AIANY Emerging New York Architects Committee Meeting (Featuring Reem Makkawi)

This meeting is offered in-person at the Center for Architecture and on Zoom. Please email skaba@aiany.org for details on how to join.

Featuring Reem Makkawi on Architecture Beyond Buildings: Craft, Code, and Cultural Futures

Join us for a conversation with Reem Makkawi, designer, entrepreneur, and cultural strategist, as she shares her journey across global practice, nonprofit innovation, and curatorial initiatives in New York. From concert halls and cultural campuses to AI-driven workflows and social impact platforms like FurnitureMatch© and ArtsMatch©, Reem’s work bridges architecture, interiors, and cultural production. She will reflect on lessons learned moving between corporate firms and independent practice, the challenges of entrepreneurship in design, and the opportunities to expand the architect’s role as civic and cultural agent. The discussion will also touch on pedagogy, mentorship, and her vision for how architects and designers can reimagine practice at the intersection of craft, code, and community.

About the Speaker:
Reem Makkawi is a designer, entrepreneur, and cultural strategist whose work bridges architecture, interiors, and experiential design with a commitment to civic impact and ecological intelligence. She is the Executive Director of FurnitureMatch©, a nonprofit reimagining surplus as resource by channeling high-quality furnishings to nonprofits and communities in need. Through her creative practice ArtsMatch©, she curates spaces, experiences and interdisciplinary cultural programs that bring together artists, musicians, business and civic leaders and designers to advance social impact.

Reem’s professional background spans four continents and includes projects with Rafael Viñoly Architects, Perkins&Will, and Anderson Anderson Architecture, ranging from cultural landmarks and urban frameworks to hospitality, workplace, and private residences. She has spoken on panels hosted by the Architectural League of New York, New York Build, and 3DNY, and serves on IIDA New York’s Catalyst Committee and AIA New York’s Emerging New York Architects Committee. Her work explores the intersections of craft, code, and community as tools to reframe the future of architecture.

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The committees of AIA New York are the foundations from which the Chapter positions itself in the field of architecture, whether through discussion, advocacy, policy making and development, event and exhibition planning, or other endeavors.

Committees meet monthly, usually at the Center for Architecture. AIA members, AIA associate members, and general public are all welcome to participate.

If you have questions or are considering attending a meeting for the first time, contact each committee’s co-chairs for more information at aiany.org/committees.