Recent Buildings

The establishment of the New York City School Construction Authority and the Percent for Art program in the 1980s inaugurated an era of school construction rivaling the building campaigns of the early twentieth century and post-World War II years. There are parallels in the volume of projects undertaken, but no previous cycle has encompassed the range of architectural and artistic solutions of the past twenty-five years. This diversity reflects new school typologies and educational paradigms and a twenty-first century view that art can be almost anything (as long as artistic intention is evident) and a corresponding acceptance of architectural pluralism.