AIANY Welcomes New Leadership, Announces “Our City, Ourselves” Presidential Theme at Board Inaugural

On Wednesday, December 14, 2022, AIA New York welcomed its 2023 Board of Directors at the Board Inaugural. Executive Director Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA, and Immediate Past President Andrea Lamberti, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, began the evening by celebrating this year’s achievements. Following the passing of the gavel, incoming 2023 President Matthew Bremer, AIA, NCARB, discussed his presidential theme, Our City, Ourselves.

2023 PRESIDENTIAL THEME – OUR CITY, OURSELVES

Bremer’s 2023 presidential theme is a love letter to New York City and a call to action to create a just and equitable city for all. In his inaugural speech, Bremer encouraged chapter members to take this moment in time as an opportunity to reflect on their values and their relationship to New York City. “The fact that the world in general, and New York in particular, will never go back to its February 2020 self is liberating and filled with opportunity,” said Bremer. “How do we work together to rebuild and grow our city while honoring the qualities that have attracted so many here—its energy, its diversity, its intensity, its grit, its fearlessness, its culture, and its queerness?”

Inspired by the 1970 feminist treatise, Our Bodies, Ourselves, the theme is intentionally political. Bremer invited the audience to be explicit about what they are trying to achieve, noting that the New York Chapter should be setting an example for the rest of the country. He followed this call by reminding members of the importance of deploying our values through action—through making—using his practice’s commitment to building beautiful supportive housing for those most in need as an example.

Throughout 2023, Bremer hopes to lead a range of initiatives and programming that will spark the imagination and fortify the chapter’s will to fight for change in New York City and beyond. Bremer will engage with all 26 of AIANY’s program committees to determine how each can adapt the year’s theme to their own core values and missions and how that can be deployed anew into achievable goals while also focusing special attention on ensuring that newer, smaller firms feel welcome and heard. He will guide the chapter’s advocacy efforts to address the most pressing issues facing our city, placing architects at the center of policymaking. In light of recent debates in the field, Bremer also hopes to leverage the Center for Architecture’s power to convene to facilitate important dialogues about issues of workplace equity and labor relations. Finally, as AIA New York’s first openly gay president, Bremer is excited to form a new LGBTQIA+ group to address local and national issues that affect the community.

CHAPTER RECOGNITION

The inaugural also served as an opportunity to recognize members and projects of the architecture and design community for their contributions. AIANY’s Vice Presidents recognized the Chapter’s program committees with Vice Presidential Citations for contributions in each of the organization’s mission areas: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development.

AIANY Vice Presidential Citations
AIANY Citation for Design Excellence: “IndiaNOW: Architecture in the Contemporary Landscape” conference, organized by the AIANY Architecture Dialogue Committee, the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee, and cultureNOW
AIANY Citation for Public Outreach: “The Infrastructure Bill” program series, organized by the AIANY Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
AIANY Citation for Professional Development: “Stories from Arquitina: Elevating Latinas in Architecture” panel discussion, organized by the AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee

AIANY 2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President
Matthew Bremer, AIA
Architecture in Formation

First Vice President / President-Elect
Gregory Switzer, AIA, NOMA, NCARB
Gregory Switzer Architecture

Vice President for Design Excellence
Hana Kassem, AIA, LEED AP
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

Vice President for Professional Development
Benjamin Gilmartin, AIA
Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Vice President for Public Outreach
Rocco Giannetti, FAIA, LEED AP ID+C, NCARB
Gensler

Secretary
Mark L. Gardner, AIA, NOMA
Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects

Treasurer
Alexander P. Lamis, FAIA
Alex Lamis Architect

Director
Bruce Eisenberg, FAIA
New York City Housing Authority

Director
Ilana Judah, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CPHC
Arup

Director
Vivian Lee, FAIA
Woods Bagot

Director
David Leven, FAIA
LEVENBETTS

Director
Michaela Metcalfe, AIA
NYC Department of Design and Construction

Director
Peter Miller, AIA
Palette Architecture

Director
AJ Pires, AIA, LEED AP
Alloy

Director
Amanda Ramos, Assoc. AIA, NOMA, WIN
Gensler

Director
Gustavo Rodriguez, AIA
FXCollaborative

Public Director
Jha D. Amazi
MASS Design Group

Public Director
Fiona Cousins, PE, FCIBSE, LEED Fellow
Arup

Public Director
Hayley Eber, AIA
Cooper Union

Public Director
Ifeoma Ebo
Creative Urban Alchemy

Public Director, Oculus Advisor
Lisa Green
Selldorf Architects

Student Director
Saba Ardeshiri
Columbia University

Immediate Past President
Andrea Lamberti, AIA, NCARB
Rafael Viñoly Architects

Executive Director
Benjamin Prosky, Assoc. AIA