by Pierre Alexandre de Looz

The multi-angled intersection of Broadway and 5th Avenue in Manhattan is an anomaly on the city grid, the sort of kink that David van der Leer, the 34-year-old executive director of Van Alen Institute, can muse on with the fluency of a talk-show host. With headquarters only blocks away on West 22nd Street, the institute, born as the Society of Beaux- Arts Architects in 1894, promotes innovative design for civic life and is known for launching competitions for major public revitalization projects like the newly conceived TKTS booth near Times Square and the redevelopment of Governors Island.