NYC

THE PREMIER CONFERENCE ON
HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDING ENCLOSURES

April 2 + 3, 2020

At the Metropolitan Pavilion

PRESENTED BY
CONFERENCE CHAIR
PLATINUM SPONSOR

Facades+ bring together some of the world’s most productive building professionals

Be inspired and learn how to innovate all steps of facade implementation, from systems and materials to designs and delivery strategies.

Earn AIA CEUs

Remain registered to practice with continuing education credits

Day 1, April 2

Symposium

Attend a full day of stimulating presentations and panels that examines the fast-paced evolution of facade technology, addresses new perspectives on building skins, and explores innovative, sustainable design practices. Includes access to Methods+Materials Sponsor Gallery.

Day 1, April 2

Expo Floor

Visit the Methods + Materials gallery to meet with industry-leading manufactures of every possible product from cladding, glazing, framing + facade systems to advanced materials and services. Over sixty companies on hand to field questions and demo products for all of your project needs.

Day 2, April 2

Workshops

Engage in in-depth conversations with the industry’s leading design professionals in an intimate, seminar-style setting. Customize your schedule by selecting one morning and one afternoon sessions which match your level of expertise and interest.

Featured Presenters

Ben van Berkel
Founder
UNSense OPENING KEYNOTE
Ben van Berkel

Ben van Berkel, (F)RIBA, Hon. FAIA, studied architecture at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and at the Architectural Association in London, receiving the AA Diploma with Honours in 1987. In 1988 he and Caroline Bos set up an architectural practice in Amsterdam, extending their theoretical and writing projects to the practice of architecture. UNStudio presents itself as a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. Current projects include the design for Doha's Integrated Metro Network in Qatar, ‘Four’ a large-scale mixed-use project in Frankfurt and the Wasl Tower in Dubai. UNStudio projects include the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Arnhem central Station in the Netherlands, the Raffles City mixed-use development in Hangzhou, the Canaletto Tower in London, a private villa up-state New York and the Singapore University of Technology and Design. In 2018 Ben van Berkel founded UNSense, an Arch Tech company that designs and integrates human-centric tech solutions for the built environment. Currently, van Berkel holds the Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor's Chair at Harvard University GSD. In 2017, he also gave a TEDx presentation about health and architecture. In addition, he is a member of the Taskforce Team / Advisory Board Construction Industry for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
John Cetra
Founding Principal
CetraRuddy
CO-CHAIR
John Cetra

John Cetra co-founded CetraRuddy in 1987 on the principle that architecture should engage the urban fabric while enriching the human spirit. With a passion for innovative, inspiring designs and a commitment to real world solutions, Cetra has led the firm to international recognition. Through his practice, Cetra has experienced the interrelationship of architecture, urban design and planning. He has a sophisticated understanding of program, zoning, and complex problem solving which inform his approach on projects ranging from new construction to conversions of Landmark buildings. He is a recognized industry leader in tall building technology, historic buildings and analytic site development. Cetra holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Spitzer School of Architecture of the City College of New York.
Suri Kasirer
President
Kasirer LLC
Suri Kasirer

Suri Kasirer is a born New Yorker and advocate. She founded Kasirer in 1997 and is a lifelong commitment to championing people, progress and policy in the city. Kasirer grew her business into the #1 lobbying firms in New York City, assembling and leading a team with decades of experience and an unrivaled fluency in the inner workings of New York. She and her team have established an unparalleled record of success in the city on behalf of clients who are leaders in a wide range of industries, corporate to not-for-profit, education and culture, real estate to technology, hospitality to media to health care. Citizens Union honored Suri as a 2018 Gotham Great and she was a recipient of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Women of Power & Influence Award. Kasirer serves on the boards of the New York League of Conservation Voters, Citymeals on Wheels, the Women’s Leadership Forum and the New York Building Foundation. She is a member of the steering committee for the Association for a Better New York and a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate, and the Downtown Lower Manhattan Association. After graduating from Yeshiva University, Suri worked as an educator—before working on a national presidential race. Inspired by politics, she joined the executive staff of then-governor Mario Cuomo as his special assistant.
Shohei Shigematsu
Partner / Director
OMA
Shohei Shigematsu

Shohei Shigematsu has been a driving force behind many of OMA’s projects, leading the firm’s diverse portfolio in the Americas for the past decade. With an emphasis on maximum specificity and process-oriented design, Shigematsu provides design leadership and direction across the company for projects from their conceptual onset to completed construction.He is responsible for delivering a number of cultural projects across North America, including Milstein Hall, an extension to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University; a new museum for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec; Faena Forum in Miami Beach and the renovation and reimagination of Sotheby’s New York Headquarters. His cultural projects currently in progress include an expansion for the New Museum in New York City; an extension to the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York and an event space for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. Shigematsu has also designed exhibitions for Prada, the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Park Avenue Armory, Dior’s first US retrospective at Denver Art Museum and at the Dallas Museum of Art. He has collaborated with multiple artists – including Cai Guo-Qiang, Marina Abramović, Kanye West and Taryn Simon.Shigematsu's urban and public space designs around the world include the Willow Campus masterplan, an integrated mixed-use village for Facebook in Menlo Park, California; a mixed-use development in Santa Monica; a new civic center in Bogota, Colombia; a post-Hurricane Sandy urban water strategy for New Jersey; and in Toronto, the largest transit-oriented development currently underway in North America.He has built a number of innovative workspaces including–the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing (2012), and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Headquarters (2013). He is currently designing a new business center in Fukuoka (2020) and OMA’s first tower in Tokyo for Mori Building Co, Ltd. (2022). Shigematsu’s designs for three residential projects are under construction across the country–from New York to San Francisco and Miami.A design critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Shigematsu has lectured at TED and Wired Japan conference, and at universities throughout the world.
Joshua Prince-Ramus
Founding Principal
REX