IDCNY Design Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel [front view]

Brochure for IDCNY (International Design Center New York) about Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects planning the renovation of Center Two, one of the buidlings of IDCNY.

IDCNY opened in 1985 in renovated factory buildings in Long Island City with space for showrooms and other services for the interior design and wholesale furnishings industry. Vignelli Associates designed all the graphics and signage for IDCNY.

Text: Gwathmey Siegel & Assoicates Architects are planning the renovation of Center Two. In Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel’s thirteen years as partners, their firm has won more than forty design awards, including the National AIA Honors Awards for several projects and the 1982 AIA Architectural Firm Award.

“New York City is an International Center for business activity dedicated to serving the needs for furniture, fabrics, carpet, equipment, accessories and products used in commercial and residential designs. It is the center for media, particularly periodicals, related to the design community,. It has major universities which offer extensive specialized curriculum in Architecture, Interior Design and Industrial Design. It has more practicing professionals working in these areas than anywhere else in the world.

“IDCNY is intended to provide a place for the industry in a central, affordable location and in existing buildings which are physically conducive for creating a design center. The section of Long Island City adjacent to the 59th Street Bridge and twelve minutes from LaGuardia Airport, is a place long awaiting development. It has numerous industrial loft buildings, great views of Manhattan, and a relationship to the water edge of the East River. Excellent opportunities for studio space and housing exist. Ultimately, the urban design goal of a mixed use, 24-hour place, with its own sense of scale and pace, will exist” – Robert Siegel

Text from design:Vignelli exhibition label:
IDCNY, Graphic Identity Program, 1983-1989.
IDCNY is the International Design Center of New York, an international furniture merchandise mart in Long Island City, New York. The logo portrays elegance and strength through the choice of two contrasting typefaces. The program includes, graphics, invitations, publications, advertising, and signage. Based on three very basic elements - Bodoni type with black and red colors - the program is nevertheless extremely articulated and vibrant, and has achieved a very strong identity quite often imitated by similar organizations. Most of the pieces are designed by Michael Bierut and coordinated by Fern Mallis.