CultureNOW | A Celebration of Culture & Community

The monument Triumph of the Human Spirit is one of the world's largest site-specific installations, venerating the experience of African American enslavement. Towering at over fifty feet and weighing more than three hundred tons, the massive black granite sculpture was built on a rediscovered African burial ground. The sculpture depicts an abstract female antelope form, mounted on a boat shaped base. According to the artist, the piece is inspired by "Chi Wara" an antelope effigy from West Africa that symbolizes a responsibility for continuing the next generation and for celebrating a successful harvest. Triumph of the Human Spirit serves as a monument to honor all Africans brought to America but is also dedicated to all ancestors as well as the future generations to come.

Jonathan Kuhn, the Director of Art and Antiquities for NYC Parks, discusses the sculpture of Giovanni Da Verrazzano in Battery Park. Giovanni Da Verrazzano was one of the first European explorers in New York Bay. After the rise of Italian immigration in the early 20th century, the Italian community decided to raise this sculpture in Battery Park.

Keith Morgan, Professor of History of Architecture, discusses I. M. Pei's twin Harbor Towers in Boston.

Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA speaks on how the interaction between the Seagram Building, Lever House, and Tennis and Racquet Club activates the urban environment at the corner of 53rd Street and Park Avenue. 

Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA talks about the intellectual origins of the museum building and the development of the sculpture garden. 

Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA talks about the issue of rising currents and its impact on the architecture and the urban environment. 

Architect Toshiko Mori describes the design of the Sean Kelly Gallery. Pioneering a new area of New York City, the 22,000 square foot exhibition space is one of the first in the rapidly developing neighborhood adjacent to Hudson Yards and the third extension of the Highline. The gallery spans the ground and basement levels of a historic 1914 building on the corner of 36th Street and 10th Avenue, its design skillfully negotiating between respectful deference to its rich urban context and a new material sensibility. The project includes a centralized library, two distinct gallery spaces, and a black box theater that can also double as a third exhibition space. This configuration allows for maximum flexibility, accommodating the broad range of work produced by the gallery’s artists.

Charles Platt talks about his design for the New 42nd Street Studios, which can be seen as  a collage or an abstracted version of a traditional graphic approach inspired by the city. Instead of conforming to the stylistic signage canon of 42nd Street, the architects decided to turn the whole building into a luminescent sign.

Donald Fram, Chief Architect of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, discusses the historic renovation of Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at New York City's JFK Airport.

Architect Moshe Safdie describes the Crystal Bridges project, which is both a museum and a cultural center. The project is located in a ravine with a creek fed by Crystal Springs. Two suspended-cable-and-wood buildings span the ravine, creating two ponds. These structures serve as dams as well as bridges. The design aims to protect the natural beauty of the site while emphasizing a strong sense of place, and certain materials – wood, fieldstone and limestone aggregate – are drawn from the region. Building walls are architectural concrete with wood inlays, and the roofs are composed of a system of laminated wood beams. The liberal use of glass throughout the complex provides great transparency and enhances views of the site.