13. Katie Merz ‘Brooklyn Glyphs’ @ 80 Flatbush

80 Flatbush Avenue, at the intersection of State Street, 3rd Avenue, and Schermerhorn Street

The proposed mixed-use project by Alloy Development in Downtown Brooklyn, known as 80 Flatbush, may have a construction date several years away, but the current building will speak volumes for the next several years thanks to a collaboration between Brooklyn-based, commissioned artist, Katie Merz, and Brooklyn residents. The artist will work with the community to “compile a rich and diverse dossier of gathered stories and information,” which will spread across the surface of the buildings, from the sidewalk to the top floor, in the form of Merz’s signature black and white hieroglyphs.

When complete, 80 Flatbush will add 700 new school seats between the two new public schools. One of the schools will serve as a replacement facility for the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which is New York City’s first public school focusing on Arabic language and culture. The second school will be a new elementary school. In addition, 80 Flatbush will also include 200 new units of affordable housing and 700 new units of market rate housing, 200,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space. The highlight of the project will be the preservation and adaptive reuse of two historic structures, and the repositioning of one of the historic buildings into a 15,000-square-foot cultural space.

If you can’t stop by and say “Hi,” you can follow the 80 Flatbush Mural, The Brooklyn Glyphs, on Instagram. If you have a Brooklyn story to share, post it with the hashtage #mystory80, and make sure to follow the artist at Katie Merz.