Cocktails & Conversation is series of dialogues about design that joins an architect with a critic, journalist, curator, or architectural historian to discuss current architecture design issues. Each program includes a custom-crafted cocktail—one inspired by the architect’s work and created especially for this event.
Signe Nielsen has been practicing as a landscape architect and urban designer in New York since 1978. Her body of work has renewed the environmental integrity and transformed the quality of spaces for those who live, work, and play in the urban realm. She is the recipient of more than 100 national and local design awards for public open space projects and is published extensively nationally and internationally. Nielsen is a professor of urban design and landscape architecture at Pratt Institute in both the graduate and undergraduate Schools of Architecture and serves as president of the Public Design Commission of the City of New York. Born in Paris, Nielsen received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Urban Planning from Smith College; a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture from City College of New York; and a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Pratt Institute.
Molly Bourne has more than 24 years of design experience. Leveraging a combination of award-winning design talent and creative collaboration to navigate projects from concept through construction, she has led multidisciplinary teams on high-profile initiatives for waterfront parks, cultural institutions, and urban revitalization. Bourne’s passion and commitment spans a broad spectrum of skills including design direction, consultant coordination, project management, and client liaison services. A graduate of the University of Florida, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture. Bourne actively fosters the future of design through her work with the ACE Mentor Program for New York City high school students and as a guest critic at the University of Pennsylvania.
