Category: Chapter News

On 11.16.16, students and professionals gathered at the Center for Architecture to hear from three designers at Gensler – Regional Director Mark Pollock, AIA, LEED AP, and Specialists Chang-Yeon Cho, AIA, LEED AP, and Seth Waldman – who talked about an interesting new addition to their workflows: virtual reality (VR). Continue reading “Brave New Worlds: The Impacts of Virtual Reality on Design”

On 10.20.16, Miguel Angel Baltierra, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, interviewed architect and educator Pierluigi Serraino, AIA, author of The Creative Architect: Inside the great midcentury personality study, reviewed by Annie Coggan for our newsletter. Listen to the interview here.

As we continue to prioritize how to enhance our communications channels, we have started to think strategically about Oculus magazine. From its birth as a one-page AIANY membership newsletter in 1938, Oculus has evolved into a quarterly magazine exploring issues relevant to architecture practitioners, circulated to more than 8,000 subscribers. Today, we look forward to this continued evolution as we explore the magazine’s redesign. Continue reading “Oculus Evolving”

On 10.27.16, 1,100 professionals from the architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate industries gathered at Chelsea Piers Pier 60 to celebrate AIANY and the Center for Architecture’s Heritage Ball. While all enjoyed the black-tie networking, the real focus of the evening was to honor leaders who champion design excellence in New York City: Thomas Phifer, FAIA, Founder, Thomas Phifer and Partners; The Rudin Family; Senator Charles E. Schumer; and Alice Tisch. Each of our honorees demonstrates the leadership, vision, and proven commitment to projects that contribute to New York City’s status as a dynamic and energetic global capital. Continue reading “Design Matters: 2016 Heritage Ball”

In our current political climate, the take-home message from the recent United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) – that migrants and refugees can be a positive influence on cities – comes as a breath of fresh air. The speakers on the AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee (DfRR) panel “Global Migration, Refugees, and a Role for Design” included Habitat III participants and design professionals who are working on alternatives to the prevailing model of relief-settlement urbanism (gridded tents, minimal infrastructure, negligible allowance for human dignity). They offered sane, humane observations about ways architects, planners, and city officials can step in where nation-states have failed. Continue reading “Antidotes to Xenophobia: Win/win Design Ideas for the Displaced”

AIANY is proud to announce the winners of the third annual AIANY COTE Awards. Four submissions were selected from projects located within a 200-mile radius of Central Park for achieving environmentally responsible and beautiful design. The jury included James Barnes, Partner, Foster + Partners; Fiona Cousins, Principal, Arup New York; Joann Gonchar, Senior Editor, Architectural Record; John H. Lee, Deputy Director, NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability; and Timothy McDonald, RA, LEED AP, CPHC, Principal, Onion Flats. They carefully reviewed submissions and bestowed Honor Awards on Payette’s George Washington Milken Institute of Public Health, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground. The New York Police Academy by Michael Fieldman Architects and Perkins+Will, and the Washington Square Park House by BKSK Architects were recipients of Merit Awards. Continue reading “Announcing the Winners of the 2016 AIANY COTE Awards”

On 10.17.16, a mixed crowd of nearly 300 architects, students, and enthusiasts packed the Center for Architecture to hear one of the industry’s contemporary greats: David Chipperfield, CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA, principal of London-based David Chipperfield Architects. On the occasion of the 10th-annual Arthur Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture, he offered an overview of his pioneering work with museums, and his thoughts on the evolving purposes and demands of these institutions. Continue reading “David Chipperfield’s Arthur Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture”

Pierluigi Serraino’s presentation of his fascinating new book, The Creative Architect: Inside the Great Mid-Century Personality Study, held at the Center for Architecture on 10.10.16, was a model of clarity and elegance. Serraino is a poised speaker, who deftly explained the intense premise and vetting necessary to orchestrate the 1958 Institute of Personality Assessment and Research (IPAR) assessment at the University of California Berkley that analyzed 40 contemporary architects in the search for the definition of creativity. His talk and text are based on research compiled by Donald Mackinnon and Wallace Hall, but with his charming delivery it was an evening of data with a dash of gossip about American architecture. Continue reading “Oculus Book Review: The Creative Architect: Inside the Great Midcentury Personality Study by Pierluigi Serraino”

On 08.25.16, Miguel Angel Baltierra, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, interviewed David Koren, founder of FIGMENT, to discuss the organization’s first book FIGMENT: What is this? Why is Nothing for Sale? Why is Everyone Smiling?, reviewed by Annie Coggan in the 08.25.16 issue of our newsletter. Listen to the interview here.