AIANY Women in Architecture Happy Hour: Honoring the 2022 Women Fellows

Come join the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee for our annual happy hour to honor the recently elevated women AIA Fellows for 2022! This is an informal networking event for architects and designers to connect with chapter members who have earned the distinction of FAIA for their significant contributions to architecture and society. Recently elevated Fellows will talk about their path to fellowship, share valuable advice on how to get there, and provide insights as leaders in our profession. We look forward to seeing you there and congratulating these accomplished Fellows!

Speakers:
Lori Brown, FAIA, Professor, Syracuse University
Anne Holford-Smith, FAIA, Partner, PBDW Architects
Kim Yao, FAIA, Principal, Architecture Research Office

About the Speakers:
Lori Brown’s research focuses on architecture and social justice issues, with particular emphasis on gender and its impact upon spatial relationships. Her work seeks to broaden the discourse and involvement of architecture in our world. Her two books include Feminist Practices: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Women in Architecture and Contested Spaces: Abortion Clinics, Women’s Shelters and Hospitals. She is the co-founder of ArchiteXX, a gender equity in architecture organization transforming the profession by bridging the academy and practice. Her current projects include Birthing Centers, Borders and Bodies and The Bloomsbury Global Encyclopedia of Women in Architecture, 1960-2015 with Dr. Karen Burns. She received a Bachelor of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She is a Professor of Architecture at Syracuse University and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Anne Holford-Smith is a partner at PBDW Architects with 35 years of professional experience. Her career at PBDW spans three decades and includes many of the firm’s preservation and restoration projects for major cultural institutions, including multiple projects at Green-Wood Cemetery and the restoration of Cooper Union’s Foundation Building. Recent projects include the new construction of the net-zero energy Fellows Hall residence at Williams College, the 2022 Architizer A+ Award recipient in Architecture and Sustainability, and the Moise Safra Center, the 2022 American Architecture Award recipient in the Religious Buildings category. Her leadership in preservation has been recognized through her many public speaking engagements at national and local conferences and meetings. Through a broad range of building types, including additions to and adaptive reuse of existing buildings, pure preservation, and new construction within historic contexts, the common theme of her work is the interplay between new and old. Holford-Smith currently serves as a Commissioner on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Kim Yao is Principal of Architecture Research Office (ARO), a New York City firm united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. ARO’s diverse body of work has earned the firm over a hundred design awards including the 2020 National AIA Architecture Firm Award. She holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia College, Columbia University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the School of Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design, and Barnard College. She has lectured throughout the United States and abroad. Yao has been awarded the AIANY Medal of Honor and the Beverly Willis Foundation Mentorship Award. She was President of AIANY in 2020 and serves on the Board of the Center for Architecture.