Tony Schirripa Passes the AIA NY Gavel

Tony rouses the crowd at his inauguration last year. Photo by Sam Lahoz.

At the Center for Architecture on December 7th, Anthony P. Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA, passed the gavel to Margaret O’Donoghue Castillo, AIA, LEED AP, the new President of the AIA NY Chapter. During Tony’s tenure, he took as his theme “Architect as Leader,” which explored the positive impact that architects can have not only on their projects and firms, but also on the larger community. Tony’s speech on Tuesday evening touched on the many high points of his tenure as president, including the Architects’ Fast-Track Leadership professional development series launched in September of 2010, events and exhibitions put on by the chapter (such as Innovate: Integrate, on view until January 15th, 2011), and new technology initiatives implemented. He finished by thanking the AIA NY Board, staff, and volunteers for their many contributions. To read Tony’s speech in full, go to eOCULUS. We congratulate him on a successful year!

Happy Holidays

Bloomingdale's Santa Monica Wins Award in RDI's International Store Design Competition

Photograph by Grey Crawford.

Congratulations once again to the Mancini•Duffy Retail Group, whose design for Bloomingdale's Santa Monica has placed in RDI's International Store Design Competition. The level of award will be announced at a reception in Manhattan on January 10th. Best wishes go out to the team behind the Santa Monica Place design, which included Senior Associate Edward Calabrese, Creative Director; Senior Associate Lisa Contreras, Resource Director; Senior Associate Marian Crawford, IIDA, FRDI, Project Director; Stan Kao, Senior Designer; Courtney Kemper, Project Designer; George Winsper, Job Captain, 1st Floor; and Alex Mai, Job Captain, 2nd Floor. Go here for more about the store.

Saks Fifth Avenue Gets Honorable Mention in London International Creative Competition

Photograph by Adrian Wilson.

In the organization’s own words, the London International Creative Competition “aims to bridge the gap between uniquely talented artists and an international audience. The artwork is judged by a board of internationally esteemed artists, writers, curators, gallery owners and other luminaries of the arts.” Awards are given in everything from sculpture to illustration to printmaking to architecture and beyond. Go here for the homepage of their website, and here to see the details of our honorable mention-cited entry, the third floor at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship.

Made in New York

The AIA New York Chapter/Center for Architecture’s MADE IN NEW YORK exhibition is currently up in the West 4th Street subway station, and will run through October 31st. In the words of the organization, “MADE IN NEW YORK solicits works of all scales and types – small, large, commercial, residential, public, private, interiors, historic preservation, engineering, landscape and urban design – presenting the scope and quality of work being done by AIA New York Chapter members across the globe.” Mancini•Duffy has four projects on display in the show: AOL, BT Americas, Cushman & Wakefield, and Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto. The show is “free with subway admission.”

For more about MADE IN NEW YORK, go here.

A Wonderful Turn-out for OHNY!

John Sadlon with guests (left) and Kristina Piccoli and Meghan O'Reilly with young designers from Georgia Southern University

Thank you, everyone, who came to visit us on Saturday as part of openhousenewyork. We had a great turn-out: over 250 visitors stopped by our office in the course of the seven-hour day. Visitors took tours of our space and heard talks about the history of our firm and our offices at 39 West 13th Street, the design process, a proposed project in the UAE, and our recently completed Bloomingdale’s Santa Monica store, as well as participating in a learning session about workplace strategy. Our youngest visitor was two years old, our largest tour included 27 people, and we had a special visit from a group of bright young interior design majors from Georgia Southern University. Some groups stayed for as long as an hour (!). We got great feedback from visitors, including one lovely woman who said that she’d been going on OHNY tours for seven years and this was the best tour she’d ever been on.

A huge thank-you to our team who made this event such a success: Steve Bleiweiss; Peyton Cochran; Marian Crawford, IIDA, FRDI; Alan Dandron, IIDA, LEED AP; Michael Kirn, AIA; Melissa Marsh, Assoc. AIA; Meghan O’Reilly, LEED AP; Kristina Piccoli, LEED AP; John Sadlon, Assoc. AIA, as well as our OHNY volunteers, especially Tuula A. who was such a joy to work with.

We're Opening Our Doors for OHNY

Come see us at our Manhattan office on Saturday, October 9th between the hours of 10 am to 5 pm, when we’ll be opening our doors as part of the openhousenewyork weekend. Designers, architects, proposal writers, and principals of our firm will be giving tours and talks every half-hour. We’re at 39 West 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues – look for the orange door.

To download a full brochure of all of openhousenewyork’s many splendid events, go here.