March 2021
President’s Message Inside this issue President’s Message..... 1-2 Grassroots 2021.......... 3-5 CANstruction............... 6-7 Get Involved............... 8-9 Embracing Our Collective Community............. 10-13 Events & Program Schedule......... 14
We are excited to bring you our first ARCHItext issue of the year, and we thank you for joining us once again. We’ve started 2021 with the hopes that the new year will help to bring us out of a global pandemic and that we will soon be on our way to the “new normal” that many of us expected to come much sooner. 2020 caused us to miss out on the in-person interactions that are so crucial to our practice, forced us to share Internet bandwidth for our virtual meetings with our children’s virtual classrooms, and turned our dining room tables into our desks. To “dress for success,” we no longer need to find a freshly ironed pair of pants. Instead, it’s become more crucial to stage a virtual background with an impressive collection of books, or a strategically placed succulent garden. We’ve adapted and evolved, but most importantly, we’ve kept moving forward. It is truly inspiring continued on page 2
Archiprep..................... 15 Allied Members....... 14-15
Architext is a publication of the Eastern New York Chapter of the AIA. Please send photo, article, announcement, or presentation information for consideration for publication to the Eastern New York Chapter - aiaeny@aiaeny.org. CORRECTIONS: Please contact AIAENY at aiaeny@aiaeny.org if you find any areas that need correction in the Architext. AIA Eastern New York appreciates all comments and feedback.
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Officers President Stephen Kervin, AIA President-Elect Andrew Petruzelli, AIA Past President Paul Conant, AIA Treasurer Caitlin Daly, AIA VP of Programs Mary Kate Young, AIA Secretary Matthew Heiser, AIA
Directors David Pacheco, AIA (2019-2021) John Savona, AIA (2020-2022) Casey Crossley, AIA (2021-2023) NYS Director Scott Townsend, AIA
President’s Message
to see what architects have been able to accomplish given all these challenges. Here at AIA Eastern New York we are no different. We’ve met the challenges head on, we’ve found ways to keep the conversation going, and we’ve developed new ideas to serve our members. Member value, education, and advocacy are our priorities. In the coming weeks, we will be unveiling our new strategic plan that we have developed over the last year. We are confident that in keeping focused on this plan we will be able to reinforce our community while still producing the educational programming you have come to expect from AIAENY. This year, we will continue to advocate for the profession. We will help find ways for architects to become involved in community projects. We will promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the profession. We will celebrate outstanding design throughout our region. It is important to us that your ideas are seen and your opinions are heard. Membership engagement is a top priority for this year. We know that our members are our greatest resource and we want to hear from you. We need your ideas and we encourage your participation. With our newfound proficiency with virtual meetings and presentations, we hope that our more remote members find it easier to engage with the Eastern New York community. We have taken steps to reinforce our outreach and continue to develop new strategies for communication. Our programming will reflect your input, our goals will align with yours. Please keep an eye out for our future correspondence as we will present many different ways, both large and small, for you to get involved. Please feel free to contact me directly to express your interest. On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you for your support over the last year. The participation of membership, staff, the Executive Committee, and the Board has been extraordinary. I’ve enjoyed our (virtual) conversations and it was fantastic that, through the use of technology, so many of you have been able to get involved. You have made it possible for us to offer educational programs and to create virtual social events like the design awards at the drive in. I look forward to working with you for another year as I serve as your President and I promise to work hard to achieve our goals. Thank you,
Stephen Kervin, AIA 2021 AIAENY President kervins@aplususa.com
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Grassroots 2021: Bring It Home
by Andrew Petrazelli, AIA, 2021 AIAENY President-Elect Grassroots was a success for me, even in a virtual format during turbulent times. All of the lectures and events were easy to sign in to and went on seamlessly with the content flowing freely and plenty of time for Q & A sessions. One of the first events I attended was “Developing a Partnership Between Boards of Directors & Component Staff” presented by Bob Harris, CAE and Jana Itzen, AIA. This was quite eye opening to me—even in my third year of service at AIAENY. Of most importance were the definitions of roles, including the President and the Board versus the staff and Executive Vice President. It seems it is critical to keep the specific tasks of each role clear and to make sure correct delegation is occurring while always keeping the strategic plan in mind when making decisions. Keeping the topic of discussion and the level of details in-line with the type of meeting is crucial. Board meetings should always be the most-broad, while executive committee meetings, and finally specific committees and micro-volunteering task meetings being to most specific. Ethics should always be present and one should strive to achieve the following characteristics when in a leadership role including: accountability, transparency, integrity, innovation, diversity and be strategic in nature. It was also recommended to review the publication “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen Covey. Additionally, we discussed risk mitigation and the development and presentation of strategic plans. A strong and thoughtful plan is only the
first step, not only must it be implemented and continuously developed and annually reviewed, but it must also be advertised to the membership and tasks and milestones tracked to ensure a transparent and inclusive environment. We learned about the power of consent agendas and ways to ensure meetings stay on task and are always able to provide ample time and attention to true collaboration and innovation, not just being tied down to the agenda with procedural tasks. All of the discussions will prove helpful in the months and years ahead as we continue to strengthen the chapter. The small actions we take can help in providing accessibility and opportunities for others. What are items in your everyday tasks that could be slightly altered or shared with others in the chapter through events, town hall discussions, or committee involvement? PAGE | 3
Another influential conversation, “Planning & Designing for Equitable Communities,” was focused on inclusive design and how innovative methods of managing projects throughout design and construction can produce a much stronger sense of community involvement and ownership. In order to remain effective, the project and fee structure are often increasingly unique and untraditional as there is a much broader timeline and many additional tasks that must be accounted for and implemented. Many of these include substantial R&D with both community stakeholders and local government to define and meet the needs of a community while maintaining cultural legacies and traditions. Nicole Hilton from Cole Hill presented a school athletic center known as the “Claw” and “The Front Porch @Sweet Auburn” development project.
Both projects presented alternative ways to provide economically feasible and community engaged projects which dealt with community growth, development, gentrification, sustaining local jobs and attracting “premiere employers” to communities. Then, Jamie Blosser, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Art Institute presented the Owe’neh Buringeh Preservation Project. This housing development on an indigenous community reservation was a successful 13year project which included development of a 64-acre site, from generic 1980’s cookie cutter federal reservation housing, to an inclusive design process being sensitive to local traditional building methods, massing and forms. Through a series of public meetings and an elder advisory committee, they were able to provide a project which was truly in tune to the needs and desires of this community, while also able to train and employ reservation members in the craft of historic and traditional building methods. A concluding discussion touched on existing recent developments of AIA chapters for instituting urban agenda grants and equitable frame work. Additional topics included the Anti-Displacement movements and a re-thinking of the traditional Pro-Bono framework to ensure value and appropriate time is allocated and the correct amount of designer, community involvement and ownership is inherently included in these often crucially influential and underfunded rushed community projects. Another outstanding webinar was “Staying Relevant—Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change” in which Kristen Dotson, Megan Feenstra Wall, Melissa Morancy and Ganesh Nayak discussed methods to ensure that projects progress towards zero carbon, equitable and resilient design. Primarily, we need to ensure these design techniques are accessible and relevant to every architect, every project and every project regardless of size, typology and aspiration. The best ways to achieve this are through mitigation to reduce emissions and adaptation to manage the risks of climate change. The most critical actions are PAGE | 4
the ones that overlap these two fields and include water conservation, new energy systems, local food production, providing public education, self-sufficient communities and urban forests. They also presented existing frameworks and past education seminars which were held to assist architects with informing project design and clients to take these first steps. The framework defines each goal and then asks a series of questions, which can help to facilitate the project goals through specific design choices. Additionally, the topic of equity was also discussed, bring to light the challenge of making significant strides across all neighborhoods and income levels, currently there are significant disparities among ethnic communities and across the economic divides. It is important that we take these extra steps to educate our clients to understand the aspects of sustainability that are included in projects including the most simple and economic passive techniques, including micro-climates, site placement, window placement, operation and the like. This becomes increasing important as clients can often translate these theories to other aspects of their life including friends, family, other projects, small businesses, etc. Overall, the three examples above, are just a sample of the enriching conversations held at Grassroots this year. The topics discussed were enlightening, and it was refreshing to engage in articulate discussions with other passionate designers in this time of physical and social isolation. I ask anyone reading this to consider the critical aspects of the trade, and how we can all assist in lifting one another up to an equal playing field, where the goal of successful community driven projects are paramount. Over the coming months AIAENY is looking to strengthen many of the chapter committees and are looking for member engagement, no matter how small, to begin to implement some of these innovative and exciting ideas on a regional level.
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Capital Region CANstruction
by Caitlin Daly, AIA, 2021 AIAENY Treasurer Capital Region CANstruction is back for its 11th year. Typically, this annual event would revolve around the design and exhibition of CANstructions at the New York State Museum by teams of architects, engineers, contractors, and students to raise awareness of food insecurities in our community. However, this year Capital Region CANstruction went virtual. Selecting Build Day Teamwork the year Dumbo was built. the theme “Hall of Fame,” participants were asked to create videos highlighting their role in Capital Region CANstruction over the past 10 years. CSArch has one of the longest-tenures having participated every year, and I personally have been involved with our team since I joined the firm. Understanding how important this event is to our community, our team, along with the 10 other dedicated teams signed up for the challenge, we focused our efforts during this CANstruction season on fundraising, knowing that every dollar raised equaled over six pounds of food. While we certainly have missed the opportunity to come together with the rest of the AEC community, our enthusiasm to embrace this new challenge never wavered.
Getting into the spirit of the event by dressing to match the CANsculpture.
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My role on the team was as a member of the fundraising committee. We tried to balance our desire to help our community in a safe manner, while still having fun. After a series of discussions, we set a goal, and agreed to hold a few smaller in-house fundraising events including rebuilding a portion of an old build. Several members of the team gathered the supplies, and we set about building Scooby-Doo from our 2017 build - Scooby Doo’s Mystery CAN-
chine in our living room. Scooby went up fast. Fastest build I am sure I will ever be a part of. Scooby looked just as proud sitting there over everything we had accomplished as I felt. We had exceeded our goal, and the camaraderie within the team felt the same. All that was missing was the noise within the rest of the space from the other teams building their creations. For that one only has to look at the Capital Region CANstruction Facebook page. Exploring the Capital Region CANstruction Facebook page, the effort of all the teams comes into view. Teams have volunteered and educated youth about food insecurities, volunteered to build CANstructions with the Girls Top: “Wall-C and Eve,” a Juror’s Choice Scouts of Northeastern New York as Award Winner and Bottom: Every year, the CSArch team introduces new challenges to part of CANstruction Jr, and started their sculptures. For Dumbo, it was hanging internal competitions, just to name the ears off the body. a few. Teams are reaching out and finding creative ways to make an impact. Even though there were no grand CANstructions to go visit at the New York State Museum, videos by each team were posted to the Capital Region CANStruction Facebook page on March 2, 2021. Go check out these amazing team’s work and see what volunteering for Capital Region CANstruction means to them at https://www.facebook.com/CapitalRegionCanstruction. On March 18, during the virtual awards ceremony, CSArch won the “Best in Show” Award for their video. Congratulations to the CSArch team for their dedication to CANstruction over the past 11 years and for contributing towards donating over 39,000 canned goods and hygiene items to The Food Pantries for the Capital District this year.
The longest CSArch build, finishing up well after the New York State Museum had closed.
Awards and information on how much the teams donated this year will be posted by the Capital Region CANstruction in upcoming weeks. The 2021 Capital Region CANstruction teams are: CSArch, kW Mission Critical Engineering, Stantec, Hyman Hayes Associates, AOW/Envision, RPI School of Architecture, McLaren Engineering, Ryan Biggs Clark Davis, MJ Engineering & Surveying, The Chazen Companies/LaBella Associates, and EYP.
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Get Involved with AIAENY
Do you want to be more involved with AIAENY but aren’t sure where to start and don’t think you have the time? Have no fear, AIA Eastern New York is looking for all types of volunteers. From those that can offer their expertise on one of our committees for a few months, to those that are willing to use their networking skills for a few hours, and everything in between. No amount of time is too short, or task too small. So, let 2021 be the year you get involved in your AIA Eastern New York Chapter. Start this year off by: • Developing new skills • Forging new relationships • Giving back • Developing leadership skills Each AIAENY ARCHItext newsletter in 2021 will focus on specific micro-volunteering opportunities available.
Committees: Emerging Professionals
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The mission of AIAENY Emerging Professionals Committee is to help architects in their quest to become a licensed professional. The goal is to create networking opportunities where emerging professionals can meet others as well as more experienced professionals. Hard copy and electronic study materials are being made available to help candidates prepare for the ARE. Volunteers can help host or support networking events and/or study sessions.
K-12
The K-12 committee was re-launched in 2019 and looking to expand the program. The mission of AIAENY K-12 committee is to promote awareness of architecture, design, and sustainability within the local K-12 school communities. Volunteers can help organize events, gather resources, attend school career days, and more. COTE – The Committee on The Environment The committee’s mission is to advance, disseminate, and advocate design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. To achieve this mission, the AIAENY COTE committee has teamed with USGBC to bring a diverse level of content to the chapter. The committee actively organizes workshops, lectures, round table discussions with other design professionals, and tours of sustainable building projects to help expand the chapter’s knowledge and promote projects locally that fit into this mindset. Other chapters with COTE committees within the state are looking to team with ENY to promote events, share content, and create synergies in order to build this initiative further. Editorial The committee is to plan and implement the quarterly ENY Architext newsletter. Assistance is needed in managing the process, organizing the newsletter content, coordinating graphics, and providing general support. Volunteers providing content to the newsletter is always welcome. Website The committee is to review and continue the ongoing development of the AIAENY website. The goal is to help maintain the website and coordinate updates based on scheduling of social events, continuing education, updating images, and posting images of recent events. By-Laws The mission is to review AIAENY By-Laws and Policies and help facilitate any necessary changes, updates, or amendments. Frequency of review and implementation is to be determined on yearly basis. Chapter Outreach The mission is to increase member and outside stakeholder involvement. This committee would work on creating and implementing these strategies throughout the year. Volunteers can help support the effort by participating in surveys, networking events, social media event. Design Awards The mission is to plan and implement the yearly design awards program for the ENY chapter. This event is one of the best attended events where colleagues come together to celebrate some of our members best work. The design awards event is an extremely successful event with over 80 attendees typically. The committee member assist in the overall planning, scheduling, and execution of the awards ceremony. If you are interested in joining a committee or learning more, contact Caitlin Daly, AIA at cdaly@csarchpc.com. PAGE | 9
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Embracing Our Collective Community SWBR & 3t’s Quest to be One, While Positively Impacting Many
by Scott Townsend, AIA, 2021 AIANYS Director
Scott Townsend, AIA is a Principal of 3t, an SWBR Company. Previously he founded and was the Design Partner of 3tarchitects, a Troy, NY firm focusing on creating positive community impacts by design. 3t was recently acquired and has merged with SWBR, a firm that was similarly focused with a deep talent pool and a reservoir of goodwill in the community, with their clients and amongst themselves. Together, they will go further. Throughout Scott’s career, he has created and led firms acting on his belief that healthy places emerge from the heart and are sustained from within by its occupants, irrespective of outside policy. Scott’s approach is to engage with folks in their own communities, encouraging designs to emerge through collaborative efforts. Not designing for, from afar; designing with, from within. Beyond creating several social cause focused organizations, several of his firm’s projects began with Scott, prior to finding a funding source or any willing partners. He holds that addressing a community’s needs through collaborative problem solving will always find partners, and eventually funding.
Sheridan Hollow Charette Presentation
The Offer SWBR—specifically, Dave Beinetti, this year’s AIANYS’s Frederic Schwartz Community Development Award winner - approached my partner, Geoff MacDonald, and I in the summer of 2019 and broached the intriguing idea of our firms joining forces via an acquisition of our firm, 3tarchitects. Geoff and I were flattered. SWBR is a rock-solid firm with a stellar reputation and portfolio of work. Yet 3t had just come off its best financial year to date, and was winning awards and garnering attention. 3t’s trajectory was on the upswing. Why would we sell since, on paper at least, we did not need them? The question “why?” was at the root of most discussions and our thoughts over the months ahead. The answer of why to merge probably varied, but each team member answering it for themselves became paramount to considering a deal. From where I sat, any reason to merge must be sincerely offered and resonate deeply. We all knew the concept could possibly work, so we quickly began sharing data and providing answers to see if it would elevate into the realm of it probably will work.
The Analysis Bearing that in mind, our analysis began. The initial discussions quickly revealed—SWBR & 3t’s market sectors overlapped one another.
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3tarchitects was known for creating quality historic adaptive re-use, urban infill mixed use, market rate and affordable/supportive housing buildings and communities. Upon the merging of Geoff’s firm (MMA - McKinney MacDonald Architects) in 2016, 3t gained expertise in college and university work. We
had also completed office, retail/hospitality, and manufacturing projects. SWBR mirrored 3t’s markets but at a larger scale. Our professional services paralleled one another. SWBR is an architect led firm also offering interior design, landscape architecture & planning, structural engineering, sustainability, and graphic design services. Likewise, 3t is an architect led firm that offers interior design services and had previously offered landscape architecture & planning as well as graphic design services, neither being financially sustainable at 3t’s scale. Our geographic aspirations complemented one another. Yes, SWBR approached us because our work complemented theirs but, just as important, we were an established firm in a market they wanted to expand to. Ironically, Geoff and I also realized that to deepen our practice’s impact, we needed to invest in communities beyond the Capital Region. Both firms were looking to invest in new communities, though unbeknownst to SWBR initially. If any had not worked, the talks would have ceased. But they did align. So far, so good.
Albany Roundtable Talk | Reimagining the Waterfront
The Quandary The analysis proved that, yes, rationally speaking, it probably will work. Though initially compelling, the analysis was quite rational, very left-brained, while 3t’s heart and soul, the firm’s reason for being, per se, was mostly driven by the right brain; intuitive, heartfelt. Going from it probably will work, to something that must be done, which I wanted to feel, was the widest gorge presented during the journey. What would blending the firms mean to us at 3t? Would it lead us to better opportunities, propel us forward, lead us down a path to better fulfill our mission or hold us back from doing so? Like any living, breathing relationship, it had to be fair and balanced with the ability to retain that PAGE | 11
equilibrium in the long run. My premonition was it could, yet it was just that—a premonition. SWBR’s pursuit and creation of high-quality, impactful work was of paramount importance to them, that was never in doubt. It was evident in their work, and their Mission Statement - Positively Impacting lives through Meaningful Design. Essentially that is 3t’s mission, only using different words. This helped a lot, but I was not yet convinced, and the dilemma remained.
The Origins To understand 3tarchitects’ origins is to understand the depth of the dilemma. Because we are humanists, regionalists, and contextualists, the firm is deeply devoted to our community. We chose to stay local, go deep, to make meaningful, lasting impacts. Focusing on your community through the lens of caring is timeless, never trendy. Heartfelt, never insincere. Focusing our efforts on easing suffering by serving those who otherwise do not have a voice, while uplifting a community, came into focus early in my career, when I had the great fortune to work for Samuel Mockbee (pre–Rural Studio) and Coleman Coker, at Mockbee/Coker. To do so, 3t minimized overhead to be light on its feet, be progressive and open-minded, while still buying the best tools available for the sophisticated design staff to perform the services offered. This approach activated 3t’s underlying passions and beliefs. 3t’s accumulated impacts through the years exemplifies these beliefs and approach. The depth and level of care, not reach, is the firm’s strength. Therein lies the intrinsic value SWBR sought. Spreading us out (geographically) made me, and several of us, hesitant. Nonetheless, as mentioned earlier, Geoff and I were at a crossroads.
The Epiphany If you have a euphoric desire that something must be done, do it; if not, do not, has always been my mantra. Positive premonitions existed but the yearning had yet to appear. Then it did. The undeniable and unforgettable euphoria and clarity sought appeared out of nowhere, catching me off guard. It occurred on a blustery, snowy day, while in the stands at my son’s volleyball tournament that, ironically, was in Rochester, SWBR’s home. Why then, why there? The answer seems so simple now. Tournaments provide a lot of down time, so I brought a book, my journal and SWBR’s Employee Handbook, which I had yet to read. The moment struck while reading the handbook. The language oozed kindness and caring for everyone that made up and contributed to SWBR’s community. If they carried such deep concern for one another’s well-being, they must care deeply for their clients and their communities. How could they not? This realization solidified when I considered how many folks worked at SWBR for such a long time and then how considerate, respectful, and egoless our on-going conversations had been with Tom Gears, SWBR’s CEO, and Mike Picard, their CFO. I realized then that SWBR was the community that 3t aspired to be. I wanted PAGE | 12
Ribbon Cutting on a Community Project, Created & Led by Scott
in for me, and all of us, knowing it was not only going to be OK, but it was also going to be bigger and better for all. To me, the deal had to be done. Fortunately, Geoff agreed, and the deal was settled shortly thereafter.
“End of day, this really is all about all of our people —who they are as individuals, what they care most about, their commitment to a higher purpose in our profession as architects, and our collective willingness to blend our talents together.” David J. Beinetti AIA, LEED AP Chief Marketing Officer, SWBR
The Outcome As separate entities, our outlook, aspirations, and missions paralleled one another, just at different scales and at opposites ends of Upstate New York. SWBR & 3t are now one entity. Together, and with even more depth, we are now able to serve and care for many more communities. The African Proverb, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,’ is prominently displayed in our office. Previously, the term ‘together’ in the proverb referred to 3t personnel—10 or so. It still does refer to our personnel—now over 100. We had all gone far, but to go even further, we realized we had to go together. PAGE | 13
Special Thanks to Our Allied Members!
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Event & Program Schedule
2021 Design Awards Call for Entries Coming Soon!
2020 Commercial/Industrial Honor Award Recipient
Adirondack Trust | Phinney Design Group Photographer: Elizabeth Pedinotti-Haynes
The 2021 AIA Eastern New York Design Awards Call for Entries will be launching in the coming weeks. We have decided to push the Design Awards back so that we may host an outdoor awards event in the late Spring. Keep an eye out for the 2021 schedule!
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ARE Prep Offerings
Special Thanks to Our Allied Members!
AIA Eastern New York offers deeply discounted licenses to Architecture Exam Prep. Our price, $60 per license, gives you access to study materials for one exam of your choice and includes pdf guides and flashcards, an mp3 audio companion and an online exam simulator. These digital materials are yours to use for as long as you need and the files never expire. Licenses are non-transferrable so you will not be able to share content. Click here for more information about Architecture Exam Prep: https://architectexamprep.com/ For more information, or to purchase a license, contact Cara at aiaeny@aiaeny.org.
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Architext is a publication of the Eastern New York Chapter of the AIA. Please send photo, article, announcement, or presentation information for consideration for publication to the Eastern New York Chapter - aiaeny@aiaeny.org. CORRECTIONS: Please contact AIAENY at aiaeny@aiaeny.org if you find any areas that need correction in the Architext. AIA Eastern New York appreciates all comments and feedback.
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