Press Releases

November 4, 2021, New York, NY – The AIA New York Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (nycoba|NOMA), and the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures at The City College of New York (CCNY) are excited to announce the launch of the J. Max Bond, Jr. Fund. The fund, which was launched at the eleventh-annual J. Max Bond, Jr. Lecture on October 14, has raised $53,000 in pledges, exceeding its initial goal of $50,000.

The goal of the fund is to support the creation of collaborative programming in honor of J. Max Bond, Jr., FAIA, NOMA (1935-2009), a partner at Davis Brody Bond, founder of Bond Ryder Architects, and former Dean of the City College of New York School of Architecture and Environmental Studies. As an African American architect, global citizen, educator, and activist, Bond made trailblazing contributions to the architectural profession and beyond. Throughout his career, he sought to increase local community input and participation in the building trades as important economic and social welfare drivers.

The initiative will continue the mission of the annual J. Max Bond, Jr. Lecture, founded in 2010 by the AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee, nycoba|NOMA, and the J. Max Bond Center. The fund will ensure the future of this program while making space for long-term growth, allowing the founding organizations to continue to collaborate on the development of programming that addresses the issues of equity, underrepresented communities in design, and global cultures—particularly those of Africa and the African diaspora.

“For more than five decades, nycoba|NOMA holds true to our mission and purpose in facilitating the creation of dialogue and policy to promote diversity and inclusion in the profession. Initiatives such as the J. Max Bond Lecture Series allow us to provide a lasting platform to highlight, memorialize, and showcase the work and contributions of minorities in the profession,” states Gregory Switzer, AIA, NOMA, the 2021-2022 President of nycobaNOMA and current board member of AIANY. “The collective voice, quality, and excellence of minority architects must be illuminated to let others know we exist and contribute to society as analytical design professionals capable of producing work comparable to our non-minority peers. To my knowledge, this is the only fund of its kind. We hope this lecture series and programming thrive for many years to come with its stated purpose of addressing issues of equity and underrepresentation of minorities in the profession.”

“AIA New York has made an organization-wide commitment to creating more equitable communities, dismantling injustice, and acknowledging and ending systemic racism in the profession and beyond,” said Ken Lewis, AIA, 2021 President, AIA New York. “It is our obligation to the future of the profession and the communities we design for to support and elevate the voices of Black, indigenous, and people of color in our field, who are underrepresented in our membership. We hope that by ensuring the future of the J. Max Bond program, we will support the development of a more diverse architectural community.”

Past J. Max Bond, Jr. Lectures:
Lecture recording are available via the links below

 2021: The Man, The Legacy
With Brian D. Goldstein, Urban and Architectural Historian; Assistant Professor, Swarthmore College; Shawn L. Rickenbacker, Associate Professor, Director of The J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures, Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College of New York; Sanjive Vaidya, Department Chair, Department of Architectural Technology, School of Technology & Design, New York City College of Technology; Steven M. Davis, FAIA, Partner, Davis Brody Bond (respondent); Karen Phillips, FASLA, Former Director of Sustainability, NYS Homes & Community Renewal (respondent); Amanda L. Miller, AIA, NOMA, Learning Network Expansion Manager, Reimagining the Civic Commons; Co-Chair, AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee (moderator); Peggy Peña, AIA, NOMA, Architectural Intern, Amie Gross Architects; Co-Chair, AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee; Co-Chair, NYCOBA NOMA Project Pipeline (moderator)

2020: IMPATIENCE!: Confronting Erasure by Going Beyond Hope and Goodwill
With June A. Grant, RA, NOMA, Founder and Design Principal, blink!LAB architecture; Ted Russell, Associate Director, Arts Strategy & Ventures, Kenneth Rainin Foundation (moderator)

2019: Planning to Stay
With Zena K. Howard, FAIA, Principal, Perkins and Will; Mabel O. Wilson, Professor, Columbia GSAPP; Co-Director, Global Africa Lab (moderator)

2018: Attaining Wakandan Utopia
With Mario Gooden, Principal, Huff + Gooden Architects; Associate Professor of Practice, Columbia GSAPP; Ade Obayemi, Founder and Principal, AO + Associates; Renee Kemp-Rotan, Assoc. AIA, Director of Grants and Special Projects, Office of the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama

2017: Monumental Matters: Public Spaces & Collective Memory
With Bryan C. Lee Jr., Founder and Director, Colloqate Design; Rodney Leon, AIA, NOMA, Founder and Principal, Rodney Leon Architects; Karyn Olivier, Award-winning Artist; Kamau Ware, Founder and Lead Creative, Black Gotham Experience; Ifeoma Ebo, Senior Design Advisor, NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (moderator)

2016: The Big Payback
With Maurice Cox, Planning Director, City of Detroit; Steven Lewis, FAIA, NOMA, Associate Vice-President, TRC Energy Services; Richard Franklin, AIA, NOMA, Principal, Sabir, Richardson & Weisberg Engineers & Architecture

2015: Conversations: Community with Phil Freelon, FAIA, NOMA
With Phil Freelon, FAIA, NOMA, Managing and Design Director, Perkins + Will North Carolina; Founder and President, Freelon Group

2014: Conversations | Equity Agendas
With Nadine Maleh, Director, Inspiring Places for Community Solutions; IPA Fellow; Kaja Kühl, Columbia University GSAPP, 5 Borough Studio; IPA Fellow; Quilian Riano, Principal, DSGNAGNC, Director of Strategy & Research, NYDesigns; IPA Fellow; Sagi Golan, Urban Designer, NYC Department of City Planning; IPA Fellow; Miriam Peterson, Principal & Founder, Peterson Rich Office; IPA Fellow; Nathan Rich, Principal & Founder, Peterson Rich Office; IPA Fellow; Marc Norman, 2014-15 Loeb Fellow, Harvard GSD (moderator); Mindy Fullilove, Public Director, AIA; Professor of Clinical Psychiatry & Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University (respondent).

2013: Design for the Just City: A Conversation with Toni L. Griffin
With Toni L. Griffin, Professor of Architecture and Founding Director, J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City, Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York.

The J. Max Bond, Jr. Fund is supported by:

Underwriter
IDC Foundation

Patron
Columbia GSAPP

Sponsors:
AIA New York President’s Circle; Lowes Corporation

Supporter
The Switzer Group, Inc.

Friends
Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture Fund; Gregory Switzer; Prosky Family; William Ryan Special Engineering Inspections

About the AIA New York Diversity and Inclusion Committee
The AIA New York Diversity and Inclusion Committee seeks to provoke dialogues about diversity and give agency to issues of inclusion and representation. Today, the architecture profession is undergoing important changes, rethinking its position in relation to challenges like climate change and energy consumption and how design can impact health. The practice’s shifting cultural landscape requires all of us to diversify. In 2008, the AIA National Board of Directors recognized that a key strategic initiative required the enlistment of “new talents and new insights to address the critical issues of our time and future generations” to create a “strengthened, more highly valued, and esteemed profession capable of reaching into constituencies previously underserved.” The local committee’s role matches that of the Diversity & Inclusion Council at the National level, turning toward action items and ideas that promote diversity.

 Founded in 1857, AIA New York is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Chapter’s members include 5,700 practicing architects, allied professionals, students, and public members interested in architecture and design. AIA New York is dedicated to three goals: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development. http://www.aiany.org/

About the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Minority Architects (nycoba|NOMA)
nycoba|NOMA was initially formed in 1970 as the New York Coalition of Black Architects (NYCOBA) and joined with NOMA in the fall of 1992 to become the national organization’s New York Chapter. nycoba|NOMA supports the interests of professionals, educators, and students engaged in the process of designing, regardless of their position in the long arc of their careers. The organization is committed to increasing the representation of minority architects in the profession and supporting the interests of those from other disciplines, professions, and businesses who share our commitment to advancing the value of design and our roles in it. The organization is committed to stimulating thoughtful discussions about our roles in design through conferences, competitions, exhibitions, publications, and websites.
http://www.nycoba.org/

About the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures (JMBC)
The J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures (JMBC) is an applied research center of the City College of New York located within the Spitzer School of Architecture. JMBC aspires to create equitable and just urban futures that foster individual and communal success. To adequately address this challenge and its inherent complexities, JMBC leverages transdisciplinary research and innovation. JMBC actively draws upon the research and expertise of academic colleagues in architecture, data science, public policy, economics, social science, health, and environmental science, to name a few. It embraces and values direct collaborative engagement with communities, policy makers, partner organizations, and the private sector.

JMBC’s goal is to create and disseminate useful innovations toward improving our human existence that are both actionable and scalable. The focus is on the creation of problem-specific solutions and applicable theory that will ultimately improve social and cultural cohesion, equitable architecture and urban production, and a more resilient urban fabric.
jmbondcenter.org/