By Tomas Rosant, AIA

We are pleased to announce that the AIA New York Chapter and Center for Architecture have named David Burney, FAIA, interim executive director. Burney, an architect, urbanist, educator, and former commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), will serve in the post until the organizations hire a permanent executive director.
Burney is currently an associate professor of Planning and Placemaking at Pratt Institute's School of Architecture and serves as board chair for the Center for Active Design. His vast experience and legacy of improving the quality of public projects in New York City will be an invaluable asset to AIANY as we work with the current administration on issues including the creation of affordable housing and the reduction of carbon emissions.
AIANY's 2015 "Dialogues from the Edge of Practice" series continues as monthly roundtable conversations and corresponding public forums on the city's design and policy priorities and contemporary advances in the practice of architecture. Each of the eleven themes shows ways in which architects are broadening the scope of practice and bringing their unique solving skills to issues previously considered outside their purview.
To follow up on the February 17th roundtable, "Edge Sustainability: the Future of Architecture in a Changing Climate," we held a public program on March 10th. Speakers from the private and public sectors, including John Lee from the New York City mayor's office of sustainability, emphasized that attaining 80x50 will require most of New York City's one million buildings to significantly improve their energy performance. This unprecedented, large-scale upgrade will result in significant job growth and economic opportunities for the city's design and construction communities. The majority of efforts must focus on existing buildings because 80% of buildings that will be part of the building stock in 2050 are already here, the impact of new construction is less significant.
The March think tank discussion, the third in the series, "Edge Business: New Modes of Profit," brought together practitioners who are defining new practice models, services, and ways to increase compensation and productivity. By virtue of their talents, training, and experience, architects bring a distinct skill set to the making of buildings. These skills can be successfully applied in other settings where design thinking is appropriate. The related public forum, held on March 30th, focused on how architects bring a dynamic and disparate skill set to other settings that call for a design-minded approach. Speakers spoke to the ways in which the design and construction fields have changed and merged and the importance of working with an interdisciplinary team.
April's dialogue, "Edge Living: Micro Units and Live/Work Spaces," will examine what alternative residential developments could look like in New York City. Experts from a variety of fields will address how smaller spaces and multipurpose buildings will not only require policy change but also creative design approaches. The related public program will be on April 27th at the Center for Architecture.
AIANY continues to examine solutions to New York City's most relevant urban design challenges while considering ways in which the practice of architecture must adapt in hopes of informing the de Blasio administration and influencing change citywide.
Tomas Rossant, AIA, is the president of AIA New York and a founding partner and design principal at Ennead Architects LLP, New York, N.Y. Tags: