Vertical Placemaking within a Historic Urban Fabric: Partnering with Legacy Institutions to Leverage Inherited Context in Morningside Heights

Beginning in the 19th century, New York’s Morningside Heights attracted important institutions that have since grown into large campuses, dominating the character of the neighborhood. These institutions are constrained by space with no obvious land for development. In response, many of these institutions have uncovered new opportunities by partnering with for-profit development teams to simultaneously revitalize the historic urban fabric and respond to the city’s ever-growing demand for housing. This has been achieved by introducing a new, denser building typology—tall, modern apartment towers—into the neighborhood. This tour will examine how a range of development groups and their design teams have leveraged the historic urban underpinnings of Morningside Heights to create new projects that demonstrate the value of vertical placemaking within the neighborhood.