Emerging New York Architects

The Kickstarter campaign to fund this year’s City of Dreams Pavilion winner has closed and we reached our funding goal!  Thank you to all of those that contributed to The Pneuma pavilion.

With the current restrictions on public gathering and social distancing measures in place we must postpone the construction of the pavilion to a later date.  Along with our partner FIGMENT, the committee will be monitoring the situation and provide updates as they are available.

Special thanks to Earthtex fabric from Twitchell and Colgate Scaffolding for the material support.

The ENYA committee is pleased to announce that the 2020 City of Dreams Pavilion jury has selected two winners in the 10th annual City of Dreams Pavilion Competition:

• The Pneuma by Ying Qi Chen and Ryan Somerville
• Repose Pavilion by Parsa Khalili.

Of the two winners, The Pneuma proposal has been selected for installation on Roosevelt Island for the 2020 summer season.  The team will work with FIGMENT, ENYA, SEAoNY, and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation to obtain necessary approvals, fabricate, and install the pavilion on the island.

The Pneuma has received the generous material support of Twitchell (EarthTex Fabric) and Colgate Scaffolding NYC (rental scaffolding) but is also accepting tax-deductible donations to fabricate, install and maintain the pavilion. Donations can be made to the project’s Kickstarter campaign.

More information on the projects can be found in Chapter news.

On December 10, Emerging Professionals from New York City, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island will co-host a viewing party for a Webinar featuring panelists on the subject of BURNOUT. Please follow the registration link for location details, this event is free.

The World Health Organization announced this year that Burnout is included in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon. Symptoms of burnout include feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy. As emerging professionals struggle to create a work/life balance burnout becomes very real. Being proactive will create more effective leaders at work, at home and in our communities.

The program aims to focus on the following topics:

• Strategies for carving time for yourself
• Time management skills
• Resources for self-preservation and self-growth
• Tools to help you recognize that you are struggling, and how to broach the topic with yourself, your peers, and importantly your firm leadership.

PANELISTS
Jim King, AIA, Partner, King + King Architects
Kim Perone, CLC, Success Coach and Mindfulness Trainer Center for Clarity, Compassion & Contentment (CENTER4C)
Daniel J. Wilson, AIA, Partner, Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture

If you are unable to attend the webinar you can view it live from your computer or phone.

AIANY Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) annually teams up with FIGMENT and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) to host the City of Dreams Pavilion Competition. The 2020 City of Dreams Pavilion, the competition’s tenth iteration, will be located in Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island.

The Call for Proposals is open! Register as a team or individual before Sept 15 to get your creative juices flowing.  Submissions are due by Sept 30

For more information on the competition and submission requirements please visit the aiany.org Competitions and Grants page here.

Our third and last panel before summer, Communicating Architecture: How to Tell a Compelling Story featured a panel of fellows practicing across the public and private sectors. Their work has been recognized for design excellence so we invited them to share their ideas on presentation techniques, connecting with clients, and winning new work.

Joann Gonchar of Architectural Record moderated the panel with astute questions on how the panelists approach commissions and how they handle project stakeholders after it’s been awarded. One of the key points was understanding the stakeholders and what format a proposal will be received; presenting in person is a very different proposition than submitting a written document with images. Strategies for presenting good design don’t end after a proposal, they are also used during later project phases so the panel also shared advocacy strategies used to defend project elements threatened by value engineering. Depending on the scale and client you might justify a design through performance values and hard facts. You might also appeal to a client by suggesting that a piece of the program is critical to the future life of a building. However, it’s important to be selective in which parts are worth defending—sometimes a client’s insistence on making a change to the design can be well founded. In all the answers the panelists frequently agreed that listening first then answering with honesty is the best policy when dealing with clients on any scale.

Similar to previous panels, the fellows shared the importance of loving what you do. No matter how successful a design strategy is on one project, it will probably be different on another, but architects should bring passion and experience to each one. The design process is supposed to evolve and it’s important to challenge yourself as part of the reward of working in architecture.

Moderator:
Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP, Senior Editor, Architectural Record

Speakers:
Andrew Bernheimer, FAIA, Principal, Bernheimer Architecture
Katherine Chia, FAIA, Principal, Desai Chia Architecture
Frank Greene, FAIA, Principal, Ricci Greene Architects
Frances Halsband, FAIA, Principal, Kliment Halsband Architects