Hearts Lecture Series – “From Collective Action to Institution Building”
In her book Counter Institution: Activist Estates of the Lower East Side (Fordham 2018), Nandini Bagchee delved into the history of occupancy within three activist-run buildings in the New York City. Documenting the spaces and actions within these buildings via drawings, text and oral histories allowed Nandini to situate the multiple histories of engaged communities and the fraught, but liberatory experience of collaborative building practices. This project of archiving the relationships between physical spaces and collective action opened up a new way of understanding the mechanics of city-building and informed her practice as an architect and educator. In the first lecture of Spring 2025 semester at the Cal Poly Architecture School, Nandini Bagchee will present her ongoing work with community-based organizations in New York City and share her insights into what it takes to critically engage with community.
The Point at Socrates Sculpture Park
The Point at Socrates Sculpture Park Queens, New York The Point aims to unlock a currently restricted section of the Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens. This open-air studio, filled with large steel beams and plates, serves both as workspace and materials storage for Mark DiSuvero’s sculptures. DiSuvero, who founded the park in 1986, envisioned […]
UpBeat NYC
UpBeat NYC Music Center Bronx, New York 2024- Present The purpose-designed music practice and performance space for Upbeat NYC will be located at street level on the ground floor of the Betances IV housing complex in the South Bronx. The 4000-sf facility will accommodate Upbeat’s expanding music instruction program and provide a venue for smaller […]
Interview with Metropolis Magazine
Principal Nandini Bagchee shares her experience leading a community-forward architectural practice in New York. An Interview with Metropolis Magazine
HEArts Center
HEArts Center Bronx, New York 2024 – Ongoing The proposed adaptive reuse of the Lincoln Recovery building integrates historical preservation with modern design interventions. A key element of the project is the preservation of the historic staircase, along with the addition of a discreet egress stair in the sunken yard to minimize visual impact. A […]
East New York Food Hub
East New York Food Hub Brooklyn, New York 2023 The East New York Community Land Trust (ENYCLT), in collaboration with Universe City and East Brooklyn Mutual Aid, is working to secure seven vacant, city-owned lots within the East New York Industrial Business Zone (IBZ). This area, with its complex industrial legacy, faces the threat of rezoning […]
Queensboro People’s Space
Queensboro People’s Space Queens, New York. 2022 The Queensboro People’s Space Report seeks to obtain a publicly owned property, the large six story Department of Education Building at the corner of Vernon Boulevard and 44th Drive in Long Island City, Queens. The Building will be converted into a Community Land Trust stewarded by the Western […]
The Laundromat Project
The Laundromat Project Brooklyn, New York 2021 – 2023 The Laundromat Project (LP) is a non-profit arts organization dedicated in bringing positive change into communities of color by directly investing in multidisciplinary artists of color and community leaders. In 2020 Bagchee architects in collaboration with the team at the LP began designing a new […]
In Land We Trust
In Land We Trust 2024 “In Land We Trust” is part of a collection of essay titled “Architecture from Public to Commons” put together and edited by Marcelo Lopez Dinardi. In her essay, Nandini Bagchee reflects on her practice and her work with several community land trusts across New York, exploring the complex and painful […]
“Abandoned Detox Center a Step Closer to Conversion into Community Center” – Mott Haven Herald
“South Bronx Unite, is one step closer to converting an abandoned building that 50 years ago served as a detox center into a community centerwith an emphasis on health, education and the arts.”
Article by Eliot Force, Janna McPartland and Hannah Fierick for the Mott Haven Herald on the HEArts Community Center.