News & Events
January 2020
On January 27, Belmont Freeman is a featured speaker at a conference on historic preservation in Havana, at the World Monuments Fund.
November 2019
On November 6, Belmont Freeman and Michael Adlerstein presented a report on the summer workshop that they ran in Havana in June, “Sustainable Building Renovation in the Tropics.” The event was part of the “Cuba and Beyond” series at Columbia University, School of International Affairs.
October 2019
Belmont Freeman is featured in the cover story of Habitat magazine, which celebrates the stewardship of The Master Apartments, an Art Deco Landmark on Riverside Drive. Monty is a member of the coop’s board of directors and chair of the building committee and, in that role, directs the building’s on-going restoration projects.
September 2019
Architectural Record magazine publishes Belmont Freeman’s essay “Havana On My Mind,” which discusses the perilous state of Cuba’s capital city on the eve of its 500th anniversary.
June 2019
Belmont Freeman led a summer workshop for Columbia GSAPP students in Havana, Cuba, focusing on best practices of sustainable building renovation in a tropical climate.
May 2019
The architectural and interpretive design studio that Belmont Freeman and Bryony Roberts co-taught at GSAPP, in the Historic Preservation program, is inaugurated as a multi-media exhibition in the Hahnes Building in Newark, NJ. The studio focused on the historic, abandoned, Old Essex County Jail in Newark, offering proposals for its interpretation and rehabilitation for new uses. The exhibition remains on view through September 2019.
January-May 2019
Belmont Freeman teaches a spring semester design studio for the Historic Preservation program at Columbia University GSAPP, focused on sites for design interventions in the Morningside Heights and Manhattanville neighborhoods.
December 2018
Belmont Freeman led a two-week tour of Cuba for the Society of Architectural Historians; the length of the island from Havana to Guantánamo. For information visit www.sah.org.
June 2018
Belmont Freeman led a one-week Summer Workshop in Havana for Columbia GSAPP students. The focus was Cuban modern architecture and challenges of historic preservation.
March 2018
The Affordable Housing Institute publishes the book Cuba Facing Forward, with a forward by Belmont Freeman. The volume of essays grew out of a symposium of the same name at Harvard University, in November 2015.
January 2018
Belmont Freeman teaches a design studio within the Historic Preservation program at Columbia GSAPP. This semester's studio site is the old Essex County Jail in Newark, NJ.
November 2017
Belmont Freeman participates in a panel discussion on "Gender Inclusive Public Space" at the Center for Architecture, AIA/NY. He spoke about the firm's LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and about BFA's current work for FDNY, equipping a Landmark fire station with facilities for female fire fighters.
October 2017
Places journal publishes "Tradition for Sale," an essay by Belmont Freeman about the new residential colleges at Yale and about universities that "abdicate leadership in promoting artistic innovation as they pander to plutocratic donors." Read it here.
September 2017
The Main Lounge at the Yale Club of New York reopens after a months-long restoration be BFA and Kemble Interiors. Likewise, the reconstruction of the Club's historic retail storefront on East 44th Street is completed.
June 2017
Belmont Freeman leads a group of artists on a five-day tour of Havana, focusing on the contemporary art scene.
March 2017
Places journal publishes Belmont Freeman's essay "Cuban Futures," which examines the state of U.S.-Cuba relations after the death of Fidel Castro and the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
February 2017
Belmont Freeman leads a select group of arts administrators and cultural producers to Havana for a concentrated art and architecture tour.
December 2016
Belmont Freeman participates in round table discussion on the legacy of Fidel Castro, on Jamaican National Radio.
October 2016
Belmont Freeman participates in the exhibition "Letters to the Developer" at Storefront for Art and Architecture.
"Post Trump", an essay by Belmont Freeman that examines Donald Trump's legacy as a property developer in New York City is published in Places Journal.
September 2016
Belmont Freeman lectures at Princeton University School of Civil and Environmental Engineering on Cuban modern architecture.
May 2016
Architectural Record publishes an article, by Belmont Freeman, on the current events surrounding the Four Seasons Restaurant. Read it here. An interview with Metropolis on the same subject can be accessed here.
Belmont Freeman leads a tour to Cuba for DOCOMOMO_US.
Belmont Freeman serves on the jury for the 2016 Civita Institute Fellowship.
April 2016
"Rural Visions", an essay by Belmont Freeman that discusses the architecture and ethics of Grace Farms, in New Canaan, CT, and Rural Studio, in Hale County, AL, is published in Places Journal. Read it here.
March 2016
The Engine Company 23 renovation project is featured in Yimby, following approval of BFA's design by the Landmark's Preservation Commission. Read about this historic firehouse here.
January 2016
Belmont Freeman lectured on "The Architecture of the Cuban Revolution" at Auburn University College of Architecture, Design and Construction.
Belmont Freeman is interviewed by the Guardian's architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright, for an article on future development in Havana, published both online and in the print edition.
November 2015
Belmont Freeman was a featured speaker at "Cuba Facing Forward: Balancing Transistion with Development in the Caribbean's Most-Watched Nation", at Harvard University.
Belmont Freeman led a tour to Havana for the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art.
October 2015
"Unfinished New York", an essay by Belmont Freeman on the state of historic preservation in, particularly, New York City, is published in Places Journal. Read it here.
Belmont Freeman led a 10-day architectural tour of Cuba for DOCOMOMO USA. Due to the amount of interest, the tour will be repeated in May 2016. For information visit "docomomo-us.org"
July 2015
Belmont Freeman was interviewed as part of the article "Is Cuba the Next Emerging Market for American Architects?", published in Architect magazine. Read it here.
May 2015
Belmont Freeman lectured on Cuban architecture of the revolutionary 1960s, at the Museum of Modern Art.
April 2015
As "Distinguished Visiting Critic", Belmont Freeman co-taught a residential design studio at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington.
March 2015
Belmont Freeman was a featured speaker and panelist at the symposium "Havana/LA/Havana", at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles.
At Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, Belmont Freeman led a discussion about Cuban architecture, after a screening of the film "Unfinished Spaces".
The exhibition "Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980" opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Belmont Freeman was an advisor on the Cuban content of the show and author of a catalog entry.
February 2015
Architectural Record published an essay, written by Belmont Freeman, on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, and what this means for architecture. Read it here.
January 2015
Belmont Freeeman is teaching a design studio in the Historic Preservation program at Columbia Universtiy GSAPP, Spring Semester.
The Architect's Newspaper publishes an obituary, written by Belmont Freeman, of the renowned Cuban architect Ricardo Porro (1925-2014). Read it here.
December 2014
Belmont Freeman published a major essay on the city of Havana titled "History of the Present: Havana" in Places Journal. Read it here.
October 2014
Belmont Freeman leads tours of The Four Seasons restaurant for Open House New York, on Saturday October 11th.
September 2014
Belmont Freeman is interviewed by Josephine Minutillo for the September issue of Interior Design magazine. Read the full article here.
Belmont Freeman serves on the jury for the Texas Society of Architects Studio Awards, which honors design excellence in unbuillt, real, and theoretical projects.
July 2014
Architectural Record publishes an obituary, written by Belmont Freeman, of the Cuban architect and urban planner Mario Coyula Cowley (1935-2014). Read it here.
March 2014
On March 7th, the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center recieved an Honorable Mention at the 2014 Historic Districts Council Design Awards. Find out more here.
February 2014
Belmont Freeman is drawn into the controversy surrounding the removal of Pablo Picasso's "Le Tricorne" (1919) from The Four Seasons Restaurant; writes an opinion piece for Architectural Record. Read it here.
January 2014
On January 17, Monty Freeman along with Cathleen McGuigan, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Record, headed the conversation panel at the Center for Architecture's "Cocktails and Conversations" series. To view video click here.
Monty Freeman's article "The Moment for Something to Happen" was published in The Design Observer Group's Places on January 13. The piece is on the heyday, the demise and the legacy of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, 1967 -1984.
October 2013
The state-of-the-art facility Teachers College has renovated the offices of The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR), located in 232 Horace Mann Hall, formally opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting in late October.
July 2013
The Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center is featured on eOculus this week.
The Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center is the Bronze Award winner in the Renovation-Additions category for the 2013 Brick in Architecture Awards. Find out more here.
May 2013
Belmont Freeman Architects has once again been selected as one of 26 firms included in the latest round of the NYC Design + Construction Excellence program. The highly competitive program recruits world-renowned and emerging architects to design the City’s new public buildings and other capital construction projects. Read more here and here.
Monty Freeman is leading a second tour of Cuba for the Society of Architectural Historians from May 15-27.
April 2013
On April 1 and 2, 2013, Belmont Freeman delivered lectures at Cornell University and Ithaca College entitled “Architecture and the Cuban Revolution: Constructing a New Modernist Identity.” His talks examined the remarkable avant-garde design produced in Cuba during the first, heroic phase of the Revolution and how today’s politicized preservation issues are shaping the story of modernism in Cuba.
March 2013
The Kowalewski Residence was recently featured on Architizer.
Jan 2013
Construction is complete on the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center. Check it out here. Landscaping to be completed in the Summer of 2013.
Dec 2012
Check out the first published images of the finished Freelancers' Union here. See more here.
Monty Freeman will lead a two-week architectural tour of Cuba for the Society of Architectural Historians.
Nov 2012
Monty Freeman was quoted in the New York Times about the controversy surrounding the Havana Art Schools. Read it here.
Belmont Freeman Architects has been awarded the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) Department office renovation by Teachers College, Columbia University.
Oct 2012
Monty Freeman will lead tours of The Four Seasons for openhousenewyork (OHNY) and for AIA Archtober.
Aug 2012
Belmont Freeman Architects has been awarded the Grand Concourse Branch Library renovation project by the NYC Department of Design + Construction.
July 2012
Demolition has begun for the Freelancers' Union Clinic in downtown Brooklyn.
Construction at the Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center is nearing completion, with an anticipated opening in early 2013.
May 2012
Belmont Freeman Architects will work with Freelancers Union and Iora Health Practice to design a primary care center in downtown Brooklyn.
Jan 2012
Monty will once again teach a studio at Columbia University in their Historic Preservation program.