This year marks the 15th anniversary of Archtober, New York City's month-long Festival of architecture and design! Since its inception, Archtober has partnered with hundreds of NYC-based organizations across the five boroughs to present tours, lectures, workshops, panels, exhibitions, and events to build its annual Festival and year-round platform. Together, these programs celebrate the city's vibrant built environment and invite New Yorkers and visitors alike to engage deeper with the spaces that shape our everyday lives. For the past two years, we have introduced an overarching theme for the annual Festival that celebrates the discovery of architecture while encouraging conversation and dialogue through a particular contemporary lens...

This year, we are excited to announce our theme: Shared Spaces! In 2025, this theme considers a world where space and resources are shared responsibly, inviting participants to re-envision how we move, connect, and live together in New York City. "Shared Spaces" also points to the cast of collaborators who are actively shaping and experiencing the city, such as architecture firms, urban developers, civic organizations, activists, and the public. It holds our collective wonder, anxiety, learning, and joy, making room for the complexity of the human experience in 2025.

Planned partner programming includes the Van Alen Institute’s Van Alen Fall Fest 2025 (October 18), in partnership with Gowanus Open Studios, which will open its doors for the public to gain insight into community-led design projects across New York City. Elsewhere, the Female Design Council is planning a social mixer for architecture and design professionals, partnering with Two Trees Management in Dumbo to host a talk with female designers. Earlier in the month, Grace Farms will be commemorating its 10th anniversary with a day of music, conversation, and celebration (October 11), featuring Grace Farms CEO and Founder Sharon Prince and Grace Farms architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA.  

“Shared Spaces” also nods to 2025 AIA New York President Benjamin Gilmartin’s theme, “See You IRL: Designing Public Space” and its event series, “Designing for Public Life,” focusing on our shared social, cultural, and civic experiences in real life. The six-part dialogue series examines the forces reshaping both our contemporary public life and the physical spaces being designed to support it—how are large-scale public spaces addressing questions of health, safety, equity, and inclusivity? How are these spaces becoming infrastructures for both climate and social resiliency? The upcoming fall exhibition at the Center for Architecture, Searching for Superpublics (October 3, 2025–March 2026), will showcase projects around NYC that illustrate new design approaches to large-scale civic and social spaces, as well as speculative ideas that expand the very nature of our public sphere. We'll celebrate the official launch of the Archtober Festival in conjunction with the fall exhibition openings at the Center for Architecture on October 3—stay tuned for more details.

Keep following along for more on this year's Festival programming, including Building of the Day tours, interviews with NYC cultural institutions involved in this year's theme, opportunities to get involved, and more. Be sure to check out our recently launched Postcard Competition, "Wish You Were Here!"