Shaping the Future: Professional Education Reform in Architecture

Apr 23, 2026
4:00 pm–5:30 pm

Virtual - held on Zoom

RSVP

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Join the Young Architects Forum (YAF) for an engaging and candid Open Mic Night exploring the future of architectural education & licensure.

Featured Speakers:
Jeremy Fretts – Assistant Vice President, Education & Certification, NCARB
Devora Schwartz – Project Architect, Liscum McCormack VanVoorhis
James Wesala – Architect, SmithGroup
Jack Whalen – Regional Director, South, ACE Mentor Program of America

Moderator:
Mi Zhang, AIA, CPHD, NCARB, GPro | AIA Brooklyn

CE- LU – 1.5

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Featured Events

Apr 20, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Human Connection Workshop: Bring Your Presentations to Life!

6:00 pm–8:30 pm

FXCollaborative Architects
235 Duffield Street, Brooklyn

A rare opportunity to learn from a premier communications coaching team.

Want to feel more confident when you speak in public?
Want to nail your next interview?
Want to command the room as you share your design vision?
During this fun and highly interactive 2.5-hour workshop, the legendary Graceworks offers us a strong foundation for presenting and communicating in large and small spaces.

In this workshop, you will:
• Discover how to gain self-confidence as a presenter.
• Learn to connect with audiences of any size.
• Experience a warm-up technique that whacks your jitters.
• Get the 7 practical Human Connection Must-Do’s.
• See demos of super-smart ways to use your slides.
• Experience how powerful your body language is – game changer!
• Walk away with A Preparation Process that WORKS!

After laying this foundation, you’ll get to see the principles in action! Two or three volunteers will get a chance to be coached through a short, on-the-fly presentation (no need to prepare anything!).

To wrap things up, Graceworks will want to know your biggest takeaways, and as time allows, open up to any unanswered questions. Come ready to have fun and walk away with valuable tools to make The Human Connection!

Sign up early – registration closes at noon on April 17
2.0 AIA Learning Units

Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook

Upcoming Events

April
Apr 9, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Exhibition & Housing Brooklyn NOW! Panel

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

L10 Arts & Culture Center, 10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Housing Brooklyn NOW! Panel: Design, Advocacy and Community Voices

Thursday, April 9 · 6:30–8:00 PM

Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture

10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

1.5 AIA CEUs (pending)

Learn more about additional events taking place during the Brooklyn NOW! Exhibition.
As New York City faces long-term underinvestment in public housing and growing affordability challenges, this session brings together architects, community organizations, and housing advocates to explore how design, policy, and community voice intersect. Drawing from current projects and approaches, the discussion will examine how collaboration can translate resident priorities into more equitable housing outcomes. Through an interactive component, participants will engage in hands-on, community-centered activities that surface shared values and collective ideas for the future of public housing.

Brooklyn NOW! 2026, presented at the Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture, celebrates the design forces actively shaping our borough today. Opening in April 2026, the exhibition highlights how architects, builders, and visionaries are reimagining Brooklyn’s streets, homes, and civic spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by five in-person public programs, including a gallery opening that invites visitors to engage directly with the ideas and people behind the work.

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Apr 13, 2026– Apr 17, 2026 • AIA National

Architecture Week Virtual Read-Alouds

Zoom

It’s never too early to start thinking like an architect! Architecture Week is a nationwide celebration recognizing the power of good design, with a goal of inspiring hopeful architecture and design professionals and K-12 students.

Gather your students and join architecture and design children’s book authors throughout Architecture Week for a virtual read-aloud followed by Q&A. All times noted are EST. Click the book image to register for your favorite session(s). Groups are welcome.

Fourteen read-alouds will be held between April 13 and April 17, 2026.

RSVP

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Apr 13, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Exhibition & Futures Brooklyn NOW! Workshop

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

L10 Arts & Culture Center, 10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Futures Brooklyn NOW! Workshop: Public Storytelling and Creative Placemaking

Monday, April 13 · 6:30–8:00 PM

Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture

10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

1.5 AIA CEUs (pending)

Join us for a collaborative visioning session focused on designing for the future and shaping public possibilities. Together, we will imagine what our civic and educational spaces might look like 10–15 years from now. The session will explore how emerging ideas, hopeful design characteristics, and community-centered innovations can evolve into tangible futures. This interactive workshop invites participants to co-create forward-looking concepts, experiment with future-thinking tools, and help chart pathways toward meaningful, community-driven design.

Learn more about additional events taking place during the Brooklyn NOW! Exhibition.

Brooklyn NOW! 2026, presented at the Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture, celebrates the design forces actively shaping our borough today. Opening in April 2026, the exhibition highlights how architects, builders, and visionaries are reimagining Brooklyn’s streets, homes, and civic spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by five in-person public programs, including a gallery opening that invites visitors to engage directly with the ideas and people behind the work.

RSVP

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Apr 14, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn BKEP

NCARB Workshop – Navigating the Licensure Journey

3:00 pm–6:00 pm
CityTech Voorhees Hall, Second Floor Lounge, 186 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Join us for an in-person workshop focused on navigating the architectural licensure process in New York and across the U.S.

This session brings together experienced architects and professionals to walk through the key steps to becoming licensed, from setting up your NCARB record to completing AXP hours and preparing for the ARE.

This workshop is ideal for students, recent graduates, and emerging professionals at any stage of the licensure process.

What we’ll cover:
- Overview of the licensure process (Education, AXP, ARE, Registration)
- How to set up and navigate your NCARB account
- AXP requirements and reporting strategies
- ARE structure, scheduling, and study tips
- NYS-specific considerations and timelines
- Real experiences, advice, and common mistakes
Speakers:
- Devora Schwartz (Liscum McCormack VanVoorhis Architects)
- Nicholas Agneta (Nicholas Agneta Architect)
- Kenneth Conzelmann (AIA, SARA, City Tech Faculty, OWO Architects)
- Christopher Mancia (ARCHNOMA)
Moderators:Mi Zhang & Selin Demirbas

The workshop offers 3 Learning Units(LU).

Come with your questions and leave with a clearer roadmap!
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Apr 18, 2026– Apr 19, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn and CityTech

AIA Brooklyn Architecture Week: Two-Day Architecture Studio for Brooklyn High School Students (Registration Required)

9:00 am–4:00 pm

NYC College of Technology (CityTech), Voorhees Hall, 186 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Brooklyn, in collaboration with City Tech, is pleased to launch the first annual Architecture Week, a celebration of the architecture profession with programs designed to inspire students and the community. This two-day workshop is free and open to all Brooklyn high school students who are curious about architecture, design, or how cities are shaped.

The Program –

Reading the Block is a hands-on architecture studio hosted at City Tech’s Architecture Department. Over two days, students will explore a real Brooklyn city block, learn how architects study neighborhoods, and understand how design decisions impact daily life.

What Students Will Do –
Students will work in small groups alongside architects, college mentors, and design professionals. Activities are modeled after real architecture studios and include:

sketching and observing an urban block

learning how architects analyze buildings, streets, and public spaces

collaborating as a team to redesign a real city block

creating drawings and models

presenting their ideas in a supportive “pin-up” review, just like in architecture school

What Students Gain –
The workshop builds confidence, creativity, and leadership through:

design thinking

problem-solving

storytelling and presentation skills

craft and model-making

constructive feedback and collaboration

Students leave with a deeper understanding of how architects shape communities – and with new skills that support future academic and career pathways.

Dates: April 18–19
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Final Presentation: 4:00 PM (Families Welcome)

PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Please register your High School student below.

Registration Form Here

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Apr 18, 2026– Apr 19, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn and CityTech

AIA Brooklyn Architecture Week: Call for Volunteers

9:00 am–4:00 pm

NYC College of Technology (CityTech), Voorhees Hall, 186 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

AIA Brooklyn Architecture Week – Volunteer Opportunities

AIA Brooklyn is excited to launch Brooklyn’s inaugural participation in AIA National’s Architecture Week! Brooklyn’s Architecture Week will take place on April 13-19, focusing on educating the community, especially the K-12 children on architecture and career pathways in the built environment. As a part of this initiative, AIA Brooklyn is hosting educational architecture “studios” for high school students at the Brooklyn College of Technology (City Tech) on April 18-19 (Saturday and Sunday).

JOIN our Mentoring Architectural Pathways (MAP) Committee to help facilitate educational workshops for high school students, lead firm tours, provide lunch and learn firm tours, teach sketching, demonstrate how to study an urban block, instruct how to build basic models, coach a framework for public speaking to present your pin-up, and many more opportunities to shape the future architect leaders.

This two-day workshop will be held at City Tech’s Vorhees Hall on April 18th and 19th (Saturday and Sunday), from 9AM-4PM starting with a welcome address and ending with a celebratory “pin-up”.

All participants will earn CEU certificates based on half day participation. We encourage facilitators for the architecture “studios” to sign up for both full days to build the mentoring with the high school students.

Program Overview:

Architecture Week centers on hands-on learning experiences for students, facilitated by volunteer architects, emerging professionals and college students. Approximately 100 high school students are invited to participate; organized into “studio” groups of 5-7 participants each with 3 leaders+assistants. Our goal is to open the architecture profession’s pipeline to students, many of whom have limited access to architecture or design classes in their high schools.

We all play key roles in educating and inspiring the next generation of architects. Let’s build the pipeline together.

Firm tours on 4/18/26 would begin as early as 11AM and end by 2PM. Please select from the menu options below.

Click Here to Sign Up to Volunteer!

Add to calendar:
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Apr 18, 2026– Apr 18, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn Women in Architecture (WIA)

AIA Brooklyn Architecture Week: Design Like a Girl Workshop (Registration Required)

10:00 am–1:00 pm

NYC College of Technology (CityTech), Voorhees Hall, 186 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Join AIA Brooklyn Women in Architecture for a hands-on Design Like a Girl workshop introducing students in grades 3–5 to architecture, structural design, and creative problem-solving.

Inspired by the Design Like a Girl program originally founded by Joanna Schmickel, FAIA, this workshop introduces young students to how architects think about buildings, structures, and the built environment.

Through guided activities and model-making, participants will explore how architectural structures and design ideas can help create healthier and more resilient cities. Working with mentors from the AIA Brooklyn Women in Architecture Committee, students will design and build their own creative 3D models.

This workshop is designed for children in grades 3–5 (ages 8–10).
No prior design experience is required. All materials will be provided.

RSVP

Add to calendar:
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Apr 20, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Human Connection Workshop: Bring Your Presentations to Life!

6:00 pm–8:30 pm

FXCollaborative Architects
235 Duffield Street, Brooklyn

A rare opportunity to learn from a premier communications coaching team.

Want to feel more confident when you speak in public?
Want to nail your next interview?
Want to command the room as you share your design vision?
During this fun and highly interactive 2.5-hour workshop, the legendary Graceworks offers us a strong foundation for presenting and communicating in large and small spaces.

In this workshop, you will:
• Discover how to gain self-confidence as a presenter.
• Learn to connect with audiences of any size.
• Experience a warm-up technique that whacks your jitters.
• Get the 7 practical Human Connection Must-Do’s.
• See demos of super-smart ways to use your slides.
• Experience how powerful your body language is – game changer!
• Walk away with A Preparation Process that WORKS!

After laying this foundation, you’ll get to see the principles in action! Two or three volunteers will get a chance to be coached through a short, on-the-fly presentation (no need to prepare anything!).

To wrap things up, Graceworks will want to know your biggest takeaways, and as time allows, open up to any unanswered questions. Come ready to have fun and walk away with valuable tools to make The Human Connection!

Sign up early – registration closes at noon on April 17
2.0 AIA Learning Units

Buy Tickets

Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook
Apr 23, 2026 • YAF Young Architects Forum

Shaping the Future: Professional Education Reform in Architecture

4:00 pm–5:30 pm

Virtual - held on Zoom

Join the Young Architects Forum (YAF) for an engaging and candid Open Mic Night exploring the future of architectural education & licensure.

Register at – Zoom Webinar

Featured Speakers:
Jeremy Fretts – Assistant Vice President, Education & Certification, NCARB
Devora Schwartz – Project Architect, Liscum McCormack VanVoorhis
James Wesala – Architect, SmithGroup
Jack Whalen – Regional Director, South, ACE Mentor Program of America

Moderator:
Mi Zhang, AIA, CPHD, NCARB, GPro | AIA Brooklyn

CE- LU – 1.5

RSVP

Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook
Apr 23, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Exhibition & Public Brooklyn NOW! Panel

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

L10 Arts & Culture Center, 10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Public Brooklyn NOW! Panel: How Public Spaces Shape Neighborhood Life

Thursday, April 23 · 6:30–8:00 PM

Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture

10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

1.5 AIA CEUs (pending)

This panel explores how public space in Brooklyn is shaped not only through design, but also through policy, community advocacy, and the forces that determine who a space is truly made for. From parks and waterfronts to sidewalks and under-elevated corridors, Brooklyn’s shared spaces are continually contested and transformed. The conversation brings together planners, designers, and advocates to ask what it really means to design for belonging.

This event is one in a five-part series; learn more here.

Brooklyn NOW! 2026, presented at the Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture, celebrates the design forces actively shaping our borough today. Opening in April 2026, the exhibition highlights how architects, builders, and visionaries are reimagining Brooklyn’s streets, homes, and civic spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by five in-person public programs, including a gallery opening that invites visitors to engage directly with the ideas and people behind the work.

RSVP

Add to calendar:
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Apr 30, 2026 • AIA Brooklyn

Exhibition Closing & Practicing Brooklyn NOW! Panel

6:30 pm–8:00 pm

L10 Arts & Culture Center, 10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Practicing Brooklyn NOW! Panel: Working Locally in a Global City

Thursday, April 30 · 6:30–8:00 PM

Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture

10 Lafayette Avenue, Second Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11217

1.5 AIA CEUs (pending)

What does it mean to build a practice rooted in Brooklyn? This panel highlights architects and designers whose work is deeply embedded in Brooklyn’s neighborhoods. Speakers will discuss building a local practice, working with community clients, and balancing local impact with broader professional pressures.

Learn more about additional events taking place during the Brooklyn NOW! Exhibition.

Brooklyn NOW! 2026, presented at the Brooklyn Public Library – Library for Arts & Culture, celebrates the design forces actively shaping our borough today. Opening in April 2026, the exhibition highlights how architects, builders, and visionaries are reimagining Brooklyn’s streets, homes, and civic spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by five in-person public programs, including a gallery opening that invites visitors to engage directly with the ideas and people behind the work.

RSVP

Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook

Shaping the Future: Professional Education Reform in Architecture

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