Tours Details

Date: 11/2/2024

Start time: 3pm EST

Duration: 2 hour

Meeting Point: Union Square

End Point: Madison Square Park

Participants limit: 10

Union Square to Madison Square Park Architecture Tour

Uncover the secrets of New York City’s iconic urban landscape are revealed on this immersive walking tour led by a distinguished expert. We’ll explore the principles that guided Manhattan’s famous street grid system and the development of the American invention of the new architectural building type—the Skyscraper. We’ll discuss the difference between the Chicago and NYC high-rise buildings.

Join us as we stroll from Union Square on Broadway through the Flatiron District to the northern end of Madison Square and its immediate environs, while delving into and observing the characteristics that defined the Manhattan’s street grid bounded by low- and high-rise structures. We’ll also explore how public spaces like Madison Square Park and Union Square were designed intentionally and by default to fit within irregular city blocks to create two of NYC’s great open spaces and one great outdoor room. Through an engaging and interactive experience, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of NYC’s architectural evolution from 1811 to the present day while developing a newfound appreciation for the intricacies of urban planning. We learn to read the city through our eyes and our feet. 

William Singer, a practicing professional architect and Fulbright alumnus will lead the walk that starts in Union Square and ends in Madison Square Park. You’ll learn how these two distinctly different public spaces anchor a significant section of Broadway that established post-Civil War department store as an architectural building type. You’ll also develop an appreciation for urban planning design and implementation and see the city with a more nuanced perspective.

Languages

Public tours are in English. Private tours are available in English, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Bulgarian and Catalan.

Union Square

Your Architect Guide

William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + C, NCARB

William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + C, NCARB, is currently a discerning Code and Zoning Specialist for the NYC Department of Buildings. With a long and rich background in designing and constructing major public facilities—including courthouses, schools, transportation hubs, and cultural landmarks—William brings a wealth of knowledge to our tour. His impressive resume includes being a partner at Gruzen Samton Architects, a leading NYC architecture and planning firm, a Senior Fulbright  Scholar in Slovenija, with graduate degrees in both Architecture and English. For the exceptional renovation and modernization of El Museo Del Barrio, he was honored with a City of New York Arts Commission Excellence in Design award (2004), a NYS AIA Merit Design Award for Adaptive Reuse (2011) and a Municipal Arts Society Master Works Award for Community Catalyst (2012).

William blends his passion for architecture, urbanism and history into a love of teaching—sharing information and knowledge. His 13 years of teaching in NYU’s Graduate Program for Real Estate Development, where he created and honed his cycle of walking tours, merge with 10 years of providing tours to One To World, the official Fulbright Programming organization in the NYC Metro area, enhances his knowledge of NYC through active engagement with tour colleagues—questions and discourse about NYC significantly sharpen the focus of observing the city. The way to know a city is through one’s feet.

Experience New York with our PhD Architect-led Tours

Our public tours are 2 hours of transformational experiences that connect people with the city on a deeper level. We focus on 8 areas according to the location, neighborhood and their distinct character - weaving culture, history, architecture, art and design in an engaging, story-telling manner to uncover some of the city’s hidden gems and best-kept secrets. 

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