March 2017 – Page 2 – News – What’s New at AIANY and the Center for Architecture.

Driverless Future Challenge

As widespread adoption of autonomous cars get closer to becoming a reality, so too does the prospect of major change to our build environment. Critical questions remain of how our streets, civic spaces, homes and neighborhoods will transform. For designers, this is a major opportunity to shape the future of the city.

In preparing for this tectonic shift, AIANY and Blank Space, the online architecture platform, are hosting the Driverless Future Challenge, a competition to shape the impact of autonomous transportation in NYC. The focus of the challenge is not on the cars themselves, but everything else: from parking solutions, to mass transit, accessibility, shipping, logistics, software, services, and new uses of roadways, intersections, and sidewalks. Continue reading “Driverless Future Challenge”

Designing for the Refugee Crisis Reveals Both Hard Truths and Hope

On 02.23.17, AIANY’s Global Dialogues Committee brought the roiling debate around refugees to the Center for Architecture for a night of hard truths and small glimmers of hope. The lecture, titled “Designing for the Refugee Crisis,” gathered a distinguished panel of political and design experts to discuss the complex concerns surrounding this global problem. Continue reading “Designing for the Refugee Crisis Reveals Both Hard Truths and Hope”

Oculus Book Review: When Ivory Towers Were Black by Sharon E. Sutton

Dr. Sharon Egrette Sutton’s recent book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, is a three-pronged exploration of the cultural, educational, and personal events surrounding the 1968 student insurgency on the Columbia University campus. Sutton describes her experience as a minority student after the insurrection and tells the tale of Columbia before and after. During her Oculus Book Talk lecture on 02.13.17 at the Center of Architecture, Sutton explained that, unlike today, when diversity aspiration ally seen as a way to balance and improve communities, in 1968, the fight against racism and efforts towards creating diverse academic communities were issues of national security. The summer of 1968 numbered 163 racial confrontations in the inner cities of the US. The Ivy League was about to become ground zero for change. Continue reading “Oculus Book Review: When Ivory Towers Were Black by Sharon E. Sutton”

Featured Member: John Cetra Elevated to AIA College of Fellows

Over his 35-year career, John Cetra has assembled and led a design practice dedicated to the transformation of urban multifamily housing and residential architecture. Since co-founding his firm, CetraRuddy, with his wife and partner, Nancy Ruddy, in 1987 Cetra’s work has been rooted in a rigorous, ongoing study of urban contextual fabrics and patterns of habitation and has resulted in buildings that reinforce community and neighborhood. Continue reading “Featured Member: John Cetra Elevated to AIA College of Fellows”

Students Design Animal Architecture at Studio@theCenter

During one of our February Studio@theCenter programs, our three-day school vacation design camps, we investigated the structures animals create for themselves as well as the structures we create for them. Through this lens, we discovered our own approach to animal architecture! We began our studio with the quick charrette of designing a birdhouse. This was a great starting point because the birdhouse is based on a familiar structure that has been appropriated for a specific animal. Each camper had the opportunity to sand, paint, and design his or her own birdhouse. Continue reading “Students Design Animal Architecture at Studio@theCenter”

In the News

– Second Life for Aluminum Cans: Cast & Place by Team Aesop winner of 2017 City of Dreams Pavilion Competition
– The Motor City is Revving Up: SHoP to design Detroit’s tallest building
– Answering the Call – SOM’s PSAC II: SOM’s PSAC II augments city’s 911 services
– A Film/Fashion Hub Grows in Brooklyn: WXY design designs new Made in NY campus
– Spiraling In Control: Libeskind’s Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics celebrates grand opening Continue reading “In the News”

Featured Member: William Cunningham Elevated to AIA College of Fellows

William Cunningham, as Weill Cornell Medicine‘s first Campus Architect, has used design excellence to transform the campus of one of the country’s premier medical institutions into the embodiment of the highest standards of medical education, research, and practice with national and global influence. Cunningham has led the transformation of WCM’s aging and outmoded 2.9-million-square-foot campus, planning new innovative facilities—all designed to a level of LEED Silver or higher—for supporting medical education, ambulatory care, and cutting-edge biomedical research. Continue reading “Featured Member: William Cunningham Elevated to AIA College of Fellows”

Names in the News

Jessica Sheridan, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Associate at Mancini Duffy, is one of the recipients of the AIA 2017 Young Architects Award. Continue reading “Names in the News”