2020–21 Impact Report
Dear Readers The past two years have challenged all of us, in every meaningful way. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve asked ourselves: How can Van Alen support the public spaces where our shared lives unfold? Since our beginnings 128 years ago, we’ve invested in design education — free classes, international fellowships, and groundbreaking competitions — that surfaced new ways of thinking about the public realm. Over the decades, we’ve built an incredible network of designers and systems thinkers. When I joined Van Alen in 2019, we began thinking about how to activate this extraordinary brain trust. Our goal: To understand the interlocked systems of power that exclude many communities from shaping their own environment, and invest in their agency and resilience. As the pandemic’s disparate impact came into focus, this institutional shift demanded action. With the Urban Design Forum, we launched Neighborhoods Now to support NYC organizations leading their communities’ recovery. To meet immediate needs — from outdoor dining buildouts to COVID-19 safety posters — we mobilized teams of designers, planners, engineers, attorneys, financial professionals, city agents, and more. Two years later, these teams continue to collaborate on long-term recovery strategies at the neighborhood scale. What started as a design sprint is now a platform for collective activism. These community-led partnerships aren’t just part of the design process — they are the design process. If design isn’t rooted in trust built with the people it serves, it’s fundamentally exclusionary.
This ethos now drives all our programs, whether in our own backyard or at our nation’s capital. Every day, we learn how to work better, smarter, and more collaboratively to create an equitable public realm driven by residents’ voices and visions. This learning mindset requires experimentation, and our team jokes that everything we do is a prototype — but we’re okay with that. With the support of our history and our network, we find ourselves able and willing to experiment, to take risks, to try. As a community of design justice advocates — diverse in expertise and lived experience — you’re all partners in bringing about this change. With great optimism, we see a future in which we forge new systems together that improve human lives. Next year, we’ll develop a new program that enhances communities’ ability to shape the places where they live, work, and recreate. Thank you for supporting us in centering communities and we hope you’ll join our cohort of partners in the co-creation of this project. Warmly,
Deborah Marton, Executive Director, Van Alen Institute
How We Work Van Alen creates equitable cities through inclusive design. To shift the power balance in city-making, we share tools and resources to help historically excluded communities shape the places where they live. Connect • Listen to community partners’ needs and aspirations • Learn about communities’ assets and how best to support them • Build a coalition of CBOs, residents, city leaders, designers, and others with specialized skills Co-design • Set goals and prioritize outcomes, driven by our partners • Co-create solutions that respond to partners’ self-identified needs Prototype + Iterate • Make things! • Get feedback from our partners and the residents they serve • Feed those insights back into our program design Along the way, we… • Invest Van Alen’s funds into program development • Raise and regrant funds to partners for implementation • Build trust by facilitating lasting cross-sectoral alliances • Amplify the expertise and experience of Van Alen’s partners Photo: Cameron Blaylock
Where We Work National • Albany • New York City • Washington, DC
Local • Bed Stuy • Chinatown • Gowanus • Jackson Heights • Kingsbridge • Lower East Side • South Bronx • Washington Heights
Impact at a Glance In 2020-21, we redoubled Van Alen’s commitment to forging alliances across social and professional barriers. By the numbers… • 11 community partners in 12 neighborhoods across 3 cities • $300K re-granted to our community partners • $1.2M of our own funds invested directly into programming • $3M+ value in pro-bono support channelled to community partners • 8 public spaces strengthened through community-led initiatives Point of Action by Studio Cooke John.
Photo: Cameron Blaylock
The Fellowship not only immersed us in concepts and case studies of design justice — it gave the opportunity to put these ideas into practice, to support our community. Steven Francis Koller, Neighborhood Design Fellow in Gowanus
Neighborhood Design Fellowship: Gowanus Community-centered work demands active participation in our own community. In partnership with anti-racist design school Dark Matter University, Van Alen created a paid fellowship for Gowanus residents to work towards the future they imagine for our shared neighborhood. The Fellows are now campaigning for improvements to a long-neglected NYCHA community center and designing a neighborhood-wide light installation that raises awareness about the Gowanus Canal’s water quality. • Equipped 11 residents with design justice training • Inspired 7 self-initiated community-led projects • Engaged 1000+ attendees at our first Block Party curated by the Fellows Photo: Alisha Kim Levin
Lucid Project Albany In West Hill, Albany — a neighborhood that’s faced decades of disinvestment — Van Alen is supporting a coalition of community organizations, designers, city planners, and residents as they transform a neglected public alleyway into a safe space for gathering and remembrance. Together, they’ve created plans for a landscaping overhaul and a participatory installation, slated to begin in 2022. In response to their collective advocacy, Albany’s Department of General Services recently completed a long-overdue cleanup of the alley and the City of Albany is interested in using this project as a model for the stewardship of a dozen similar alleys across the city. • Invested over $375K of Van Alen funds into community-led design solutions • Built a coalition of 10+ community organizations and city agencies • Engaged 200+ West Hill residents in an inclusive design process Photo: Shannon Straney
Lucid is a project to help repair the relationship between the City and West Hill by giving the community the tools and resources to envision their futures and literally build something together. Luis Roldan, Senior Planner, City of Albany, and Lucid Project: Albany partner
Partnerships across diverse stakeholders — with community at the center — can be transformative. Sandra Lobo, Executive Director, Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition; Neighborhoods Now partner since June 2020
Neighborhoods Now In response to the urgent need for spatial solutions that arose with the pandemic, Van Alen launched Neighborhoods Now in spring 2020, in collaboration with the Urban Design Forum. The initiative brought together 200+ community leaders and interdisciplinary professionals to address immediate needs like outdoor dining buildouts and safety signage. With the support of Wells Fargo, we’ve since evolved the program to look long-term, collaborating with eight community partners on projects that will build community resilience — such as new public space programs that feature local vendors and artists, and supporting small businesses facing displacement through neighborhood-scale needs assessments and financial training. • Supported recovery efforts led by 11 community organizations across 7 hard-hit NYC neighborhoods • $300K re-granted to community partners • $3M+ value in pro-bono support from 85+ firms Photo: Oliver Oglesby
Public Realm R&D Public Realm R&D surfaces the work of emerging designers and tests new strategies to bring people together in public space. As the pandemic reinforced the need for shared outdoor spaces, we collaborated with the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership on installations that encouraged connection, contemplation, and joy. Public Realm R&D now expands to the national stage with Beyond Granite, in partnership with the Trust for the National Mall, National Capital Planning Commission, and National Park Service. In 2022-23, Beyond Granite will test new models of commemoration on and around the National Mall in Washington, DC, and explore strategies to tell more inclusive and complete stories in public space. • Produced 3 interactive installations by Studio Cooke John, Atelier Cho Thompson, and Ekene Ijeoma • Expanded use of shared public spaces, increasing foot traffic by 29% at Flatiron Public Plaza • Reached an international media audience of 17+ million • Collaborated to activate installations through free cultural programming, including 8 performances at Ekene Ijeoma’s Breathing Pavilion Breathing Pavilion by Ekene Ijeoma.
Photo: Alisha Kim Levin
We can build community around design. Our installation offers a platform for stories and dreams of our collective future. Ming Thompson and Christina Cho Yoo, co-founders of Atelier Cho Thompson and 2021 Flatiron Designers
Financial Information Revenue
2020
2021
Restricted
461,970
456,662
Unrestricted
682,843
693,414
Van Alen Investment
1,124,268
1,358,479
Total Revenue
2,269,081
2,508,554
Expense
2020
2021
Operations and Communications
375,424
379,911
Fundraising
501,895
571,475
Programs
1,391,762
1,557,168
Total Expense
2,269,081
2,508,554
*Capital expenses are not included; 2021 figures are preliminary and unaudited. Photo: Christopher Brickman
Partners 82nd Street Partnership
Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership
Abruzzo Bodziak Architects
Frederick Tang Architecture
AE Superlab
Fried Frank
Albany & Troy Lions Club
Chasity Fryer, Neighborhood Design Fellow
Albany 518 SNUG Albany Department of Planning and Development Albany Victory Gardens Architensions Architecture Research Office (ARO) Arup Asian Americans for Equality Atelier Cho Thompson
Frantasia Fryer, Neighborhood Design Fellow Future Expansion Architects Gehl Studio
Office of Tangible Space Only If— Overlay Office Parc Office Partner & Partners Thaddeus Pawlowski, Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, GSAPP
Imani Gayle Gillison, Senior Neighborhood Design Fellow
Javier Otero Peña, CUNY Graduate Center
Tiane Goines, Neighborhood Design Fellow
Pentagram
Grateful Villages
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, HR&A Advisors
Grimshaw
Francesca Bastianini, Neighborhood Design Fellow
Office of Architecture
Gensler
Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association
Barker Associates Architecture
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC)
Gretel HLW Ekene Ijeoma, Studio Ijeoma Jaklitsch / Gardner
Perkins&Will Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Sam Schwartz Scalar Architecture SHoP Silman Smart Design
BD Feliz
James Corner Field Operations
Bed-Stuy Gateway BID
Joseph Barretto Consulting
Elisa Smilovitz, Neighborhood Design Fellow
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
Kalos Eidos
Smith & Sauer
Beyer Blinder Belle
Jacob Karasik, Neighborhood Design Fellow
SO-IL
BJH Advisors
Evie Klein, CUNY Graduate Center
Luisa Borrell, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, CUNY
Steven Koller, Neighborhood Design Fellow
BRANDT : HAFERD
KPF
Bureau V
Lea Architecture
Buro Happold
Leroy Street Studio
Büro Koray Duman
Gina Lovasi, Drexel University
Bahij Chancey, Neighborhood Design Fellow
LTL Architecture
Community League of the Heights (CLOTH)
Marvel
MA’AM
Some People Studio Space 4 Architecture Stantec Studio Cadena Studio Cooke John Studio Fōr Studio Libeskind Thackway McCord The Greenest Fern The Urban Conga
MBB
The Working Assembly
JoAnne McFarland, Neighborhood Design Fellow
Think!Chinatown Thornton Tomasetti
Dark Matter University
Alison Mears, Healthy Materials Lab, Parsons School of Design
ThoughtMatter
Dash Marshall
Michael K. Chen Architecture
Dattner Architects
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Design Advocates
MNLA
di Domenico + Partners
Moody Nolan
DLR Group
MOS
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
nARCHITECTS
Dustin Duncan, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
National Capital Planning Commission
COOKFOX Cooper Square Committee Curtis + Ginsberg
Eden’s Rose Foundation FABnyc Farzana Gandhi Design Studio FCA
National Parks Service NDC New Affiliates NHDM
Trust for the National Mall Two Twelve Andreas Tyre, Neighborhood Design Fellow University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP) Urban Design Forum VHB W Architecture WIP Studio Woods Bagot WORKac Worrell Yeung
Supporters Our 2020–21 accomplishments were made possible by our generous supporters. Van Alen supporters are helping to shift the power balance in city-making by centering communities and their needs in an inclusive design process. AAI Architects
Langan
White Architects
Alliance for Downtown New York
Loci Architecture
Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor
Allies and Morrison
MAG Partners
WRNS Studio
Alloy
Manhattan Laminates
WXY Studio
Altman Foundation
Mayors’ Institute on City Design
Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP
MBB Architecture
Apple Bank
Montalba Architects
Architecture Research Office (ARO)
nARCHITECTS
Ares
National Endowment for the Arts
Arup
NCheng
Atelier Office
New York City Council
Baumgartner Urban Systems Strategy
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
Bednark Studio Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union Buro Happold CBT Citi Civitas COOKFOX Daraja Capital Dattner Architects Deutsche Bank DLR Group Dovetail Design Strategists Fairstead Focus Lighting Fried Frank Gensler Greenberg Traurig Grimshaw Hines Home Depot Hunter Roberts IA Construction Management Ingram LLP Innisfree M&A Incorporated James Corner Field Operations Jordan Cooper LLC Kensington Vanguard KPF L&L Holding Company/ Terminal Warehouse
New York City Department of Youth and Community Development New York Community Trust New York State Council on the Arts On Time Supply Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Perkins&Will PNC Bank Ponce de Leon Bank Ponce de Leon Foundation Recess RKLA Studio Sharon Davis Design Sherwood Design Engineers Signature Bank Silman Snøhetta Stantec Stoss Landscape Urbanism Stuart-Lynn Studio Libeskind Studio Saxe The Heyman Team Thinc Design Thomas & Jeanne Elmezzi Private Foundation Thornton Tomasetti W Architecture and Landscape Architecture Walter P Moore Wells Fargo
Van Alen Board of Trustees Carla Swickerath, Studio Libeskind Chair
Casey Jones, Perkins&Will
Raymond Quinn, Arup
Jared Della Valle, Alloy Vice Chair
Latoya Kamdang, Moody Nolan
Hunter Tura, THE-CREATIVE
Hana Kassem, KPF
Kia Weatherspoon, Determined by Design
Mark Johnson, Civitas Treasurer
Mikyoung Kim, Mikyoung Kim Design
Jenn Gustetic, NASA Secretary
May Lee, The Seelig Group Sandy Lee, Kinneret Group
Michael Bednark, Bednark Studio
Nnenna Lynch, Xylem Projects
Robert Bernstein, Holland & Knight
Daniel Maldonado, DPR Construction
Mark Gardner, Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects
Allison Freedman Weisberg, Recess Byron Bell (emeritus), Byron Bell Architects & Planners
Carlos Menchaca, Pratt Institute
Van Alen Staff Deborah Marton, Executive Director
Annie Ferreira, Development Associate
Kate Overbeck, Director of Development
Stacey Anderson, Associate Director, Business Development and Special Initiatives
Fareen Islam, Project Manager, Programs
Ren Reese, Managing Director
Diana Araujo, Project Manager, Programs
Scott Kelly, Communications and Graphic Design Associate
Manon Vergerio, Project Manager, Programs
Andrew Brown, Director of Programs
Alisha Kim Levin, Director of Communications
Interwoven by Atelier Cho Thompson.
Photo: Martin Seck
Support Van Alen
Cover Photo: Shannon Straney