Category: Policy and Advocacy

Sustainability Experts: It’s Time for Radical Response

Howard Roark died. A long time ago, some would add, perhaps even at birth; as professional icons go, the architect-as-solitary-aesthetic-hero character strikes many real-world architects as intellectually stillborn. Yet the “Edge Sustainability” panel’s most daring provocateur, RTKL Chief Sustainability Officer Lance Hosey, FAIA, finds the Roarkian image perversely staggering on, a zombielike presence obstructing efforts to apply architects’ expertise to the planet’s most pressing problem. Continue reading “Sustainability Experts: It’s Time for Radical Response”

Save the Date – FitCity 10

FitCity 10: Promoting Physical Activity through Design, organized by AIANY and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will take place on 05.11.15 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 5th Avenue. The 10th annual conference will bring together architects, planners, designers, developers, government officials, community advocates, and public health professionals to discuss how design, policy, and practice decisions can create opportunities to increase physical activity, access to healthier food and beverages, and overall well-being in NYC’s low-income communities. Continue reading “Save the Date – FitCity 10”

AIA on the Hill: Grassroots 2015

At the 2015 AIA Grassroots Leadership and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, 03.04.15-03.06.15, participants were empowered to become messengers. During this “year of the advocate,” AIA National continues its repositioning campaign in an effort to better serve AIA members and the general public. This period of self-improvement involves refocusing advocacy efforts on issues that matter most to the membership, including assisting communities through design, advancing the 2030 sustainability goals, and increasing diversity. Through these initiatives, the AIA is working to raise the organization’s profile throughout the U.S. and internationally. A new board structure has also allowed the organization the ability to make smarter and swifter decisions. Keynote speakers Jonah Berger and Liz Ogbu and seminar panelists highlighted the often overlooked importance of effective communication when designing. Continue reading “AIA on the Hill: Grassroots 2015”

Safe Streets, Great Streets

Under its Vision Zero plan, New York City aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities using urban design tactics to improve pedestrian safety. On 03.02.15, the Center was fortunate to host NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) leaders Wendy Feuer, Ann Marie Doherty, Josh Benson, Juan Martinez, and Neil Gagliardi, who were on hand to discuss their approach to safety and design on the city’s streets.  Continue reading “Safe Streets, Great Streets”

2015 Opportunity Agenda: Restoring Economic Opportunity

At the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) breakfast meeting on 01.20.15, Governor Cuomo announced part of his “2015 Opportunity Agenda” – a plan to update New York’s infrastructure. He addressed initiatives to modernize New York’s airports, expand public transportation, and invest in statewide infrastructure repairs and maintenance.

One of Cuomo’s priorities for 2015 is to address the need to overhaul New York’s regional airports. In addition to finding ways to link the area airports together, the governor launched a Master Plan Design Competition to reimagine LaGuardia and JFK airports. He compiled a seven-member committee to advise him and the Port Authority on the top airport redesigns. See the complete list of panelists and design criteria here. Continue reading “2015 Opportunity Agenda: Restoring Economic Opportunity”

Environmentalism at the Forefront

In 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his administration’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% over 2005 levels by 2050. Almost 75% of NYC’s emissions come from buildings, so the proposed retrofits would dramatically reduce citywide emissions. To reach this goal, architects need to get on board and AIANY is preparing to help. Continue reading “Environmentalism at the Forefront”

Lobbying for Libraries

There are 207 branch libraries in New York City, divided between three different library systems – New York, Queens, and Brooklyn. The systems, however, share similar missions and thus face similar challenges. In September 2014, the Center for an Urban Future (CUF) released the Re-envisioning New York’s Branch Libraries report, which unveils many structural and programmatic issues that these libraries face, and recommends ways to address them. CUF and the Architectural League solicited design studies from six interdisciplinary teams to respond to the report and expand on possibilities for the future of NYC’s libraries. Continue reading “Lobbying for Libraries”

Designing to Outsmart Ebola: Time to Think about the Unthinkable

Ebola is the most recent form of one of civilization’s deepest fears. From Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year and Poe’s Masque of the Red Death, through recent films like Outbreak, 28 Days Later, and Contagion, uncontainable pestilence has consistently gripped people’s imagination, if not always their rationality. The most obvious downside of urban density was once infectious disease. Better public-health infrastructure (chiefly safe water, ventilation, and street and residential sanitation, plus better medical management of microorganisms) was a precondition for what Richard Florida and other urbanists call “the Great Reset”: America’s rediscovery of the many cultural, economic, environmental, and energy advantages of city life. Because urban conditions no longer include rampant tuberculosis, cholera, and the other scourges of the pre-antibiotic era, contemporary New Yorkers can enjoy the benefits of proximity and diversity. Nothing would spoil that particular party like a new and even deadlier plague. Continue reading “Designing to Outsmart Ebola: Time to Think about the Unthinkable”