Eleven things to do and see during NYCxDesign 2024
From a furniture show in a former high-end sex shop to an homage to Dutch brickwork in New York by designer Floris Wubben, we've rounded up key shows and installations taking place during NYCxDesign 2024.
New York City's annual design festival NYCxDesign begins this week, with events and programming oriented around institutions such as the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) at the Javits Center in the city's Hudson Yards district.
Designers from around the country and world will converge in New York to showcase and see design, from small independent shows to releases by large-scale distributors.
Many of the events are free and open to the public, and others require appointments. Clusters of shows will be held in different neighbourhoods and areas, from the grouping of high-end furniture showrooms in NoMad to open studios at Brooklyn Navy Yards.
Keep reading for Dezeen's picks and see Dezeen Events Guide's guide to NYCxDesign 2024 for details of more events taking place across the city.
Head Hi Lamp Show
Local design bookstore Head Hi will host the fifth edition of its Lamp Show, curated by founders Alexandra Hodkowski and Alvaro Alcocer at 102 Franklin Street in Tribeca and opening on 17 May.
The exhibit displays a unique range of lamps from craftspeople, designers, artists and collectors of all skill levels and embraces an experimental and "celebratory" approach, with the pieces up for sale during the show and online afterwards.
Thirty "outlandish" lamps, pendants, chandeliers and more will be on show at the former high-end sex shop Contact Sports for independent exhibitor Jonald Dudd's Dudd 2024 edition, which seeks to present a picture of the contemporary design scene.
"This year's location feels very right: we're kind of the smut purveyors of NYC Design Week," said co-founder Chris Held. "It's somewhat taboo that we are one of, if not the only, shows that champion an anti-commercial ethos."
The inaugural exhibition of Studio S II in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighbourhood, Design Dysphoria will feature lighting, textile artwork, furniture and more by a group of women, nonbinary and trans designers and artists in the pursuit of prioritising queer voices in contemporary design.
Studio S II founders Erica Sellers and Jeremy Silberberg curated the show alongside artists Liz Collins and Grace Whiteside, which will open 18 May and run through 25 May.
BRICK by Floris Wubben
On show at The Future Perfect West Village townhouse from 9 May to 21 June, Brick by Netherlands-based artist Floris Wubben presents tables, chairs, lighting and more made with brick and cement moulded into curvilinear peices.
The show is informed by the artist's heritage and the historical use of Dutch brick throughout New York City, which contains many foundations built with the material after Dutch settlers arrived in the city 400 years ago.
Breathe With Me: An Immersive Experience Of Swiss Design by Annabelle Schneider
Held at WSA in downtown Manhattan, and presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, Breathe With Me by experience designer Annabelle Schneider will feature an assortment of Swiss-made furniture throughout a "bubble room" and swaying fabrics.
Opening May 17, the installation showcases Swiss culture, quality and craft while creating a relaxing, "womb-like" atmosphere, set to a soundscape by musician Luc Oggier.
City Block by Micah Rosenblatt
Designer Micah Rosenblatt is set to debut 16 pieces of furniture made of steel, illuminated glass block and upholstery at the Front Gallery in the Lower East Side on 23 May.
The collection is informed by Rosenblatt's experience of New York City and his studies of Jewish mysticism, merging "modernity and myth" into works that explore the city's history and future.
A host of activities and open studios will take place during Brooklyn's Boreum Hill Design Night on 18 May, including the opening of designer Minjae Kim's Arbiter's Corner show at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn.
Other programming around the area includes the opening of the exhibition Time and Materials at the design shop Assembly Line, a show featuring fabric-draped ceramic lighting by designer Ana Corrigan, and more.
Le Grand Soir by Yto Barrada
MoMA PS1 will be hosting an ongoing exhibition by Moroccan-French artist Yto Barrada in its courtyard, which features colourful, large-scale sculptures made of concrete blocks.
Forty sculptural works made by a group of New York-based designers will also debut on 16 May with Hard Ground at the outpost, which contains pieces made of a range of materials including limestone, bronze and a "smelted Citi Bike".
A Year without a Kiln by Simone Bodmer-Turner
Artist Simone Bodmer-Turner departs from her usual ceramic work with the ongoing A Year without a Kiln exhibit at the Emma Scully Gallery.
The artist recreated her own living room, displaying a slip-covered sofa, large coffee table, lighting, fireside andirons, and decorative objects displayed on sideboard-shaped pedestals.
Under Present Conditions
Friedman Benda is showing the ongoing group exhibition Under Present Conditions, which includes works by designers Fernando Laposse and Studio Raw Material and responds to contemporary social and environmental sustainability.
"The works presented are personal expressions of and, in some cases, poetic responses to the conditions that we live under," said Friedman Benda. "Recycling, upcycling, and reimagining the life cycle of materials are crucial themes."
A Realm of Light by Lindsey Adelman
Sculptor Lindsey Adelman displays a collection of 32 oil lamps throughout hanging fabric panels by Brooklyn-based textile artist Sarah Nsikak in A Realm of Light exhibition at TIWA Gallery, on show through June.
The oil lamps are "quieter" than the artist's usual large-scale work and return to her personal interest in the philosophical experiences of light.
New York's design festival 2024 takes place throughout the city from 16 to 23 May. See our NYCxDesign 2024 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.