by: AIA New York
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 AIA Conference on Architecture returned last week, bringing together thousands of architects to network and celebrate the importance of design. While the conference took place in Chicago, AIA New York’s members had plenty of opportunities to shine during the course of the multi-day event, which ran from June 22 to June 25.
Several AIANY members, including the chapter itself, were celebrated at the AIA Honors and Awards Celebration. The AIA New York Unified Task Force City and State was the recipient of the 2022 Collaborative Achievement Award, which recognizes the excellence that results when architects work with those from outside the profession to improve the spaces where people live and work. The award-winning initiative’s work was also explored in a panel, AIA Unified Crisis Taskforce: Safer Communities, featuring taskforce members Andre Soluri, AIA, Principal, Soluri Architecture; Michael Chen, AIA, Principal, Michael K. Chen Architecture; Damyanti Radheshwar, AIA, Principal, D Radheshwar Architect + Urban Designer and Strategist; and Amy Rosen, Sociospatial Designer, PLASTARC in conversation with Illya Azaroff, FAIA, Associate Professor at NYIT and Founding Principal of +LAB architect. Meanwhile, the Chapel of St. Ignatius by Steven Holl Architects received the 2022 Twenty-Five Year Award, which is conferred on a building that has set a precedent for the last 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architectural design and significance. Robert D. Eisenstat, FAIA, Chief Architect of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was also recognized with the 2022 Award for Excellence in Public Architecture.
The Honors and Awards Celebration also provided opportunities to celebrate winners from the previous two years. We were delighted to celebrate with Architecture Research Office, 2020 recipient of the Firm of the Year Award, and Pascale Sablan, FAIA, 2021 recipient of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award, which recognizes an architect who embodies social responsibility and actively addresses a relevant issue, such as affordable housing, inclusiveness, or universal access. Sablan, an Associate at Adjaye Associates and Founder and Executive Director of Beyond the Built Environment, a platform that advocates for diversity in the profession, also gave an inspiring talk titled I Was Asked to Stand, which highlighted the profession’s lack of representation and empowered architects to work to dismantle injustice.
We were also thrilled to celebrate our recently elevated Fellows at the College of Fellows Investiture Ceremony on June 24. The event took place at the Chicago Auditorium Theatre, a National Historic Landmark designed by Adler and Sullivan that is recognized internationally for its perfect acoustics, innovative architecture, and stunning design.
Several New Yorkers also participated in conference programming, including:
- Julia Gamolina, Assoc. AIA, Founder of Madame Architect and Associate Principal of Ennead, who joined Lakisha Ann Woods, EVP/Chief Executive of AIA for the Day 1 Keynote.
- Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA, Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, who joined Renee Cheng, FAIA, John and Rosalind Jacobi Family Endowed Dean of the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, and Jeanne Gang, FAIA, Founding Principal and Partner at Studio Gang for the Day 2 Keynote.
- Ifeoma Ebo, Founding Principal of Creative Urban Alchemy and AIANY Board Member, who delivered the lecture Designing for Intersectionality & Inclusion.
- Venesa Alicea Chuqi, AIA, NOMA, Founder and Principal of NYVARCH Architecture, was one of three leaders of the Small Firm Exchange Forum, convening a discussion and sharing means to access AIA resources for firm owners and employees.
- Nico Kienzl, Director of Atelier Ten; Paul Schulhof, AIA, Partner at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Partners; and Paul Seck, Partner & COO, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates who spoke about their collaborative work at The Obama Presidential Center: Representing a Sustainability Vision Through Design.
- Brynnemarie Lanciotti, AIA, Senior Project Architect, Ronnette Riley, one of the speakers in the panel Pay It Forward: The Benefits of Mentorship at All Ages
- Wendi Shafran, AIA, Principal, Director of Affordable Housing at FXCollaborative, who delivered the talk Zone Pink: Loosening Red Tape With Performance-Based Regulations
- Brad Lukanic, AIA, CEO, CannonDesign who was featured in the panel Mini MBA: Mastering the Business of Architecture
- Michael Nieminen, FAIA, Principal at Kliment Halsband Architects, a Studio of Perkins Eastman, who spoke in Resuscitating Educational Facilities for Innovative Learning & Environmental Stewardship
- John Cetra, FAIA, Founding Principal, CetraRuddy Architecture and Brian McFarland, Principal, CetraRuddy Architecture, who spoek at Conversion Ratios: How to Make the Commercial-to-Residential Process Work
- Christopher Sharples, AIA, Principal, SHoP Architects, who was joined by Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder, Grace Farms Foundation for Design for Freedom: Equity in the Material Supply Chain
- David Briefel, Principal, Design Resilience Leader, Sustainability Director, Gensler, who spoke at Climate Action Through Collaboration: Tackling Embodied Carbon Across Disciplines
We congratulate AIA on a wonderful A’22 and look forward to seeing our colleagues from across the US at A’23!