Future of Design NYC IABSE Future of Design NYC is an annual symposium to energize and provoke discussion in the architecture, engineering, design, and construction industries. The symposium is interactive and broad in its reach, aiming to maximize the exchange of innovative ideas through a forum for communication, education and dialogue. Future of Design NYC’s theme in 2019 is For the People. As a response to the growing desire for design-based action to improve life in the public and social spheres, program sessions examine the collective role of built environment professionals in today’s social, environmental, economic, and political climate. Conversations also aim to understand the potential for sustainability and equitability in the industry’s work, and how to empower future designers to take on a greater voice in transformative built environment initiatives.
Future of Design NYC is supported by IABSE The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a scientific and technical association comprising members in 100 countries and counting 51 National Groups worldwide. Founded in 1929, it has its seat in Zurich, Switzerland. The President of IABSE (2016-2019) is Fernando Branco of Portugal. IABSE deals with all aspects of structural engineering: the science and art of planning, design, construction, operation, monitoring and inspection, maintenance, rehabilitation and preservation, demolition and dismantling of structures, taking into consideration technical, economic, environmental, aesthetic and social aspects.
Schedule 8:30 - 9:00
Breakfast and Registration
9:00 - 9:15
Welcome
9:15 - 10:45
Design for the People
10:45 - 11:00
Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00
Metrics for Success
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch
1:00 - 2:00
Workshop: What’s Our Role?
2:00 - 2:15
Coffee Break
2:15 - 3:15
Resilience and Risk
3:15 - 3:30
Coffee Break
3:30 - 4:30
Life-Cycle Assessment & Material Legacies
4:30 - 5:45
The Public Sphere: New Civic Spaces
5:45 - 7:30
Reception
Sponsored by: Eckersley O’Callaghan
Sponsored by: Silman
Sponsored by: Grimshaw Sponsored by: Charles Pankow Foundation Sponsored by: Hardesty & Hanover
Sponsored by: Turner
Sponsored by: GMS
Sponsored by: Serge Ferrari Sponsored by: Arup
9:15
Design for the People Presentation Series While in the past engineering, architecture, and construction were indivisible, the industry of the built environment today is specialized. In this transformation, all designers must carefully consider whether our work is purposeful and relevant to the people for whom we design. Across different scales and programs, engineers and architects vary their response to human needs. While bespoke projects with elaborately tailored experiences can be accomplished by flexing space and material, ad hoc disaster relief solutions are dictated primarily by speed and efficiency. Some solutions rely on technical innovation and optimization; other solutions rely on qualitative research and experimental approaches to space. This cross-section of perspectives explores how four designers from different specialties in the industry view the future of design for the people through their intent to craft new experiences and improve quality of life around the world.
Moderated by:
Jennifer Anna Pazdon CAST CONNEX
Jennifer Anna Pazdon, PE is Vice President and NYC Office Leader at CAST CONNEX. She has over 14 years of experience in design of structures and construction and she received her Bachelors from Carnegie Mellon University and her Masters from Princeton University where she focused her studies on aesthetics, efficiency, and economy of structures. Jennifer has worked as a structural engineering consultant based in NYC, Africa, and SE Asia in support of realizing projects with diverse building types, materials, and clients. Jennifer was Teaching Fellow in Mechanics, Materials and Sciences at Princeton University and Adjunct Professor of Architecture at The Cooper Union, and she has lectured extensively on the application of steel castings for buildings, bridges, and other structures.
Speakers:
Jason Long
OMA New York Jason Long is a Partner at OMA, based out of the New York office. Since joining the firm in 2003, Jason has brought a research-driven, interdisciplinary approach to a wide range of OMA’s projects internationally. From concept to completion, he served as the project manager for a new national museum in Quebec City and the Faena Forum in Miami. Currently, he is leading three projects focusing on urbanism and the public realm in Washington D.C. that provide an innovative approach to recreation, public health and equitable development at varying scales: the 11th Street Bridge Park, a new elevated green space crossing the Anacostia River; a sport and recreation masterplan for the RFK Stadium Armory Campus; and a streetscape design for Washington D.C.’s convention center. His portfolio extends to residential development in New York and California, including The Avery in San Francisco and most recently two new towers for Greenpoint Landing, OMA’s first project in Brooklyn. He has recently focused oNn a number of adaptive reuse projects including the transformation of a post office warehouse in downtown Houston into a mixeduse hub and a historic parking garage in New York City into a new synagogue. Jason also previously served as a key member of AMO and was Associate Editor of Content (Taschen, 2004). Currently, he is working with the City of Jersey City on strategic planning for a new cultural institution within the historic Pathside Building in Journal Square. Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Vassar College and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University. He currently teaches at Cornell University. Images courtesy of OMA
James Solly
Format Engineers James is a Director at Format Engineers and a Teaching Fellow at the Bartlett School of Architecture. He worked at Ramboll UK and BuroHappold Engineering before taking a fulltime academic role at the University of Stuttgart between 2015 and 2018. At the ITKE in Stuttgart, under Professor Jan Knippers, he was a member of the Innochain Network and his research focused on the development of design methods for FRP (glass and carbon fiber) lattice structures. In this role, he worked on both the Elytra Filament Pavilion and ICD/ ITKE Research Pavilion 2016/2017 as well as smaller prototype carbon fiber structures. He returned to London and his current role in 2018. James’s interests lie in the use of current computational engineering techniques to support architectural design and reduce the use of excess material, particularly where additive fabrication systems are utilized. Projects he has worked on in both academia and practice have involved the creation of large experimental structures where material is designed and placed at a millimeter scale. He believes that closer collaboration between universities and the AEC industry is required to fully deploy this technology on the building site. Format Engineers is a collective of engineering designers with backgrounds in structures, coding, mathematics, and architecture. We believe in the day-to-day exploitation of digital technology as a creative tool for the production of designs that are appropriate, lean, and beautiful.
Nerissa Moray Sidewalk Labs
Nerissa Moray is a strategic planner and certified Project Management Professional who has managed urban planning and building design projects in the architectural / engineering industry for 10+ years, with a focus on innovation, parks and open space, coastal planning, real estate, and economic development. Nerissa has worked extensively with both public and private sector clients in New York City and around the United States and Canada. At present she is an Associate Director of Planning & Design at Sidewalk Labs, managing the design team to deliver one of the most innovative urban development projects in the world today - Sidewalk Toronto. Prior to Sidewalk Labs, Nerissa was the Director of Planning and Design for New York’s Lowline project, which aims to build the country’s first underground public space using specialized solar technology. Nerissa also spent almost ten years managing urban planning, strategic planning and building design projects at BuroHappold Engineering, during which she worked on such notable projects as the High Line, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Changing Course - a design competition aiming to re-wild the Lower Mississippi River Delta. Prior to working in the A&E industry, Nerissa gained 10 years of international experience as a program and project manager delivering large-scale information technology projects for government, financial and manufacturing industry clients.
Images courtesy of Sidewalk Labs
Commander Omarr E. Tobias US Navy Seabees
CDR Omarr Tobias was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with honors from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He attended OCS and was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy in May 1999. CDR Tobias was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40 in 2001, where he served as Detail Hawaii Officer In Charge for the Battalion’s deployment to the Pacific region, and the Battalion Field Training Exercise Officer during Homeport. His team constructed multiple training facilities and force protection infrastructure and was recognized as the Battle “E” (Best Unit of its type). He was then assigned to Headquarters, Naval Facilities Engineering command in 2003, where he served as Accessions Officer and Manpower Officer. In 2005, he attended the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland College Park to earn a Masters in Business Administration. He then served as the Director of the Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division and served as the Operations Officer for the 22ND Naval Construction Regiment, where he deployed to Afghanistan and was responsible for all engineering operations in the Southern region of Afghanistan, spanning from Herat to Kandahar. CDR Tobias earned his Master of Science degree in National Security and Strategy from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School. He was selected for an Adaptive and Agile Leaders Networks Concentration – a co-sponsored program with UC Berkeley that focuses on the development of a network of public servants and private citizens to help solve global challenges. He is a Seabee Combat Warfare qualified Officer, a Registered Professional Engineer in Georgia, and a member of the Department of Defense Acquisition Professional Community. His personal awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal and numerous unit and campaign medals.
11:00
Metrics for Success Panel Over the late 20th century and into the 21st, our methods of evaluating buildings and structures have changed. Particularly in North America and Europe, a past focus on bulk material efficiency has evolved towards construction efficiency as material costs have decreased and labor costs have increased; a past focus on formal clarity resulting in rigidly partitioned interiors has evolved towards programmatic efficiency that emphasizes multipurpose spaces and flexibility for the future. Even in other regions where both material and labor costs remain low, highly constructible approaches have been devised to make socially critical infrastructure accessible to a broader range of both urban and rural communities. The priorities for our built environment have shifted over time. Three perspectives from active designers in architecture and engineering come together in this panel to discuss which metrics they prioritize in their work, how they might vary depending on project scope or program, and how those metrics may (or may not) have changed over time.
Moderated by:
Kat Chan
Walter P Moore Kat Chan is an Associate at Walter P Moore where she focuses on the development of facade design from an integrated approach. After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in structures and discovering the multifaceted discipline of facade engineering, she has taken her passion for the built environment and honed it for successful design, team collaboration, and project delivery. Her strength lies in realizing design intent, while emphasizing the user experience and juggling complex geometric configurations. A selfpropelled desire for thorough analysis and a propensity for detail has enabled her to advocate for innovative approaches and materials. Current projects include the ThyssenKrupp Elevator Tower and Headquarters in Atlanta, GA by Gensler and CetraRuddy’s expansion to Porcelanosa’s New York City showroom.
Speakers:
Sameer Kumar SHoP Architects
Sameer Kumar is the Director of Enclosure Design at SHoP. He is a registered architect and a LEED accredited professional, as well as a member of the AIA. Sameer has been involved as a mentor and expert in every project at the firm, offering his experienced guidance in design, development and execution of the building enclosure. He has led facade direction on many of SHoP’s most high profile projects including Uber Headquarters, 111 West 57th Street, and South Street Seaport. Sameer is a Visiting Lecturer at the graduate architecture programs at Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania where he teaches courses on materials, structures, and the craft of architecture.
Jing Liu SO - IL
Jing Liu co-founded SO – IL with Florian Idenburg in 2008 with an emphasis on building cultural projects as an indispensable part of urban infrastructure. In projects such as the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California in Davis and Kukje Gallery in Seoul, she has worked to deconstruct the boundary between institutional space and the public realm. Through a variety of installations and events, Liu has led SO – IL to explore new fabrication methods and to confront the socio-political issues of urban space through mediums outside the conventional architectural platform. A native of China, Liu received her education in China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, concluding with a Master’s of Architecture from the Tulane School of Architecture where she focused on the social impact of urban renewal projects. Liu is faculty member at Columbia University, and advises the Master’s thesis at Parsons The New School of Design. Liu is an active board member at Van Alen Institute, a non-profit based in New York City. The Institute collaborates with communities, scholars, policymakers and professionals on local and global initiatives, investigating the most pressing social, cultural and ecological challenges of tomorrow.
Images courtesy of SO-IL
Image courtesy of BuroHappold Engineering_Ben Kirkpatrick
Wolf Mangelsdorf
BuroHappold Engineering Wolf Mangelsdorf is a partner and structural engineer who recently moved from BuroHappold Engineering’s London office to New York. Since joining the firm in 2002, Wolf has been instrumental in leading large multidisciplinary teams on some of the most structurally complex projects around the world including Zaha Hadid’s City of Dreams development in Macau and the Battersea Power Station Master Plan in London. Wolf is charged with ensuring the highest level of design and technology methodologies and integrating those with the wider global practice. Additionally, he is the Global Discipline Director for structural engineering, responsible for cultivating the next generation of engineers. With more than two decades of experience, Wolf brings creativity, enthusiasm and a willingness to design solutions never done before to meet his clients’ aspirations. An expert in the field, Wolf has written, lectured and presented extensively on the topic of structuring strategies for complex geometries. He is currently leading BuroHappold’s modular technology solutions, which includes a unique engineering design system that is faster and more flexible than traditional methods. Trained as an architect and civil engineer, Wolf has a varied background having worked for an architectural practice upon graduation in Germany before moving to London in 1997. He is fluent in English, German, Italian and French.
1:00
Workshop Discussion Through dialogue and discussion, we encourage participants to look beyond their specialty to collaborate and address the future of design for the people. The workshop aims to recognize that all built environment professionals have a hand in how design, project briefs, and existing projects are perceived, utilized, or planned. Therefore, we have the responsibility to and can create opportunities to affect meaningful change. While recognizing existing and potential constraints on our role or aspirations, the workshop asks: How can we apply this expanded view of our role to challenge conventionally defined scope? How can we build bridges in everyday collaboration within the industry and beyond?
Moderated by:
Caitlin Mueller
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Caitlin Mueller is an academic who works at the intersection of architecture and structural engineering. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Architecture and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in the Building Technology Program, where she leads the Digital Structures research group. Her research focuses on new computational design and digital fabrication methods for innovative, high-performance architecture in the built environment. Professor Mueller earned a PhD in Building Technology from MIT, a SM in Computation for Design and Optimization from MIT, a MS in Structural Engineering from Stanford University, and a BS in Architecture from MIT, and has practiced at several architecture and engineering firms across the U.S., most recently as a structural designer at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger in Boston. She has recently contributed to the organization of several major conferences in architecture and engineering, including the 2017 Design Modeling Symposium in Paris, the 2017 ACADIA Conference at MIT, and 2018 Symposium of the International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures at MIT, which she chaired.
2:15
Risk and Resilience Panel Climate change and shifting usage priorities mean that resilience and risk become increasingly important design considerations, whether from technical, programmatic, or functional points of view. In efforts that have intensified in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, resilience and risk evaluation have both taken on new meaning and urgency in New York and other coastal cities. Beyond rising sea waters and increased storm frequencies and intensities, design considerations affecting the built environment now also include revised understandings of tectonic movements, re-evaluation of fire resistance, and increased capacity requirements for transportation infrastructure. Coming years will see a shift in policy and standards as the built environment and its designers adapt to consider these variables. Three panelists focusing on different scales of resilience - local, regional, and global - discuss how they expect our field to respond to new and developing risks to the built environment.
Moderated by:
Mark Nelson Arup
Mark leads the Advanced Technology and Research practice at Arup in New York. His group specializes in a variety of design and analysis disciplines including risk and resilience based design, seismic engineering, material science, and moving structures. His office has been involved in a variety of resilience projects for public and private clients including flood protection in New York City, seismic resistance for global portfolios and multi-hazard risk reduction for mission critical data centers. Mark completed his Ph.D. at Queen’s University, Canada on novel materials for bridges and buildings. In addition to project work, he has been involved in developing the Arup Motion Platform (now installed in 5 offices globally), and a mobile app which measures vibrations. Outside of work he enjoys traveling, learning languages, playing softball and going to Yankees games.
Speakers:
Amy Macdonald Thornton Tomasetti
Amy Macdonald is an Associate Principal and Head of Resilience at Thornton Tomasetti, where she specializes in helping clients to prepare, adapt, endure and thrive in this disruptive and changing world we live in. Amy provides property owners, insurance companies, and public sector clients with strategies to offset physical, operational and financial risk. She has more than a decade of geotechnical engineering, risk assessment, disaster mitigation, response and recovery experience, as well as infrastructure design and commercial and residential land development. Amy has consulted on numerous projects ranging from minor to catastrophic. Amy’s experience spans four continents and includes leading the firm’s response to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, reconnaissance following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, damage assessments after Sandy in the Tri-State area, and leadership of the Earthquake Commission’s engineering response for the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand. Expanding upon this post-disaster experience, Amy manages the development of resilience strategies for complex scenarios where natural hazards intersect with the urban environment. Amy continues to lead the development and design of high profile food mitigation and climate change adaptation strategies for healthcare, commercial and real estate clients in New York City and throughout the Northeastern U.S.
Catherine Seavitt Nordenson City College of New York
Catherine Seavitt Nordenson is an architect and landscape architect, registered in both professions in New York State. She is a tenured associate professor of landscape architecture at the City College of New York, where she teaches graduate landscape architectural design studios and research seminars; she also serves as the faculty editor of the annual landscape journal PLOT. Seavitt’s research and design interests include design adaptation to sea level rise in urban coastal environments, as well as novel landscape restoration practices given the dynamics of climate change. Her books, essays, and publications reflect her ongoing investigations into political power, environmental activism, and public health, particularly as they intersect in the design of equitable public space and policy. Her books include Structures of Coastal Resilience (2018); Depositions: Roberto Burle Marx and Public Landscapes under Dictatorship (2018); Waterproofing New York (2016); and On the Water: Palisade Bay (2010). Her work has been published widely, including essays in Artforum, Avery Review, Harvard Design Magazine, JoLA, LA+, Landscape Architecture Magazine, and Topos. Seavitt received a bachelor of architecture from the Cooper Union School of Architecture and a master of architecture from Princeton University. She is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a recipient of both a Fulbright fellowship and a Graham Foundation fellowship for research in Brazil.
Daniel Smith
James Cook University Daniel is a research fellow with the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University in Australia, a consultant faculty member at the University of Florida and a visiting scholar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado. His current work in the US and Australia covers a wide range of topics including: structural mitigation for hurricanes, post-event damage assessment, field-deployed anemometry for hurricanes, vulnerability and fragility modeling, retrofitting for wind and water ingress, behavioral aspects of community cyclone preparedness and insurance claims analysis. Daniel is also co-founder and developer of ResilientResidence, a software application tool that aims to promote mitigation by enabling homeowners to self-assess the vulnerability of their home to wind-related damages
3:30
Life Cycle Assessment & Material Legacies Panel As growing cities continue to accumulate more infrastructure and building stock, the question of what to do with legacy structures becomes more pressing with every passing year. While sustainability considerations often already focus on energy consumption and maintenance requirements during the active usage lifetime, the calculation should also include embodied energy invested before completion (during material production or fabrication) and energy investment after the structure is no longer useful (upon abandonment and demolition). With this in mind, there has been a marked increase in construction projects that seek ways to retain as much of a building’s existing components (whether materially, structurally, or architecturally), even while program and usage requirements change dramatically. Three panelists focusing on different aspects involving life-cycle assessment present their work and views on in-situ material evaluation, component reuse strategies, and project implementation. They discuss where their work fits in the movement towards increased adaptive reuse and how emerging trends affect architectural and engineering considerations.
Moderated by:
Sara Steele Silman
Sara Steele joined Silman’s New York office in 2001 and was promoted to a principal of the firm in 2017. Her project experience ranges from new construction to adaptive reuse and historic preservation and she has previously completed a large addition and renovation of the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA. Sara is a Past President of the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) and is serving as the Board Liaison to its Education and Outreach Committee. Additionally, she is a former Grant Review Panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and has been published in SEAoNY Cross Sections and Modern Steel Construction.
Speakers:
Gina Crevello
Echem Consultants Ms. Crevello is an architectural and materials conservator with over 22 years of experience in material durability, corrosion diagnostics, forensic investigations, life-cycle assessments, and electrochemical repair methods for critical infrastructure. Ms. Crevello holds an MSc and Advanced Certificate in Architectural Materials Conservation from Columbia University. Her work focuses on assisting owners to make informed decisions based on long-term projects on material performance. She strives to educate key decision makers in the A/E/C industry of advanced repair techniques to enhance their assets’ service life and to make a safer and more durable built environment. Ms. Crevello founded Echem Consultants LLC in 2009 and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
Image courtesy of Chase Center
Erik Verboon Walter P Moore
Erik Verboon is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Walter P Moore New York office. Trained in both architecture and engineering, Erik brings a deep global experience with a focus on the design of complex and high performance building envelopes for a wide range of building types. Erik has experience working with a wide variety of facade applications including high-performance double skin facades, geometrically complex composite facades, and custom unitized enclosures for both new buildings and existing building retrofits and extensions. His experience in digital design, geometric rationalization and environmental analysis allows him to bring the highest level of value to his clients, helping designers deliver projects to the highest level of design sophistication while maximizing performance and minimizing cost. Erik’s current work leverages the firm’s expertise in Life Cycle Assessment of building structures to apply similar methodologies to enclosure system option selection. This allows a more comprehensive evaluation that includes both operational and embodied environmental impacts. Erik’s portfolio expresses both national and international work with extensive experience in the New York market, bringing expertise in buildings old and new, across academic, commercial, sports, healthcare and cultural sectors. In addition to Erik’s professional accolades, he also teaches enclosure design at a number of leading universities.
Corentin Fivet
EPFL Structural Xploration Lab Uniting architecture and structural design, Corentin’s research and education activities are driven by sustainability challenges and boosted by digital technology. He forges new ways of designing load-bearing systems that are less material-intensive and reusable over multiple use cycles, hence contributing to the adoption of an industrial circular economy by the construction sector. Corentin also devises computer means to enhance designermachine collaborations at the early stages of the architectural/structural design process. In 2016, Corentin was appointed Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Architecture and Structural Design, at the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. He is heading the Structural Xploration Lab, a research and teaching lab that investigates the design of construction systems for architecture: http://sxl.epfl.ch. Prior to EPFL, Corentin lectured about the design and analysis of structures at MIT. He previously pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT with Prof. John Ochsendorf. Corentin holds a master in Architectural Engineering and a PhD in Engineering Sciences from the UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
design for reuse
4:30
The Public Sphere: New Civic Spaces Presentation Series Predicting how the public will react to spaces that are designed for them is challenging. Public space projects are prone to diverging demands and vested interests, often requiring one solution to fulfill many different roles. As we move further into the 21st century, they present both challenges and opportunities, due to newly conceived demands and programs; these requirements in turn encourage designers to develop new system configurations and create opportunities for experimenting with or forecasting future usage. In this session, speakers come together to discuss how two new urban components Moynihan Station and Hunters Point Library - explore the intersection of architecture and structure in the design of public spaces. These two projects articulate several themes that tie together this year’s program: a diversity of approaches, innovative technical solutions to human requirements, and design concepts anticipating future usage. How have new design requirements affected the collaborative efforts of the design team, and how do structure and architecture work together in shaping the perception of these new civic spaces?
Moderated by:
Keith O’Connor
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Keith P. O’Connor brings to SOM more than 20 years of diverse public, private, and non-profit experience leading complex multidisciplinary planning and urban design projects. Recognized for spearheading public realm projects that elevate and redefine the value of public spaces in New York and around the world, Keith played a critical role in the World Trade Center redevelopment project during the second and third terms of the Bloomberg administration. Additionally, he was instrumental in ensuring the preservation and revitalization of the High Line’s 10th Avenue Spur, shaping plans for the Eastern Railyards, and Hudson Park and Boulevard, and the implementation of the city’s ambitious East River Waterfront Esplanade. Keith holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Ball State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Speakers:
Jon Cicconi
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Jon Cicconi is an Associate Director in SOM’s New York Office. He is a Senior Designer for Moynihan Train Hall, along with many other high profile projects in the U.S. and around the world. In his 13 years at SOM, Jon has helped to shape some of SOM’s most dynamic and influential work including The University Center at the New School, Denver Union Station, P.S. 62 (New York City’s first net-zero-energy school), the Al Ahmadi Cultural Center in Kuwait, and All Aboard Florida’s three passenger rail stations. Jon holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Powell Draper
schlaich bergermann partner Powell Draper is a structural engineer and Director of Operations for the New York office of Schlaich Bergermann and Partner, an award winning international structural engineering design firm. His projects there have included the gridshell skylights for the upcoming Moynihan Station in New York City, a new pedestrian bridge in Seattle, an Apple store in Brooklyn, a pavilion at Harvard, and experimental pavilions and artworks. Previously he has worked on the design of a range of buildings, bridges, and ships. His collaborations include work with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Bjarke Ingels Group, Grimshaw, Hรถweler + Yoon, James Carpenter Design Associates, and other architects and designers. He has degrees in history from Wake Forest University and civil engineering from the University of Virginia. His doctoral dissertation in structural engineering from Princeton University provided the basis for a chapter he coauthored in Felix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist (Yale University Press), named as one of the best architecture books of 2008. He is an adjunct Associate Professor in architecture at Cooper Union and in civil engineering at Princeton University. His publications and research interests range from the history of engineering and structural art to new technologies for sustainable structures.
Justin Den Herder Silman
Justin Den Herder has collaborated on nearly 500 projects since joining Silman in 2007. His professional experience ranges from concept design through construction administration on new construction, renovation and historic preservation projects. Some of his notable, publicly accessible projects are: Hunters Point Community Library in Long Island City, New York Police Academy in College Point, Queens, Empire Stores in Brooklyn, Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn, and the New York Public Library Midtown Campus Renovation in Manhattan, including the Mid-Manhattan Branch and Stephen A. Schwarzman buildings. Justin is the former Editor in Chief of SEAoNY Cross Sections magazine and has also been published in Modern Steel Construction as well as the book DIALOGUES – A Shelter for Architecture published by the GIANY. He is an adjunct professor at the Spitzer School for Architecture at the City College of New York. Justin is a graduate of Manhattan College (BS, Civil Engineering) and is a registered Professional Engineer in New York State. He is passionate about art—poetry in particular—and in creating engaging and equitable public architecture.
Organizing Committee Jasmin Sadegh, 2019 Committee Co-Chair Jasmin is a structural engineer at Silman in New York City. She has previously worked for Guy Nordenson and Associates and has experience collaborating on a variety of design projects from large-scale sculptures to public structures. Jasmin graduated from the University of Stuttgart with a Masters of Science in Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Tufts University.
Hubert Chang, 2019 Committee Co-Chair Hubert is a structural engineer based in New York. He is inspired by and drawn towards work on cultural institutions, museums, and artistic installations, where the articulation of structure within an architectural concept is critical for developing integrated solutions tailored to the unique circumstances and qualities of each endeavor. Hubert recently joined Silman, and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University.
Rebecca Buntrock Rebecca is an Associate at Silman. She manages a variety of projects for all types of building construction with an emphasis on historic preservation and existing buildings. She currently serves as the President of the Association for Preservation Technology, Northeast Chapter and is active in the IABSE US Group.
Powell Draper Powell is a structural engineer and Director of Operations for the New York office of schlaich bergermann and partner. He has worked on advanced structural engineering projects, including gridshells, complex bridges, and glass structures. His PhD dissertation in structural engineering from Princeton University provided the basis for a chapter he coauthored in Felix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Cooper Union.
Katherine Chan Kat is an Associate at Walter P Moore, where she focuses on the development of façade design from an integrated approach. Her career as a façade engineer ignited with her passion for the built environment at the interface of structural engineering and architecture.
Tracy Huynh Tracy received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Rice University (Houston, TX) and a Master of Science in Structural Engineering at Princeton University. She joined Knippers Helbig in 2016 where she has worked on a variety of projects and competitions involving complex geometries and innovative technologies with a creative and passionate team. She makes an effort to stay involved in the design community by creating graphics for shirts and posters for various organizations.
Andrew Keane Andrew is an engineer at Guy Nordenson and Associates. He holds Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees from The Cooper Union in New York City, where his focus was structural engineering. Andrew is committed to studying the built world and has previously worked in AECOM’s Ports and Marine Structures group and Con Edison’s Mechanical Engineering group.
Paul Laroque Paul is a Senior Project Engineer at Silman. Trained in France, he has been practicing in New York for the last 12 years with all sorts of materials and scales, from stone furniture to concrete towers through wooden houses, masonry vaults, and cable stayed roofs. He enjoys experimenting with unconventional materials in general and has a special affinity for bamboo in particular. Paul teaches Advanced Structures II at NYIT, and History of Structural Art and integrated studio at Pratt.
Yun Luo Yun is a structural engineer at LERA. She has past experience at CP&Y in Austin. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Tufts University, and a Masters in Structural Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin.
James Olson James is a Senior Structural Engineer at Arup. His work experiences include tall buildings, long-span space frame roofs and large-scale airport design. James is interested in and focuses on constructibility and the interaction between engineering and construction with an interest on new technologies that can make both become more efficient.
Jennifer Anna Pazdon Jennifer, PE, is Vice President and NYC Office Leader at CAST CONNEX. She received her Bachelors from Carnegie Mellon University and her Masters from Princeton University where she focused her studies on aesthetics, efficiency, and economy of structures. Jennifer has worked as a structural engineering consultant based in NYC, Africa, and SE Asia. Jennifer was Teaching Fellow in Mechanics, Materials and Sciences at Princeton University and Adjunct Professor of Architecture at The Cooper Union.
Matthias Peltz Matthias has been a structural engineer with schlaich bergermann partner since 2015. He developed creative technical solutions on a variety of structural engineering projects, including lightweight cable roofs, facades, bridges, and shell structures. In 2018 he brought his experience to New York. Matthias graduated with a Bachelor and Masters degree in Structural Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.
Lisa Ramsburg Lisa Ramsburg is a designer at schlaich bergermann partner in New York City, where she works at the intersection of architecture and engineering. She has worked on projects with a variety of scales. As project manager and design-build team member, Lisa helped to realize the 2017 City of Dreams Pavilion. Lisa graduated from University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a minor in Sustainability Studies.
Maryanne Wachter Maryanne Wachter is a structural engineer at LERA Consulting Engineers in New York City. She previously worked at Buckland & Taylor (now COWI North America) in their Seattle and New York offices, as well as Flint Neill (now COWI UK) in London. She received her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Princeton University, and her Masters of Science in Structural Engineering and Geomechanics from Stanford University.
In addition, we would like to acknowledge Lee Franck, who launched Future of Design in the United Kingdom, where it has been operating since 2012. She brought Future of Design to NYC in 2017, and her mission to bring together emerging voices of the built environment in a forum for energetic discussion has proven successful and continues to leave a lasting, positive impact in many engineering and design communities.
2019 Interviews https://fodnyc.org/blog
For this year’s Future of Design Symposium: Design for the People, we asked select designers, writers, architects, and engineers to participate in a short interview, which have been printed as a Q&A on the Future of Design website and some of which are summarized here. The intent was to ask what this year’s theme meant to them, in the spirit of increasing the reach and accessibility of not only this symposium but moreover the development of the built environment, as a whole. Our conversations touched upon abstract concepts to specific projects, in design, in research, or built. A major takeaway for me as interviewer was that as built environment professionals, we have the responsibility and the opportunity to truly affect the space around us and to create places for joy and discourse. From analyzing our present to looking constructively at the past, there are numerous ways in which we collaborate creatively to shape the future of design for the people. -Kat Chan
Léopold Lambert
The Funambulist magazine We invited our first guest to explore the spectrum of what Design for the People can mean. Léopold Lambert, trained architect, writer, and founding editor of The Funambulist magazine, reacts to this year’s theme with, “So designing for the people for me comes with a question which is: which people?” Our discussion starts with how societal and political framework can manifest into physical components in the built environment. We touch upon past examples, like the fraught history of the Dutch settlers’ wall, remnants of which are still viewable today on Wall Street in New York City. We conclude with a call to arms for architectural and engineering professionals to get involved and challenge and address the built environment’s role in furthering societal and political issues.
Jan Brütting
Structural Xploration Lab at EPFL Jan Brütting, PhD. Candidate in the Structural Xploration Lab at EPFL, focuses his research on reuse of structural components for multiple service lives with minimal environmental impact, beyond that of the more labor and energy-intensive traditional recycling processes, and explores new design methods for resource efficient structural design. Our discussion talked about the challenges in designing for different service lives and functionality as well as design for disassembly. Our discussion centers around integrating sustainability into structural engineering: “We might not be able to change the fact that buildings need to be taken down in certain frequency. But we should at least design them for a way to recover components without wasting energy, material, and resources.” Considering Life Cycle Analysis and sustainable principles, this discussion identifies the breadth of possibilities that structural engineers and architects can leverage for more sustainable design.
Juan Porral and Greg Haley Grimshaw Architects
From Grimshaw, we invited Juan Porral, Partner, and Greg Haley, Associate Principal in Urban Design, to discuss design for the people and specific projects, mainly in New York City. When asked about what Design for the People means for them, Juan and Greg responded with “it is about giving delight” and “it is about connecting us with our environment.” Together with their multifaceted team, they completed the Fulton Transportation Center, a project which embodies their approach to design for the people: creating a space to connect with each other and the environment. Juan describes how the first-floor amenities in the Queens Museum are accessible to the great public. Greg discusses the MTA Flood mitigation project: urban furniture that addresses an urban infrastructure issue.
Anna Wendt
BuroHappold Engineering A conversation with Anna Wendt, Director at BuroHappold Engineering, explains how her start in façade engineering has widened her perspective on how multidisciplinary and multi-specialist driven design can lead to designing for wellbeing. Anna is responsible for leading both facade specific and multi-disciplinary projects. With one of her most recent projects the East Stratford Waterfront, a challenge to the project brief resulted in a manual to define an inclusive design parameters to make the project as accessible to as many people as possible, thereby improving their experience. We also talk about the importance of gathering data through studies and frank conversation to affect change. “Design for the people means looking at design in a multi-disciplinary fashion and not being afraid to look constructively to existing and past designs in order to quantify experience to design better buildings for tomorrow.”
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Image courtesy of Wakely
Image courtesy of Jason Wyche, Public Art Fund, NY
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