Memo From New York

New York has been a hotbed of building activity in 2014. Norman Foster, Rafael Viñoly, Annabelle Selldorf, and Bjarke Ingels have residential towers at various stages of construction throughout the city. Along the West Side Highway, Renzo Piano’s new outpost for the Whitney Museum is coming into focus.

Uptown, the Museum of Modern Art’s expansion meant the controversial end to Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects’ much-loved American Folk Art Museum building. Elsewhere, preservation has taken a front seat. In December, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will open the doors of its historic Carnegie Mansion after a dramatic restoration. And, as always, small, innovative projects dot the cityscape, not least of which—a garden pavilion designed by O’Neill McVoy Architects to contrast the heavy masonry of a Fort Greene brownstone.