October is here, and that means Archtober, New York City's month-long celebration of architecture and design, has kicked off. The 2020 edition presents all events, exhibitions, lectures, tours, talks, and workshops as a hybrid virtual and in-person festival, providing a safe and accessible format for New Yorkers and attendees worldwide.

For the tenth year in a row, Archinect & Bustler are proud to partner with Archtober and present you our weekly highlights from a packed calendar of events. Below are our recommendations for Archtober 2020 Week 1, October 1–8.

Also, take a look at the complete Building of the Day list here.

The Feminist City | Friday, Oct. 2

Urban space can be a place of possibility and a place of oppression. Informal networks of care make communities bearable for people who have been left behind and pushed out by traditional planning, policy and design. Leslie Kern, author of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World , and Anna Puigjaner, GSAPP Associate Professor of Professional Practice and author of Kitchenless City, discuss their research towards an intersectional feminist urban future. Moderated by Jack Halberstam, Professor of Gender Studies and English at Columbia University.

Cocktails & Conversation: Thomas Phifer, FAIA | Friday, Oct. 2

Cocktails & Conversation is a series of dialogues about design that joins an architect with a critic, journalist, curator, or architectural historian to discuss current architecture design issues. This special program will have Thomas Phifer, FAIA sit down with an interviewer as they discuss his career over a custom cocktail that the audience can make from the comfort of their home.

Guggenheim’s Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Building Reopens | Saturday, Oct. 3

The Guggenheim will reopen on October 3, with special access for members and patrons from September 30 to October 2. New measures will be in place that focus on your health and safety, so you can focus on your experience.

The Secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge | Saturday, Oct. 3

Beyond the Brooklyn Bridge’s stately exterior lies an epic origin story which you will discover on this unique tour. Discover the Brooklyn Bridge’s secrets, including its old Cold War fall out shelter, the hidden champagne vaults, the bridge jumper survivor’s support group and so many others…

AIANY Around Manhattan Architecture Tour | Sunday, Oct. 4

Lower Manhattan Architecture Tour narration, provided by members of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) New York Chapter [...] On this 90 minute cruise, you will cover all the major sites of Lower Manhattan (below 59th Street) and see views of the Brooklyn, and Manhattan Bridges while taking in monuments, architecture, parks and infrastructure.

Building of the Day: Greenpoint, Van Cortlandt, and East Elmhurst Libraries | Monday, Oct. 5

At this Building of the Day, we'll virtually visit three libraries across the city's three systems: Van Cortlandt Branch Library (New York Public Library), East Elmhurst Library (Queens Public Library), and Greenpoint Library (Brooklyn Public Library). During this program, we'll hear from the architects of each project as well as representatives from the respective library systems about the process of designing a library for these communities. The panel will also discuss how the library systems have responded to COVID-19 in different ways, and how design plays a role in this transition.

World Habitat Day 2020: Post-Pandemic Cities | Monday, Oct. 5

The projected increase of 2.5 billion people moving to cities over the next 30 years with the advent of climate change and the new threat of pandemics constitutes an unprecedented challenge facing the world today. The transition in a world of finite resources calls for the re-thinking of many of the premises which have guided the development of human existence. The pandemic of 2019 presents an opportunity to chart a new future.

Building of the Day: Peter and Paul Hotel with Preservation Resource Center | Tuesday, Oct. 6

This event is part of the Archtober’s virtual Travel To series. Travel To seeks to highlight iconic architecture and historically significant sites across the United States. [...] Join us for a virtual tour of the Hotel Peter and Paul in New Orleans, LA with developer Nathalie Jordi and the Preservation Resource Center. Hotel Peter and Paul was the result of a four-year restoration of the former Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic church and school.

Neighborhoods Now Summit: Day 1 | Tuesday, Oct. 6

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute joined forces to launch Neighborhoods Now, an initiative connecting NYC neighborhoods hit hard by the pandemic with coalitions of architects, engineers, lawyers, planners, and community health experts. Together, they co-created safe and effective reopening strategies for the short- and long-term.

Building of the Day: Hunter’s Point South Waterfront | Wednesday, Oct. 7

Join us for a virtual tour of Hunter’s Point South. The Hunter’s Point South is a new model for waterfront resilience, with a “soft” approach to protecting the water’s edge from floodwaters. A continuous meandering causeway, elevated slightly above the river, offers a walk along the river’s edge and protects nearly 1.5 acres of newly established wetlands.

Crushing the Code New York State: Residential | Wednesday, Oct. 7

Crushing the Code New York State is an online course that prepares building and design professionals in New York State to comply with the requirements in the 2020 ECCCNYS and design more energy-efficient buildings in the process. In an era of more stringent code enforcement, the course provides critical knowledge about significant changes, new provisions and best practices to avoid objections and stalled projects.

Building of the Day: The Bronx River Greenway River House | Thursday, Oct. 8

The Bronx River Greenway River House, nearing completion, is the base of operations for the Bronx River Greenway and the adjacent portion of the Bronx River. The Bronx River Alliance will occupy the building and manage it on behalf of the park, the public, and community groups. The Bronx River House will approach net-zero energy and will use rainwater-irrigated living facades to create a favorable microclimate.

Design Salon: Designing Sustainable Cities | Thursday, Oct. 8

Join Cooper Hewitt and the inaugural winner of the 2020 National Design Award for Climate Action in conversation with 2017 National Design Award winner Susan Szenasy and 2019 National Design Award winner Mark Chambers. Panelists will discuss the City of New York’s game-changing initiatives to create the world’s greenest big city and how systems thinking informs local architecture and planning.

For the full list of events and activities from October 1–31, head over to the Archtober event list, like the Facebook page, or follow Archtober on Twitter and Instagram.