Lance Brown, AIA

Archtober has been another extraordinary sequence of events. 31 Buildings of the Day, tours, and numerous programs at the Center for Architecture and elsewhere examined, explored, and illuminated N.Y.'s design environment. On Oct. 23rd, the incredibly successful, best-ever, 2014 Heritage Ball surpassed our fundraising record by exceeding our goal and raising $1.533 million! Also during Archtober, N.Y. New Design, the 2014 Subway Show, was again on display at the West 4th St. subway station. I hope you had the opportunity to view it. The New Practices New York 2014 exhibition, which opened on Oct. 1st, remains up at the center through Jan. 17th, 2015.
Upstate, the AIANYSDesign Conference in Saratoga Springs, Oct. 9th to 11th, celebrated changes in the practice of architecture and innovative design work. At the conference, Margaret O'Donoghue Castillo, AIA, LEED AP, currently AIANYS vice president for Government Advocacy and 2011 AIANY president, was elected 2016 AIANYS president. A number of other distinguished and deserving colleagues accepted AIA New York State Honors Awards, including Adrienne Bresnan, FAIA, and Joseph Bresnan, FAIA, who received the Fellows Award. AIANYS also presented Design Awards to projects in New York State and around the world. The Best in NYS Design Award went to Caples Jefferson Architects for the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn. During the conference, themed "New Practice/New Design," I presented on the NYS Schools of Architecture Roundtable and AIANY executive director Rick Bell, FAIA, spoke on the Bicycles, Obesity and Architecture panel.
In late Oct., I attended the Big Sibs conference in San Francisco, the meeting of the AIA's 15 largest components. As part of the repositioning campaign, the AIA is focusing on elevating public awareness, advocating for the architecture profession, and expanding and sharing knowledge. Chapters have embraced the repositioning challenge and are redefining their leadership structures to improve member value and experience. AIA Colorado is merging its state and local chapters into a single entity and consolidating its governance structure and services. Local chapters will maintain their regional identities and programming but will have access to more resources, and members and staff will focus less on governance and more on big ideas. This collaboration will allow state and local chapters to avoid duplicated efforts and fragmented benefits; the state will focus on statewide issues and services and the local chapters will focus on local issues and programs.
Learning from AIA Colorado and fellow Big Sibs was inspiring. As discussions continue with the other four AIA chapters in NYC and after a productive meeting on Oct. 21st where the five NYC chapters came closer together on policy and structural matters, we are considering developing a committee to investigate ways of coming together, creating a memorandum of understanding, and working towards a creative union reflecting the Colorado experience.
In NYC, we have continued to testify at relevant hearings of citywide importance. Illya Azaroff, AIA, co-chair if the AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee (DfRR) testified at the Oct. 21st NYC council committee on waterfronts oversight hearing examining the city's Clean Waterfront Plan. Rick Bell testified at the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission on the Park Ave. Christian Church project on Oct. 21st as well as before the council committee on environmental protection on reducing greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050 on Oct. 23rd.
On Oct. 29th, to mark the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Jessica Levin, RA, and Dakota Hendon from the NYC Dept. of City Planning (DCP) presented on the Retrofitting Buildings for Flood Risk manual, developed by DCP with input from the architectural community. The report analyzes and illustrates retrofit design solutions for 10 different building types in NYC. The manual provides guidelines for how to retrofit properties in the flood zone and continue to advance approaches to climate adaptation. This document is essential for all practicing architects in the city.
Nov. will be another exciting time for AIANY as the presidential theme, Civic Spirit: Civic Vision, goes on and new policies continue to take shape. On Nov. 4th, the AIANY interiors committee and the AIANY planning and urban design committee will hold an event titled Art and Architecture in the Public Realm, and on Nov. 24th architect and artist Chris Janney returns to the Center for Architecture for a panel discussion, Music and Architecture. I will moderate the conversation featuring panelists Bill Laswell, Trilok Gurtu, Lynn Mabry, Sheila E, and Sara Rudner.
2014 continues to be rich with service, rich with creativity, and rich with positive change. Both I and all of us at the AIANY chapter and the Center for Architecture wish you the very richest Thanksgiving season!
Lance Brown, AIA, is a professor of architecture at City College of New York and the president of AIANY chapter, New York, N.Y.
Tags: