Archinect - News

Outside investigators clear AIA leadership of any wrongdoing after misconduct claims

2024-08-28T13:11:00-04:00

The conclusion of an independent investigation into executive misconduct at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has yielded no evidence of wrongdoing, according to a statement published by the organization’s Board of Directors on Monday, August 26th.

The report from law firm Miller & Chevalier also ruled out any "regular conduct" on the part of any national office staffers or members of the AIA Leadership team.

“The Board has reviewed the law firm’s proposed recommendations for improvement in the areas of policy and process, and we are assessing how best to implement those recommendations. We anticipate sharing additional details regarding these recommendations with our members.” their statement reads.

Accusations stemming from an early April letter circulated through the membership ranks and signed by twenty former AIA presidents include nepotism, unlawful firing and retaliation, the abus...

AIA Board of Trustees issues statement in response to controversy

2024-06-13T12:01:00-04:00

A new statement written by the AIA’s Board of Trustees in response to the swirling controversy surrounding CEO Lakisha Ann Woods has reiterated their broadscale support amidst criticism about certain actions during her more than two-year tenure.

While the statement does not address specifically the claims that were put forth in last week's Bloomberg article concerning corporate misconduct and the letter circulating that was signed by 22 former AIA presidents, it did issue a number of salutary proclamations about her strategic endeavors and performance while in office. Woods joined the organization in 2022 after serving as the President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

"Among the matters brought forward, the Board directed external counsel to review the planning and execution of the AIA Staff Learning Retreat that took place in March 2024," part of the statement read, referring to their decision to retain a local firm to conduct an independent inquiry into the...

New York's Center for Architecture announces new leadership and chair

2022-07-29T17:19:00-04:00

One of the New York area’s most influential architectural institutions is getting new leadership after the AIANY's Center for Architecture announced its new board of directors positions on Friday.

The Center announced Sage and Coombe founding partner Jennifer Sage as the institution’s new chair, and Cornell University professor Peter Robinson as its new vice chair, in replacement of Columbia University’s Barry Bergdoll, who served in the position until June 30th. Marc Norman, a 2015 Harvard Loeb Fellow and the new director at NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate, is joining the board as a trustee as well.

A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale SoA, Sage has enjoyed a strong tenure with the organization thus far. After joining the AIANY Board of Directors in 2013 as a Director, she went on to serve as Vice President of Design Excellence from 2016 to 2018 before finally joining the Center for Architecture Board in 2019. Through the work of her firm, she has been involved in majo...

Five Cooper Union trustees just resigned

2015-06-10T13:37:00-04:00

Last night five members of the Cooper Union’s board of trustees resigned: real estate mogul Mark Epstein (the board’s former chairman), Vassar College president Catharine Bond Hill, architects Daniel Libeskind and Francois de Menil (the board’s vice chairman), and investment banker Monica Vachher. Three of the departing trustees — Epstein, Libeskind, and Vachher — have written public resignation letters [...].

Following are the three resignation letters by Epstein, Vachher, and Libeskind — all widely claimed as strong tuition supporters and loyal to hotly contested Cooper Union president Jamshed Bharucha — in full length as published on the Committee to Save Cooper Union from the Committee to Save Cooper Union (CSCUFCSCU) website.

All,
I am writing to you from under two hats. One as trustee, and one as donor.
As a Trustee, I am hereby resigning from the Board, effective immediately. During my term as Chairman we were able to put the school on a path to sustainability. It was going to be a difficult path with some hurdles to get over. We were on our way, but have now gotten so far off of that path due to the actions (or inactions) of the Board that I no longer want to participate. I know that there are some in the Cooper Community that will take my resignation as a false victory of some sort. I am not resigning due to any pressure from that group, rather that I no longer want to associate wit...

Hernan Diaz Alonso to follow Eric Owen Moss as Director of SCI-Arc, + Deans List sneak peek

2014-09-17T21:05:00-04:00

I am pleased that the SCI-Arc Board of Trustees at its quarterly meeting [on Wednesday, September 10] approved the contract with Hernan Diaz Alonso as the next Director of SCI-Arc. Hernan will assume this role beginning September 2015.

Hernan Diaz Alonso's appointment had been percolating since the beginning of the summer, when SCI-Arc's search committee first recommended him for the position after also considering professor Wes Jones. Diaz Alonso will take up the directorship at a pivotal point in SCI-Arc's history in relation to the city of Los Angeles, succeeding Eric Owen Moss' thirteen-year service which solidified the school's position in the now rapidly-developing Arts District of downtown LA.

Aside from serving academic and administrative roles at SCI-Arc since 2001, Diaz Alonso is also principal of LA-based Xefirotarch, a multidisciplinary practice that won MoMA PS1's Young Architects Program in 2005. He will also serve as Yale University's Eero Saarinen Professor of Architectural Design in Spring 2015.

Before Diaz Alonso's role was made public, we spoke with him for our Deans List series, focusing on his plans for managing SCI-Arc's evolution in the midst of a rapidly changing Los Angeles. Here are a few t...