Design and Disruption: Millennials in Architecture

January 13, 2016

When: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM FRIDAY, JANUARY 22

Where: At The Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY 10012

Price: Free for AIA members and students with valid ID; $10 for non-members.

Register

Description:

Until the January 2013 issue of Architect, the architectural academy and profession paid little attention to the emerging Millennial generation. Suddenly, the journal’s writers predicted “drastic changes to pedagogy, licensure and firm management,” all necessary to absorb the generation’s impact on the field, but also to avert the disruptions affecting other professions and industries that Millennial’s have helped precipitate. 

The discussion will raise this question: How can growing awareness of this generation’s traits continue to push the boundaries of architectural education and the profession? Darius Sollohub, AIA, Associate Professor of Architecture at NJIT will present the results of his research about Millennial characteristics already evident in practice and teaching. Richard Sweeney, NJIT’s University Librarian, a longtime researcher of Millennials, will join in the presentation. Together with a panel of leaders from various architectural organizations, Sollohub and Sweeney will engage in discussion about ideas and initiatives to help the architectural profession take best advantage of this next generation.

To further the discussion, we also strongly encourage you to give us five minutes to participate in the poll.

Speaker/Moderator: Darius Sollohub, AIA, Associate Professor of Architecture, College of Architecture and Design, NJIT
Darius Sollohub, AIA, is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the College of Architecture and Design at NJIT. He served as Director of its New Jersey School of Architecture from 2010 to 2015, administering graduate and undergraduate programs in architecture and planning. Prior to that, he was Director of the School’s Infrastructure Planning Program from 2007 to 2010. He joined NJIT’s faculty in 1996. His research focuses on design pedagogy, affordable housing, transit-oriented development, parking, earth art, and transportation systems. He is currently writing a book entitled Millennials in Architecture. Sollohub consults actively and maintained his own practice, Rosenbaum Sollohub Architects, from 1994 to 2004. Prior, he worked with Polshek and Partners (now Ennead Architects), Ellerbe Becket, and Steven Holl Architects. Sollohub holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Master of Architecture, both from Columbia University. He is a licensed architect in New York and New Jersey.

Speaker: Richard Sweeney, University Librarian, NJIT
Richard Sweeney is the University Librarian at the NJIT. Sweeney has been Vice Provost for Libraries and Information Services at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, Executive Director of the Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County in Ohio, Director of the Genesee County Library in Flint, Michigan, Director of the Atlantic City Free Public Library in NJ, and Librarian at Central Junior HS in Atlantic City, NJ. Sweeney has served on the Board of Trustees of Thomas Edison State College (NJ), has taught at the high school, college, and graduate levels, and has served as President of the Columbus Ohio Cable Commission. Sweeney is a frequent speaker and consultant and has conducted over 60 Millennial generation panels in front of live audiences in over twenty states at various libraries, associations, colleges, universities, and companies in the US and abroad. His Millennial research has been featured on multiple occasions in the Chronicle of Higher Education and in other press venues and academic journals.

Panelists:

George H. Miller, FAIA, Managing Partner, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Justin A. Mihalik, AIA NCARB, 2016 President, AIA New Jersey; President, J.A. Mihalik Architect LLC
Danielle Mitchell, Assoc. AIA, AIAS National President
Tomas Rossant, AIA, Founding Partner, Ennead Architects
Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, Associate, FXFOWLE Architects

George H. Miller, FAIA is the managing partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. He has served the Chapter as Treasurer, Vice-President, and as President in 2003. He has also served on both the State and National AIA Boards of Directors and was the National President of the AIA in 2010. He served on the local AIA Foundation Board and was the President of the National Architects Foundation. Miller has received numerous awards, including the AIANY President’s Award in 2007 and the AIA NYS Kideney Gold Medal in 2011. He is currently a member of the AIA New York Fellows Committee and the 2016 AIA New York Nominating Committee.

Justin A. Mihalik, AIA NCARB is AIA New Jersey 2016 President and a principal at Essex Fells, NJ-based J.A. Mihalik Architect LLC. He served as a member of AIA-NJ’s Legislative and Government Affairs Committee, which monitors regulatory issues that affect the practice of architecture, and has served as vice chair of the New Jersey Architects Political Action Committee. In recent years, he has co-helmed the AIA Regional Recovery Working Group, an organization comprising leaders of AIA chapters in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island that brings together industry and community leaders for discussions on resiliency in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Danielle M. Mitchell, Associate AIA, is the 2015/2016 elected president of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS); she is a recent graduate of Pennsyvania State University. Mitchell was twice elected to serve as the Northeast Quadrant director for AIAS after a successful two-year term as the Penn State chapter president. The chapter saw immense growth under her leadership and the mentorship program grew tremendously. She additionally served on the Penn State THON Operations Committee from Fall 2011 through Spring 2013 and been devoted to recruitment and retention in the Architecture department at the Stuckeman School, serving for multiple years as a student ambassador for undergraduate recruitment and as the student representative for the Architecture Department.

Tomas Rossant, AIA, is a founding partner of Ennead Architects where he serves as a Design Principal. His work is recognized for design excellence and has received Awards from AIA New York State and AIA New York Chapter as well as other regional awards. Rossant was the 2015 President of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter. His Presidential theme, “Dialogues from the Edge of Practice,” explored how architects are boldly expanding practice to bring particular critical problem solving skills and design acumen to endeavors previously considered outside the traditional role of the architect. He recently presented at the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization at the World Habitat Program at the United Nations, sharing his views on the future of sustainable urbanism.

Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, joined FXFOWLE Architects in 2007 and was promoted to Associate in 2014. With over nine years of experience as an architect, she has been on the design team for a variety of mixed-use, commercial, cultural and residential projects in the US, Saudi Arabia, India, Azerbaijan, Japan, and UAE. Her project approach is inspired by urbanism, technology, and sustainable design strategies. Sablan is President of the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), a member of the AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and a Board Trustee for The Mary Louis Academy, a private Catholic college preparatory academy in Queens. She has been recognized for her contributions to the industry with several awards and honors, including the Emerging New York Architect Merit Award–AIA New York and the NOMA Prize for Excellence in Design (Unbuilt) for her redesign of the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad School Campus in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, which was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. Pascale graduated magna cum laude from Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Architecture and achieved a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.

Organized by: AIA New York

Price: Free for AIA members and students with valid ID; $10 for non-members.

Register

By WeSpeak Easy | Posted in AIA-NJ News, Associates, Continuing Ed, Emerging Professionals, NJ Architect Newsletter, Young Architects Forum | | Comments (0)