Sunnyside Gardens: Planning and Preservation in a Historic Garden Suburb

Sunnyside Gardens was one of the early 20th century’s most acclaimed experiments in affordable housing in New York. Based on their recent book, Sunnyside Gardens: Planning and Preservation in a Historic Garden Suburb (Fordham University Press, 2021), historian Jeffrey Kroessler and architect Laura Heim will offer a history of the place—from its origins in the turn-of-the-century English Garden City movement to its construction in the 1920s—and describe how the place has been preserved over the decades, which ultimately led to a contentious campaign to win designation as a historic district. While the homes may look identical, Heim will reveal the surprising degree of variety in design and layout and will offer examples of how the 1920s-era houses have been updated over the years. The speakers will also examine the ideas that motivated project’s founders—Clarence Stein, Henry Wright, and Lewis Mumford—and delve into how they integrated planning, architecture, landscape, and social goals into the project. Heim and Kroessler will also discuss why this landmark in urban planning and reform remains relevant today, or at least why it should be.

In the November 18, 2021 issue of the New York Review of Books, architecture critic Martin Filler called the book “a thoughtful, thorough, and bracingly corrective study of twentieth-century housing reform at its finest.” He called Sunnyside an example of “architecture as a tool for social betterment” and noted that it serves as a “particularly distinguished solution to the need for affordable metropolitan housing.”

Speakers:
Laura Heim, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, Laura Heim Architect
Jeffrey Kroessler, PhD, Professor and Interim Chief Librarian, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

About the Speakers:

Laura Heim established her award-winning, neighborhood-based studio in 2006 in a storefront on Lewis Mumford Way (Skillman Avenue) in Sunnyside Gardens, Queens after two decades in academia and architectural practice. The firm has completed over 30 projects at various scales, incrementally enhancing the quality of life of the neighborhood. Her Sunnyside projects have received the prestigious AIANYS Award of Merit for Design in the category of Adaptive Reuse and have been featured in New York Living, a book on innovative residential design, as well as in the recently released Sunnyside Gardens: Planning and Preservation in a Historic Garden Suburb. Heim is currently also working with non-profit groups to restore homes and storefronts in Jamaica, Queens, and Brownsville, Brooklyn. She served as president of the AIA Queens in 2009 and 2010. Heim received her degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

Jeffrey A. Kroessler is a professor and Interim Chief Librarian at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has long been active in historic preservation issues in the city with the Historic Districts Council and the Municipal Art Society and is currently president of the City Club of New York. Kroessler is the author of Sunnyside Gardens: Planning and Preservation in a Historic Garden Suburb; The Greater New York Sports Chronology; and New York, Year by Year. He has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of New York City, the Encyclopedia of New York State, and Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York. Kroessler has published in the Journal of Planning History, New York History, and Long Island History Journal. He received his doctorate in urban history from the CUNY Graduate Center.

This event is offered in person; proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination (for attendees ages 5 and up) with photo ID for adults is required to attend in person. Food and beverages will be served. Face masks are required for visitors ages 2-5, and optional for those vaccinated. Read our full Health and Safety Protocol here.