Past Events

Djerassi Resident Artists Program

We are thrilled to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, CA.

Each year, Djerassi hosts talented artists from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and geographies – offering a retreat-like environment that supports individual creative practice and meaningful exchange within a small community of peers.

We’re grateful to Dale Djerassi and Randall Schwabacher for the opportunity to bring Brick & Wonder members on a walking tour of the property.

Japan House

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of the Craft of Carpentry exhibition at Japan House, located on High Street Kensington in London.

The Craft of Carpentry exhibition celebrates Japan’s master carpenters and centuries-old woodworking traditions. Through detailed displays and interactive installations, the exhibition explores the philosophy, tools, and techniques behind Japanese joinery, renowned for its precision, elegance, and strength. The work on view offers a rich perspective on craftsmanship that continues to influence architecture and design worldwide.

George Nakashima Estate

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of the George Nakashima Estate.

Located in historic Bucks County just above the Delaware River, the Nakashima estate is a National Historic Landmark and is included on the World Monument Fund Watch List. The estate features architecturally significant and innovative structures built by George Nakashima, a leader in 20th-century American design and the American studio craft movement. The 14 buildings on the property combine the International style and Modernist influences with Japanese carpentry traditions.

The Morgan

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of The Morgan Library & Museum, a cultural treasure in the heart of New York City.

Originally the private library of financier and collector Pierpont Morgan, this architectural masterpiece was designed by Charles McKim in the Italian Renaissance style.

Now a dynamic public institution, the Morgan has grown significantly over the decades, including a stunning 2006 expansion by architect Renzo Piano. We invite members to discover the museum’s rich history, explore its seamless blend of historic and modern design, and immerse themselves in its remarkable collections.

Conservatory of Flowers

Brick & Wonder Pro and Council members are invited to a private tour of the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park.

Set in a landmark building — the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America — the Conservatory of Flowers inspires awe and fascination with its rare and exotic plant collection.

St. John the Divine

Pro and Council members are invited to a private tour of St. John the Divine.

Join Nicolas Kemper, publisher of New York Review of Architecture, for a private vertical tour of St. John the Divine. The tour goes up 124 feet following the stairs and platforms built into the armature of the cathedral’s nave, ending on the roof. It is possibly one of the most riveting sequences of architectural spaces in New York. Kemper has led occasional tours of the cathedral since writing an essay about it, “How to build a Cathedral,” in 2019. Begun 132 years and still unfinished, he enjoys sharing and discussing the cathedral’s story, which includes a slew of New York rivalries, the origins of both the skyscraper and gothic architecture, and lessons in hubris, institution building, and of course project management.

Perelman Performing Arts Center

We are thrilled to offer Brick & Wonder Pro and Council members a private tour of one of New York’s most sensational new buildings – the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

The creation of a performing arts center is a key component of the 2003 Master Plan developed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to rebuild the 16-acre World Trade Center campus.

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) is a 129,000 square foot building on multiple levels. The performance space offers flexible layouts in three theater spaces that can be combined to provide dozens of seating configurations, and the lobby level includes a restaurant, bar, terrace, and stage open to the public.

PAC NYC has three flexible, intimate performance spaces. Automated walls and flexible seating systems enable numerous configurations that create a range of unique experiences for audiences and artists.

The tour will be generously facilitated by Sean Michael Cummings, PAC’s Director of Individual Giving, and led by direct project collaborators sharing their first-hand experiences working on the building.

Alloy Block

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of the newly opened Alloy Block.

The Alloy Block, Downtown is five buildings, old and new, adjacent to Atlantic Terminal, that provide residential, educational, office, cultural, and retail spaces for people in Downtown Brooklyn.

Alloy Development led the development of New York’s first All-Electric Skyscraper, a mixed-use tower with 440 market rate and affordable homes and retail spaces along Flatbush Avenue. The building is the first tower of phase 1 of The Alloy Block and the inclusive design celebrates the creation of new spaces for diverse groups of people to live, work, and thrive. Community engagement and support of local non-profits have been central project goals and the tour will be led by designers who worked on various aspects of this project.

Community First! Village

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members in Austin & beyond to a private tour of the Community First! Village in Austin, TX, featuring 3D printed homes from ICON.

Community First! Village occupies 51 acres on Hog Eye Road in northeast Travis County.

This remarkable community development has been described by the New York Times as “one of the nation’s largest experiments in affordable housing to address chronic homelessness.”

It is currently home to more than 350 formerly homeless neighbors. With the completion of all homes projected by the end of 2023, it will soon provide housing and community for as many as 500 of our friends who once struggled to survive on the streets of Austin.

Manitoga Residence and Russel Wright Design Center

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of the Manitoga Residence and Russel Wright Design Center on Thursday May 16th 2024.

Located in Garrison, New York, approximately one hour north of New York City, Manitoga is the former home and 75-acre woodland garden of American industrial designer Russel Wright (1904-1976), envisioned with his wife Mary Einstein Wright (d. 1952) for their family. Manitoga is a National Historic Landmark, an Affiliate Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and one of the few 20th-century modern homes with original landscape open to the public.

In 2021, the Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery opened to the public, offering a permanent onsite display of the Wrights’ groundbreaking designs for the American home.

Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center stewards Manitoga as the embodiment of the Wright’s design philosophy and life work and celebrates good design for living in creative harmony with nature through tours, programs, events, and free year-round access to woodland trails.

Newlab

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members to a private tour of New Lab – a remarkable adaptive reuse project located in The Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Newlab is a multi-disciplinary, high-tech design and prototyping center that opened in 2016 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

DBI Projects led the development and project management of Newlab from conceptual planning and financing through entitlements, construction and completion.

DBI engineered the Public-Private Partnership between the developer, Macro Sea, the property owner, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp, and the State of New York through the Empire State Development Corporation and the City of New York through the Brooklyn Borough President, the City Council and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

Newlab was founded to address significant societal needs by scaling and commercializing emerging technologies and companies.

Today, Newlab includes more than 900 entrepreneurs, partnerships with forward-thinking corporate and civic entities, and the support of domain experts—all working together to scale frontier technologies.