by Center for Architecture
The Center for Architecture is preparing for a momentous occasion: Common Bond: The Center for Architecture Gala. This extraordinary event stands as our primary source of funding, playing a pivotal role in empowering the organization and its partner, AIA New York, to fulfill the shared mission of enlightening the public about the significance of architecture and design. On Thursday, October 24, professionals from the architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate industries will gather at Chelsea Piers, Pier 60, to honor those who continue the city’s rich legacy of design excellence.
Besides being an unparalleled opportunity for forging professional connections, the event provides critical funding for the Center’s exhibitions, programs, scholarships and other activities, including our popular K-12 education programs. We invite you to consider supporting the event by purchasing a sponsorship, ticket, or ad by October 11.
It is with immense pleasure that we introduce this year’s distinguished honorees, each embodying the values that define our community: collaboration, sustainability, inclusivity, civic engagement, and a commitment to design excellence: Bernard Tschumi, FAIA, FRIBA, SIA/FAS, Gotham Organization, New York League of Conservation Voters, and Michael Henry Adams. Additionally, we are pleased to announce our Dinner Chair, Julie Geden, serving as head of our esteemed Dinner Committee.
MEET THE HONOREES
Bernard Tschumi, FAIA, FRIBA, SIA/FAS
Dean Emeritus, Professor, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Bernard Tschumi is an architect based in New York and Paris. First known as a theorist, he exhibited and published The Manhattan Transcripts and wrote a series of theoretical essays collected in Architecture and Disjunction. Major built works include the Parc de la Villette in Paris; the Acropolis Museum in Athens; Le Fresnoy National Studio for the Contemporary Arts in Tourcoing, France; concert halls in Rouen and Limoges, France; architecture schools in Marne-la-Vallée, France and Miami, Florida; Binhai Science Museum in Tianjin, China; the headquarters for the watchmaker Vacheron Constantin in Geneva, Switzerland; and a large educational-research complex for Paris-Saclay University. Tschumi is Professor and Dean Emeritus at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he served as Dean from 1988 to 2003. He is the author of many publications including Architecture Concepts: Red is Not a Color and the five-volume Event-Cities series. His drawings and models are in the collections of major museums including The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which presented retrospectives of his work in 1994 and 2014. He is the recipient of international honors that include France’s Grand Prix National d’Architecture.
Gotham Organization
David L. Picket, CEO
David L. Picket is the Chief Executive Officer of Gotham Organization. Since joining the company in 1991, Picket has led Gotham’s new project development business through a period of unprecedented growth. He assumed responsibility for Gotham’s development and property operations businesses in 1998 and served as President of Gotham Development until 2020. He represents the fourth generation of Picket leadership in Gotham’s 110-year history, continuing the firm’s dedication to multi-family housing in New York City and beyond.
Under Picket’s direction, Gotham has developed over 5,000 housing units and over 1.7 million square feet of urban retail. The majority of the firm’s developments have utilized public/private partnerships, combining public funds, tax benefits, and/or reduced land prices in exchange for the creation of affordable housing, schools, community facilities, job programs, and other public benefits.
New York League of Conservation Voters
Julie Tighe, President
Julie Tighe was named President of NYLCV and NYLCVEF in 2018. As President, she oversees the organizations’ policy, political, development, programmatic, and communications teams. Due in part to the League’s and her advocacy in 2019, the State Legislature passed the nation’s most progressive climate law, the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, along with congestion pricing and several other pieces of legislation to reduce emissions from the transportation and buildings sectors. She also helped secure increased State funding for water infrastructure and New York City funding for parks and open spaces. Her priorities for NYLCV include a focus on expanding the use and production of renewable energy and reducing waste.
Previously, she served for more than eleven years at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation in various roles, having been elevated to Chief of Staff following her role as Assistant Commissioner of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs. As DEC’s Chief of Staff, she was instrumental in advancing the agency’s legislative priorities including reform of the State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program and a ten-year, $1 billion Superfund authorization. Tighe was a primary negotiator for the landmark $2.5 billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act, the incorporation of the Climate Change program into New York’s historic $300 million Environmental Protection Fund, three successful Constitutional Amendments, and the most comprehensive electronics recycling law in the country. She oversaw DEC’s policy development, helped run the nearly 3,000 employee agency, and served as a key member of the organization’s leadership team.
Michael Henry Adams
Michael Henry Adams is an historian and preservation activist living in Harlem. A fine arts graduate of the University of Akron, Michael trained in Columbia University‘s graduate historic preservation program and last year was awarded the Columbia Preservation Alumni Historic Preservation Leadership award. He also studied English country houses at the Attingham Summer School. His books include Harlem, Lost and Found; An Architectural and Social History, 1765-1915, Monacelli Press, 2001 and Style and Grace; African Americans at Home, Bullfinch, 2002. Currently he’s at work on the forthcoming Homo Harlem, A Chronicle of Lesbian and Gay Life in the African American Cultural Capital, 1915-1995. He is a passionate supporter of historic preservation and conceived Save Harlem Now!, enjoys Harlem restaurants, and espouses equality and justice for all.
MEET OUR DINNER CHAIR
Julie C. Geden
Senior Principal, Zubatkin Owner Representation, A Cumming Group Company
Julie Geden is a Senior Principal with Zubatkin Owner Representation, A Cumming Group Company. A lifelong design advocate, Geden has collaborated with multi-disciplinary teams to successfully deliver visionary and technically complex construction projects on behalf of not-for-profit institutions and private development clients. Over her 20-year career, she has served as a trusted advisor to the Park Avenue Armory, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum, Sarah Lawrence College, Rockefeller University, Horace Mann School, Saint David’s School, Success Academy, Jamestown, LP, and Goldman Sachs.