Recommended for children ages 3–7. 

The great thing about architecture is that it is everywhere, so you can appreciate it anywhere—even in a classic story like The Three Little Pigs! Which type of house will the big, bad wolf be able to blow down: the house made of scraps, glass, or stone and concrete? You might be surprised! Make sure to visit the new special exhibition Bill Cunningham: Façades and see how many architectural landmarks you can spot!

The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia

Free with Museum Admission

How would you dress up to stand in front of Federal Hall? How about the Empire State Building? The Washington Mews? Inspired by the exhibition Bill Cunningham: Façades, families are invited to choose their favorite New York City landmark and decorate their own matching paper doll in this drop-in art making program. We’ll have images of historical paper dolls from our collection for families to see as well. Recommended for ages 4–10.

Note: This event is sold out

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The French were pioneers of iron and glass construction in the 19th century. By first building shopping gallerias in the early 19th century, then Henri Labrouste’s magnificent iron-framed Saint Genevieve and National Libraries in the mid-century, then the celebrated Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais at the century’s end, the French showed us how to “love” metallic construction and embrace its new aesthetic.

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Central Park’s design is democracy in three dimensions. No one understood that better than its creators, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. With their talented team, they created a slice of the American countryside—accessible to all—that looks completely natural but is a brilliantly crafted artifice that helps us achieve the “American dream.”

SPEAKER BIO

Barry Lewis is an architectural historian who currently teaches at Cooper Union Forum and specializes in European and American architecture from the 18th to 20th centuries.

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London and its metropolitan area are the sources of much of our own American modern architectural and interior design. Whether Arts and Crafts or metallic “modernist,” London’s designers of the 19th century paved the way for our 20th-century ideals of “honest” design. Join Barry Lewis and discover how John Soane, William Morris, Owen Jones, Joseph Paxton, and others inspired Americans to embrace modernisms long before Mies van der Rohe was even born.

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The planned garden suburb is a phenomenon that originated in England in the late-18th century, then quickly spread to the United States and beyond in the 19th. Renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern discusses the evolution of these bucolic settings and the important lessons they hold for the future of our towns and cities.

Note: This program is sold out

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From the 7th Regiment Armory to St. James’s Church to the Society Library to the Knickerbocker Club, the lifestyles of the rich and famous at the turn of the 20th century still resonate in the urban fabric of Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

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With its rich history in African-American politics, journalism, athletics, and culture, Harlem has evolved into one of the world's most celebrated neighborhoods. In anticipation of the exhibition The Black Fives, join Barry Lewis for a discussion on the neighborhood's enduring architecture, from its classic Victorian brownstones to its renowned ballrooms.

Note: This program is sold out

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Between the Civil War and World War I, some of America’s most affluent citizens flaunted their wealth with European-styled chateaux on Fifth Avenue. Yet even among these examples of parvenu showmanship, houses were built, such as the Villard House on Madison Avenue and the Otto Khan mansion, and small specialty museums created, such as the Morgan Library and the Frick Museum, that would bring a new sophistication to both American home design and the New York cultural scene.

Note: This program is sold out

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Join Barry Lewis on a journey through New Amsterdam/New York in the first 200 years of its existence, when “uptown” meant Washington Square, Downtown meant both the “counting houses” of South Street as well as the corporate headquarters on Wall, and when street systems and living patterns were first laid down for the future city we know today.