September 10: Open House Brunch and Design Speed Dating

Thanks to everyone who joined us on Saturday, September 10 for our latest Open House Brunch and Design Speed Dating event.

Van Alen’s seasonal series of portfolio reviews are the talk of the town among young designers—fast-paced, round-robin pairings of four emerging professionals with prominent architects, educators, and design critics. Our esteemed critics for this round were Stephen Cassell (Architecture Research Office), Diane Filippi (SPUR), Signe Nielsen (Mathews Nielsen and NYC Public Design Commission), and Suzanne Stephens (Architectural Record).

Congratulations to our four terrific designers: Allyn Hughes, Brandon Bartle, Jacob Dugopolski, and Marti Lea Gottsch.

And thanks to sponsors City Bakery, Murray's Bagels, and Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Co. for the festive brunch treats.

We've posted photos from the event on our Facebook album. And check out the critics' discussion about creating eye-grabbing portfolios on our Vimeo page.

We'll be keeping an eye out for exceptional young professionals to feature at our next quarterly Design Speed Dating event on Saturday, December 10. To be considered for a coveted spot, submit your portfolio as a PDF attachment, 5 MB maximum, to vai@vanalen.org.