Thursday, November 1, 2012

First Velonotte in New York City, How Did It Go?

At the night of 1-2 October the first academic Velonight (or Velonotte) in New York has started at Guggenheim Museum at 5 Avenue, the famous building created by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959. From there the route was drawn across all of Manhattan, finishing at the construction site of new World Trade Center downtown.

This was the longest Velonight ever. We have been talking about the most important architectural monuments and cultural icons for almost 6 hours! Four headquarters: UN, Seagram, Lever House and the green atrium of Ford Foundation … We have also biked through key points of cultural and communal life of the city, famous Post-War nightclubs among them. Eyewitnesses have told us about “Studio 54” and David Mancuso’s “The Loft”, the place where clubbing culture first emerged. The heart of the route was Union Square – the epicenter of Andy Warhol’ New York, the place where the famous Factory opened its doors at the end of the sixties. The artist had been living there for almost 20 years.
Velonighters have caught the newest objects as well. Sperone Westwater Gallery (Foster and partners), new SANAA building of New Museum of Contemporary Art  in Bowery and the much-touted redesign of Lincoln Center public space. The irony is that this “area that is just given back to the city” becomes private territory by nightfall. Security demanded that we leave the Plaza.
Nocturnal New York itself was the main protagonist, islands, gaps, rocks, corners, pieces of memories sewn together, evaporating in darkness or suddenly coming to light. The Times Square at 4am was empty but light as day. The dramatic urban landscape was underscored by rain. Constantly drizzling all week long, it poured over velonighters with new-found force. Shaken from inside and out our international group felt united. Russians naturalized and visiting, students and post grad students of Universities of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New York as well as ordinary New-Yorkers in love with their city and its’ history came through with Velonotte, and nothing could stop them.
The concept and scenario of Velonight NY was conceived by Sergey Nikitine with contributions by architects Alexander Neratoff and Peter Eisenman, Professor Ken Jackson (University of Columbia) and Vincencio Perez-Soto.
At the picture from left to right: Sergey Nikitin, Ken Jackson and Alexander Neratoff at the steps of the New York Historical Society. 

Pre-party for Velonight was held in the Storefront for architecture”. The meeting was called “Velonotte miracle”. There we talked about our concept of modern international cultural events. Among speakers were Velonotte’s founder Sergey Nikitin, architect Sergey Tchoban and culture expert Marina Avdonina, who came to New York especially for Velonight.
List of names mentioned during First Velonotte NYC: Ada Louise Huxtable, Aldo Rossi, Andy Warhol, Bette Midler, ColinRowe, David Mancuso, Donald Trump, F.L.Wright, Gordon Bunschaft, Guy Nordenson, I.N.Pay, Jane Jackobs, John D. Rockefeller, Lou Reed, Mies VanDer Rohe, Francois Kevorkian, Norman Foster, Larry Levan, Le Corbusier, Marcel Breur, Nico,Philip Johnson, Phyllis Lambert, Raymond Hood, Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhas, Robert Moses, SOM, Velvet Underground, Wallace Harrison, Walter Gropius, Vyacheslav Glasychev, Constantine Melnikov.

Velonight NY was created by Moskultprog with participation of Elena Siyanko. Special thanks to NY City Hall and NY City Police for understanding and support.
Special thanks to Katya Kolokoltseva, Luba Pronina, George Zavyalov, Marco Brizzi, Lena Golubeva, Sonia Kishkovsky, Natalia Dushkina, Karina Batrakova, Jean-Louis Cohen, Guy Nordenson, Eva Frankl and all our friends for their help in this unforgettable event.
Next Velonotte will happen in Moscow May, 26, 2012. It will be about flora and history of Western Suburbs of our capital. London Velonight will start at midnight July, 23, 2012. It will be dedicated to life and architecture of East End with special focus on modern architecture and Olympic village - a month before London Olympic Games start. The end of the season of 2012 will mark the Saint Petersburg Velonight, where we will speak of Peterhof’s road. As ever, major experts in architecture, art and history will shine a light at Saint Petersburg, London and Moscow. Further details on Velonotti, Velonights and Velonoch's coming up in 2012 are published on www.velonotte.org
We get frequently asked when is the next NYC Velonight. For now it’s planned for September 2013. The route will be announced later on. Moskultprog has received the invitation to participate in renowned NYC “Five Boroughs” marathon and BikeEXPO organized by Bike NYC in cooperation with New York City Hall.

Hope to see you soon in London, Moscow or... St.Petersburg!
Sergey Nikitin/ Bureau Velonotte
www.velonotte.org
Pictures provided by Moskultprog archive, Vladimir Kalinovsky, Sambadar and Cubetto.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Meet the Velonotte! Tomorrow at the Storefront for Art and Architecture


Photo (C) Courtesy Moskultprog

Films and talks in the Velonight’s kick-off event tomorrow, October 1, 2011, organized by our friends at the Storefront for Art and Architecture.
Velonotte Bureau's CC and its collaborators will be talking about public space activation, heritage actualization, landmark creation and varia academica related to this international night initiative.
4-6 PM

For more details, please visit: http://www.storefrontnews.org/exhibitions_events/events?e=451

Will be happy to see you!
Sergey NIKITIN/ Velonotte Moskultprog

Friday, September 9, 2011

FAQ

Is Velonotte really free?
- Yes, participation in VELONOTTE New York is free-of-charge, as well as in other venues by Moskultprog. You should pass the registration procedure. It is free as well. Don't forget bike, hemlet and FM-radio.

Hemlet is necessary?
- Yes, we consider it a must.

Does Velonotte provide a bike?
- You can rent a bike in New York City. Plenty of dealers offer them downtown and prices normally range between $15 and 40 per day.

Will I have to ride fast?
- Approximate calculated speed is around 7 km/h.

Are you going to make other Velonottes in 2012?
- Yes, we plan to organize the Velonotte Moscow in July and also the London Velonight is scheduled for June 23, 2012, during London Festival of Architecture. Check moskultprog.ru for details.

How can I help to Velonotte NYC?
- You can help with an advice or a donation. You can write to us, by sending the mail to velonotte[AT]gmail.com.

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

And now you can get a glimpse of Moscow edition of Velonight 2011

VELONOTTE MOSCOW №5 from FIRMA on Vimeo.


This video covers most significant aspects of the 5th edition of the Moscow Velonight July 2/3, 2011. Unforgettable experience around Leningradsky prospekt, one of the city most important streets with monuments from Baroque to Constructivism.
5.000 people joined the initiative that night to explore the city with contributions by Russia's leading historians Alexander Nilin, Vladimir Paperny, Olga Eliseeva, Mikhail Shifrin, Yuri Egorov and writer Vladimir Voinovich.


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Here we.. ride!

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to VeloNotte NYC!

Urban heritage of New York in the one and only Velonight NYC, moonlight bike drive into the Empire city
featuring contributions from the world's top scholars and architects
.

An entertaining original and dynamic happening will bring together biggest moments of the architectural and musical history of the contemporary New York - starting from the WWII to the present day.Velonotte NYC star cast include internationally acclaimed architects Guy Nordenson, Rem Koolhas and Alexander Neratoff, historians Tony Fletcher and Ken Jackson. With help and contributions from Peter Eisenman and Jean-Louis Cohen.

Created and produced by Dr.Sergey Nikitin and Bureau Velonotte, authours of the Moskovskaya Velonoch and Velonotte Roma(Rome, Italy).
Very special co-production - Siyanko Productions.
In association with New Historical Society (NYHS).

Special thanks to Karina Batrakova, Valery, Larissa & Elmira Milashenko.

Participation is free-of-charge, registration is required.

You can always contact the Velonotte team using this e-mail velonotte#gmail.com.