Grace Farms Foundation is a center for culture and collaboration in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Q: Tell us about your organization:

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building, on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape. Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all our initiatives and the place of Grace Farms.

We invite public and private sectors to Grace Farms to consider what’s possible through diverse perspectives. The River building was intentionally designed around nature to create a reflective and restorative space to consider innovative ways to advance the common good.

Our experts across disciplines, in collaboration with our local and global partners, create unprecedented outcomes.

Q: Highlight one recent initiative / program / exhibition:

On May 4th, we launched the long-term exhibition, With Every Fiber, which aims to inspire understanding and care about the materials that make up the built environment. The exhibit is Grace Farms’ first major initiative to bring the Design for Freedom movement to the public.

This immersive and interactive exhibit is the result of collaboration and contributions from 20 preeminent designers, material suppliers, cultural institutions, and construction industry leaders committed to the Design for Freedom movement.

It features a curated recording by a quartet of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, poetry by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, text by artist Carrie Mae Weems, and photography by international humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine—artists who have all contributed to draw attention to the ethical layers of this cause.

With Every Fiber also features an immersive biomaterials installation by Yale CEA emphasizing the relationship between culture and sustainability and bringing forth the concept of ethical decarbonization.

Q: What is something in your neighborhood/area near your organization that you would recommend doing/seeing/eating etc if someone was to visit?

Grace Farms is in New Canaan, CT, and our surrounding New Canaan community is a renowned destination for innovative and historically/culturally significant mid-century modern architecture.

We recommend visitors coming to New Canaan also make time to visit the Philip Johnson Glass House—a National Historic Trust Site, the Noyes House by Eliot Noyes, and more. In addition, The Aldrich Museum, one of the oldest contemporary art museums in the country, is located just a town over in Ridgefield, CT.

Along with New Canaan and Fairfield County, the surrounding tri-state area is home to a multitude of incredible cultural institutions and museums, including Storm King in New York’s Hudson Valley (situated on 500 acres).

Excitingly, visitors to Grace Farms may download the free #BloombergConnects app to not only access more details about Grace Farms, but also some of the amazing museums and cultural sites we’re fortunate to be near.

Q: How does your organization’s mission intersect with Archtober’s mission?

Archtober’s mission is to “celebrate architecture and design, deepening our relationships with the places we inhabit.”

Celebrating the power of architecture and design and its ability to break down barriers between people and nature is integral to all that we do. Like Archtober, we believe the places we inhabit are more than just physical places – we know that space communicates.

Grace Farms, comprised of the River building and surrounding nature preserve, was established with the idea that space communicates and can inspire people to collaborate for good.

To realize this vision, Grace Farms Foundation set out to create a multipurpose building nestled into the existing habitat that would enable visitors to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith.

The River building embodies our mission to create more grace and peace in our local and global communities through open architecture designed to remove barriers between people and nature.

Q: What is a design object in your collection (or a building on your campus) that you would like to highlight?

In early 2010, we selected SANAA, a Tokyo-based architectural firm, to execute our vision for a vibrant place and multi-purpose building where visitors could experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith.

SANAA’s design for the facility, known as the River building, was the first U.S. building designed by the architectural firm after they were awarded the Pritzker Prize. SANAA’s goal was to make the architecture of the River become part of the landscape without drawing attention to itself, demonstrating a high degree of sensitivity to the landscape and its topography.

Structurally, the building of glass, concrete, steel, and wood is in essence a single long roof, which seems to float above the surface of the ground as it twists and turns across the landscape.

The walkways, courtyards, and glass-wrapped volumes that form beneath the roof are remarkably transparent and invite people to engage with the expansive natural surroundings.