W.I.P.

The Neurodiverse City project, led by Design Trust for Public Space, @veronacarpenter Architects, @wip_collaborative , and a network of disability advocates, is reimagining public spaces to better support neurodivergent New Yorkers. Join us for a @nycxdesign week exhibition at @positiveexposure , featuring prototypes and a gallery of neuroinclusive sensory design, and the release of a new publication on the project’s learnings and recommendations for a more accessible city. Learn more and RSVP at the link in our bio! CARExDESIGN 2026 features tours, exhibitions, community build events, art exhibitions and other programming by, with, for and about people with disabilities, hosted at two non-profit spaces that are part of NYC’s network of radical care for the disabled community. The Adaptive Design Association in the Garment District and Positive Exposure in the Financial District, are active spaces of change for the ‘better living of all.” Explore the full roster of events, including the Neurodiverse City, on our RSVP page and at @adaptivedesigninc @studiophoria

Excited to share that Restorative Ground by WIP Collaborative is included in the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation @bwaf.nyc Built by Women 2026: New York City map! Built by Women is a juried mapping initiative that highlights the significant—yet often overlooked—contributions of women across the building industries, including architects, landscape architects, engineers, developers, and contractors. Through this program, BWAF creates national visibility for the breadth and impact of women’s work shaping our built environment. The 2026 map expands to all five boroughs of New York City, uncovering innovative, women-led and women-driven projects that are redefining the city’s landscape, recognizing the essential contributions of women in leadership and collaborative roles, and the ways their work advances design excellence, equity, and impact. Restorative Ground is a streetscape installation in Lower Manhattan offering a multifaceted landscape of choice, with a range of spatial and experiential qualities to support different individual and collective needs––a new vision for inclusive public space. Nestled within its dynamic geometry are distinct high and low stimulation zones, tactile materials and textures, and calm, contemplative spaces. Built in 2021, the installation encouraged human reconnection and collective healing after months of social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Restorative Ground transformed the streetscape into an inclusive venue for outdoor gathering, individual respite, and various activities both spontaneous and programmed. The WIP team behind Restorative Ground includes Abby Coover @overlayoffice , Bryony Roberts @bryony_roberts_studio , Elsa Ponce @studioelsaponce , Lindsay Harkema @lindsayharkema , Ryan Brooke Thomas @kalos.eidos.nyc , Sonya Gimon @3fwild , and Sera Ghadaki @seraghadaki . The project was commissioned and generously supported by @urbandesignforum , @hudsonsquarenyc , and @hudsonsquareproperties . Photos courtesy of WIP Collaborative, Hudson Square Properties, and Sam Lahoz. Explore the full list of selected projects: /built-by-women

Most people would claim to feel “overstimulated” on a typical New York City street, bombarded with loud traffic noises, fast walkers on crowded sidewalks, and bright lights. For neurodivergent New Yorkers, families, and visitors, the cognitive, sensory, and social overload can make essential public spaces, like our streets, parks, playgrounds, and transit systems, difficult to access, if not unusable. That’s why the Neurodiverse City coalition has set out to learn what makes a space inaccessible, through workshops and public space sensory audits led in partnership with city agencies, NYC public schools, and disability advocates, including @ahrcnyc & @ps42m . Leveraging this knowledge, project partners @veronacarpenter , award-winning architecture and interiors firm, and @wip_collaborative , a shared practice of independent designers who work together on projects that engage community and the public realm, have unveiled two pilot interventions to test what neuroinclusive design could be. One prototype is designed by WIP for city streets and plazas, while the other by VCA looks to play spaces and schoolyards. These pilots aim to build new knowledge that can inspire future public policy and urban planning practices. Link in our bio to read on! 🔗🧠

Enjoying The Neurodiverse City street design prototype by WIP Collaborative in Lower Manhattan earlier this fall. Imagine if urban public spaces were designed in ways that made them more neuroinclusive—with architectures that invite relaxation, engagement, and play, plants with multi sensory characteristics, familiar wayfinding graphics, and audio elements from nature that contrast hectic city streets. ✨ The Neurodiverse City is an initiative by WIP Collaborative, @veronacarpenter , and @designtrustnyc that is reimagining NYC public spaces to better support neurodiversity through co-creative research and design with neurodivergent self-advocates. Fabrication by @thirdkindstudio , plants by @landonianfig @rutarhus , and sound/vibration elements by @mischa_the_bear Photos by @kattmanzueta and David Ader. The WIP team included Sonya Gimon, Lindsay Harkema, Abby Coover, Bryony Roberts, Ryan Brooke Thomas, Elsa Ponce, Sera Ghadaki, and Sasha Topolnytska. Special thanks to AHRC New York City @ahrcnyc

The Neurodiverse City street design prototype by WIP Collaborative is now open at Louise Nevelson Plaza in Lower Manhattan! Culminating a multi-year research and design partnership with @designtrustnyc and @ahrcnyc , the prototype tests possibilities for neuroinclusive public streets by implementing design ideas developed through participatory workshops with neurodivergent self-advocates. The prototype includes architectural elements, plants, and graphic components designed in response to opportunities identified through the workshops, like the interest in being closer to trees, long views, tactile components, and semi-sheltered spaces. Fabricated by @thirdkindstudio , the architectural elements invite visitors to touch, sit, lean, lay down, or climb on and enjoy those experiential opportunities. The plants, curated by local artist and gardener Landon Newton @rutarhus , include grasses, perennials, and small shrubs selected to provide layered sensory experiences through sight, sound, touch, and smell—creating environments that are both stimulating and restorative. Visitors can enjoy the movement and shifting light of grasses, touch the velvet softness of lamb’s ears, and breathe in the fragrance of hyssop, goldenrods, and mountain mint, all species that thrive in NYC.  The graphic dots applied to the plaza’s hardscape invite passersby to step, wander, or hop closer to the elements, and to take a pause from the hustle of city life. Sounds introduced by @mischa_the_bear add another dimension, enveloping visitors in natural soundscapes and grounding vibrations. It was a joy to launch the prototype with workshops and public events last week. Come visit and share your insights until mid Oct! Photos by Katt Manzueta and WIP. The Neurodiverse City is a design initiative by WIP Collaborative, Verona Carpenter Architects, and The Design Trust that is reimagining NYC public spaces to better support neurodiversity. The WIP team included Sonya Gimon, Lindsay Harkema, Abby Coover, Bryony Roberts, Ryan Brooke Thomas, Elsa Ponce, Sera Ghadaki, and Sasha Topolnytska. Special thanks to AHRC New York City, @veronacarpenter , Kathryn Finnegan, Magda Mostafa, and @nyc_dot .

Due to unforeseen construction, we had to make a last-minute location change for The Neurodiverse City: Streetscape Prototype Launch. Thankfully, we are able to move the prototype just around the corner to Louise Nevelson Plaza, on William St between Maiden Lane and Liberty Street. Please join us at this new location at the same time, Thursday, Sep 18 at 5:30 pm! Thank you for your flexibility in navigating creative solutions to the complexity of NYC’s public realm :) - Join us for a first look at a new neuroinclusive public space prototype in Lower Manhattan! 9/18 530pm The Neurodiverse City, led by WIP Collaborative, Design Trust for Public Space, Verona Carpenter Architects, and a network of disability advocates, is reimagining New York City public spaces — streets, playgrounds, plazas, and more — to better support neurodiversity. Guided by sensory audits and design workshops with neurodivergent New Yorkers in partnership with @ahrcnyc , @wip_collaborative is testing a neuroinclusive design prototype. The design will be installed this month and available for the public to interact with over the next couple of weeks. The “room-like space” will feature welcoming built elements for seating, rest, and calm atmosphere, demonstrating how designing for neurodiversity improves the city experience for all. This pilot is one of two public events planned for Fall 2025. 🧠🔗 Link in our bio to RSVP and learn more!

Join us for a first look at a new neuroinclusive public space prototype in Lower Manhattan! 9/18 530pm The Neurodiverse City, led by WIP Collaborative, Design Trust for Public Space, Verona Carpenter Architects, and a network of disability advocates, is reimagining New York City public spaces — streets, playgrounds, plazas, and more — to better support neurodiversity. Guided by site-specific sensory audits and design workshops with neurodivergent New Yorkers in partnership with @ahrcnyc , @wip_collaborative is testing a neuroinclusive design prototype at a privately-owned public space in the Financial District. The design will be installed this month and available for the public to interact with over the next couple of weeks. The “room-like space” will feature welcoming built elements for seating, rest, and calm atmosphere, demonstrating how designing for neurodiversity improves the city experience for all. This pilot is one of two public events planned for Fall 2025. Next month, @veronacarpenter will unveil a prototype designed for children’s spaces at PS112m, in partnership with the ASD Nest program. 🧠🔗 Link in our bio to RSVP and learn more!

“The Neurodiverse City” is an ongoing research and design initiative by WIP Collaborative in partnership with @designtrustnyc and @veronacarpenter to reimagine NYC streets and public spaces to better support human neurodiversity. WIP’s project engages neurodivergent self-advocates, supporting community organizations, and multidisciplinary designers in surveying public streets and creating prototypes to explore multi-sensory ways of making them more neuroinclusive. We are excited to install and test built prototypes, developed through site-specific workshops with @ahrcnyc and in collaboration with several design partners, in Lower Manhattan this fall. More details to come! Image by WIP Collaborative WIP participants: Sonya Gimon, Lindsay Harkema, Abby Coover, Bryony Roberts, Ryan Brooke Thomas, Elsa Ponce, Sera Ghadaki, Sasha Topolnytska

Meet #DIVIA2025Nominees: Lindsay Harkema ⭐️ @lindsayharkema is a New York City-based architect, educator, and organizer. She is a co-founding member of the award-winning @wip_collaborative , a shared, feminist design practice whose work engages the public realm through inclusive spaces informed by local communities and context. WIP received the 2023 AIANY New Perspectives Award that celebrates unique, critical positions that contribute to the broader understanding of architecture. Harkema’s design, research, and teaching projects center equity, adaptability, and embodiment in the built environment, exploring how shared spaces can be transformed through design to create opportunities for positive change. She advocates for academic labor equity and collaborative design processes that challenge the notion of singular authorship. She teaches at Barnard College and The City College of New York, and was the 2023 Thomas Baird Visiting Critic in Architecture at Cornell University. Nominated by @julia.gamolina #DIVIA2025 #DIVIAAward2025 Photo: David Ader

This past fall, WIP Collaborative continued the work for The Neurodiverse City in partnership with @designtrustnyc and @ahrcnyc through site surveying and design visioning workshops conducted with neurodivergent self advocates about their experiences and ideas for NYC streets. The Neurodiverse City is a research and design initiative aiming to improve public spaces to better support neurodiversity. The findings of these workshop activities will inform the creation of temporary built installations to test design ideas later this year. An online survey was launched alongside these in person activities, inviting all New Yorkers to share their experiences of NYC streets. Link in bio to contribute! The Neurodiverse City Streets research persists through the efforts of the WIP team: Sonya Gimon, Lindsay Harkema, Abby Coover, Elsa Ponce, Sasha Topolnytska, Sera Ghadaki, Bryony Roberts, and Ryan Brooke Thomas. Alongside WIP’s focus on NYC streets, @veronacarpenter is conducting a parallel design study about playspaces. Workshop photographs by Katt Manzueta. 📸

Honored to be nominated for the Diversity in Architecture (DIVIA) Award 2025 alongside an incredible group of women in practice around the world! Thank you to the nominating committee for their recognition. ❤️ @diversityinarchitecture_ev The DIVIA Award honors women architects who exemplify creativity, innovation, sustainable practices, and leadership in shaping the built environment. By promoting diversity and inclusivity, the award also seeks to highlight the remarkable achievements of women architects whose work has enriched the architectural landscape and goes beyond functional spaces. #diviaaward2025

Featured in the Summer 2024 “Future of the Profession” issue of Oculus magazine, WIP’s “Soft Fits” public installation for @thebentway and our non-hierarchical approach to practice. Also featured is “Spatializing Reproductive Justice”, a traveling exhibition about the inequities of and restrictions to reproductive healthcare after Roe v. Wade and how designers can work to enable access, on view at @centerforarch until Sep 3! The exhibition features student work from design studios taught by the curatorial team in Fall 2022 at @columbiagsapp @spitzerschool_ccny and @syr_arch . WIP “Soft Fits” team: Sera Ghadaki, Abby Coover, Elsa Ponce, Lindsay Harkema Spatializing Reproductive Justice curatorial team: Bryony Roberts, Lindsay Harkema, Lori Brown, and FLUFFFF Studio (Natalya Dikhanov and Sadie Imae) @wip_collaborative Co-founding members: Abby Coover, Bryony Roberts, Elsa Ponce, Lindsay Harkema, Ryan Brooke Thomas, Sera Ghadaki, and Sonya Gimon