Kick-off Archtober at the Opening of "Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture"

Next month marks the eighth annual Archtober (pronounced “ark-tober”), a month long celebration of design and the built environment in New York City. Organized by the Center for Architecture in collaboration with over sixty partners and sponsors, this festival features hundreds of events all over the city that are practically tailor-made for Untapped Cities readers. From “Archtober” 1st through the 31st, participants can take part in a range of activities from building tours, lectures by design experts, and exhibitions to architecture-themed competitions and parties. And this year, Untapped Cities is an official media partner with Archtober, and we’ll be offering tickets to select events to our Untapped Cities Insiders!

Archtober will encompass exciting events hosted by a number of partners including the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Week, the Architecture and Design Film Festival, and Open House New York. There will also be daily boat tours by Classic Harbor Line, in partnership with AIA New York, to see the city from the water’s edge. This year, the festival will offer an expanded range of K-12 and family programming, from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s Teen Design Fair, to Amazing Architecture for Kids at the Museum at Eldridge Street, Build a LEGO City Family Day at the Center for Architecture. Since it is the month of Halloween, there will also be spooky architecture themed events like a Halloween costume building workshop and Pumpkitecture!, an architectural pumpkin carving competition!
To register for all Archtober events and for up-to-date program times, locations, and details go to

Photograph by Dan Cole, Courtesy of the Center for Architecture

One of the events taking place on the first day of Archtober is the opening of Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture at the Center for Architecture. Close to the Edge is comprised of work from students, academics and practitioners at the center of the emerging hip-hop architectural revolution. Hip-hop is a cultural movement established by the Black and Latino youth of New York’s South Bronx neighborhood in the early 1970s. Its primary products—deejaying, emceeing, b-boying, and graffiti—have evolved over the last five decades into a globally dominant force. Hip-Hop Architecture produces spaces, buildings, and environments that embody the creative energy evident in hip-hop’s first four elements. The exhibit is curated by Sekou Cooke of Syracuse University.
If you are or become an Untapped Cities Insider, you can attend the opening of “Close to the Edge” by booking with the button below!
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Check out the full

available to Untapped Cities Insiders which will include an Oculus Book Talk, a discussion on the future of Governor’s Island, Archtober Trivia Night, and Pumpkitecture!, an Architectural pumpkin carving competition!
Next, check out Untapped Cities Architecture Archives.