Tag: AIANY

Editor’s Note

It’s time to sign, seal, and deliver some letters. We are approaching the final two months of Legislative Session in New York, and passage of the Good Samaritan Act for Licensed Professionals (S. 3942-A/A.4380-B) will allow architects to help communities in the wake of a disaster without the added stress of liability concerns. Click here to send an e-mail to your state legislators asking them to pass the bill.

In addition, Massimo Vignelli, the graphic designer responsible for the groundbreaking 1972 NYC subway map, is not well and is spending his last days at home. His son, Luca, invites all of those for whom Vignelli was an influence or inspiration to write him a letter. Please send your letters to: Massimo Vignelli, 130 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10021.

As You Readers Already Know, the Media Is Swiftly Changing

“The pressure for scoops is bigger than ever because of the linking system that has developed,” said Matt Chaban, referring to the preponderance of online publications and shared information. Chaban now writes the “Appraisals” column published every Tuesday in The New York Times, but his byline has previously appeared in the New York Observer, Crains New York Business, the New York Daily News, and The Architect’s Newspaper. He has been covering real estate for all of those publications, employing his versatile writing style to suit the voice of each publication. He had to excuse himself several times during the “Design Media Update: Insights from the Insiders” program to do some last minute fact-checking with his editor. Fact-checking, a safeguard against publishing mostly accidental errors, is somewhat of a luxury in this lightning-fast age of media, which, according to Chaban, has prompted the “update” to become the new “correction.” Continue reading “As You Readers Already Know, the Media Is Swiftly Changing”

Ask Better Questions, Get Better Results

It is hard to believe that better business could be as simple as asking better questions. In her presentation featured as the third of five lectures in the AIANY Professional Practice Committee’s Transforming Architectural Practice series, Marilee Adams, PhD, blended psychology, business practice, and personal history into a simple approach. She provided both the logic and motivation to rethink the way that we use questions in our business and personal lives. Continue reading “Ask Better Questions, Get Better Results”

Ethics and the Road to Convention: Durban and Chicago

As we prepare for the next meeting of the International Union of Architects (UIA) in Durban, South Africa, this August, we are confronted with a proposal that demands we take an immediate position. Reporter Harriet Sherwood wrote about the proposal on 03.20.14 in London’s The Guardian. Since the matter surfaced, there have been endless articles, e-mails, and calls. While some think it may all blow over, we cannot allow it to be floated without immediate objection.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) plans to bring a proposal to the floor of the upcoming 2014 bi-annual meeting of the UIA. The RIBA has demanded the suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) from the UIA, saying it is complicit in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and other violations of international law. While former RIBA President Angela Brady told a meeting of its council how important the proposal was, other council members pointed to human rights violations in other parts of the world, such as North Korea, which is a member of the UIA, asking why they should not be held to similar standards. Notable architects and members of AIANY have spoken out or written against the RIBA proposal, including Richard Meier, FAIA, and Daniel Libeskind, AIA.

AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, and I drafted a letter denouncing the RIBA proposal. The grounds upon which our draft was based centered on inclusion and dialogue, as opposed to exclusion and highly prejudicial, selective condemnation. The letter was put before the AIANY Board at its last meeting on 04.22.14. While certain details and some personalization were criticized, the general sense of the letter was approved. All thought it inappropriate for the RIBA to exclude an entire country’s architects – both Israeli and Palestinian – because the RIBA takes issue with the politics of that country. As the mission statement of the UIA is “to unite the architects of the world without any form of discrimination,” it should be obvious that excluding one country’s architects defeats the purpose. Continue reading “Ethics and the Road to Convention: Durban and Chicago”

Honors and Awards Luncheon 2014: Design Matters

“If you’re ever going to get an award from the AIA New York Chapter, this was the year to do it.” No one can deny the truth spoken by honoree David Burney, FAIA, winner of the Chapter’s Award of Merit, in extolling this year’s impressive line-up for the Honors and Awards Luncheon, which included Metropolis Magazine Editor-in-Chief and publisher Susan Szenasy, Hon. AIANY, winner of the Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award; Medal of Honor honorees Denise Scott Brown, RIBA, Int. FRIBA, and Robert Venturi, FAIA, Int. FRIBA; and a special keynote from Shaun Donovan, Hon. AIANY, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Continue reading “Honors and Awards Luncheon 2014: Design Matters”

Lobby from Albany; Learning from Piers

AIA New York State 2014 Albany Lobby Day took place on 04.29.14. With a series of important issues to press, an enthusiastic delegation from AIANY took to the Capitol.

All of our meetings were informative and productive, but our meeting with Assemblymember Deborah Glick was particularly significant because she is chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, the committee currently considering passage of the Good Samaritan Act. This legislation would provide protections for architects who volunteer necessary services to the public during disasters and emergencies, as determined by the governor. Following Superstorm Sandy, the need for this legislation was made very apparent when willing architects hesitated to respond without proper protections. This bill needs a final push to get it through the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Continue reading “Lobby from Albany; Learning from Piers”

In Memoriam: Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA

Many friends were startled to learn that Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA, passed away on 03.29.14. Her levels of energy and enthusiasm, and her very positive outlook on life and its possibilities, were legendary to all who knew her.

I met her in 1960, when we both entered architecture school at Columbia, in the evening program (which no longer exists). Sarelle was taking care of her family, husband Daniel and sons Andrew and Joel, of elementary school age. But that was not enough of a challenge for her.

She became a very stimulating classmate, encouraging others as well as persevering enthusiastically and thoughtfully in her own design work. She produced some excellent projects, and won a William Kinne Fellowship in 1965. Sarelle graduated in 1966 with a B.Arch. degree, which was later converted to an M.Arch. degree when Columbia reorganized its curriculum. Continue reading “In Memoriam: Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA”

Editor’s Note

We have a number of exciting events coming up at the Center for Architecture. On 04.23.14, we will be celebrating design excellence at the 2014 Honors and Awards Luncheon in Cipriani Wall Street. Don’t miss your chance to hear a keynote address from Hon. Shaun Donovan, Hon. AIANY, and to celebrate the AIA New York Design Awards and our honorees: Susan S. Szenasy, Hon. AIANY, David Burney, FAIA, Denise Scott Brown, RIBA, Int. FRIBA, and Robert Venturi, FAIA, Int. FRIBA. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, please contact Nicole Pesce, Interim Development Manager at npesce@aiany.org.

The “2014 Design Awards” exhibition will be opening the day after the Luncheon, on 04.24.14. The 35 winning projects will be on view at the Center for Architecture through 06.17.14.

We are also excited to announce the launch of “Barcelona-New York City Urban Bridge 2014 (BCN-NYC): A Year of Catalan Architecture in New York.” Throughout 2014, three major New York institutions – the AIA New York Chapter | Center for Architecture, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College – will be hosting exhibitions and programs that will celebrate Catalan architecture in New York City. Please visit www.bcnnyc.org to find out more and see a full list of events.

Journey to Medellín: WUF7

Conversations with Dr. Joan Clos, the executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), started and ended my visit to Medellín. I was presenting at the World Urban Forum 7 (WUF) with the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU), an emerging non-governmental organization (NGO) that was formalized in 2008. CSU is co-chaired by James McCullar, FAIA, past AIANY president, and Aliye Celik; other board members include Margaret Castillo, FAIA, past AIANY president, and myself. The CSU partners with and is sponsored by the AIANY, NJIT, and CCNY/CUNY, among others. Detailed information can be found on its website at www.consortiumforsustainableurbanization.org, and information on the UN Habitat World Urban Forum can be found at wuf7.unhabitat.org.

”With sessions held every two years, the World Urban Forum examines rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, and policies. This year’s session of the Forum, with the theme ‘Urban Equity in Development – Cities for Life,’ drew more than 22,000 participants from more than 140 countries representing governments, UN agencies, NGOs, urban professionals, local authorities, and academics. The WUF, convened by UN-Habitat, is a non-legislative technical forum.” So starts the UN Summary of the WUF7 event. In large part, the activities were in service of formulating the agenda for HABITAT III, to be held in 2016, when the previous agenda from the last Habitat meeting in Istanbul 20 years ago will be assessed, and new goals will be set for our common global future. Continue reading “Journey to Medellín: WUF7”

Bring Them as Eagles

Mayor Bill de Blasio came to the Great Hall of Cooper Union’s landmark Foundation Building on Thursday, 04.10.14, to deliver a speech that catalogued some of the specific initiatives of his first 100 days in office, and which anticipated the path that his administration will pursue. Particular areas of focus of his speech were education, affordable housing, pedestrian safety, and equal opportunity. The broader theme was a description of the attributes of a progressive city. New York, the mayor asserted, has been a model for other cities across the nation and can be so again. What follows are excerpts transcribed in place that may be of particular interest to architects and others in the design community. In the superb setting of the Great Hall, with its history and volumetric quality, it was hard not to be impressed, as well, by the speechwriting skill and oratory of our new mayor. Quoting Abraham Lincoln, Robert Kennedy, and James Russell Lowell (“fate loves the fearless”), Mayor de Blasio’s central theme – “the Progressive City” – in many ways resonated with Lowell’s new world Voyage to Vinland, from which the famous line was taken:

Strong from self-helping;
Eyes for the present
Bring them as eagles’,
Blind to the Past.
They shall make over
Creed, law, and custom…
Fate loves the fearless;
Fools, when their roof-tree
Falls think it doomsday;
Firm stands the sky.
Over the ruin
See I the promise.

(from Voyage to Vinland; started 1851, completed 1869)

Mayor de Blasio’s remarks:

“I would like to thank all of the friends who are with us today as we mark this special occasion. We have a lot to celebrate, a lot to be thankful for. I want to thank everyone here at Cooper Union, this extraordinary treasure. This stage is renowned for over a century and a half as a place where people come together to think and to dream. An extraordinary education is offered here. Curious minds have come here over the generations, people seeking truth. It is the perfect setting to discuss all that our city is capable of. Abraham Lincoln said right here on this stage, ‘Let us have faith that right makes might.’ Continue reading “Bring Them as Eagles”