New Practices New York 2008 is the second juried portfolio competition and exhibition in a new biennial tradition sponsored by the New Practices Committee of the AIA New York Chapter. It serves as a platform for recognizing and promoting new, innovative and emerging architecture firms within New York City that have undertaken unique and commendable strategies. A selected jury elected six most promising architecture firms. We were asked to create the branding, exhibition design, exhibition graphics, motion graphics, art direction, advertising (print and online) and poster design.

We divided the space into two parts: “practice vs. work.” The practice area provided a series of questions about studio history, its current inner workings and future ideas. It also displayed high-end imagery capturing portraits and the atmosphere of all six studios and displayed looped profile films of each studio. The work area displayed a sample of the studios’ portfolios, working models fitted onto an armature piece that connected the viewer in the gallery to the viewer on the street level. Along with the portfolios and models, a 2 x 2 volumetric sculpture piece was created by each studio.

This exhibition is about austerity in all elements—colors, graphics, materials, etc. The exhibition presents great innovation and is well organized. The exhibit text is unremarkable but the execution wins.