On April 18, the 2024 Open City Benefit will bring together hundreds of New Yorkers for a festive evening at the Rooftop Pavilion and Farm at North Javits, part of the $1.5 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

Alan Steel, President and CEO of the New York Convention Center Development Corporation, which operates Javits Center, will accept the 2024 Open City Award on behalf of the North Javits design-build team led by Lendlease Turner, WXY Studio, TVSdesign, Moody Nolan, Stantec, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and Jaros, Baum & Bolles.

Claire Weisz, FAIA, is a founding principal of WXY architecture + urban design. WXY is globally recognized for its place-based approach to architecture, urban design, and planning, and has played a vital role in design thinking around resiliency, public space, and equity. In 2019, Fast Company named WXY one of the World’s Most Innovative Architecture Firms. Claire was awarded the Medal of Honor from AIANY in 2018 and was honored with a Women in Architecture Award by Architectural Record in 2019.

Tell us what role you played and what it was like to work on this transformative project.

It is important to clarify that this was a design-build project. TVS joined with Lendlease Turner and, in the competition process, selected WXY to be their NYC partner and team member. We all worked as a group to design the project and create the construction plan. Once the design-build team was selected, WXY focused on the design, planning, and construction services for the Pavilion, Rooftop Farm, and Greenhouse, including all the new ballrooms and conferencing areas in that section of North Javits.

What is your favorite feature of the North Javits expansion?

This is, first and foremost, a mission-driven project, so if I have to choose, I’d say the integration of the Rooftop Pavilion and Farm into the operations of Javits. 

For example, the Pavilion is not only a unique indoor-outdoor event space with a glass-enclosed ballroom outdoor terrace, but it also allows visitors to see and experience the adjacent rooftop farm operated by Brooklyn Grange. The farm’s plant beds, orchard with 32 apple trees and six pear trees, and greenhouse allow Brooklyn Grange to operate year-round and supply produce to events at Javits Center. The farm, along with the pollinator meadow and shade garden on the terrace, are all sustained by two giant underground retention cisterns that capture and treat rainwater to be used for irrigation. The rooftop solar farm that is part of the green roof provides the convention center with at least 10% of its energy needs and has cut its energy consumption significantly through improved thermal insulation. All of this creates a model of how nature and cities can work better together.  

“Designing with nature, building vertically, and working with food systems is not a luxury but, in fact, a smart future-proofing approach to any building and site.”

– Claire Weisz, Founding Principal, WXY architecture+urban design

How do you hope this facility will benefit New York City?

Expanding green jobs both on and offsite, while encouraging other large facilities like the new bus terminal to use Javits as an example of how green infrastructure and urban farms can be integrated into planning and operations as their expansion gets designed and built.

Javits’s educational programs are another benefit to NYC. The Farm is used as a classroom with tours and workshops for local students. The Javits team is actively fostering sustainability education that allows students to discover a sense of place, build a deeper connection with food and where it comes from, and better understand the importance of environmental stewardship. This work to connect youth to the outdoor environment and urban farming has been significant in bringing new events to New York.


What statement do you think North Javits makes about New York and the city’s future?

Designing with nature, building vertically, and working with food systems is not a luxury but, in fact, a smart future-proofing approach to any building and site.