Diana Darling

CEO & Creative Director

The Architect’s Newspaper

Darling is CEO, creative director, and co-founder of The Architect’s Newspaper, celebrating its 20th year. The A|N media company consists of print and digital publications covering architecture and design news, as well as the Facades+ and TECH+ conferences. As A|N’s publisher, Darling won the AIA National Collaboration Award, Grassroots Preservation Award, and ASLA NY’s President’s Award. She began her publishing career as director of print production for The Gap’s European markets. She holds a BS from The University of Texas at Austin.

John Cetra

FAIA / Founding Principal

CetraRuddy Architecture

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, Mr. Cetra has led the firm to international recognition.
Through his practice, John 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.
John 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.

Steve Cohen

National Architectural Manager

Ben van Berkel

Founder

UNSense & UNSense Studio

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.

Shohei Shigematsu

Partner / Director

OMA

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.

Theresa Genovese

Principal

CetraRuddy

Theresa Genovese, AIA, LEED AP, has over 20 years of experience in the design and construction of program intensive projects in scope and scale in the United States and abroad. With a background in both architecture and urban design, Genovese skillfully merges design concepts with a building’s larger context, simultaneously thinking about site, materiality and light to create buildings with a strong sense of place. She has a long history of working with cultural and academic communities, designing unique solutions for their expanding missions that invite participation and engagement. A leader of CetraRuddy’s Sustainable Design Group, Genovese approaches each project from a sustainable perspective, incorporating green strategies into the design from the beginning.

Travis Conrad

Architectural Consultant

Neolith

Travis is an accredited presenter for the OAA on Rainscreen Education – has been working in the architectural community for over 10 years, with a special focus on Ventilated Façade products and systems. From 2006-2010 he worked as a designer for Cornerstone Architecture where he gained significant experience and knowledge in rainscreen building science and project tendering and had the opportunity to do many unique assignments in design development and building modeling. From 2010 – 2015, as a Business Development Representative at Ontario Panelization, he worked with an array of rainscreen products and systems from Metal Panels, to Exotic Stones, to Building Integrated Photovoltaics and later on Sintered Surfaces for a considerable amount of projects located throughout North America. During this later phase, he developed a passion for Sintered Compact Surfaces that lead him to start a new adventure from early 2015 at TheSize Surfaces as the North American Architectural Consultant Representative where he assists and educates the architectural community to use Neolith products for a wide range of applications.

Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto

Founding, Principals

Reiser+Umemoto

Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture DPC, is a multidisciplinary design firm operating at a wide range of scales: from furniture design, to residential and commercial structures, up to the scale of landscape, urban design, and infrastructure. In 2010, the firm was awarded first prize for the Taipei Pop Music Center and the Kaohsiung Port Terminal in Taiwan, both of which began construction in 2013 are set to be completed in 2020. Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto have received numerous awards for their speculative work and built projects, including the Chrysler Award for Excellence in Design, the Academy Award in Architecture by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Citation and John Hejduk Award from the Cooper Union, and the USA Booth Fellowship from United States Artists for Architecture & Design. The firm’s first comprehensive monograph, Projects and Their Consequences, was published in 2019 and traces thirty years of innovative, multidisciplinary investigations of form, structure, technique, and planning.

Gary Handel

Managing Partner

Handel Architects

Gary Handel FAIA is the founder and Managing Partner of Handel Architects. Since starting the practice in 1994, Handel has overseen its growth to over 200 architects, designers, and planners around the world. He leads the firm’s direction by placing an emphasis on enriching the urban environment. Handel is a leader in sustainable building strategies, and recent work includes some of the largest and tallest Passive House buildings in the world.

Alison N. Landry

Executive Director of Design Build

NYC Department of Design & Construction

In her role managing design and construction projects, Alison Landry, AIA, uses her technical skill set and a creative, results-oriented approach to tackle complex issues across all five boroughs. Her current portfolio includes priority resiliency work at Bellevue Hospital to repair damage from superstorm Sandy, mitigating against future impacts and ensuring critical care needs are maintained during disaster events. She was previously an Associate at Handel Architects, and is a Registered Architect in the State of New York. Prior to moving to New York, she lived in New Orleans, supporting post-Katrina planning efforts through research, design, and advocacy. Landry received her Masters in Architecture from Tulane University.

Derick Clutchey

Director of Branch Sales

YKK AP

As director of branch sales, Derick Clutchey is responsible for expanding sales and ensuring service excellence for YKK AP’s 10 branch locations across the U.S. He is responsible for overall branch sales and their oversight, as well as support strategy development and execution with emphasis on business growth.

Clutchey joined YKK AP in 2016 as the Baltimore branch manager. In 2018, his oversight was expanded to include the Boston branch. He has successfully led the northeast regional team throughout this time with effective leadership as well as a strong talent for building relationships with employees and customers.

Weston Walker

Design Principal, Partner

Studio Gang

Weston Walker, AIA, is Design Principal in charge of Studio Gang’s New York office, where he leads a talented team of architects and a diverse portfolio of projects. Walker’s work spans cultural institutions, universities, civic buildings, and towers. Having led the design team for the recently completed Solar Carve Tower in New York, his current projects include a major expansion of the American Museum of Natural History and the new US Embassy in Brazil.

John Cetra

FAIA / Founding Principal

CetraRuddy Architecture

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, Mr. Cetra has led the firm to international recognition.
Through his practice, John 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.
John 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.

Markus Schulte

Principal

Arup

Markus Schulte, PE, leads Arup’s Facade Consulting Group in New York. He has extensive experience in the design and construction of sophisticated buildings in New York City and abroad. His current projects include the recladding of 1271 Avenue of the Americas and Cornell’s Bloomberg Center on Roosevelt Island. His interest lies in designing and building projects at the highest possible quality level within the budget and schedule constraints of his clients.

Purnima Kapur

Adjunct Associate Professor

Columbia GSAPP

Purnima Kapur is a highly accomplished planning professional with over 25 years of experience. She is currently a consultant to Harvard University’s Allston Initiative. Until recently, Kapur was the Executive Director of the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP). She is one of the key architects of New York City’s groundbreaking Mandatory Inclusionary Housing regulation. Kapur served as Director of DCP’s Brooklyn Borough Office from 2006-2014, and led transformative projects, including the development of Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island. As Director of DCP’s Bronx Office from 2001-2006, she led the largest rezoning agenda in the borough’s history touching almost every neighborhood in the borough. Kapur is trained as an architect and a city planner, with dual Masters degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Jamilla Walcott

Director of Marketing and Product Management

YKK AP

Walcott oversees marketing, communications, branding, and product management, for YKK AP America’s commercial facades and residential businesses; she also supports communications for Erie Architectural Products group. Walcott brings nearly 20 years of B2B marketing experience with manufacturing companies over a variety of industries. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Syracuse University and earned her M.B.A. at Wichita State University; she also served in the armed forces as a U.S. Air Force officer.

John Ivanoff

Associate Principal

BuroHappold Engineering

John Ivanoff joined BuroHappold Engineering in 2013 and is responsible for the direction of the United States Facades team at BuroHappold, based out of the NY office. Ivanoff holds a Master of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute. With deep global experience in design development and construction administration on projects in the US, Asia and the Middle East, his focus is on the design of complex and high performance building envelopes for a wide range of building types. He has worked with a variety of facade systems providing bespoke design solutions for both new buildings and renovations projects for institutional, commercial and cultural clients.

Stefan Zimmermann

Sr. Branch Mgr.

Würzburg Josef Gartner – a Division of Permasteelisa

Stefan Zimmermann leads Gartner’s branch office in Wuerzburg, Germany, and has been with Josef Gartner for 15 years. During this time he was responsible for about 75 high profile projects in many different countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, UK, Ireland, Qatar, UAE, Chile and Russia. With his engineering expertise, his main focus is in on steel and glass projects, cable walls, structural glass projects and complex geometries.

Francoise Bollack

Principal

Françoise Bollack Architects

Françoise Bollack, AIA, DESA, is a registered architect with over 30 years of experience in architectural design, historic preservation, adaptive reuse and interior design. Since 1990, Bollack has also been an adjunct Associate Professor of Historic Preservation in Columbia University’s GSAPP.

Bollack received her degree in Architecture at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. She was President of the Historic Districts Council from 2011 to 2014. She has served at the City and State levels of the AIA and on the boards of Landmark West! and of the Architectural League. Françoise Bollack Architects is a member of the Professional Circle of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. Recent publications include Old Buildings – New Forms: New Directions in Architectural Transformations (Monacelli Press, 2013). Defining Appropriateness was published in 2015 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Law.

The restoration of the facade of the LGBT Center won awards form the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Victorian Society of America and the Municipal Art Society.

Diana Darling

CEO & Creative Director

The Architect’s Newspaper

Darling is CEO, creative director, and co-founder of The Architect’s Newspaper, celebrating its 20th year. The A|N media company consists of print and digital publications covering architecture and design news, as well as the Facades+ and TECH+ conferences. As A|N’s publisher, Darling won the AIA National Collaboration Award, Grassroots Preservation Award, and ASLA NY’s President’s Award. She began her publishing career as director of print production for The Gap’s European markets. She holds a BS from The University of Texas at Austin.

John Cetra

FAIA / Founding Principal

CetraRuddy Architecture

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, Mr. Cetra has led the firm to international recognition.
Through his practice, John 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.
John 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.