NYC is the most beautiful City in the World. All the culture, community, diversity and grit are showcased by the different items, shapes and elements on the piece. We will come together, move forward and continue making our city beautiful!
This is an homage of the iconic I❤️NY logo created by the legendary designer Milton Glaser. This illustration creates an infinite pattern of the logo, resulting in the message I❤️NY forever, hence the name I❤️NYF.
As the waters flood our city and force a new way of life, we have an opportunity to grow and evolve - to create new ways of living at the tops of our skyline that are not only for the few - but for everyone.
Food Sovereignty is Power. Inspired by the late great Fanny Lou Hammer and the Black Panther Free Breakfast program. We’re not new to this we’re true to this. Mutual aid is the wave.
Black spaces were historically born out of the need to create safe places of refuge for Black people. We are living in an era where Black spaces are under attack socially, economically and culturally. Gentrification, in particular, is one urban force that is systematically erasing cherished Black assets, displacing honored Black leaders and wiping out Black culture - all critical adhesives to the tapestry of Black neighborhoods. Today and for our future city Black spaces will continue to be necessary social infrastructure for the cultural, social and economic development of Black communities.
When I think about the future of New York City, I think that, no matter how the city develops itself or how difficult it is to live there, new people will always be willing to come to this unique place on Earth to get their dreams realized. More than their monumental highlights, New York City is the place where everything happens, and everyone meets looking for something that they can only obtain here.
"Home" is a detail of Julian Alexander's SUPREMACY: WHO PROTECTS ME FROM YOU? installation that went up in Brooklyn in the summer of 2020. The work was defaced and restored by opponents and supporters of its original message. The word home was added in Morse code to give context to the polarity that exists in our cities, country, and world. The original work evolved into a living dialogue. This piece was created to continue the conversation.
Colorful, Vibrant, Dynamic - this is the definition of NYC. Even through the global pandemic, NYC has not lost its colors. Indeed, individuals have once again come together to build a new future.
Colorful, Vibrant, Dynamic - this is the definition of NYC. Even through the global pandemic, NYC has not lost its colors. Indeed, individuals have once again come together to build a new future.
We use what we have -recycling materials that have inherent beauty like cardboard. We are strong but also distressed, worn out, stitched together again and again with care and love. We take care of our city with patience and find love and beauty in simple things, in moments, as the patterns reveal themselves everywhere, everyday. We have this to keep us together…To stay strong. Even when everything gets stripped away, we still have love and we have the basic elements to survive.
During covid, I loved loved loved walking in New York without traffic. Why not always?
The streets of New York—and the life they supercharge—when at their best inspire color and beat. Post-pandemic we can double down, we can make this city, our city, less about your car. The grid is magic, as much Mondrian’s muse as A Rapper’s Delight, it is a boogie to be.
New York is forever
At FLOX Studio Inc. we believe the future starts, ends and lives within community. Through power, belonging, and interdependence, together we can create a brave world of shared understanding, care, and growth.
Cities are dynamic, ever-changing places. Changing populations, environments, economies and cultures have always shaped New York City, but past narratives or influences of place are not always visible or understood. New Harlem 2050 acknowledges the origins of Black culture and its pervasive influence (black ivy) on the culture of the city (and the world), and amplifies the projections for how ethno-diversity and climate adaptation will transform the shape and culture of the city. Taking a view of the city from Harlem looking south, the founding of Harlem as a place in 1660, juxtaposed against the tight confinement of Black people in Harlem in 1923, is meant to reorient our knowledge of place when viewed from a different cultural perspective. Emanating from Harlem, through the streets of Manhattan, are the contributions of Black cultural language and Black creatives that have shaped, and now can be found throughout New York – from 125th Street to Fifth Avenue to Wall Street and beyond – celebrated, undervalued, appropriated and commodified. Also radiating from the genesis of American Black culture are the data predictions for how racial demographics shifts that will transform New York City into a majority/minority city, and the accelerating pace of climate change and its effect on the city’s urban edge. New Harlem 2050 implores New Yorkers to embrace a future city with an alternative ecological footprint and just multi-racial aesthetic commons.
There is no definitive New York City. The city's buildings, environs and people have shifted continuously over the hundreds of years of its existence. We therefore see memory as a very powerful expression of NYC. An individual citizen's memories of their city—whether idealized or factual—is both a testament to a time that has gone, and a reference for a future that is not yet in view. As citizens and planners map out what our future city will look like, no doubt their individual histories will guide them on this journey. Our poster maintains that Future and Memory are therefore in a constant state of negotiation, inseparable and constantly influencing one another.
An evening walk through New York City these days is a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Windows aglow as far as the eye can see and the streets buzzing with activity, we are proud to see our city spring back to life. This is our inspiration for the 2021 poster — our Ode to NYC.
Our NYC Love is set in stone
