This Design Excellence Feature highlights Cycle Architecture + Planning, whose St. Marks project has recently been recognized by NYSERDA as a Building of Excellence. Cycle Architecture + Planning, led by Tony Daniels and Caitlin Martusewicz, works with its clients and collaborating partners to create urban design and architecture for living cities and buildings. CA+P is a collaborating studio that brings people of diverse backgrounds and aspirations together. An analytically focused practice with deep roots in the expanding issue of sustainability, CA+P designs, plans, manages, and executes projects for clients large, small, and in-between with a calibrated understanding of the competing interests that characterize work in the public arena.

The St. Marks Passive House project is a proposed new 10-unit apartment building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. It was awarded for energy efficient, low–to–zero carbon design under the Buildings of Excellence competition, administered by The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Buildings of Excellence is the only competition of its kind in the nation and is leading the way to achieve carbon neutral building performance in New York State. The award winners represent significant advancement in construction practices and point the way towards a zero-carbon future for buildings that can be replicated at scale. The project is being developed by Masmark LLC, a real estate developer with a record of completing award-winning energy-efficient buildings in Italy. The project is Masmark’s first development venture in the U.S. and has been pre-certified as a Passive House by the Passive House Institute. Passive House is a building standard for energy use, demand and construction detailing that is substantially more stringent than building codes. Buildings constructed to the Passive House standard are known to improve the interior comfort of buildings while significantly reducing a building’s energy demand.

Caitlin of CA+P says of the St. Marks Passive House, “It has been a really great learning experience working with a team of committed individuals who believe in, and practice quality energy efficient design as ‘business as usual.’ It’s a great honor to be recognized as such, and I am looking forward to further developments in innovation and knowledge-sharing that the Buildings of Excellence Award will make possible.”

To learn more about the St. Marks Passive House watch this incredible video of Caitlin and Tony sharing thoughtful details of the process of designing and building it. Also, check out this detailed press release!

Kamen Tall Architects is looking for a candidate with experience in facade restoration and adaptive reuse design. Our projects involve historically significant buildings.

The position requires knowledge in design, construction documents, field work and construction administration. 

Kamen Tall Architects is a highly motivated professional team.  We offer a generous paid time off policy, healthcare coverage, dental coverage, a 401k match, and remote work options for full-time employees We work in a supportive studio environment and are accommodating to the individual needs of each employee.  KTA is dedicated to supporting professionals in their career advancement goals. KTA's office is currently functioning remotely apart from site visits that are primarily outdoors. 

Immediate availability is preferred.

Position Requirements:  

We are interested in candidates with a professional degree in architecture or experience in a relevant field.

• BArch, MArch, or equivalent degree from an accredited U.S. Architecture School is a plus.

• Talent and passion for restoration and adaptive reuse projects.

• Certified or willing to become certified to perform scaffold inspections.

• Ability to develop construction documents based on field exploration and interact directly with clients.

• Experience with NYC DOB, LPC, and other regulatory agency filings is preferred.

• Ability to develop details and think critically to solve unforeseen field conditions.

• Strong organizational.

• Excellent visual, verbal and written communication skill.

• Self-motivated and high energy.

• Ability to work in a collaborative team setting and adapt to office standards.

• Excellent drawing and sketching skills required.

• Fluency in AutoCAD is required, fluency in Revit is a plus.

• Ability to use construction administration software such as PlanGrid is preferred.

• Ability to use (SketchUp, Rhino, InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop) is preferred.

• Must be eligible to work in the United States. All applicants who are not U.S. citizens must describe their status to work in the United States, including visa type and duration.

Qualified candidates should submit a letter of interest, resume, and portfolio/work samples in PDF format to info@kamentallarchitects.com with the subject title “PROJECT MANAGER”.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

No phone calls please.

The AIA Civic Leadership Program (CLP) is an annual AIA fellowship for architectural and related design professionals in New York City. The application is currently open and is due April 26, 2021. The six-month part-time program is open to any design professional interested in applying their architectural skills towards civic issues and learning more about how to engage with public policy and advocacy opportunities in NYC. The attached flier has further program details and key dates.

The Civic Leadership Program is open to architects, designers, and urban planners who are interested in exploring the intersection of design, advocacy, and policy. AIA New York is excited to collaborate with nycoba|NOMA for this year’s program.

The CLP includes a self-led research project, developed in partnership with another program participant, on a topic of the pair’s choosing. The research will culminate in a development session, which is a three- to four hour-long presentation or workshop delivered by the pair to the larger CLP cohort. Participants are also tasked with developing, in a team of five, a public event hosted through the Center for Architecture. Additional training and workshops will be conducted with various organizations to strengthen and coach participants towards effective community action and advocacy. Following the development session and public event, CLP cohorts will draft write-ups summing major themes, which will be published in the AIANY and Center for Architecture newsletter.

Read more about the program and apply here.  There is also an information session coming up on April 7th at 6:00pm.

Deborah Berke Partners

Deborah Berke Partners is an architecture and interior design practice that, for over thirty years, has made true-to-place projects around the country and the world. Each member of their design leadership possesses a deep and distinct area of expertise; together they create projects with unprecedented programs and unexpected architectural expression. Over time, they have built a wide range of experience in projects for colleges and universities, cultural institutions, private residences, boutique hotels, office and multifamily developments, and buildings for mission-driven clients.

Current Job Openings

Architecture

Professional II Designer
New York

Senior Professional
New York

Business Development

Business Development Manager
New York

Would you like to know how to get in touch with mentors, what architects are looking for in an intern, what career paths you can take, how to follow your interests or anything else?

Ask us here! We can turn it into a new discussion that’s open to our network so you get the full benefit of hearing from your peers and mentors.

Earlier this Fall Places Journal published Architectural Workers, a conversation with Peggy Deamer, architect, professor, and cofounder of The Architecture Lobby. The Architecture Lobby is an organization of architectural workers advocating for the value of the architectural discipline to the general public, by advocating for labor rights within the profession. In this thought provoking interview, Peggy speaks on what inspired her to start the Architecture Lobby and her philosophy of what it means to be an architectural worker.

Next week, on November 9th, we will be joined by Peggy Deamer, Vivian Lee and Robert Lopez, who will lead the discussion during our seminar. Peggy, Vivian and Robert each have unique stories and contributions to the practice that we look forward to hearing about.

If you haven’t already, register to join us on November 9th.

Also, we would love to hear from you; what does being an architectural worker mean to you? Share in the comments.

Last Spring we were honored to have Elizabeth Graziolo join us as a mentor and share the story of starting her own practice, Yellow House Architects (YHA), after a successful career and partnership at Peter Pennoyer Architects. Yellow House Architects was only a few months old at the time, but from the time YHA opened its doors the practice has been busy with work, has stayed busy, and has even expanded through the pandemic.

This Fall Madame Architect featured Elizabeth in a wonderful article exploring her interests, inspiration, career path and words for the younger generation of women architects.

Agile and Unhindered: Yellow House Architects' Elizabeth Graziolo on Working All Over the World and Venturing Off on Her Own

by Julia Gamolina

We are pleased to announce a new feature on our forum: the Design Excellence Feature will highlight projects from mentors in our community. Projects will showcase notable design that has often been recognized in publications and/or with awards.

We want you to get to know even more about our mentors through their impressive portfolios of work.

We are kicking off the Design Excellence Feature with Desai Chia Architecture, who has been recognized in Dwell and Interior Design this year for their design of the Ledge House, and have received the Honor Award in the 2020 Residential Design Architecture Awards for their collaboration with Environment Architects on the Michigan Lake House.

Desai Chia is run by Katherine Chia, FAIA and Arjun Desai, AIA. Together they have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of their use and materials. We recently spoke with Katherine about the designs of the Ledge House and Michigan Lake House as well as the recent recognition and accolades these projects have received. Katherine shared,

“The designs for both the Michigan Lake House and the Ledge House evolved from a study of the local ecology, natural and vernacular features embedded in the region, and the client’s lifestyle and aspirations for the project. Each project had a “muse” that influenced the relationship of the architecture to the surrounding environment.”

In the Ledge House, the muse was an existing boulder- a prehistoric “glacial erratic” that was deposited along the ledge hundreds of thousands of years ago when the glaciers formed the Appalachian Mountains. The Ledge House was built tight to the boulder which became a rugged companion to the house and presides over the uphill forest views.

In the Michigan Lake House, the muse was the property’s steep bluff overlooking Lake Michigan-- we designed the form of the roof to capture and divert stormwater away from the bluff, preventing erosion along this vulnerable precipice.

Katherine will lead the discussion, along with Nadia Jarrett, in our January 21, 2021 Mentoring Seminar, where Katherine will discuss how work in the field is the best teacher.

If you haven’t already registered, you can register here.