Design Trust for Public Space

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Design Trust for Public Space

The Design Trust for Public Space is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the future of public space in New York City.

10/13/2026

We are thrilled to award the 2026-2027 Photo Urbanism Fellowship to Manuela Hurtado: Colombian American architect, videographer, editor, and photographer, born and raised in New York City. Her work for this cycle’s exhibition will explore public space as a stage for arts and culture.

📸🔗 Learn more about Manuela and this year’s Photo Urbanism theme at photourbanism.org, and explore our archive of past exhibitions!

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs NYSCA

10/07/2026

This August, Vanderbilt University opened its first satellite campus outside Nashville to students, finding a new home in a former Episcopal seminary built in 1817.

James Kellerhouse, Vanderbilt NYC’s Assistant Vice Chancellor, and Nate Rogers, Director of Historic Preservation and Architect at Beyer Blinder Belle, took Design Trust Council on a tour of the new grounds, exploring the preservation and transformation of this 200-year-old historic space into a campus for the 21st century.

DT Council is a community network of civic-minded professionals who support the Design Trust’s mission to make a lasting impact—through design—on public space in NYC. Members gain access to special events, tours, and talks like this. Learn more about joining at the link in our bio.

Thank you Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University - New York City, and Beyer Blinder Belle for hosting us!

10/05/2026

On the heels of Climate Week in NYC, we convened our Water Project Incubator to further develop five ideas for water and public space, aimed at designing a more equitable future, expanding environmental justice, and reconnecting New Yorkers with the water all around them.

🔗Read about our latest workshop at Arup Architecture with our advisory committee of city agency leaders, design experts, and community organizers at the link in our bio!

Meet the Water Cohort:
💧Gita Nandan & Zehra Kuz-Mackin are imagining a new intertidal zone and creation of floating structures to live on rising seas. thread collective Pratt School of Architecture

💧Tiffany Baker is combining education curriculum and storytelling to confront the impact of flooding on NYC. Dear Neighbor

💧Annabel Finkel is examining how to make viable public drinking water an integral part of NYC streetscapes. Starr Whitehouse

💧Greg Pucillo is mapping a path for expanding seaweed aquaculture. Greg Pucillo

💧Kaitlin Krause is creating a Water Literacy Playbook to improve water safety knowledge across the five boroughs. Rising Tide Effect

09/23/2026

New Yorkers across the five boroughs are connecting for Climate Week 2026 to shape global environmental priorities. One of the most pressing issues the city faces today is increased heavy rain and severe flooding, triggered by climate change.

NYC residents are all too familiar with the scene: Within just a few minutes of these more frequent, sudden, and intense rain bursts, streets cascade with water, subway entrances are submerged, and city life grinds to a halt. For our most vulnerable New Yorkers, the lack of upgraded, rain-resilient design has deadly and unacceptable consequences. Our infrastructure has to transform so we can live safely with water and adapt to the new normal.

We are proud to announce a new project, Raincheck, to help prepare New York City for extreme rain and flooding with community engagement and equitable urban planning strategies that ensure environmental justice for all of NYC’s neighborhoods.

Learn more at the link in our bio! 🌧️🔗

Raincheck is in collaboration with NYC Water, HKS and the Macaulay Honors College College at The City University of New York.

09/10/2026

Last night, Design Trust Council took a tour of the newly transformed Wagner Park. The Lower Manhattan green space was originally opened in 1996, offering stunning views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. The park closed in 2023 for a major reconstruction to address urgent climate resiliency needs.

The upgraded design integrates flood protection and sustainable infrastructure to safeguard Battery Park as part of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Project.

Thank you to Battery Park City Authority and the project’s designers, Thomas Phifer and Partners, Arup Architecture , AECOM, and Atelier Ten, for walking us through the reimagined park and pavilion!

DT Council is a community network of civic-minded professionals who support the Design Trust’s mission to make a lasting impact—through design—on public space in NYC. Members gain access to special events, tours, and talks like this. Learn more about joining at the link in our bio.

📸 Drone photo courtesy of Battery Park City Authority

08/19/2026

Since 2001, our Photo Urbanism program has offered fellowships to local photographers to document and showcase unique perspectives on the public spaces of NYC. Here are a few highlights from the archive, explore all of our past exhibitions at photourbanism.org.

Our 2026-2027 fellowship app is open until 9/2 at the link in our bio! This cycle, we are looking for photography project proposals that illuminate public spaces as lively venues for arts and culture.

Photo Urbanism is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts. ❤️ NYSCA NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs

08/05/2026

Calling NYC photographers! The Design Trust for Public Space is now accepting applications for our 2026-2027 Photo Urbanism Fellowship. Since 2001, the program has fostered the creation of new work exploring and documenting the culture of NYC’s public spaces across the five boroughs. The Photo Urbanism fellow receives $10,000 in funding and support to create a solo exhibition, as well as collaborates with our Youth Photography Workshop at the Macaulay Honors College.

This cycle, we are looking for photography project proposals that illuminate public spaces as lively venues for arts and culture, in tandem with our “Untaped” initiative aiming to make it easier for New Yorkers to use their neighborhood commons. We want to document how public spaces come to life with creative programming, markets, live performances, art exhibitions, educational opportunities, and beyond. These stories will advance Untaped’s mission to reimagine NYC with less bureaucratic red-tape and simpler permitting processes.

Learn more about the fellowship and how to apply at the link in our bio! (and on the designtrust.org homepage).

Applications are due Wednesday, September 2, 2026 by 11:59 pm. Visit photourbanism.org to explore our archive of past exhibitions.

08/04/2026

Now in its third year, our New York: City Designed program at Macaulay Honors College is creating new paths to urban planning careers, offering experiential learning, community, and internship placements with some of NYC’s top city agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector design and architecture firms.

Sarah Chacko, a current NYCD intern working with our team at the Design Trust this summer, sat down with three of the program’s alumni to see where they are now and how the opportunity impacted the beginning of their career journeys. Link in our bio to read!

Photos left to right: Sarah, Naia (3x3) Daniel (TenBerke), and Shivani (NYC Department of City Planning)

08/03/2026

Join our team working to unlock the potential of NYC’s public spaces! We’re hiring a part-time Communications and Events Coordinator to support our public programming, community outreach, and content creation. Learn more about the role at apply at the link in our bio or head to designtrust.org/news

Photo: Central Park, 1997, via Wikimedia Commons, photographer LBM1948

07/15/2026

🌿 People make public spaces thrive!

Do you work with a group that cares for parks, gardens, plazas, open streets, schoolyards, waterfronts, greenways, trails, or other public spaces? We want to hear from you!

Take the Public Space Partners Survey to help count, map, and connect stewardship groups across the New York City Region, including the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary.

Put your work on the map! By participating, your group can:
• Help volunteers, agencies, funders, and partners find your work
• Connect with other public space stewards
• Support future planning and investment

The survey takes about 15-30 minutes, and respondents will be entered into a raffle for one of ten $100 gift cards.

Take the survey: https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9KtNTDNwt1xKRZY (link in our bio)

We are proud to be on the steering committee for this important initiative with a coalition of NYC institutions led by . Thank you to NYU’s Urban System Lab for collecting this vital data in collaboration with colleagues at USFS and UDF.

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+12126952432

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http://designtrust.org/

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