Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMAC, LEED AP, and CEO of the Adjaye Associates New York studio, provides her take on this year’s NYCxDESIGN Festival.
Each year, NYCxDESIGN reminds us that design is more than what we build—it’s how we gather, how we dream, and how we shape belonging. As a newly appointed board member and a lifelong advocate for justice in the built environment, I experienced the 2025 Festival as both witness and participant in something deeply meaningful. Across boroughs and disciplines, it was a symphony of creativity, culture, and community—woven together by the belief that design must reflect us all. These reflections trace a week that celebrated difference, deepened connection, and challenged us to imagine what’s possible when every voice is invited to the table.
Design Is for Everyone: The NYCxDESIGN Festival’s Impact on New York City
This year’s NYCxDESIGN Festival was more than a citywide celebration—it was a vivid reminder that design belongs to everyone. With activations across all five boroughs, the Festival transformed New York City into a stage where creativity met community, and where residents, designers, students, and international guests alike were invited to engage in dynamic conversations about the future of design. From public installations and studio tours to immersive exhibitions and neighborhood-specific programs, this year’s theme, “Design Is for Everyone,” wasn’t just a slogan—it was a lived experience.
As someone who recently joined the NYCxDESIGN board, it was an honor to experience my first Festival from both a participant’s and a leader’s perspective. The Opening Night at The Refinery at Domino was especially memorable. It offered not just a spectacular architectural backdrop, but a chance to connect with fellow board members and kick off the week together in a moment of shared purpose. We watched the sky shift into breathtaking shades of orange, pink, and purple as the sun set over the East River—a perfect symbol of the beauty and transformation design brings to our city. The energy was palpable, and it was thrilling to see New Yorkers from all walks of life participating in programming that didn’t just showcase design, but embedded it into the daily rhythms of our neighborhoods.
The ripple effects of this week-long activation are felt far beyond the events themselves. They spark dialogue, strengthen networks, drive economic opportunity, and redefine who gets to be a part of shaping the built environment. In that way, the NYCxDESIGN Festival doesn’t just impact the city—it evolves it.
Designing with Community: Borough Engagement Through the Festival
One of the most powerful aspects of this year’s NYCxDESIGN Festival was its deep commitment to local engagement. By activating neighborhoods across the city, the Festival didn’t just invite people to witness design—it invited them to be part of it.
As the CEO of Adjaye Associates New York studio I had the pleasure of participating in the Harlem District programming, where I spoke on the “A Fresh Day in Harlem” panel and presented our work on the new Studio Museum in Harlem—just down the block from the event venue. The moment felt full circle: to present a project designed specifically for and with the Harlem community, in the very neighborhood it will serve, was profoundly meaningful.
The Studio Museum’s new home is more than a building—it’s a cultural and architectural anchor that reflects Harlem’s history and embraces its future. In my talk, I was proud to speak not only about its design, but also about the advocacy, community engagement, and intentionality behind it. The building’s sculptural façade draws from Harlem’s architectural vernacular. The reverse stoop invites people in. The expanded galleries and artist-in-residence studios create more room for expression, education, and community.
“Creating Space: The Studio Museum in Harlem’s New Building” – A timelapse of the Studio Museum in Harlem’s new building construction. (Published on January 13, 2025)
The Harlem District event embodied the Festival’s core mission. A curated mix of designers, artists, vendors, and community leaders gathered to exchange ideas and uplift one another. There was a real spirit of collaboration and celebration in the room—and I was honored that some of my fellow board members showed up to support.
This kind of programming shows what’s possible when design is rooted in place, people, and purpose. It turns a panel into a platform, a building into a beacon, and a Festival into a movement.
Inspiration in Every Borough: A Designer’s Takeaway
What inspired me most at the 2025 NYCxDESIGN Festival wasn’t just the remarkable programming—it was the people. As a longtime design advocate who has served on the AIA New York Board of Directors and as the immediate past President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), I’ve spent years working to expand access, visibility, and equity in the field. This Festival felt like a continuation of that mission—amplified citywide.
At every event I attended, I encountered creatives and visionaries whose work is shifting culture and reshaping the built environment. Many of these connections were new to me, even after years of navigating conferences and design convenings. That diversity of thought, practice, and background was incredibly energizing. It reminded me that the design profession is evolving—and we need to keep evolving with it.
The official NYCxDESIGN video beautifully captured this collective energy. Watching it sparked a deeper sense of responsibility and possibility in me: a renewed drive to mentor, collaborate, and keep widening the lens through which we see design. It’s the same impulse that led me to author GREATNESS: Diverse Designers of Architecture—a book that documents the work of designers whose brilliance deserves recognition. That same commitment to storytelling, inclusion, and advocacy was alive in every corner of this Festival.
As someone new to the NYCxDESIGN Board, I’m both humbled and excited. The connections made during this Festival—and the ideas born from them—won’t just live in our memory. They’ll inform how we shape our spaces, our city, and our collective future.
Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMAC, LEED AP, is CEO of the Adjaye Associates New York studio overseeing projects in North and South America and the Caribbean.
