Tour of the Ford Foundation

Join the AIANY Interiors Committee for a tour of the Ford Foundation.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than 80 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement.

Gensler led the transformation of the Ford Foundation’s landmark headquarters into the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice. The major restoration and renewal maintains and enhances the building’s original character while also significantly introducing an increase in transparency and accessibility throughout the space. Gensler has undertaken the redesign with an emphasis on architectural stewardship and an eye to the foundation’s mission for the 21st century — to promote the inherent dignity of all people. For the renewal, the design team sought to make meaningful program changes while maintaining both the design intent as well as the patina of the original project architecture.

The tour of the building and garden will be led by Bevin Savage Yamazaki, Senior Associate at Gensler and Design Manager for the Ford Foundation project, she will be joined by Adrian Grad, Ford Foundation’s Project Manager, and Annette Wilkus Partner at Siteworks who partnered with Raymond Jungles on the project’s landscape architecture.

Tour Guides:

Bevin Savage Yamazaki, Civic & Culture Leader, Senior Associate, Gensler
Bevin leads Gensler’s global Civic + Culture practice. She has worked with a range of cultural and not-for-profit institutions including the New York Public Library, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Dia:Beacon, Queens Museum, and the Ford Foundation along with artist’s Vito Acconci, Leni Schwendinger, Chris Burden and Dennis Oppenheim on various projects in Europe and the US. She has published a white paper on the future of museums and continues her research by looking at the relationship between museums and their constituencies, with a focus on the visitor experience. Bevin has lectured at the New Museum, Pratt Institute, MAAM, ACSA, and SXSW and led panel discussions alongside many of the most renowned names in the arts.

Adrian Grad, former Project Manager, Ford Foundation
Adrian was Ford Foundation’s project manager for the mission-driven renovation of its landmark New York City headquarters. Working with Gensler, Adrian ensured that the disability consultants design the Center for Social Justice not just be meet, but to exceed the requirements for accessibility and become one of the global standard bearers for designing for access and inclusion. Before joining Ford in 2015, Adrian was Director of Facilities and Operations at the International Rescue Committee. Adrian will be joining The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center as their Director of Facilities. The venue is scheduled to open in September 2021.

Annette P. Wilkus, FASLA, RLA, LEED® AP, Partner, SiteWorks
Annette is the founding Partner of SiteWorks Landscape Architecture with nearly 40 years experience in design, construction documents and construction management. Annette’s career has focused on project management and technical aspects of Landscape Architecture and, in fact, founded SiteWorks in response to the increasing divergence in the building industry between the focus of design and construction. Ms. Wilkus has been an integral member of construction management teams for many of New York’s iconic open spaces including The High Line, Governors Island Park and Public Space and Hunters Point South. Collaborations include Brooklyn Botanic Native Flora Garden and The Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice.

Registration for the tour will close on 2/21

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