by: Anthony Schirripa FAIA IIDA 2010 AIANY President
2010 AIANY President Anthony Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA, and 2010 AIA National President George Miller, FAIA, before the program.
Sam Lahoz
2010 Architect as Leader
Looking back over the past year, I am proud and humbled by all that our board members and member volunteers have done to enhance our advocacy profile, increase our membership, and expand the professional services offered at the Center for Architecture.
The 2010 theme — “Architect as Leader” — examined how we as architects can lead: on projects, at our firms, and in our communities. We have always been considered thought leaders, but this year I wanted to focus on how we could be pro-active community leaders, bringing people together especially during these difficult economic times.
Along with a series of “Architect as Leader” programs throughout the year, in September we launched a professional development series, the “Architects Fast Track Leadership” program. While we targeted our young professionals for the series, I am pleased to report it has also attracted a more mature audience. This year we reached an even younger audience — students at my alma mater, Brooklyn Tech — through “Innovate:Integrate” programming. If you haven’t had a chance to enjoy “Innovate:Integrate,” my presidential theme show, it is on view until January 15, and we have one more related program, a conversation on January 5 with Chris Ward, the executive director of the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
We’ve had so many great programs this year, it’s hard to pick out a few to highlight. Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch was here just a few weeks ago, delivering the annual Ratensky Lecture. Also, our Global Dialogues Committee held a comprehensive, two-day architectural summit on the architecture of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup. Earlier this fall, Danish urbanist Jan Gehl spoke to a standing room only crowd. And perhaps our most successful program this year was our architectural cruises, as featured in Vogue, the New York Times, and Time Out New York. We’re now circumnavigating Manhattan twice a week! While the 2010 season is almost over, I look forward to more tours in 2011. My thanks to AIANY Board Member Abby Suckle, FAIA, for her dedicated work on this project.