Circular Principal Jordan Parnass Directs Brooklyn NOW! Exhibition & Public Programs

Brooklyn NOW! 2026, produced by AIA Brooklyn, presented at the Brooklyn Public Library, and led by Director Jordan Parnass, Principal of Circular, was a significant achievement in documenting the borough’s evolving design culture. Bringing together more than 120 submissions and presenting 20 finalist projects, the exhibition offered a collective portrait of Brooklyn shaped less by monumentality than by resilience, adaptive reuse, and civic engagement. It captured the ways architecture, infrastructure, and cultural work converge to shape everyday life, emphasizing participation and shared civic futures over the presentation of isolated objects.

Rather than organizing the exhibition around a single curatorial thesis, Brooklyn NOW! 2026 drew connections across themes such as housing, public life, education, and environmental responsibility. Projects ranging from passive house training centers to community-driven urban visions underscored the idea that design is a shared civic endeavor. By asking, “Who is building Brooklyn now?”, the exhibition expanded the conversation beyond architects alone to include the students, families, and residents whose lived experience defines the borough.

That spirit of inquiry extended into the public programming series, which transformed the exhibition into an active platform for dialogue. Through events such as Housing Brooklyn NOW!, Futures Brooklyn NOW!, and Public Brooklyn NOW!, participants examined the intersections of policy, advocacy, and design. These conversations moved beyond aesthetics to engage pressing questions of affordability, equitable housing, and the role of public space in neighborhood life.

At the center of this initiative was Jordan Parnass, whose leadership helped shape the exhibition from concept to realization. As Principal of Circular, he advanced a model that positioned Brooklyn NOW! as more than a gallery presentation: it became a civic platform connecting community groups, academic institutions, and design professionals. Under his direction, the project served as an accessible public forum, bridging architectural discourse with the immediate needs and concerns of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods.

Brooklyn NOW! 2026 also established a strong foundation for future iterations of design advocacy in the borough. By combining thematic curation with public programming and community-centered engagement, it demonstrated the potential for design exhibitions to function as lasting civic resources. The project affirmed that the most meaningful conversations about the built environment are those that move beyond objects and toward the ongoing work of building a more equitable, participatory city.

Photos courtesy Ines Leong and AIA Brooklyn.