Size

Site: 3.35 acres

Year

2021

Status

In Progress

Client

Dutchess County, New York

Partners

Vassar College, Nuvance Health, Dutchess County, Community Matters 2, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County, Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Day One Early Childhood Learning, Poughkeepsie Public Library District

Portrait of Chris Kroner
Chris Kroner
Principal
CK Mass Headshot 1

Chris Kroner

Principal — Poughkeepsie

Chris joined MASS to co-found the Hudson Valley Design Lab in Poughkeepsie NY in 2017. As a committed architecture and urban design educator, he moved to the Hudson Valley to convert his teaching into practice as a revolutionary and immersive model of listening and engagement. The design lab has become a thinktank for pioneering community design practice in American "Fringe Cities.” He sees architecture and design as a daily practice of outreach, showcasing adaptive reuse and new buildings both as coalition building methods to boundary span across multiple interests and regenerate city fabric. In addition to directing design projects, he leads all Poughkeepsie based community outreach work, serves as a design consultant to the Poughkeepsie Planning Board, and volunteers on a number of community and regional coalitions.

Prior to working at MASS Design Group's Hudson Valley Office, Chris has a career in award-winning architectural design practice, spending a decade as an associate partner with Dean/Wolf Architects where he conducted a series of award-winning projects in all stages of design and construction. “Restless Response: Emergency Medical Station 50” at Queens Hospital garnered the American Architecture Prize Gold Medal in Institutional Architecture in 2016, and the station was featured in Architectural Record in March 2017. Additionally, “Ephemeral Edge House,” a rural retreat home south of Albany won a Progressive Architecture Award in 2012 and a New York City AIA Honor Award in 2019.

Chris holds his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) where he received the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize, and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia, where he received the Sean Steele-Nicholson Memorial Award. He teaches studios and seminars regularly at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning, as well as in the Pratt Institute’s Graduate Architecture and Urban Design programs, and has held lecture positions at institutions worldwide.

Design Team

Chris Kroner, Justin Brown, Andrew Younker, Talent Davis

MASS Design Group is proud to partner with Dutchess County government and a robust coalition of Poughkeepsie stakeholders as architect and project lead for the Youth Opportunity Union (YOU).

Section of the YOU Interior

The YOU re-establishes a former YMCA site as a community and recreation resource that can be a safe, structured and horizon-expanding space for Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County youth and families.

Hourly Program usage by Group

More than just a building, the Youth Opportunity Union represents a comprehensive, cradle-to-career commitment to giving children and young people the best possible start in life.

Section of the YOU Interior

The YOU will not only provide needed educational, childcare, health, and recreation services but will also push the boundaries of what the community can achieve together by embodying and modeling new and innovative approaches to cross-sector partnerships and coordination.