What has the impact of the past decade been on New York's neighborhoods?

What did some of the world's leading contemporary architects contribute towards making New York a more livable, dynamic, and sustainable city?

How can we balance the often-conflicting objectives of preserving the historic city while also allowing for new development?

Have the Bloomberg Administration's efforts to reshape and invest in the physical city effectively positioned New York for continued dominance as a global city for the 21st century?

These are some of the questions that an exhibition called The City We Imagined/The City We Made: New New York 2001-2010 attempts to answer as it documents the past decade and the powerful forces that converged to transform large portions of the city.

Among them, the events of September 11, the policies and priorities of the Bloomberg Administration, the ups and downs of the global and local economies, advances in material and construction technologies, and a new interest among the public in leading edge architecture all combined to reshape New York in ways that may be impossible to comprehend in the near future.

Exhibition installation at 250 Hudson Street. Photos: David Sundberg/Esto. All rights reserved.

This exhibition - the sixth in an ongoing series of explorations by The Architectural League NY about contemporary architecture in New York City - has just moved to new quarters on Governors Island, where it will be on view through August 15^th.

In conjunction with the exhibition, tonight the League is presenting Conversations on New York 3 at the Great Hall, The Cooper Union. At 7:00 pm, architecture critic Paul Goldberger will engage New York City Commissioners Adrian Benepe (Parks), Amanda Burden (Planning) and David Burney (Design and Construction) in a discussion about how they have made design integral to the work of their departments; what today's stringent fiscal constraints portend for the continuation of their efforts and the preservation of what they have already created; and what their agendas promise for the mayor's final term.

Conversations on New York at The Great Hall, The Cooper Union, Tuesday, July 20^th at 7:00 pm. 7 East 7^th Street, New York, NY. Tickets are $15/free for members of the League. Click for more information.

The City We Imagined/The City We Made: New New York 2001-2010, on view through August 15^th at Building 110, Governors Island. Exhibition hours: Friday, 10-5 pm; Saturday-Sunday, 10-7 pm. Free admission. Click for information about ferry schedule.

The exhibition was curated by Gregory Wessner with Varick Shute and Matthew Storrie. Exhibition design by Moorhouse & Moorhouse.