial Planning Department at City of Amsterdam on "PlaNYC 2030" & "Structuurvisie Amsterdam 2040," the two cities' plans for long-term growth and sustainability.
This exhibition is the most recent in a long history of collaboration between Dutch and U.S. partners in addressing urban water issues, and how we "live with water." Thinking about the water feels particularly important in New York right now. As city planning chair Amanda Burden said this spring, when she unveiled Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, the water is our city's "6th borough." I hope these glimpses of 2040, and the progress already being made, will inspire people to work incrementally towards a sustainable future for our city, and introduce innovative, scalable ideas that will work in New York and Amsterdam, but also in all manner of waterfront cities around the globe. Change on our waterfronts and in our cities is inevitable - and imperative - and it's crucial that designers are involved in this transformation.
"Glimpses" remains on view at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place) until September 10, and I do encourage you see the exhibition. I also encourage you to participate in our next international exchange: on July 14 we welcome seven young architecture firms from Sao Paulo for "New Practices Sao Paulo." The exhibition opens with a grand fete on July 14 - all are welcome - and on Friday, July 15 we will host a program with the seven Brazilian firms and representatives from our own New Practices New York competition. The conversation will be moderated by 2010 New Practices New York juror, and architecture luminary, Toshiko Mori, FAIA.


Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP, is the 2011 president of the N.Y. chapter of the AIA, New York, N.Y.
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