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PYLON

Interview Archive

In this section

2024

Interview with Sai Deherkar

Interview with Juan Jofre Lora

Interview with Carlos Arnaiz

Interview with Marie Stargala

Interview with Lisa Liang

Interview with Chris Mancia

2023

Interview with Eric Safyan

Interview with Nicholas Barrera

Interview with Manish Vasan

Interview with Yitzy Shine

Interview with Patricia Semmler

Interview with Christoper Nelson

Interview with Rob Leising

Interview with Hans Maarten Wikkerink

Interview with Charles Lent

Interview with Shreekumar Kale

Interview with Jing Lui

Interview with Ivan Himanen

Interview with Can Vu Bui

Interview with Saakshi Aundhkar

Interview with Angeline Jacques

Interview with Andrew Hong

Interview with Jimmy Counts

Interview with Japheth Aleyakpo

Interview with Davis Owen

Interview with Chris Aniftos

Interview with Jesus Chavez

Interview with Ana Cubit

2022

Interview with Fernando Fisbein

Interview with Ana C Monteverde

Interview with Onica Leitch-Edinboro

Interview with Adam Wiesehan

Interview with Ryan Hansen

Interview with Emma VandeWater

Copyright © 2025.
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Featured Events

Apr 24, 2025 • AIA Brooklyn
Designing Against Deflection
6:30 pm–8:30 pm
Location: Floor & Decor Showroom
850 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Attention: Principals, project architects and designers! Come-one-come-all for this important presentation and live demonstration hosted by AIA Brooklyn sponsor Floor & Decor.
We all know that structures are designed with a degree of deflection in mind. If you have been working with venerable Brooklyn brownstones or other vintage structures, you know that these beloved buildings are sturdy but often too flexible to support tile floors, especially during this moment when large format porcelain floors are so popular. The “old school” mud-bed-and-cleavage-membrane detail that many of us grew up with is often too thick and cumbersome and too time-consuming for contemporary aesthetics, budgets and schedules.
Floor & Decor is hosting this presentation with Schluter-Systems to educate us about structural deflection and the wide array of thin, contemporary systems that allow us to deliver the finishes our clients want hassle-free and crack-free.
At 31st Street and Third Avenue near Industry City, Floor & Decor is closer than you think — only an 8-minute walk from the 36th Street D-N-R Station. There is also a big free parking lot. Light fare will be served and you’ll earn one HSW learning unit.

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May 8, 2025 • AIA Brooklyn
Owners vs. Architects: Key Strategies for Contract Negotiation
6:00 pm–8:30 pm
FX Collaborative
8th Floor
235 Duffield Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Attention principals, partners, and those of you who would like to be…
Running a firm? Think you might like to someday? Then this presentation is for you.
A solid agreement between owner and architect resides at the center of every successful project.
Our work with owners constitutes the ultimate merger in physical form: we all want to see the building or project to get built, but owners and architects typically have different agendas. In order to secure financing and investors, owners need a firm understanding of costs upfront with an obvious goal to hold those numbers to a minimum, whereas architects want to ensure that their contract allows for a degree of artistic freedom and innovation alongside the requisite technical precision and municipal approvals.
This presentation by Robert Herman and Hope Plasha, both veteran attorneys in this field, will provide you with strategies for these critical negotiations. Topics for discussion will include fee structures and schedules, owner’s and architect’s obligations, staffing and consultants, responsibilities and liabilities, intellectual property and construction administration.
The presentation will be followed by a lively Q & A, so bring your questions.
Hope Plasha has a broad-based national law practice covering all aspects of real estate law, including acquisitions and sales, construction and design contracts, development and leasing, and all manners of complex real estate financing. She also serves as an outside general council for real estate for a large multinational corporation, and she has supported the real estate goals of numerous not-for-profit institutions in the cultural, educational and medical sectors. She has received numerous awards within the legal and real estate fields. Hope is an alumna of Columbia University, she earned her j.d. from Yale, and she also holds a degree from the University of Oxford.
Robert Herrmann Chairs Offit Kurman’s New York Construction Law Practice. He represents design professionals, and other construction-related firms and privately held businesses. He acts as general counsel to a number of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, lighting designers, engineers, owners, developers, and contractors, advising them on general business matters and representing them in litigation, arbitration and mediation. Bob is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia University School of Law. Bob teaches at the Architecture schools of both Columbia University and the Pratt Institute. Bob is also the lead author of Law for Architects: What You Need to Know published by W.W. Norton.
1.5 Learning Units. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP early – registration will close on May 7th at noon.

RSVP
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Google iCal / Outlook

Upcoming Events

April
Apr 23, 2025 • AIA Brooklyn | CityTech
Artificial Intelligence in the Wild: Ongoing Experiments
6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Voorhees Hall, 186 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Artificial Intelligence in the Wild: Ongoing Experiments
Join us this month as we dive into the transformative world of artificial intelligence in project design and planning. Our distinguished panelists represent the full spectrum of AI implementation—from theoretical frameworks to practical applications—all pioneering new ways to revolutionize the design process.
These industry leaders are at the forefront of integrating AI tools that not only streamline workflows but also enhance creative outcomes. Discover how they’re harnessing these powerful technologies to make design processes both more efficient and dramatically more effective.
Panelists:
Dity Ayalon, AIA – ArkDesign.AI
Paul Clemens Bart – Beta Realities, Urban Beta
Fariba Makooi, AIA – Fischer + Makooi Architects
Sheldon McLeod – SHoP Architects

RSVP
Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook
Apr 24, 2025 • AIA Brooklyn
Designing Against Deflection
6:30 pm–8:30 pm
Location: Floor & Decor Showroom
850 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Attention: Principals, project architects and designers! Come-one-come-all for this important presentation and live demonstration hosted by AIA Brooklyn sponsor Floor & Decor.
We all know that structures are designed with a degree of deflection in mind. If you have been working with venerable Brooklyn brownstones or other vintage structures, you know that these beloved buildings are sturdy but often too flexible to support tile floors, especially during this moment when large format porcelain floors are so popular. The “old school” mud-bed-and-cleavage-membrane detail that many of us grew up with is often too thick and cumbersome and too time-consuming for contemporary aesthetics, budgets and schedules.
Floor & Decor is hosting this presentation with Schluter-Systems to educate us about structural deflection and the wide array of thin, contemporary systems that allow us to deliver the finishes our clients want hassle-free and crack-free.
At 31st Street and Third Avenue near Industry City, Floor & Decor is closer than you think — only an 8-minute walk from the 36th Street D-N-R Station. There is also a big free parking lot. Light fare will be served and you’ll earn one HSW learning unit.

RSVP
Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook
May
May 6, 2025
He, She, They, Architect: A Gender and Identity Open Mic Forum (Hybrid)
6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Hybrid - Zoom / AIANY Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY 10012
In this third segment of The Howl series, designers are invited to share personal perspectives on gender and identity. Gender and identity have always played a role in the way the most seminal designers and their careers came into being. To set the stage for an evening of storytelling, The Howl 3 will be launched with clips of filmed interviews and readings of personal stories shared by Sheila Bridges, Zaha Hadid, Philip Johnson, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
As the evening progresses, moderators Abriannah Aiken and Matthew Bremer, AIA, will draw audience members into the conversation, inviting people to share their views and experiences. As both a live and virtual forum, the event allows for spontaneous participation at the Center for Architecture, at work, or at home.
Attendees will earn 2 LU.

RSVP
Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook
May 8, 2025 • AIA Brooklyn
Owners vs. Architects: Key Strategies for Contract Negotiation
6:00 pm–8:30 pm
FX Collaborative
8th Floor
235 Duffield Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Attention principals, partners, and those of you who would like to be…
Running a firm? Think you might like to someday? Then this presentation is for you.
A solid agreement between owner and architect resides at the center of every successful project.
Our work with owners constitutes the ultimate merger in physical form: we all want to see the building or project to get built, but owners and architects typically have different agendas. In order to secure financing and investors, owners need a firm understanding of costs upfront with an obvious goal to hold those numbers to a minimum, whereas architects want to ensure that their contract allows for a degree of artistic freedom and innovation alongside the requisite technical precision and municipal approvals.
This presentation by Robert Herman and Hope Plasha, both veteran attorneys in this field, will provide you with strategies for these critical negotiations. Topics for discussion will include fee structures and schedules, owner’s and architect’s obligations, staffing and consultants, responsibilities and liabilities, intellectual property and construction administration.
The presentation will be followed by a lively Q & A, so bring your questions.
Hope Plasha has a broad-based national law practice covering all aspects of real estate law, including acquisitions and sales, construction and design contracts, development and leasing, and all manners of complex real estate financing. She also serves as an outside general council for real estate for a large multinational corporation, and she has supported the real estate goals of numerous not-for-profit institutions in the cultural, educational and medical sectors. She has received numerous awards within the legal and real estate fields. Hope is an alumna of Columbia University, she earned her j.d. from Yale, and she also holds a degree from the University of Oxford.
Robert Herrmann Chairs Offit Kurman’s New York Construction Law Practice. He represents design professionals, and other construction-related firms and privately held businesses. He acts as general counsel to a number of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, lighting designers, engineers, owners, developers, and contractors, advising them on general business matters and representing them in litigation, arbitration and mediation. Bob is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia University School of Law. Bob teaches at the Architecture schools of both Columbia University and the Pratt Institute. Bob is also the lead author of Law for Architects: What You Need to Know published by W.W. Norton.
1.5 Learning Units. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP early – registration will close on May 7th at noon.

RSVP
Add to calendar:
Google iCal / Outlook

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