Looking Back, Looking Forward

As we approach the close of 2014, the Center for Architecture Foundation looks back at nearly 50 years of organizational history. The Foundation has gone through several transformations since its founding by AIANY in 1966 as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization to complement the Chapter’s professional mission. Its first programs were scholarships for students pursuing a degree in architecture. In 1998, the Foundation adopted the Learning By Design:NY committee, providing the support that enabled it to grow into the nationally-recognized K-12 education program it is today. With the opening of the Center for Architecture in 2003, we changed our name from the New York Foundation for Architecture to the Center for Architecture Foundation, to recognize the role of the Center in our next phase of development. Here, we have expanded our offerings to include design workshops for K-12 students, families, and adults curious to learn more about the city’s built environment and the process of design.

Every phase of our development has nurtured growth in new, positive directions. In January 2015, we will take another step forward in our evolution by restructuring our relationship with AIANY and changing our name once again to be simply the Center for Architecture. This reorganization will allow all of the public-facing and educational components of the Center – the exhibitions, public programs, and design education experiences – to reap the benefits of being part of a non-profit organization, such as access to new funding streams and a stronger voice to fulfill the Center’s mission. We will convene a new Board of Trustees whose mission will be to support the Center as a center of learning for the public and design professionals.

AIANY remains at the core of the newly configured Center, and the new Center for Architecture Board will have strong AIANY representation. The Board will also include many existing Foundation Board members, and current Board President Joe Tortorella will serve as the Center’s President in 2015. Joining them will be several new trustees from the fields of architecture, arts, and culture who will help us to continue to grow as an organization and a venue. Staff will work together as a unified group fulfilling the missions of both the Chapter and the Center for Architecture, under the direction of Executive Director, Rick Bell, FAIA. With these strategic changes in place, we expect that the Center for Architecture will be an even more vital arena for information and dialogue about architecture, and well-positioned for its second decade of development.

We thank, with profound gratitude, our outgoing Board of Directors, who have provided leadership and support in service of the Center for Architecture Foundation and who worked in concert with the AIANY Board over the past year and a half to effect this change. One-third of this body will serve on the new Center for Architecture Board. We look forward to working together with them and the rest of the Board on this new endeavor towards building the premier architectural cultural institution in New York City.

CFAF Board of Trustees

Joseph F. Tortorella, PE*
President
Carol Loewenson, FAIA
Vice President
John B. Simoni, Jr.*
Secretary
Robert Brewer*
Treasurer
Susan K. Appel
Melissa Billig*
Steve Colletta
Joseph H. Donovan, AIA
Judy Hunt
Mary Lou Kelley
Evie Klein*
Tom Krizmanic, AIA*
Jan Lakin
Sharon Liebowitz*
Jerry Maltz, AIA
Sherida E. Paulsen, FAIA*
Ed Pedrick
Keith Rosen, AIA*
Stanley Stark, FAIA*

*Continuing to new Center for Architecture board