34th Street Partnership’s Booth a Design Winner

​August 2, 2006

Real Estate Weekly

The 34th Street Partnership, a business improvement district in Midtown Manhattan, has received a Bronze 2006 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for its custom-designed outdoor tourist information carts.

The brainchild of the Partnership's in-house director of industrial design, Ignacio Ciocchini, the carts are among the Partnership's newest streetscape innovations.

In presenting its annual IDEAs, sponsored by the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek, the carts were cited as, "whimsical and friendly ... bringing the bookstore aesthetic to the street."

The information carts blend two architecturally distinctive areas: the brochure display towers and the information officer's greeting counter.

Translucent canopies cover both elements of the carts, thereby protecting both man and materials. The carts rest on large pneumatic wheels on casters, making them mobile and easy to store.

The Partnership places the carts at three locations daily: Empire State Building, at the main entrance on Fifth Avenue; Greeley Square, 33rd Street and Avenue of the Americas; and Herald Center, Broadway at 34th Street.

An additional cart can be found in Bryant Park on the corner of 42nd Street and Avnue of the Americas. (The Partnership's team has a dual role in managing Bryant Park).

"The outdoor information carts combine form and function," said Partnership president Daniel A. Biederman.

"They are the product of years of careful preparation by our management team."