openhousenewyork (OHNY) is a non-profit cultural organization founded in 2001 in New York City, to promote awareness and appreciation of New York's architecture, design and cultural heritage through year-round, educational programs. Through direct experiences and dialogue with architects, designers, planners, and scholars, OHNY opens doors for the public to discover new work, restoration of city landmarks, construction of infrastructure and engineering works and neighborhood planning efforts.
OHNY focuses on seven core programs which address New York City's architecture and design and showcase access to spaces typically not open to the public:
The Annual "openhouse newyork Weekend"[1] is America’s largest architecture and design event, held in all five boroughs of NYC. Over 200,000 local, national and international visitors are expected to participate in the 8th Annual OHNY Weekend. The two-day event features hundreds of talks, tours, family workshops, podcasts and performances. Free interpretive event guides and youth activity guides will be distributed at 200 sites, 150 programs, throughout NYC schools, and online on the openhousenewyork website.
The 7th Annual OHNY Weekend held on October 10 & 11, 2009, welcomed 185,000 visitors to 192 of the city's most interesting spaces and to 130 tours, workshops, and onsite talks, free of charge. Included in these numbers are 125 participating art, civic, educational and cultural organizations and 70 architecture and design firms which opened their studios and project spaces/creations to the public for interactive discussion and tours. Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor of the City of New York wrote in the 2009 OHNY Weekend guide, "From the Brooklyn Academy of Music to Wave Hill, Central Park to Fort Totten, New York City features some of the most iconic examples of world-class architecture and urban design. And there's no better showcase for these wonders than openhousenewyork."
The 7th Annual OHNY Weekend media highlights included The Architects Newspaper, Metropolis, msnbc.com, New York Living, New York Magazine,The NY Daily News, The New York Post, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, Vanity Fair, NY1 TV, WNBC-TV, WABC-TV and WFUV.
The 8th Annual openhousenewyork Weekend was held on October 9 & 10, 2010.
The 9th will be Oct 15 & 16, 2011[2] with a new $5 charge for those sites that require reservations. [3]