Building connections, bridges and innovation at the Center

By Anthony Schirripa, AIAFall is fully upon us, and with the change in the weather, we look forward to the holidays, and bringing the family together. This season, the Center for Architecture is a great destination for you and yours, with exhibitions for every generation on view. I hope you can join us soon at 536 LaGuardia Place to check out our trio of great exhibitions. As I write this, we're putting the finishing touches on two new shows: Building Connections 14, and High Bridge: Bronx - Building Cultural Infrastructure (HB:BX). Building Connections is a showcase for student work made by kids in the Center for Architecture Foundation's design education programs. It's always a joy to see young designers at work—and these students, from the first grade through high school, are inspired and inspiring. With HB:BX we feature not "kids" but young architects. The show is built around a design competition organized by our Chapter's committee of Emerging New York Architects (ENYA), which asked entrants to design an arts complex for the High Bridge communities of the Bronx and Manhattan. Hundreds of ideas were submitted, and the partnerships ENYA fostered with local arts organizations made the notion of reactivating the historic High Bridge that much closer to reality. ENYA is one of our most active volunteer committees, and their exhibition, like all their programs, conveys how much enthusiasm our young architects have as they enter the field. The third show on view at the Center for Architecture is Innovate:Integrate - Building Better Together. The show focuses on innovative building technology and how it has changed the way we design and build in New York and around the world. From energy harvesting curtain walls to an interactive Building Information Model (BIM) of Yankee Stadium, new technologies make the 21st century an exciting time to be an architect—and a great time to collaborate with the construction industry to harness the full potential of our new building technologies. We're hosting a series of programs in conjunction with the exhibition, and the series continues at 6pm on November 17 with a conversation called "Innovation by Necessity," which will engage New York's design and construction leaders in a conversation about rebuilding the World Trade Center site. Innovate:Integrate has something for the kids, too, with a gallery family guide that explains the show to kids with hands-on activities, and a Family Day program on Saturday, November 20. Families tour the exhibition, then form their own construction teams to build a structure they'd like to see in NYC. Of course, we're looking forward, past this batch of shows and into 2011. Next month, I'll use this column to introduce my successor, Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP, whose presidency will explore the theme "Design for a Change." And the first exhibition of 2011 is right around the corner--Jugaad Urbanism: Resourceful Strategies for Indian Cities. The exhibition explores how residents and designers have put their heads together to create inventive design and planning solutions for their rapidly-changing cities. We'll be having a fundraiser for this special exhibition on November 19, at the SVA Theater on 23rd Street. At the event, which starts at 7, we'll premiere the documentary "Dharavi, Slum for Sale," have a conversation with the filmmaker, and enjoy a reception with our colleagues from the Consulate General of Switzerland (the event's sponsor), the Indo-American Arts Council, the New School, and the Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects. Visit our website, aiany.org, for more information and for tickets. And thank you in advanced for making the Center for Architecture the center for design and architecture in New York during this holiday season, and always! Anthony Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA, is the 2010 president of the N.Y. Chapter of the AIA, New York, N.Y.