May 16th, 2024

Astrid Lipka AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Rice+Lipka Architects

Astrid Lipka is a principal of Rice+Lipka Architects, a New York based studio with an iterative design approach that actively teases out potential latent within practical constraint. Together with her partner Lyn Rice, Lipka seeks to engage the public with works that inspire by bringing a resourceful civic-mindedness to a range of building, planning, art, and cultural research projects.

Lipka’s work has been published widely and recognized both internationally and domestically with numerous awards, including a dozen American Institute of Architects Design Awards, such as a National Honor and a New York State Award of Excellence, as well as an International Architecture Award, an International ALA/IIDA Library Design Award, National AIA/ALA Library Building Award, and the Architectural Review Future Projects Award among others. NYC’s Public Design Commission recognized Lipka as part of Women-Designed NYC publication. ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Rice+Lipka Architects #4 in the nation in their 2018 list of Top 50 Firms in Design.

Lipka grew up in Germany and trained in Germany, Switzerland, and Spain before moving to New York. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and a registered architect in New York State. She holds a Masters Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University and is an Assistant Professor at Parsons the New School for Design, where she has been an advisor for the Graduate Architecture Thesis since 2008.

Current projects include the Philmont Community Center, NYPL Hamilton Fish Park Library, the QPL Arverne Library, NYPD Bomb Squad Building, as well as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

to be determined - embedded opportunities 

In a broad sense, “to be determined” reflects a state of openness and flexibility. In life, practice, planning and design, it stands for an approach of actively teasing out and shaping the opportunities embedded that are yet to be uncovered.  At the same time, it is a reminder to question and redefine, whether personal or work trajectory, a program brief or a project, and allow for it to adapt and evolve over time. In this conversation, Astrid will share from her personal story, professional experiences, and through her work at Rice+Lipka Architects.