Center for Architecture announces new board leadership, welcomes new board member

New York, NY Following four years of service to the organization as chair of the Board of Trustees at the Center for Architecture, Barry Bergdoll, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, will be stepping down, with Jennifer Sage, FAIA, LEED AP, founding partner at Sage and Coombe Architects and current vice chair, serving as chair and current board trustee Peter Robinson, Department of Architecture at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, serving as vice chair. 

During his tenure Bergdoll sought to elevate the Center for Architecture’s programming and exhibitions, cementing the institution as the premiere venue for architecture and design in the city. These efforts culminated with Reset: Towards a New Commons, an exhibition curated by Bergdoll. Under his leadership, the organization also launched the Center for Architecture Lab, a multi-disciplinary residency program. While Bergdoll will be stepping down from the board of trustees, he will remain on the Center for Architecture’s Exhibition Committee, where he will continue to provide his expert guidance and leadership.  

“The dynamic engagement of the public at all ages from elementary school on makes the Center for Architecture the most vital organization in New York City for building awareness and understanding of architecture and the roles it plays in our individual and collective lives,” said Bergdoll. “I look forward to working with the fantastic new leadership that is stepping into the foreground, as Jennifer and Peter are already active forces at the Center. Nowhere else in the city, or even the region, can New Yorkers and tourists alike engage with changing exhibitions that raise key issues for our built and landscape environment—both what we have inherited and how we can craft a future in a world of social, economic, and climate challenges. The Center is a place of exchange that is vital for the city as well as for the design professions.”

Sage has a long history of service to the Center for Architecture and AIA New York. She joined the AIANY Board of Directors in 2013 as a director, serving as vice president of Design Excellence from 2016 to 2018, before joining the Center for Architecture board of trustees in 2019. Sage also currently serves as co-chair of the Center for Architecture’s Exhibitions Committee, through which the organization develops its annual exhibitions program. Sage and vice chair Robinson, who joined the board of trustees in January 2021, will begin their terms effective immediately. Robinson, one of the founders of BlackSpace Urbanist Collective, will be focusing on expanding the Center’s strategic partnerships.

“The Center for Architecture is both a place and a platform that makes the importance of architecture and design visible and accessible, allowing us to engage with those who know us and to broaden our reach to those who don’t,” said Sage. “I am honored to follow Barry Bergdoll and continue working on this mission.” 

“I have been involved with the Center for Architecture since its inception and have always seen it as a resource to connect the city, in a very tactile way, to our profession,” said Robinson. “As we do the work to create greater equity and inclusion in our field, I am encouraged and buoyed by the increased focus on building allyship with communities that have been underserved by our profession. I look forward to being a part of this collaborative, creative, and critical opportunity to share the full scope of architectural professionalism and civic responsibility with our city.”

In addition to these leadership transitions, the Center for Architecture also welcomes a new trustee, Marc Norman, founder of Ideas and Action, and the Larry & Klara Silverstein chair in Real Estate Finance and Associate Dean of the NYU School of Professional Studies Schack Institute of Real Estate, who will begin his term in September 2022. Norman previously served as the curator of the Center for Architecture’s 2015 exhibition, Designing Affordability: Quicker, Smarter, More Efficient Housing Now.

"NYU Schack and the Center for Architecture both share a deep history in New York and a commitment to a better built environment for New Yorkers,” said Norman. “I'm excited about the synergies and shared learning that comes from the work of both institutions and about joining such an amazing board."