TORCH Mentorship Panel: Forging Your Path

The TORCH Mentorship Program convenes Fellows and other experienced practitioners to share their extraordinary career paths. This panel will explore motives and identify career opportunities in an increasing dynamic and elastic architecture profession. Speakers will share their personal stories, forming the basis for understanding a broad range of career options, from the prescriptive to the unprecedented. A more intimate time for conversation and networking will follow the panel discussion.

Speakers:
Victor Body-Lawson, FAIA, Principal, Body Lawson Associates Architects and Planners
Margaret M. Carney, FAIA, University Architect, Cornell University
Nicole Dosso, FAIA, Vice President for Design & Construction, Vornado Realty Trust
Lloyd Sigal, FAIA, Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Kim Yao, FAIA, Principal, Architecture Research Office
Willy Zambrano, FAIA, Principal, Zambrano Architectural Design

Moderator:
Edgar Pantelejevas, AIA, Senior Associate, Major Architecture

About the Speakers:
Victor Body-Lawson is Principal at Body Lawson Associates Architects and Planners, an acclaimed architecture, interiors, and urban design practice founded in 1993. His international portfolio includes work in multifamily housing, religious and commercial buildings, historic preservation, interior design, and recreational and health facilities. A noted leader in responsive, collaborative community solutions, Body-Lawson is recognized for his ability to empower people in under-resourced communities through their public spaces and buildings. He is also an accomplished artist and visiting critic at Yale and Columbia.

Margaret M. Carney is the University Architect for Cornell University, her alma mater, where she leads the planning and design of the university’s built environment. Prior to this role, Carney served as Associate VP, University Architect, and Planner for 14 years on three other campuses: the Catholic University of America in DC, Temple University in Philadelphia, and Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. She has led the implementation of transformational campus master plans, guided the selection of design teams for significant projects, and stewarded their design and integration within existing contexts. Earlier in her career, Carney worked with TAC, SOM, Sasaki, and Ben Thompson Associates.

Nicole Dosso is Vice President for Design & Construction at Vornado Realty Trust. She has spent her 25-year career working in New York City on complex projects demanding a high level of team coordination and collaboration. Projects include 7 World Trade Center, One World Trade Center, Baccarat Hotel & Residencies, Manhattan West, and 35 Hudson Yards. At Vornado, Dosso is involved in several projects in the Penn Station District. She is currently serving on the New York State Board for Architecture and the Advisory Board for Syracuse University’s School of Architectur. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Lloyd Sigal is a Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF). Since joining KPF in 1988, he has played a key role in managing the 720-person firm and has led some of its most challenging projects to numerous global awards, including two AIA National Honor Awards. Sigal’s management approach fuses design with engineering and construction, emphasizing collaboration to develop creative, integrated solutions. This strategy is epitomized by a series of projects that use architectural “surgery” to reposition outdated buildings, including the national award-winning Centra Metropark in New Jersey and 390 Madison in New York City. Sigal oversees KPF’s work on the west coast, as well as its presence in South America.

Kim Yao is a Principal at Architecture Research Office (ARO). The firm’s diverse project portfolio, spanning strategic planning, architecture, and urban design, is united by a principled and engaged approach to design, collaborative process, and technical precision. Yao holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and has also taught at the School of Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design, and Barnard College. Yao has lectured widely throughout the United States and abroad. She has been awarded the AIA New York Medal of Honor and the Beverly Willis Foundation Mentorship Award.

Willy Zambrano is a Principal of Zambrano Architectural Design, a complete architectural and interior design services firm with an emphasis on creating projects that achieve design excellence and enhance the public experience. He is firmly committed to creative problem solving through planning and is expert on building code interpretation and zoning analysis. In bridging planning and design disciplines, he enhances and maximizes project opportunities while respecting and protecting new and existing building fabric. Zambrano has long and valuable experience in designing facilities for a variety of sectors including new construction and adaptive reuse, multifamily residential, health-related facilities, and interior design. He was President of AIA Queens from 2015 to 2016 and a AIA Strategic Council NY Region Representative from 2019 to 2021.

Edgar Pantelejevas is Senior Associate at Major Architecture, a full-service design firm that believes in thoughtfully crafted spaces for better interactions, smarter homes, sustainable cities, and, ultimately, a better world. His experience is comprised of several residential, healthcare, educational, athletic, and commercial projects in New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC, and Lithuania. Pantelejevas is a registered architect in New York State. He was 2020 TORCH Mentorship Program mentee and is a member of the TORCH Mentorship executive committee.

This event is offered in person; proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination (for attendees ages 5 and up) with photo ID for adults is required to attend in person. Face masks are required for visitors ages 2-5, and optional for those vaccinated. Read our full Health and Safety Protocol here.