Excursion – New York: Odd Lots & Beyond
Excursion – New York:
Odd Lots & Beyond
Prof. Tina Gregoric
Mercedes Peralta
Katharina Urbanek
Prof. Hilary Sample (GSAPP-Columbia University; MOS, NY)
The excursion builds on the series of Odd Lots design studios, which had been built upon the concept of “odd” urban vacant spaces —byproducts of infrastructural measures, urban development, or unique topographical features— inspired by Gordon Matta Clark’s Fake Estates1 in New York with subsequent references to Arno Brandlhuber’s Option Lots in Berlin and Atelier Bow-Wow’s Pet Architecture in Tokyo.
During the weeklong trip, students will have the unique opportunity to explore and grasp New York (and extended in-land context) as a concrete material and cultural realm to learn about odd lots and beyond. The itinerary features curated sites, projects, and institutions relevant to contemporary disciplinary discussions, beyond iconic city landmarks or examples just linked to the topic of the previous studios.
Activities will include in-situ research on Matta-Clark’s Fake Estates and an examination of Vacant Spaces —a book and study documenting NYC’s unoccupied, forgotten spaces by MOS Architects—, linking these investigations to spatial strategies for addressing New York’s affordable housing crisis. Under mentorship of Prof. Hilary Sample* (GSAPP-Columbia University, MOS), we will visit contemporary works like the Sugar Hill Housing development (Adjaye Associates, 2015) and 450 Warren (SO-IL, 2022) in Brooklyn. Additional visits will include MoMA, the High Line and Breuer’s Whitney. Exploring the larger context, we will see the DIA Art Foundation, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, and SANAA’s Grace Farms. At Yale, we will look at Louis Kahn’s Art Gallery and further buildings within its Campus (Paul Rudolph, SOM, Eero Saarinen).
In a nutshell: This excursion highlights an arena to reflect on the use of neglected urban spaces and their transformative potential through the lens of architecture and urbanism, adding New York to the previous series of studio excursions (Ljubljana, Berlin, Barcelona, Brussels). Hence, we invite all students (from previous studios and new) to join this remarkable chance to learn with/from New York’s contemporary design scene.
1 The artwork Fake Estates by Matta-Clark explores the economic implications of private property. In this project, the artist purchased micro plots of land in Queens, NYC, consisting of small curbsides and alleyways, at auction for 25 dollars each. He then combined the deeds with maps and montaged images of each site. Matta-Clark was intrigued by the concept of owning space, which was impractical to use, and he aimed to comment on the arbitrary nature of property boundaries.
*Prof. Hilary Sample will give a lecture at TU Wien on March 5th. We encourage all students signing up and interested in the excursion to attend the lecture.
Excursion ● New York City, USA ● 05.05.-11.05.2025
Kick-Off ● 06.03.2025 ● 10:00 AM
Meeting • 10.04.2025 • 10:00 AM
SS 2025 ● 2 + 2.5 ECTS ● course held in English and German • registration with portfolio via email to katharina.urbanek@tuwien.ac.at ● deadline: 15.1.2025
accommodation and travel are organized by students themselves ● cost estimate per person: flight: from € 530.- / accommodation: from € 100.- per night (all to be booked asap!) ● ca. 15% of the travel expenses will be refunded by the TU Wien
contact ● katharina.urbanek@tuwien.ac.at
