AIANY welcomes 2014 board of directors at inaugural

The American Institute of Architects N.Y. (AIANY) chapter has welcomed their new board of directors at the chapter's annual board inaugural. The program included a review of chapter highlights and 2013 president Jill Lerner's, FAIA, theme, "Global City/Global Practice" along with its related exhibition "Practical Utopias: Global Urbanism in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo." After Lerner's look back at 2013, she passed the gavel to Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, DPACSA, AIANY's new chapter president. Brown presented the newly-inducted board and gave a preview of his presidential theme, "Civic Spirit: Civic Vision." Civic Spirit: Civic Vision promises to be an important year of programs and exhibitions at the Center for Architecture. New York is entering a new era, with new mayoral leadership, an expanding population, and increasing threats from climate change. Our design professions face consequential civic opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities at all scales. In 2014, under the leadership of Brown, the AIANY chapter will confront these issues through programs that examine the city's needs: affordable housing, vibrant urban spaces, energy efficient buildings, improved infrastructure, and new design strategies for evolving economic, political, and climate change. Meeting New York's current challenges will succeed only if we can unite the public and private realms. The AIANY chapter will also illustrate these topics through a major exhibition opening in June that will illuminate, locally, nationally, and internationally, the role of design in the creation of the public realm. Considering the Quake, opening in February, will demonstrate seismic technology used for resilient design and underscore Brown's general concern that "nature has no regard for political boundaries." The chapter will also continue its global initiatives in relation to the theme, welcoming an exhibition on the European Prize for Urban Public Space, and co-sponsoring international events from Barcelona, Zurich, and Mumbai, among others. Brown is an architect, urban designer, educator, and author. He has lectured nationally and internationally. He is an ACSA distinguished professor in the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York, City University of New York. He has served as assistant director of the Design Arts Program at the NEA and advisor to the World Trade Center Site 9/11 International Memorial Design Competition. His numerous awards include: AIA New York State President's Award for Excellence in Non-traditional Architecture and AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. He is on the board of the AIANY chapter, founding co-chair of the AIA Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee, and founding Board member of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization. Publications include: Learning from Lower Manhattan (2004), Urban Design for an Urban Century: Placemaking for People (2009), Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation of Public Space (2012) and The Legacy Project: New Housing New York: Best Practices in Affordable, Sustainable, Replicable Housing Design (Via Verde, Winter 2013). The AIANY 2014 board of directors also include: * Tomas Rossant, AIA, first vice president/president-elect * David Burney, FAIA, vice president for design excellence * David Piscuskas, FAIA, LEED AP, vice president for professional development * Gerard F.X. Geier II, FAIA, FIIDA, LEED AP, vice president for public outreach * Jane Smith, AIA, IIDA, secretary * Mark Regulinski, AIA, treasurer * Andy Frankl, Hon. AIA NYS, director for development affairs * Lia Gartner, FAIA, LEED AP, director for educational affairs * Ashok Raiji, Assoc. AIA, PE, LEED AP, director for industry affairs * Laurie Kerr, AIA, LEED AP, director for legislative affairs * Abby Suckle, FAIA, LEED AP, director for programs and strategic planning * Barbara Spandorf, AIA, director for publications * Jessica Sheridan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, associate director * Robert Schubert, public director * Anthony Mannarino, public director for professional affairs * Venus Carbuccia, AIAS, director for student affairs * Jill Lerner, FAIA, immediate past-president * Jennifer Sage, AIA, LEED AP, alternate director for design excellence * Venesa Alicea, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, alternate director for professional development * Illya Azaroff, AIA, alternate director for public outreach * Rick Bell, FAIA, executive director