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Dattner Architects
Dattner Architects’ foundation is civic architecture. Our designs for transit, schools, libraries, housing, healthcare, parks and recreation facilities, and community centers enrich the urban fabric with distinctive, innovative, and inspiring buildings—positively impacting countless residents.
The core of our practice covers a broad range of typologies, located in diverse urban areas, from central-city neighborhoods to the growing outer communities, that are vital to the development of each city. Dattner Architects’ projects reflect the forces that have shaped the life of each community and influenced the design of urban spaces and public buildings. Since its founding in 1964 our work has grown in scale and complexity, but our role in all of our projects has remained consistent. We are both architects and advocates of each project—facilitating the complex exchanges between communities, professionals, and government officials required to identify the project’s vision.
Dattner’s civic impact in NYC has been widely recognized – the only firm to have multiple projects identified in "Curbed's 10 Most Significant Buildings of the Last Decade" along with a number of project specific awards that have received both local and national recognition. In 2020 Dattner architects remained as one of the top 5 most active firms in NYC based on the number of TCOs and square footage of work designed according to The Real Deal. Today, Dattner maintains a staff of 110 design professionals across 4 studios, based in midtown Manhattan.
Shaping the Urban Experience
Across the five boroughs and the region beyond, our work has had a significant role in the transformation of each place’s urban fabric, contributing to our vision of what cities can be. Having worked with numerous public agencies, we have helped to design, revitalize, and expand urban schools, infrastructure, housing, and parks in many diverse neighborhoods. Our projects have been recognized with Design Excellence Awards from the NYC Public Design Commission and numerous other organizations including AIA National, NY, NYS, Brooklyn, and Queens; BSA; Municipal Art Society; New York Landmarks Conservancy; Rudy Bruner; Society of American Registered Architects; and The Architects Newspaper.
Designers & Collaborators
With so much of our work in the public sphere—for both government agencies and private clients—the process of engagement with multiple stakeholders shapes our projects and the way we work. Partnerships with clients, interdisciplinary teams of consultants, and various communities allow us to maintain a holistic approach built upon the exchange of ideas—as well as compromise—without sacrificing design excellence. As committed “generalists” in an increasingly specialized and complex technical, political, and institutional environment, a collaborative stance, a genuine interest in other fields, and respectful engagement with communities are fundamental to our practice.
Transportation & Infrastructure Experience
Dattner Architects has extensive experience with transportation and infrastructure architecture. The firm’s portfolio spans urban design, infrastructure, and transportation design, and includes a variety of work ranging from feasibility studies to sustainability guidelines, from master plans to modernizations, and from additions to new buildings. We have designed subway and rail stations, airport facilities, ancillary spaces, and associated spaces for personnel.