FOCUS LAB: It Flows Both Ways

May 3, 2022

This spring was the grand opening of the FOCUS (Future of Cities and Urban Sustainability) Lab, a new exhibition space and urban room that explores sustainable and inclusive community design solutions. Through a rotating series of exhibitions, the Lab seeks to engage citizens of all ages into co-creating what the future of their city should look like.

Over 150 people showed up in Downtown Troy to see the new space and view the inaugural exhibit "To Flow Both Ways: The Past, Present, and Future of Hudson Waterfronts." The exhibit explores the ecological features of the tidal estuary, its indigenous history, the industrial era, and future sustainable and resiliency projects along its shorelines.

Mayor Patrick Madden helped ring in the new space, calling it "an exciting and important addition to the city and the region." We're grateful for the ongoing support from the City of Troy and look forward to functioning as a kind of living room for the city where we can workshop ideas and explore future design solutions.

The FOCUS Lab will be open on Saturdays 9:00am - 2:00pm. The space will also host events and is available for rent for your organization or function.

This exhibition was designed in collaboration with students from Prof. Michael Oatman’s Fall 2021 Exhibition Studio at the Rensselaer School of Architecture, and is supported by the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology, Bob Bedard, NO NAME Design, Falling Anvil Studios, the Climate Adaptive Design Studio at Cornell, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, Siemens, the City of Troy CRC, and National Grid.

The FOCUS Lab is operated by The Future of Small Cities Institute in partnership with the City of Troy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Children's Museum at Saratoga.

View a virtual tour of the exhibit here.