20 years, 20 champions. Each instrumental in Design Trust's lasting impact on NYC's public realm. Each another journey. 

Hear from each champion, one every day here on our blog, culminating with a grand celebration on October 14, at Christie's. While enjoying a festive evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction of art and design, you'll also meet the 20/20 Public Space Champions in person.

Join us to celebrate our champions, who have tirelessly been working to improve the daily lives of New Yorkers for two decades. Jumpstart the next 20 years of urban innovation by buying a ticket to the gala today.

Without the pivotal support of the National Endowment for the Arts, our Under the Elevated and The Energetic City initiatives, as well as our new website would not have occurred.

Culminating the initial phase of Under the Elevated this past summer, we released a study in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation that recommends the transformation of neglected public spaces beneath NYC's nearly 700 miles of elevated bridges, highways, subway tracks and rail lines. We discovered millions of square feet beneath and along this massive infrastructure network—most of it outside of Manhattan.

In Spring 2014, we launched our user-friendly, new website. Designtrust.org has undergone a radical makeover in order to be an effective tool for cities, citizens and organizations worldwide interested in initiating change in their communities.

Soon after came The Energetic City in the summer of 2014. It was an open call to seed and develop new forms of connectivity among the diverse people, systems, and built, natural and digital environment of NYC. We invited proposals for research, design and planning projects to improve the experience of urban life by connecting people through 'great' design informed by the needs and aspirations of community users. 

One of the winning proposals came from the Queens Museum. Together, we developed The World's Park. In this project, community members created new proposals for how the access, connectivity, and circulation of Flushing Meadows Corona Park can better serve the public's needs. A group of community advisors are now working with NYC Parks to realize their ideas. Learn more about these community-led design concepts.

Another winning proposal led us to the Laying the Groundwork project. We're partnering with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development to create a set of guidelines that will address the design and use of new ground-floor retail spaces in affordable housing developments. Stay tuned for the release date! Learn more about Laying the Groundwork.