The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) facilitates the development of artists based in the state of New York. The planning and design of their new offices in DUMBO seeks to maximize the potential for interaction between the NYFA staff, individual artists and the larger art community. By focusing on key resource areas within the program – screening room, library, copy room and kitchen - the design looks for opportunities to build a strong workplace community creating an environment that encourages artists to use and participate in developing the resources that NYFA offers.
The schematic design for this project establishes a non-hierarchical office plan where private work spaces are dispersed within the landscape of open workstations. Passage to and from the key resource areas is seen as opportunity for loose patterns of social interaction to occur within the office environment. Acoustic and visual screens are provided by an open frame work intended for the hanging of potted plants and climbing indoor vegetation.
