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MEx: A Design Cooperative Grows in Brooklyn |
Thirty years ago Al Atarra purchased the seven-story Metropolitan Exchange Bank building near downtown Brooklyn. Atarra, who studied environmental design, envisioned creating a “professional arts complex.” Unfortunately, the building was located in an urban renewal area and his plans were placed on hold. Three years ago the zoning restrictions were finally lifted and Atarra was free to pursue his vision.
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His first tenants, who spotted an advertisement for studio space in the window, were Interboro Partners, an urban design, planning, and architecture firm and a 2006 winner of the AIA New York Chapter’s New Practices Award. Together, Atarra and Interboro Partners established The Metropolitan Exchange (MEx), “an architecture, urban planning, and research cooperative” with the goal that members would “collaborate on architecture and planning projects, pursue development opportunities, and sponsor lectures, film screenings, and exhibitions.”
Word spread to friends and colleagues about the affordable studio space, attracting other emerging sole practitioners and small partnerships such as Decker Yeadon, MAN Architecture, Kaja Kuhl, and slo.vis, who find the space a much more productive environment than their living rooms. Aside from traditional architectural practices, other MEx tenants include Patten Studio, which provides design technology for interactive media; Terreform1, a non-profit philanthropic design collaborate; and Meredith TenHoor, who researches and writes on contemporary urbanism and politics. Atarra informally interviews prospective tenants, and admits he has had to turn away businesses that did not fit within his vision, such as corporate law firms.
MEx includes a “diverse range of creative people,” according to Peter Yeadon of Decker Yeadon. The tenants often turn to each other for advice and pool their resources. “Work gets exponentially more interesting,” confirms his partner, Martina Decker. To further facilitate interaction between tenants, Atarra installed commercial kitchens on each floor and tenants regularly cook lunch together. A few tenants organized a series of Dinner Exchanges, which began in the fall of 2008, inviting other tenants as well as other designers and community members to informally experience the space. Additionally, a green rooftop including an urban farm is under construction and already provides the backdrop for Friday evening happy hours and BBQs.
Atarra has a reputation for being very accommodating of tenants’ requests: for example, if a tenant needs more space to create mock-ups, he will provide it. A wood shop located in the building also proves handy. A self-proclaimed “compulsive junk collector,” Attara invites tenants to use desks and chairs from his vast collection of antiques rather than purchase new furniture. “We use everyone’s junk,” Attara explains; having rescued furniture from Parsons the New School’s renovation as well as historically significant pieces from Grand Central Station. This unpretentious approach to sustainability results in a “negative carbon footprint” for the building, Atarra jokes. Whatever tenants don’t recycle, local artists will: Atarra invites them to transform his treasures into works of art.
Meredith TenHoor and David Frisco, professors at nearby Pratt Institute, recently organized an exhibition and lecture series for MEx titled Brooklyn Exchanges: Design, Development and the Future of Brooklyn, courtesy of a grant from the Graham Foundation. By “using the Metropolitan Exchange to generate dialogue about Brooklyn’s future,” TenHoor hopes the exhibition will draw community members since there aren’t other spaces showing architectural work in the area. She also created an architecture and design library that is open to the public by appointment.
Although MEx is only three years in the making, Atarra has grand plans for the future. He plans to create an exhibition space for large artwork, hold meditation classes for tenants, and establish a sustainable food restaurant on the ground floor, which currently hosts a large farm share. Atarra also hopes to eventually expand his operations to more buildings. Inspired by MEx, other cooperatives have developed within the building. Treehouse, established by sustainable furniture design firm EcoSystems, provides space for web, industrial and graphic design firms; and Green Spaces leases affordable space for green start-ups. Other tenants include writers, media and production firms as well as sustainable food purveyors.
In a city that lacks affordable workspace for designers, MEx fills an important void. Upon visiting its studio spaces, one is struck by how content and productive the tenants appear. With such an atypically supportive landlord as Atarra, it should be no surprise.
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