Architecture in a Time of Polarities: Celebrating the Launch of SKALA 31

Launched in 1985 by the Danish architect Henning Larsen, SKALA began as a magazine and gallery in Copenhagen dedicated to curiosity, dialogue, and international architectural discourse, inviting architects, designers and thinkers from around the world to engage in debate and reflect on architecture past, present, and future.

Architecture today exists under immense pressure to be fast driven by capital, technology, and urban expansion. Yet the craft of architecture has always relied on slowness: the generational accumulation of knowledge, the rhythms of place and climate, and the deep time of natural materials and landscapes.

On the occasion of the launch of Skala 31 Magazine, entitled Architecture in the Time of Polarities, this panel discussion explores how architecture and landscape can negotiate these temporal polarities between the instant and the enduring, the product and the process, the global feed and the local story.

Speakers:
Susannah Drake, FAIA, FASLA, President of the Board, Clyfford Still Museum; Board Member, Regional Plan Association in New York
Jacob Kurek, Managing Director, Henning Larsen

Moderator:
Gregory Haley, AIA, AICP, LEED AP, Associate Principal, Henning Larsen

About the Speakers:
Susannah Churchill Drake, FAIA, FASLA, is an award-winning architect and landscape architect specializing in large-scale planning and design that advances ecological resilience and social equity. She is a recipient of the AIA Young Architects Award, holds Fellowships in both the AIA and ASLA, and was named an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York. Susannah’s work has earned a place in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2020, she was honored with the inaugural Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award for Climate Action. In 2023 her project From Redlining to Blue Zoning: Equity and Environmental Risk, Liberty City, Miami 2100, was featured in the Venice Architecture Biennale.  Her first book Sponge Park was published by Park Books in 2025. Susannah is the President of the Board of the Clyfford Still Museum and serves on the Board of the Regional Plan Association in New York. She holds a BA from Dartmouth College and both a Master of Architecture (MArch) and a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Geography, Planning, and Design at the University of Colorado Denver.

Jacob Kurek is Managing Director of Henning Larsen, where he leads the studio’s global strategy. An architect educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Architecture in Copenhagen, Jacob has been part of Henning Larsen for more than two decades, previously serving as Global Market Director and Global Design Director for Architecture. Across his career, Jacob has played a central role in establishing Henning Larsen’s strong international presence, with projects spanning more than 20 countries. His work is grounded in a context-driven design approach rooted in Scandinavian values of transparency, democracy, and dialogue, emphasizing collaborative design processes that engage clients, stakeholders, and communities, while delivering impact and innovative solutions. Jacob has extensive experience across cultural, institutional, educational, and commercial projects, with a particular focus on urban regeneration and large-scale city-making initiatives that create long-term value for cities and communities. He sits on the board of Danish Association of Architectural Firms (Danske Ark) and has also taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He is a frequent speaker and moderator on design leadership, architectural discourse, and the future of cities. Under Jacob’s leadership, Henning Larsen published the 31st issue of SKALA: Architecture in a Time of Polarities, the influential architectural magazine founded by Henning in 1985, reviving it as a platform for international reflection, debate, and exchange on architecture’s cultural and societal role.

Gregory Haley, AIA, AICP, LEED AP is a New York based architect and urban designer and an Associate Principal with Henning Larsen. His work focuses on engagement with the public realm through civic, mixed-use, and urban design projects. He is an Lecturer at Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is the member of the Harvard GSD Alumni Council, President of the Harvard Alumni Architectural & Urban Society (HAAUS), and a co-chair of the AIANY Global Dialogues committee.