by Center for Architecture
The Center for Architecture is excited to announce new leadership transitions. Following two years of service to the organization as Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jennifer Sage, FAIA, LEED AP, Founding Partner at Sage and Coombe Architects, has stepped down, with Peter Robinson, Founder of WorkUrban and Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, assuming the role. Marc Norman, founder of Ideas and Action, who joined the Board as a Trustee in September 2022, is appointed Vice Chair.
During her tenure, which concluded on June 30, 2024, Sage was an instrumental force in leading the Center for Architecture. She has been engaged with the organization for over a decade, having joined the AIANY Board of Directors in 2013 as a Director, serving as Vice President of Design Excellence from 2016 to 2018, and then joining the Center for Architecture Board of Trustees in 2019. Sage also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Center for Architecture’s Exhibitions Committee, through which the organization develops its annual exhibitions program, and is part of the Scholarship Committee, an essential initiative that awards students and professionals scholarships and grants. While Sage is no longer Chair, she will remain on the Board of Trustees, where she will continue to provide guidance and expertise for the organization.
Peter Robinson, one of the founders of BlackSpace Urbanist Collective, joined the Board of Trustees in January 2021 and has since been focused on expanding the Center’s strategic partnerships. His research focuses on cultural subjectivity and the city, broaching parallels and interferences among architectural/urban design, planning, and cultural theories as a means to engage and inform social action.
“I have had the privilege of watching the Center for Architecture evolve and expand over the years, continuously serving as a vital link between the profession of architecture and the people of New York City,” said Robinson. “As a young professional, I participated in the organization’s Learning By Design program in its early stages, and later became involved in other initiatives including NYCOBA | NOMA. Through these experiences, I’ve seen firsthand the impact of architecture as a tool for education, empowerment, and community-building. As the Center continues to deepen its engagement with communities, particularly those underserved and overlooked, I’m honored to step into the role of Chair and collaborate with our Board to guide conversations around how we can broaden our reach and make the field of architecture more accessible, vibrant, and inclusive.”
Marc Norman, the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair in Real Estate Finance and Associate Dean of the NYU School of Professional Studies Schack Institute of Real Estate, previously served as the curator of the Center for Architecture’s 2015 exhibition, Designing Affordability: Quicker, Smarter, More Efficient Housing Now.
“I first joined the Board in 2022, and since then have been inspired by the organization’s commitment to showcasing and shaping the state of architecture and urban development in NYC and beyond,” said Norman. “I’m eager to continue furthering the Center for Architecture’s vision in fostering exchange and collaboration across the design, development, and policy sectors as we work together to create a more equitable, forward-thinking city.”
In addition to these leadership transitions, the Center for Architecture also welcomes new trustees Eran Chen, AIA, Anil Khachane, and Elizabeth J. Kennedy, FASLA, RA. Chen’s term began in September 2024, and Khachane and Kennedy will begin their service in the new year.
Since establishing ODA in 2007, Founder and Director Eran Chen, AIA, has earned a reputation for mold-breaking designs that will deliver a better urban future. Having completed more than 50 buildings in just over a decade, he has become one of the most prolific architects in New York. Chen’s work has been widely published around the world and recognized by the AIA, the Society of American Registered Architects, and others. He is an Adjunct Professor at both Columbia University and New York University and has long been engaged with Center for Architecture programming.
Elizabeth J. Kennedy, FASLA, RLA, Principal Landscape Architect at EKLA PLLC, was the 2022 recipient of the Landscape Architecture Foundation Medal, which honors a career of distinguished work in landscape sustainability. The medal award followed her 2021 elevation to the ASLA Council of Fellows, which she will chair in 2025. Deemed “an exceptional leader, visionary, entrepreneur, advocate for social change, designer, teacher, and mentor to young professional women and BIPOC designers,” she heads EKLA, which she founded in 1994. The work she directs quietly challenges mainstream assumptions about the aspirations and needs of underrepresented voices that persist despite systems and biases that have long dispossessed the less powerful of spaces and rendered the people who use them invisible.
A former member of the AIA Board of Directors, Anil Khachane brings over 24 years of experience in coordinating projects across feasibility, design, development, and construction. After spending more than a decade in architectural practice, he transitioned to overseeing numerous development and redevelopment projects in collaboration with a variety of owners and operators. Currently serving as Senior Vice President of Development with Ian Schrager, his focus is on expansion of a boutique lifestyle hospitality brand. Anil has previously contributed to high-profile projects such as the redevelopment of Rockefeller Center during his time with Tishman Speyer. Throughout his career, he has led projects in affordable housing, occupied residential and commercial buildings, working with large institutional investors and property owners.