Frances Halsband, FAIA

Frances is a founding partner of Kliment Halsband Architects. Her varied roles as a designer, faculty member, and peer reviewer have provided a unique perspective on the many voices that shape planning and design today. She was the first woman dean at Pratt Institute, as well as the first woman president of AIANY and the Architectural League of NY. She is a former Commissioner of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and has served as an Architectural Advisor to the US Department of State Office of Overseas Building Operations and the Federal Reserve Bank.  

In 2018, Frances initiated the successful movement to amend the American Institute of Architects Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to state that “members shall not engage in harassment or discrimination in their professional activities on the basis of race religion national origin, age, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.”

Frances received a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. She also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Design from NewSchool.

kliment-halsband.com

How will lessons from CoVID-19 inform what we do next?

September 17, 2020

Frances will explore the social and professional aspects of the months working through the Coronavirus pandemic to see how adaptations made then can influence what we do next. Socially, we have become much more flexible in defining when and where work takes place. We now welcome working at home, working with children nearby, adjusting working hours to allow for personal needs and family needs to intervene. Men working at home have learned to take responsibility for some aspects of home making and child care. If these trends continue, it should be easier for women to remain in the profession.   Professionally, we have learned how to make the most of working time, minimized informal interruptions and replaced hanging out with focused meetings (at least, some of us have done that.) Both of these trends could lead to benefits that will accrue directly to women entering the profession.

Nalina Moses, Architect, Writer, Curator

Nalina Moses is an architect and writer who lives and works in New York City.
She has completed retail, residential and institutional architecture projects in North America, Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East. She has worked for design offices including Gensler and Robert A. M. Stern, and companies including Tiffany & Co. and Michael Kors. She has written about design, architecture and aesthetics for numerous online and print publications, including Vogue India, Harvard Design Magazine, Architecture Boston and Planet. In the blog Drown Me in Beauty she explores her own design ideas.

She is the author of the book Single-Handedly, published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2019, that collects and considers drawings by contemporary architects who work by hand. And she was a co-curator of the accompanying exhibit, at Art Omi in 2020, that explored the subject more deeply.

Nalina studied art history at Yale University and architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She is a registered architect in the state of New York.

nalinamoses.com

When you see a fork in the road, take it

September 17, 2020

There's an unstated path for new architects, through internships, office jobs, and registration to a leadership position and high-profile projects. Nalina’s best opportunities grew from personal interests, when she took the fork in the road. After losing her job at a large corporate office, an interest in fashion led to piecework drawing display tables for a handbag company, which became a rewarding specialization in retail architecture. Years of impassioned design writing on a personal blog launched a second career as a freelance writer. And a special interest in architectural drawings led to writing a book, curating a gallery exhibit, and speaking at schools, museums and bookstores on the subject. Working outside the margins, in retail and writing, freed her from daunting expectations. And it led to special projects that honed her design, management and presentation skills. Stepping outside the profession actually made her a better architect.

Elizabeth O’Donnell, Architect & Professor

Elizabeth O’Donnell is an architect and professor proportional time at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union where she served as Associate Dean from 2001 until 2019, and Acting Dean from 2013-2015. A member of the faculty since 1984, O’Donnell has taught Structures I, Structures II, the project based Crossings elective (using the construction of 41 Cooper Square as the subject), and as part of the Design II and Design III teaching teams. She has participated in juries and conferences both nationally and internationally, recently as a presenter at the President Forum and the Design Forum at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts 100th Anniversary Summit, the design moderator for the Laskey Charette at the College of Architecture of Washington University; as a juror for the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation Aerial Gondola Design Competition, the ACSA/AISC Steel Student Design Competition, the Bamiyan Cultural Center Design Competition (UNESCO Afghanistan) and the Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition. She was advisor to students who designed and built five models for the exhibition Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980 at the Museum of Modern Art. She served on the Executive Committee for the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY Festival and has served as a Public Director and a member of the Scholarship and the Awards Committees of the AIA New York Chapter.

In practice, she has completed numerous residential and commercial projects in New York City, with an emphasis on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and sites. She has worked with artists including Yoko Ono and Tadashi Kawamata on realizing site-specific projects. Her work has been recognized with awards for Design Excellence from the AIA New York Chapter and for Design Distinction from International Design magazine. She serves on the Zoning Commission of the Town of Taghkanic (NY), rewriting the zoning code to foster economic opportunity while sustaining rural character and the abundant natural resources of the town.

O’Donnell  graduated from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union after studying at the University of Minnesota and Antioch College, and holds an MSEd from Baruch College of the City University of New York.

cooper.edu/architecture

For a Time, Say Yes To Whatever Comes Along

September 17, 2020

Elizabeth’s early years in architecture involved traditional practice, teaching, working with artists and saying yes to pretty much anything that came along.  It was about testing ways of working, imagining how the skills of an architect could apply to many types of projects, building a network, meeting people in the public sector engaged in anything that had to do with building in the city. 

While Elizabeth’s early years may have followed a winding path, they sowed the seeds of opportunities later in her career, including working on an art project on Roosevelt Island in 1992, which led to the resurrection of the Lou Kahn FDR memorial, through her mentor Jane Gregory Rubin, while Associate Dean at The Cooper Union. 

Elizabeth will discuss how everything one engages in and encounters is a part of what makes a career, and has the potential to lead to something big and highly visible.

Peggy Deamer, Architect & Professor

Peggy Deamer is Professor Emerita of Yale University’s School of Architecture and principal in the firm of Deamer, Studio.  She is the founding member and the Research Coordinator of the Architecture Lobby, a group advocating for the value of architectural design and labor. She is the editor of Architecture and Capitalism: 1845 to the Present and The Architect as Worker: Immaterial Labor, the Creative Class, and the Politics of Design and the forthcoming Architecture and Labor. Articles by her have appeared in Log, Avery Review, e-Flux, and Harvard Design Magazine amongst other journals. Her theory work explores the relationship between subjectivity, design, and labor in the current economy. Her design work has appeared in HOME, Home and Garden, Progressive Architecture, and the New York Times amongst other journals. She received the Architectural Record 2018 Women in Architecture Activist Award.                                                             

peggydeamer.com

Negotiating Practice, Teaching, and Family

November 9, 2020

Many women start their own practice to have control over their schedules, which is invaluable when starting a family. In addition, they will pursue a teaching job to be part of a larger discourse beyond the office in which they work, and to supplement the perhaps precarious income it yields. Holding 3 jobs is not easy, and each job requires different skills and different roles. Peggy will discuss options of how to operate in those roles while also being a force for change, referencing her personal story. In each of those roles, one doesn’t want to merely survive, but, rather, model the better future we all want. 

photo credit

Richard Meier & Partners

Vivian Lee, FAIA

Vivian Lee is the Studio Executive Director at Woods Bagot in New York. Lee, formerly Principal at Richard Meier & Partners, has lived and worked in Europe and Asia, bringing to the Firm a diverse background and extensive international experience. Her current projects include the Oaks Frontline Apartments & Villas in the Czech Republic, the Taichung Condominium Tower in Taiwan, and the 101 Market Street Hotel & Residential Tower in Newark, NJ.

Her contribution to the firm’s creative portfolio also includes the recently completed SoMA Master Plan and Teachers Village Charter Schools and Workforce Housing in Newark, New Jersey, Seamarq Hotel in Gangneung, South Korea, OCT Clubhouse in Shenzhen, China, and Italcementi i.lab in Bergamo, Italy. Many of her projects have been published in various domestic and international magazines, including Architectural Record, Architect, Detail, Casabella, and Abitare.

Vivian Lee practiced in a wide range of areas , including the sectors of Education, Corporate, Retail, Airport, Cultural, and Interiors. Ms. Lee received her Bachelor in Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a Summa Cum Laude Master in Architecture from Syracuse University in Florence, Italy. She is a registered architect in New York State, a member of the AIA, and is Co-Chair of the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee where she mentors young architects and promotes women in leadership and design roles in the practice.

woodsbagot.com

Creating Places and Spaces Around the World

November 9, 2020

Vivian’s background and education led her to journey around the world, providing opportunities that have contributed to her professional growth.  Vivian attributes her unique approaching to design, thinking and communicating to her global experiences. It has helped her explore solutions using a different lens and create visions and narratives that are aimed to improve the built environment.  

Robert Lopez, RA

Robert Lopez has been the Executive Secretary to the New York State Board for Architecture and the State Board for Landscape Architecture since 2005. Prior to joining the Department, he was a Principal and shareholder at Einhorn Yaffee Prescott and was the Director of its K-12 Studio.

Upon graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in the Building Sciences, Mr. Lopez began his career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in its New York City office.

Mr. Lopez has been an architect in New York since 1993.

www.op.nysed.gov/prof/arch/

Navigating All Things Licensure

November 9, 2020

Join NCARB staff and Robert Lopez, for an in-depth presentation that will cover several licensure-related topics including:

• The entities involved in the licensure process

• How to progress successfully through the Architectural Experience Program® (AXP®)

• What to expect on the Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®)

• Recent changes to NCARB programs

• The value of the NCARB Certificate

• How to become licensed as an architect in New York

• Recent changes to the licensure requirements in New York

Nadia Jarrett

Currently Project Director for the New York City Department of Design and Construction, Nadia Jarrett is in charge of numerous staff, consultants and contractors deployed around the City of New York. Ms. Jarrett supervises adherence to drawings and specifications, quality control, change order determinations, as well as building code compliance during all phases of construction for Universal Pre-K sites in NYC. Her role in DDC began with construction management of large-scale consultant companies that were responsible for rehabilitating coastal residences in Brooklyn damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

As Senior Construction Project Manager for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation for 17 years, Nadia completed construction management and field supervision on multimillion-dollar renovations.  Her oversight encompassed new parks, recreation centers, new computer facilities, historic landmark buildings, and structures.  Her highest profile projects include Foley Square redesign which had extensive work with the DOT and the MTA, the Little Red Lighthouse, Gracie Mansion, and the renovation of  Astoria Pool into a new amphitheater and performance space, to name a few. Nadia has been a New Yorker since emigrating as a young child from Sierra Leone, West Africa.  She received her Bachelor’s Degree of Architecture from The Cooper Union. 

www1.nyc.gov/site/ddc/about/about-ddc.page

Work/Life Balance and a Path to a Second Act

January 21, 2020

Balancing career and family can be difficult. Life can throw obstacles in your path and test your resolve. Despite it all, Nadia never lost focus of her long term goals, which provided a structure to support her along her path.

Nadia will show how she curated a career in design and construction.  She will share how after investing over two decades working for the City of New York, she is a handful of years from retiring with a full pension, with plans laid for a second career.

Katherine Chia, FAIA

Katherine Chia, FAIA, is a founding principal of Desai Chia Architecture.  Since 1996, she and her partner & husband, Arjun Desai, have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of light, materials, and spaces that foster collaboration; Desai Chia’s portfolio includes cultural, residential, commercial & institutional projects as well as commissions for product design and collaborations with artists.  Desai Chia’s projects have been published extensively and received numerous accolades including numerous AIA and American Architecture Awards, Interior Design Best of Year Awards, Good Design Awards, and an AIA Institute Honor Award.   In 2018, ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 in the nation for Design.  

Katherine grew up in New York State and Belgium.  She earned her Master of Architecture degree from M.I.T. and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. Prior to founding Desai Chia Architecture, she worked for Maya Lin on numerous art and architecture commissions. Katherine is a registered architect in the states of New York and Connecticut. She has also been a faculty member in the architecture department at Parsons The New School of Design. She is a trustee emerita of Amherst College (former chair of the Board of Trustees’ Buildings & Grounds Committee), a former Trustee of the United Nations International School (former chair of the Board of Trustees’ Buildings & Grounds Committee), and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.  As a member of the AIA NY Chapter, Katherine is currently on the Board of Directors & the Executive Committee, serving as Treasurer for the AIA NY and the Center for Architecture.

Throughout her career, Katherine Chia FAIA has worked on projects that require an ever-evolving, inter-disciplinary approach-- weaving together site, community, and culture into a range of inspiring buildings and environments.  Her projects extend from Manhattan to Singapore, and many locations in between. Current projects are in design in the UK, Mexico City, Telluride, and the tri-state area.

desaichia.com

DIg In - Work in the Field is the Best Teacher

January 21, 2021

Katherine will discuss ‘lessons learned’ from pursuing a diverse portfolio while running a hands-on architecture firm of 5 people, which she manages with her partner and husband, Arjun Desai.

One of the lessons learned is how to build a project team and manage a project when working abroad or far from your main office (where you need to get on a plane to visit the site), especially when you are a small office. This includes how one immerses oneself in the site, the local context, and local community issues, as well as dealing with consultant coordination, design meeting interfacing with clients, getting permits and finding contractors. 

Katherine will share how the relationships made along the way, and the experience of digging into field work, that helped her develop as an architect.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C

Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a senior editor at Architectural Record. She joined the magazine in 2006, after eight years at its sister publication Engineering News-Record. She was also a key member of the founding editorial team for the sustainable design publication, GreenSource. Before starting her career as a journalist, Joann worked for several U.S. architects and spent three years in Kobe, Japan, with the firm Team Zoo, Atelier Iruka. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is licensed to practice architecture in New York State.

www.architecturalrecord.com

CHOOSING YOUR DESTINATION (AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET THERE)

March 4, 2021

Soon after she graduated from architecture school and started working, Joann realized that though she loved architecture, she was less enamored with the realities of practice. The challenges inherent in designing buildings and seeing them through construction frustrated her, though most architects find them gratifying. But after several years of working in a variety of firms in New York and Japan, she determined that what she really wanted was to write about buildings rather than make them. Through a combination of persistence and good fortune, she landed her first editorial job at Engineering News-Record, and then moved to its sister publication, Architectural Record, where she has been covering topics such as emerging design trends, innovative structures, and the climate crisis ever since. 

Joann will share her process for understanding where she excelled and what activities brought her joy; how she acquired the skills necessary for a career change; and how she ultimately mustered the courage to make the leap from architectural practice to design journalism.

Brett Gaillard

Brett is the Head of Capital & Infrastructure Planning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she oversees the planning of all capital and infrastructure projects and helps guide the long-term vision and design of these projects for The Met’s 2.2 million square foot main building, as well as The Met Cloisters. Prior to her role at the Met, Brett was a Senior Associate at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners where she worked in a leading role on many projects for the Met as well as other cultural, educational, commercial and large-scale restoration projects. Brett is fluent in all phases of a project and is adept at navigating complex institutions with many stakeholders. Brett received her B.A. in the History of Art and Architecture from Middlebury College, and dual Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Historic Preservation degrees from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She lives in New York with her husband and two young sons.

In The Classroom and The Boardroom

March 4, 2021

Like many, Brett’s path toward a career in architecture was not linear. In this seminar, she will discuss the impact of her early career as a elementary school teacher in New York City and the factors that influenced her to apply to architecture school (even though she was bad at math and couldn’t really draw.) She’ll share some of the personal lessons she’s learned throughout these past 20 years, including the importance of mentorship both formal and informal, and the experience of becoming a mother while growing her career.  She believes that while there are undoubtedly challenges, being a woman in a leadership position in the field of architecture is an incredible opportunity to enact meaningful change.

Susanna Sirefman

Dovetail Design Strategists is the leading independent architect selection firm in the United States servicing developers, civic, cultural and educational institutions looking for world-class architecture and design excellence.  Dovetail's founder, Susanna Sirefman, is trained as an architect and draws from extensive knowledge of the latest design and building trends and unmatched access to both emerging and acclaimed talent in the architecture field.  Dovetail's signature methodology and competitive selection process, tailored to each project, thoughtfully leads its clients to inspired architect shortlists and winning designs as they prepare for growth and enhanced visibility.  

dovetailstrategists.com

Live your passion

March 4, 2021

While studying to be an architect at the Architectural Association in London, Susanna was commissioned to write a book on contemporary architecture in Chicago. She spent the summer before her final year at school exploring over 228 square miles of Chicago and meeting with almost every single architect in her book, which featured 100 contemporary buildings. Her comprehensive and design excellence-focused approach laid the foundations for her perspective on architecture, and many years later, the groundwork for founding her company, Dovetail Design Strategists.

Following the publication of her first book, Susanna built a career that included writing four more books on contemporary architecture and teaching at the university level, while maintaining a demanding schedule of visiting projects and meeting with architects all over the world.  People constantly asked Susanna what architect they should use for their projects, but she knew that you cannot recommend an architect as you would a doctor. Architect selection necessitates a carefully crafted process. Establishing the right team makes for a much smoother construction process, improves longevity for both building and organization, and is the catalyst for world-class architecture.

Susanna identified a gap in our industry—the need for clarity and guidance in selecting the right architecture firm for the right project.

Dovetail today is the leading independent architect selection firm in the States, and helps clients realize their visions and harness the full potential of a project.  Ultimately, Susanna forged a unique career path through her unwavering passion and belief in design excellence, creating a new line of business that allows her to remain a fierce advocate for architects.

Daria Pizzetta, FAIA

Daria Pizzetta, FAIA, was born and raised in Biloxi, Mississippi and holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Mississippi State University. In 1992, Ms. Pizzetta joined Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates to direct the interior design of Scholastic, Inc.’s New York City Headquarters and in 1994 was named director of HHPA's Interiors Department.  When HHPA dissolved in August of 2004, Hugh Hardy asked Ms. Pizzetta to join a select group of staff to form H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. She is now a principal at H3 where her projects have included the Botanical Research Institute of Texas’ facility in Fort Worth and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fisher Building. Her project for the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi, MS received an MS/AIA Honor Award in 2015. 

Daria has chaired the American Institute of Architects/New York Chapter Interiors Committee and was on the Board of Directors for the AIA/NYC.  She has been a featured speaker at both the AIA and American Library Associations national conferences and chaired the joint AIA/ALA Library Design Awards in 2018. Daria particularly enjoys her yearly trips to Mississippi State for the College of Architecture  AdvisoryBoard meetings.  She has twice chaired the AIA/Mississippi Design Awards jury and was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2017.

Daria, her husband Charlie and two daughters reside on Manhattan’s Upper West Side where they enjoy living in a vibrant urban neighborhood. 

h3hc.com 

Planning for a Lasting Career

May 6, 2021

Planning for a long lasting career requires you to continually refine and adapt your skill set.  What is relevant and necessary as a junior designer may not be relevant as a firm principal.   When are those junctures where you need to stop and assess the next phase of your career?  What are the decision and influences that guide your path?  And, what how do you acquire skills that keep your ideas and abilities relevant as you progress up the ladder?   While Daria frequently tells her colleagues she is retiring in five years, she can't image not working and not developing projects.  The investment of time, the confidence gained from years of practice and the desire to see each new project through to the end supersedes her desire to stay home and "organize the Tupperware".   Daria will share personal experiences that shaped her 28 years at her firm, insight into how she guides her junior staff to develop their full potential and her thoughts on ways to combat burn out along the way.

Ann Marie Baranowski, FAIA, LEED AP

Ann Marie Baranowski’s roles as architect, planner, client, advocate and teacher give her an understanding of design excellence, its value for cities and practical effects on the lifecycle of buildings. She investigates how personal experience, public life and culture intersect, energizing the spaces we make and inhabit.  This framework allows her to examine the ways meaning and form bridge and enhance program requirements, technological advancements and physical detail. Ann Marie’s work includes planning, design, management and coordination of complex building projects and programs.

Her experience includes re-joining Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (PCPA) in 2014.  As an Associate Principal, she contributes to the firm’s New York office senior management and continues forging experiential observation with the collaborative process through her design team leadership.  Currently, Ann Marie directs the design team for 200 Liberty Street – part of the Brookfield Place Reconfiguration.  This project repositions the tower’s two public levels through redesigning a double-height lobby and select exterior curtain wall elements.  These components will shape a new public experience of the building.  At PCPA’s New Haven office, she participated in the winning competition for the World Financial Center.  Her involvement in the artist selection project for the Waterfront Plaza sparked the beginning of a career-long passion for art and design in the public realm.

Prior to returning to PCPA, Ann Marie founded the architecture practice AMBA PLLC.  As Principal of her firm and consultant to the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority, she coordinated and managed award-winning public art installations in Lower Manhattan, including: See it split, see it change by Mike and Doug Starn at the South Ferry Terminal and, Jamie Carpenter’s Sky Reflector-Net for the Fulton Street Transit Center. These projects set a national example for enriching urban life after the events of September 11. 

From a client’s perspective as the in-house architect for the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Ann Marie directed projects and consultants from strategic planning through construction drawings for the Museum’s Masterplan, including the $32M Eastern Parkway Entrance, renewing the Museum’s identity.

As an Associate at Prentice & Chan, Ohlhausen, Ms. Baranowski’s quest to influence making of successful public places led her to research, write, and coordinate the approvals process for the MTA NYC Transit Station Planning and Design Guidelines. These Guidelines still shape NYC’s subway system.

Informing her built work, Ann Marie regularly participates in design juries and has taught at Yale University and Rhode Island School of Design. For the AIA NY Chapter, she co-chaired the Chapter’s Cultural Facilities Committee, leading volunteers in advocating for culture as an essential investment in our buildings and cities.  In 2008, she received the Vice Presidential Citation for Design Excellence for the committee’s work in leadership and expanded programs.  In 2017, Ann Marie was honored to become a member of the College of Fellows within the American Institute of Architects.

pcparch.com 

Strengthening Your Commitment

May 6, 2021

Working in architecture presents challenges, particularly for women.  Practitioners are asked to balance many aspects of their personal lives while remaining committed to a demanding career.  Ann Marie’s roles as an architect, planner, client, advocate and teacher give her a singular perspective on grounding the long arc necessary to achieve our career goals.  From her experience, she has learned that a focus on developing the skills of collaboration and advocacy amplify our work as fulfilled and successful architects.