Independent Projects is a competitive grant program that is open to New Yorkers who work in any of the design fields. Administered by The Architectural League and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Independent Projects supports self-generated creative and research projects that seek to answer the question: where can design go next? 

This event will feature presentations by two recent grant recipients, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A moderated by a member of the League’s staff.

Spotlight Projects

Here There Be Dragons: Odes(s)a
Jess Myers
New York, NY
2023-2024 Independent Projects recipient

This season of the narrative documentary podcast Here There Be Dragons, created and hosted by urbanist Jess Myers, considers the securitization of global cities through sound design and storytelling, focusing on diaspora communities from Odesa, Ukraine. The four episodes explore the gaps between residents’ security concerns and the government response made visible through policy and design decisions. Resident-led, the podcast’s framing comes from common descriptors from those interviewed, enhanced by sound design. Together, these interviews reveal a complex post-occupancy study of the policies, designs, and social histories that shape cities.

Future Station Project
Michael Woods
New York State
2022-2023 Independent Projects recipient 

Gas stations are found everywhere in cities, suburbs, small towns, and along highways. They are a very visible symbol of our dependence on fossil fuels and the automobile. The Future Station Project reimagines gas stations in the transition to electric vehicles and alternative modes of transit. Through a short film and website, architect and filmmaker Michael Woods proposes nine prototypes of urban, rural, and highway stations, demonstrating opportunities for the adaptive reuse of stations as mobility, resilience, and micro-freight hubs, among other uses.

About the presenters

Jess Myers is an urbanist and assistant professor of architecture at Syracuse University whose research stands at the intersection of urbanism, sound studies, and geography to develop the concept of audiosocial space. Her podcast, Here There Be Dragons, takes an in-depth look at the impact of security narratives on urban planning through the eyes of city residents in New York, Paris, Stockholm, and Odesa. Myers has worked in diverse roles within cultural practices including Bernard Tschumi Architects, the Service Employees International Union, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her writing can be found in the Journal of Architectural Education, Places, Dwell, and The Funambulist magazine, among others.

Michael Woods is an architect and filmmaker based in New York City. He teaches a third-year architecture studio on adaptive reuse at the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) in Brooklyn and a course in the sustainability master’s program at the New York School of Interior Design. Woods has worked with Perkins&Will, Ennead Architects, Rafael Viñoly Architects, and RTKL. With AIA New York, he manages social media for the Design for Risk and Reconstruction committee to promote resilience and improve our planning and urban design in New York City.

Support

The Independent Projects grant program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.