Archive

  1. Suchi Reddy

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    Suchi Reddy is an architect, designer, and artist based in NYC. In 2002, she founded Reddymade, which focuses on public art installations, large-scale commercial spaces, and residential projects ranging from single-family homes to interiors and prefab architecture. Guided by her mantra “form follows feeling,” Reddy’s architectural and artistic practice is informed by her research on neuroaesthetics, which examines the impact our environments have on the brain and body.

    Reddy has presented and lectured on the firm’s work at numerous venues including Bloomberg’s CityLab 2023, The Salk Institute for the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture’s annual conference, the WSJ Future of Everything Festival, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin. Reddy teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and serves on several boards, including the Design Trust for Public Space and Storefront for Art and Architecture.

  2. Ben Cruz

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    Ben Cruz is the founder of Gold Rhino, a Brooklyn-based brand and creative studio. Before that, he was co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of A Different Kind of Animal and Chief Creative Officer of Fly Communications. His work is built on one conviction: a story only works if the people it’s meant to reach can see their truths resonating in it. His current work is the brand and creative platform for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s $1.5 billion bicentennial campaign, RPI Forward, built from interviews with donors and alumni whose lived histories with the school, before and after it, became the campaign’s pillars.

    At A Different Kind of Animal, it meant designing Shaker, a shared academic platform for twenty-three Paris schools, built only after two months listening to their students and faculty; and sitting with the Black community BET was rebuilt for, until “we got you” actually meant something to the people feeling it.

    It meant speaking with seventeen Okinawan distilleries to understand Awamori culturally before building Ryukyu 1429’s brand around the three master distillers who trusted the international team with their story; and sitting with Ducati’s own dealers to find where sales were breaking down before building a campaign disciplined enough to guarantee its results: 2.2 million impressions, 649 dealer leads at half the historical cost per lead.

    At Fly Communications, it meant understanding the relationship between a reader and a physical book well enough to launch the Amazon Kindle, a new category that would herald the iPad, and introducing what was then called Amazon Grocery, now Amazon Fresh, expanding a brand known at the time only for books. It also meant sitting inside the private argument a drinker has with themselves before getting behind the wheel, then building Pernod Ricard’s responsibility campaign around those exact excuses instead of lecturing past them, an idea that traveled to five languages across three continents.

    Every one of those projects started the same way: by listening first. The people whose stories he told entrusted him with their voice and their point of view. Safeguarding both, not just capturing them, was always the job. That’s what Ben brings to Van Alen’s board: the belief that a structure’s story only retains its integrity if the people who live within it are still the ones telling it.

  3. Michelle Roelofs

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    Michelle Roelofs, PE is a structural engineer and the founder of Michelle Roelofs Structural Studio (MRS Studio), a New York-based practice focused on cultural, institutional, and civic projects. Founded in 2026, MRS Studio collaborates with architects, cultural organizations, educational institutions, and public agencies to create thoughtful and enduring places that enrich communities and public life.

    Prior to founding MRS Studio, Michelle spent 18 years at Arup, where she led the structural design of museums, academic buildings, civic spaces, and other complex projects across North America. Notable projects include the Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History, Harvard University’s David Rubenstein Treehouse, and the expansion of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

    Michelle teaches Mass Timber Design at The Cooper Union and is committed to advancing design education, sustainable construction, adaptive reuse, and the role of engineering in shaping the built environment.

  4. Anand Amin

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    Anand Amin is a Senior Development Manager at DBI Projects, where he advises universities, nonprofit organizations, public entities, and private clients on complex real estate and urban development initiatives. His work spans feasibility and strategic planning, owner’s representation, public-private partnerships, capital planning, and the implementation of large-scale institutional and mixed-use projects.

    Prior to joining DBI, Anand served as Senior Advisor for Real Estate in the New York City Mayor’s Office, where he led major development initiatives involving affordable housing, mixed-use redevelopment, civic infrastructure, and public-private partnerships. His work included advancing the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, Willets Point, SPARC Kips Bay, and publicly owned sites across the five boroughs. Earlier in his career, he held leadership and planning roles at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Department of City Planning, and New York City Housing Authority, working across housing policy, land use, urban design, and neighborhood planning.

    Anand previously served on the boards of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Industrial Development Agency and Local Development Corporation, as well as the Empire State Development Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

  5. Alex Hammerschlag

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    Alex Hammerschlag is a co-founder of The Effectus Group, the New York- and Texas-based owner’s representative and project management company. He has built a career managing large-scale projects such as Kimbell Art Museum’s Piano Pavilion and the Grace Farms Foundation.

    Working from the ground up, Alex oversees the selection of architects, engineers, and contractors while carefully crafting, managing, and administering budgets and schedules to enable team members to work at their most effective and efficient. Prioritizing collaboration, Alex has worked with clients, architects, and builders to complete over $800 million in completed construction projects. His decade of experience includes multi-family residential, historic landmark restoration, and legacy projects.

    Alex holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Lehigh University and previously worked for the Paratus Group in New York City.

  6. Diana Reyna

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    For over twenty years, Diana Reyna has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to communities across the Greater New York Area through government service and advocacy. She is founding principal at Diana Reyna Strategic Consulting, LLC. At DRS Consulting, clients are able to tap into the extensive and vast network of relationships cultivated in the public and private sectors. At DRS Consulting, success is achieved when conscientious goals and an ethical responsibility to clients and communities impacted are met. Previously, Reyna was Senior Partner at Athena Consulting Group Inc., a full-service government relations, public engagement, strategic communications, and business development firm.

    Diana Reyna is the former Deputy Brooklyn Borough President (2014–17), and a former New York City Council Member for the 34th Council District (2001–13). During her tenure, as Deputy Brooklyn Borough President, Reyna advocated for the over 2.6 million residents of New York City’s most diverse borough. Reyna was the first Dominican American woman elected to public office in New York State. As a New York City Council Member representing the 34th Council District, Reyna demonstrated an outstanding commitment to communities across her district in Brooklyn and Queens. She garnered citywide attention for her efforts in championing affordable housing, economic development, improving equity in education, park space, waste and environmental justice as well as expanding youth and senior services.

  7. Sebastian Mendez

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    Sebastian Mendez is a licensed architect with extensive design and construction experience. In 2014, Sebastian co-founded Tankhouse, a Brooklyn-based real estate development firm. Tankhouse is driven by the belief that building cities should be done locally, with transparency, accountability, and passion. The firm is committed to creating better urban solutions through design excellence and process-driven collaboration. Its team combines expertise in architecture, urban design, finance, construction, management, and education, delivering projects that enhance the quality of life and the fabric of the city.

    Prior to founding Tankhouse, he was an Associate Partner at Foster + Partners New York, where he led the design and project management of over 3 million square feet of residential, commercial, and cultural projects across North and South America.

    Sebastian earned his Master of Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires (2002) and a degree in Real Estate Development from New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate. He has taught at the University of Buenos Aires and the Boston Architectural College, and he is frequently invited as a guest critic at leading architecture schools, including Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and Cooper Union.

    A longtime resident of the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn, Sebastian is deeply engaged in the intersection of community, design, and urban growth. He is particularly interested in advancing the quality of public space as a central part of urban life, and in ensuring that new development contributes positively to the character and inclusiveness of the neighborhood. Sebastian actively works to engage the Gowanus community in the changes the area is undergoing, advocating for approaches that balance growth with sustainability, cultural vitality, and social equity. His projects reflect a commitment not only to architecture and development, but also to the public realm and the collective urban experience.

  8. Thomas Yu

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    Thomas Yu is the Executive Director of Asian Americans For Equality (AAFE), a 50-year old community development organization serving the 1.3 million New Yorkers of Asian descent, and all of those in need regardless of background. Through his leadership, AAFE has achieved development of over 1,200 units of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, provided crucial social services to over 35,000 individuals annually, assisted more than 10,000 small business entrepreneurs with over $70 million of direct capital, and aided 5,000 first time homebuyers in achieving their American dream through counseling and access to $250 million in sustainable home mortgages. Thomas also leads AAFE’s grassroots policy advocacy, urban planning and infrastructure capital investment in AAPI and other communities, with a goal of advancing community revitalization through local arts and space activation.

    Thomas has served on various mayoral task forces and was a long-time member of Manhattan’s Community Board #3, specifically on the Parks, Waterfront Development, Landmarks and Housing committees. Thomas is a director on the boards of Hester Street Collaborative and the Van Alen Institute, NYC non-profits which leverage architecture and design to help residents become civically engaged in community planning. Thomas sits on the New Market Tax Credit community advisory boards of Low Income Investment Fund and NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the community advisory boards of Valley Bank and Santander. He also was the past board co-chair of National CAPACD. Thomas received a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Harvard University and a Masters in Urban Planning from the New York University Wagner School of Public Service.

  9. Katie Swenson

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    Katie Swenson is a design leader, writer, and educator renowned for her work at the intersection of architecture, equity, and public life. She is a Senior Principal at MASS Design Group, where she leads the Advocacy team. Her work explores how critical design practice can promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthier communities. With over 20 years of experience in both the theoretical and practical applications of design thinking, Katie is also a sought-after speaker on the role of architecture in building just and vibrant communities.

    A prolific writer, Katie is the author of Design with Love: At Home in America and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness, both published in 2020. She co-authored Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a Housing Development Model with William Morrish and Susanne Schindler, and contributed to Activist Architecture: Philosophy and Practice of Community Design and Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism. In 2021, she received the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture.

    Before joining MASS, Katie served as Vice President of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners, where she led the Enterprise Rose Fellowship—first as a fellow, then as its director, growing it into a national platform for emerging leaders in community design. She also founded the Charlottesville Community Design Center.

    Katie teaches at both the Parsons School of Design at The New School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), and lectures widely on affordable housing, sustainable development, and the role of design in civic life. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia. In 2019, she was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

  10. Kia Weatherspoon

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    As the design voice of impact and change, Kia Weatherspoon, NCIDQ, ASID, has spent the last 15 years defying every design stereotype. The most damaging: interior design is a luxury reserved for a few. Her voice, advocacy for Design Equity™, and design practice have shifted the narrative, making interior design a standard for all. Kia is challenging the lack of these standards in economically challenged communities. Her presence and leadership have created ripples, prompting housing developers, agencies, and industry partners to not just take notice of her work – but to do better.

    As an advocate and educator in business leadership, equity, and diversity, Kia has been recognized by Interior Design Magazine as a HiP Design for the Greater Good – Small Firm and selected as a GlobeSt.com Real Estate Forum 2020 Woman of Influence. She was honored as part of the 40 under 40 classes for both Washington Business Journal and BD+C Magazine. She also received the International Interior Design Association Luna Textile/ Anna Hernandez Visionary Award and the CREW DC Raise Up Your Voice Award.

    For over a decade Kia has led her firm, Determined by Design, in creating elevated equitable design outcomes for over 3,500 hundred families, 25 communities, and designed over 165,000 sq.ft of interior spaces for affordable and low-income housing. Communities where the average median income was below $35,000/year per family. Communities that mirrored her, with 95% of the residents being black and/or of color. Kia believes Interior Design should be in service to all people, so every person and community is uplifted by the spaces they inhabit. No matter the project type, her focus is elevating communities—a path that requires advocacy and empathy!