Author: Melissa Marsh

On 05.02.13, the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee hosted “Viral Voices: Global Discussions,” organized by Jeff Kenoff, AIA, and Bruce Fisher, AIA – the committee’s co-chairs – along with its dedicated members. This was the second of what may become an annual conversation around the combination of new media, rapid global communications, and emergent social needs. In both its topic and delivery – by a young and diverse panel – the evening was a perfect hybrid of Jill Lerner’s 2013 presidential theme, Global City/Global Practice, and AIA National’s Repositioning effort now underway. Continue reading “Is Social Media the MOOC (Massive Online Open Courseware) of Our Profession?”

Elizabeth Diller explained, “We had to make a book about this project – there are a million stories – some of them unutterable.” It was a journey she said was filled with discoveries. The book, Lincoln Center Inside Out: An Architectural Account (Daimani, 2013), tells this story through full-bleed photos, every other spread opening to reveal a four-pane image of various aspects of the design process, from exploration and analysis to iterations and delivery. During the talk, which was organized by the AIANY Interiors Committee, Diller explained that they “designed, commissioned photographers, re-did lots of things” in order to create the story in images. “It really was a spatial and architectural challenge to create this book.” As in architecture, it took a bit of experimentation to get it right. Continue reading “Diller and Scofidio in conversation with Lincoln Center of the Past, Present and Future”

The relationship between architect and project manager can be fraught with complexity; many anecdotes suggest that projects run smoothly when both are in place, while almost everyone also has a war-story or two about the time that the two were at odds and disaster ensued. While project managers may argue that costs increase due to “design creep,” architects are fending off a wide variety of other client service providers. In other words, one might argue that costs are rising instead from “consultant creep.”

Lorenzo Vascotto, a founding partner currently serving as managing director at VVA Project Managers & Consultants, was game to take on this topic and many others during the Professional Practice Committee’s fourth program of the “Leading Architecture in a Changing World” series, which culminates on 06.17.13 with “Entrepreneurship in Architecture and Beyond.” Continue reading “Project Management New York Style: It is about how, not what, you buy”