Registration & Continental Breakfast

Program Welcome & Introduction

Cathleen McGuigan
Editor-in-Chief
Architectural Record

Keynote Address

In her keynote address, Jeanne Gang will discuss a selection of Studio Gang's current and upcoming work, focusing on projects centered on material innovation. The particular challenges of tall buildings are distinct from those of community projects, which are often faced with economic challenges. Taking on these two project extremes has spurred her firm's innovative architecture at both the "high" and "low" ends of the technology spectrum. Jeanne's talk will highlight and share some recent discoveries and point to possible future directions for the practice's work.

Jeanne Gang, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Principal & Founder
Studio Gang Architects

Innovation in Record Time Presentation

David Robinson, MechoSystems' Director of Automations, will speak about technical innovations in building design over the past five decades, and MechoSystems' role in this evolution.  What overarching philosophies drove building design in the 60s, 70s, and beyond?  How has the industry improved and modernized outdated designs?  David will contextualize the major milestones in commercial design—from yesterday's typical concrete office buildings to the new era of glass exteriors; from sick buildings to structures with healthier outdoor connections; and from poorly managed lighting/shading systems to conservation-friendly shade automation systems. He will also review key MechoSystems projects over time in a visual presentation that entertains, educates, and inspires.

David Robinson 
Director of Automations
MechoSystems

Networking & Refreshment Break

Foster and Partners, KieranTimberlake, and Kennedy & Violich Architecture are three well-known firms who each created research and development departments in their offices in the last decade or so.  Through their specialized groups, they have sought effective means to develop innovative solutions to architectural and urbanistic problems.  While each firm varies in the size and type of project it takes on, each has generated advanced thinking in such areas as new materials, construction methods, computer technology and sustainable practices.  These three offices will explain how their R&D efforts led to pioneering design of architectural and urban form, and what they foresee will help them address complex issues of building and design in the future.

Moderator:
Suzanne Stephens
Deputy Editor
Architectural Record

Panelists:
Francis Aish
Partner, Head of Applied Research & Design
Foster + Partners

Sheila Kennedy, AIA
Principal
Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd.

Stephen Kieran, FAIA
Founding Partner
KieranTimberlake

Ten Years of Innovation: Technology

Over the last decade, technological tools, including those for modeling architectural form, predicting performance, and simulating the construction process, have radically transformed the way buildings are designed and built.  This panel will review some of the key developments of the recent past and explore coming innovations that promise to further shape individual structures and cities, the ways we inhabit them, and how we move around them.

Moderator:
Joann Gonchar, AIA, LEED AP
Senior Editor
Architectural Record

Panelists:
Kent Larson
Principal Research Scientist
MIT Media Lab

Stephen Selkowitz
Department Head
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dennis R. Shelden, AIA
Chief Technology Officer
Gehry Technologies

Innovation in Record Time Presentation

Architect Michael Green will present how innovations in wood technology are leading to wooden skyscrapers—structures with small physical footprints that accommodate increasing urban density and do so with a zero carbon footprint.

Michael Green 
Principal
Michael Green Architecture

Networking Luncheon

Design Vanguard Architects in Record Time

Since 2000, Architectural Record has featured in its annual Design Vanguard issue the most talented emerging architects from around the world. Many of these firms—including Jeanne Gang, David Adjaye, SHoP, Bjarke Ingels, Alejandro Aravena, and Qingyun Ma—have now established themselves as major players in the architectural profession while others are in the process of doing so. This session will give a group of Vanguard architects the chance to quickly show what they are working on now and talk about what they are doing to maintain their design edge.

Moderator:
Clifford A. Pearson
Deputy Editor
Architectural Record

Panelists:
Eric Bunge, AIA
Principal
nARCHITECTS

Jennifer Luce, AIA
Principal
Luce et Studio

Sebastian Schmaling, AIA, LEED AP
Partner
Johnsen Schmaling Architects

Marc Tsurumaki
Principal
LTL Architects

Networking & Refreshment Break

Supertall Case Studies: Technique, Practice & Design

This panel will examine the challenges of designing "supertall" skyscrapers—that is, skyscrapers over 1,250 feet tall—the height of the Empire State Building. Speakers include the "cloud club" of architects involved in buildings such as Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Shanghai World Financial Center and the projected Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. The discussion will focus on various aspects of design and engineering, specifically with respect to wind turbulence, soil conditions, structure, vertical circulation and energy use. Above all is the ultimate challenge: how to design a tower that engages the people of a particular place functionally, aesthetically and urbanistically—whether abroad or in North America.

Moderator:
Carol Willis 
Director
The Skyscraper Museum

Panelist:
William F. Baker, PE, SE, FASCE, FIStructE 
Structural & Civil Engineering Partner
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Gordon Gill, AIA
Partner
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

William Pedersen, FAIA FAAR
Vice Chairman
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

Keynote Address

Francis Kéré
Founder
Francis Kéré Architecture

Closing Keynote

David Adjaye is Founder and Principal Architect of Adjaye Associates.  Established in June 2000, the firm's projects range in scale from private houses, cafes and bars, exhibitions and temporary pavilions to major arts centres, civic buildings and masterplans in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.  Adjaye will present selected recent projects, including the prestigious commission to design the Smithsonian Institution's ambitious National Museum of African American Culture and History on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

David Adjaye OBE 
Founder & Principal Architect
Adjaye Associates

5:10 PM - 5:15 PM 

Laura Viscusi
Publisher
Architectural Record

5:15 PM - 6:45 PM 

6:45 PM