The IDC Foundation has funded the following events to advance discussion and consideration of innovative approaches at the intersection of architecture, engineering, and building construction:

A Conference on “NYC’s Housing Crisis” – May 13, 2022

The IDC Foundation funded and co-organized a day-long conference on May 13, 2022 about “NYC’s Housing Crisis,” which took place at the New York Public Library's Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. The conference brought together leading housing experts, practitioners, researchers, journalists, policymakers, community activists, planners, and designers to discuss the causes, effects, and possible solutions to this newly emergent iteration of the ongoing housing crisis. The IDC Foundation’s partners in organizing the event were the Center for Architecture, the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, and Architectural Record. Speakers at the conference included the following:

• Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Regional Administrator, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Karen Blondel, Founder and Executive Director, Public Housing Civic Association

• Adolfo Carrión Jr., Commissioner, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

• Rafael Cestero, CEO, Community Preservation Corporation

• Michael Kimmelman, Architecture Critic, The New York Times

• Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President

• James Smarr, Senior Vice President, National Housing Partnership Foundation.

A full report on the event, created by the NYU Schack Institute’s Urban Lab, is available here. Michael Kimmelman’s keynote address “Thinking Bigger About Housing” is available here.

“Innovations & Intersections: Architecture, Engineering & Building Construction” – November 5, 2019

The IDC Foundation organized and hosted a panel discussion on November 5, 2019, at the Center for Architecture in New York City that featured five leading educators in a conversation about “Innovations & Intersections” in architecture, engineering and building construction. The panel members were:

• Amale Andraos – Dean, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

• Frances Bronet – President, Pratt Institute

• Jelena Kovacevic – Dean, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

• Maria Perbellini – Dean, School of Architecture and Design, New York Institute of Technology

• Laura Sparks – President, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

The moderator was Carol Loewenson, Partner, Mitchell Giurgola Architects; Board Member, IDC Foundation.

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To watch the entire panel discussion, click here. To watch a 20-minute excerpted segment on "Training Students for Innovation" at the intersection of architecture, engineering & building construction, click here. To watch a 20-minute excerpted segment on "Creating Innovation" at the intersection of architecture, engineering & building construction, click here. To watch a 20-minute excerpted segment on "Technology and its Role" at the intersection of architecture, engineering & building construction, click here.