President's message: Upcoming events for AIANY

As I have written in past issues, our 2008 theme Architecture: Designs for Living reflects the broad range of building types and urban design that shape our neighborhoods and city, and represents our response to the mayor's initiatives for PlaNYC2030. The goal is to create a greener, more livable 21st century city that will remain competitive in an emerging global society. The AIA is committed to a leadership role in this effort through programs and exhibitions that focus on relevant local and international issues. Our most ambitious "Global Dialogues" program this year- a public forum on Sustainable Urbanization in the Information Age - will be held on April 23 during Earth Week. AIA New York Chapter partnering with the UN DESA-GAID, UN-Habitat, and the Regional Plan Association to present an all day event at the United Nations for an exchange of best practices between New York City's PlaNYC and developed cities such as Barcelona and Singapore, and developing cities such as Bogotá and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania among others. While New York City is expected to add one million residents by 2030, and the northeast region stretching from Boston to Washington, DC is expected to add 18 million by 2050, nearly 60 million people are added annually to urban centers in developing countries. For example, the world's newest largest city of 31 million - Chongqing, China - is growing by one million new residents annually. Former prime minister Tony Blair has remarked that if the UK were to obtain carbon neutrality, China alone would make up the difference in three years of normal growth. The demands being made on the world environment, food, water and energy resources are staggering and are already affecting the way we live in America. The forum goal is to bring together mayors and policy makers from around the world to address the global challenges posed by this rapid urbanization through better planning for a sustainable global future. Our monthly Public Lecture Series on new design directions at the Center for Architecture has enjoyed a great start. The Series focuses on the "building blocks" that will accommodate the addition of one million new residents and the revitalization of older districts envisioned by PlaNYC. The first four programs - New Directions for Education, New Justice / New York, Design Directions in Banking & Finance, and Cultural Sustainability - expressed a common theme of relating to the community and sustaining neighborhoods. Whereas much of PlaNYC has focused on modernizing infrastructure to support new growth, these programs focus on the quality of life envisioned by the many building types that make up a sustainable city. Upcoming programs will be on Environmental Design, Health Facilities, Historic Buildings, Housing, Interiors, Urban Design, Public Architecture, and Transportation & Infrastructure. The programs, typically scheduled for the 2nd Monday of the Month, are free and the public is invited. To RSVP, go to the AIANY Calendar at aiany.org. We hope to see you there. April 30 inaugurates our celebration of Design Awards, the third leg of our focus on promoting design excellence and innovation. Since its founding in 1982, our nationally recognized design awards for Architecture, Interiors, and Projects have been juried by distinguished U.S. and international architects. This year, in the spirit of PlaNYC, the program has been expanded to include a biennial awards co-sponsored with the Boston Society of Architects. The goal is to focus attention on the background buildings and urban and stainable design that are so important to the quality of our neighborhoods and city. This year the program will recognize Educational Facilities, Urban Design, and Sustainable Design, and next year it recognize Housing and Health Facilities. The 2008 Design Awards Luncheon will be held on April 30 at Cipriani Wall Street. The luncheon will recognize award winners and feature a keynote by Peter Eisenman, architect of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and numerous distinguished projects. The 2008 Design Awards Exhibition will open the following evening on May 1 at the Center for Architecture. Everyone is invited to both events. Come celebrate with us and meet architects and friends. To RSVP see the AIANY Calendar at aiany.org. Finally, come visit our exhibitions and other programs at the Center for Architecture, a ground floor public gallery and exhibition space at 536 LaGuardia Place just south of Washington Square. We look forward to seeing you. James McCullar, FAIA is the 2008 president of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, New York, N.Y.