NEW YORK, January 12, 2016 – Van Alen Institute, a non-profit organization in New York driven by the belief that design can transform cities, landscapes, and regions to improve people’s lives, today announced that Jing Liu (SO – IL), Kim Herforth Nielsen (3XN), and Raymond Quinn (Arup) have joined its board of trustees.
The Institute has also announced Haptic Architects (London, Oslo), Mecanoo (Delft, New York, Washington, DC, Manchester, Kaohsiung City), Studio Libeskind (New York, Milan, Zurich), and Trahan Architects (New Orleans, Chicago) as new members of the Van Alen International Council, a platform for exchange among leading architects, designers, developers, and planners that represents practices across more than 17 cities and ten countries. The set of new members extends Van Alen’s leadership from its base in New York to International Council studios in Delft, Kaohsiung City, London, Manchester, Milan, Oslo, Washington, DC, Zurich, and beyond. The group most recently convened in Chicago in conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
“We are honored to welcome Jing, Kim, and Ray and the new International Council firms to Van Alen, and we look forward to their insight and creativity,” said Stephen Cassell, Chair of Van Alen’s Board of Trustees and principal of Architecture Research Office. “It is an auspicious moment to bring new voices and skills into our conversations about the pressing challenges and exciting opportunities facing cities.”
“Each of these new members of Van Alen’s circle has deep expertise in the fields of design and urbanism that will guide Van Alen Institute in innovative directions,” said David van der Leer, Van Alen Institute Executive Director. “The Institute’s board of trustees and International Council provide critical guidance as we pursue competitions, research, and public programs to develop a better understanding of how we are affected by the built environment, and work to improve those environments for people everywhere.”
Jing Liu is Founding Partner and Principal of SO – IL and an avid educator. A native of China, Liu received her education in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, concluding with a Master’s of Architecture from Tulane School of Architecture. During her time in New Orleans, Liu focused on the social impact of urban renewal projects, a topic she continues to research as a faculty member at The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. Liu co-founded SO – IL in 2008, emphasizing cultural projects as an indispensable part of urban infrastructure. Her projects include Frieze Art Fair in New York City, Kukje Gallery in Seoul, and the CTF Museum in Hong Kong.
Kim Herforth Nielsen is the founder of 3XN Architects, which has offices in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Herforth Nielsen contributes his design vision and leadership to all of the firm’s major projects. He holds Denmark’s highest architectural honor, the C.F. Hansen Medaille, is a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, Chairman of the Architecture Committee at the Danish Arts Foundation, and a chartered member of RIBA and of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
Raymond Quinn is a principal at Arup, a global firm of engineers, designers, planners, and consultants. He has worked in the New York office since 1993 and his leadership positions have included managing partner of the New York office, board member of Arup’s Americas Region, and Arup’s global HR executive. Notable projects under Quinn’s guidance include the London International Financial Futures Exchange, UK; Acropolis Museum, Athens; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle; JetBlue Airways, Terminal 5, JFK International Airport; and Jenny Holzer’s Reichstag sign. Ray received an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, an MA in Engineering from University of Dublin, Ireland; an MS in Engineering from Kings College in London; and a BS in Engineering from Dublin Institute of Technology. Quinn will serve as treasurer of the Van Alen board of trustees.
Van Alen is also pleased to announce four new member firms of its International Council. Representing Mecanoo at the Council’s recent meeting in Chicago was Francine Houben, the Founding Principal and Creative Director at the international architecture and planning firm, which has offices in Delft, Manchester, Washington D.C., New York City, and Kaohsiung. Mecanoo takes a multidisciplinary approach, integrating architecture, design, landscape manipulation, and urbanism to develop striking, innovative, and impactful spaces. Notable projects that Houben has overseen include: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington D.C.; New York Public Library Midtown Campus, New York City; Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, Boston; Library of Birmingham, Birmingham; Municipal Offices and Train Station, Delft; and National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung.
Van Alen also welcomes to the International Council Studio Libeskind, a collaborative architectural firm involved in the design and realization of a diverse roster of cultural, residential, commercial, civic, and urbanist projects on a global scale. Based in New York, Milan, and Zurich, the firm’s notable projects include: The World Trade Center aster plan, the Jewish Museum Berlin, and the Denver Art Museum. Representing the firm is CEO and Principal, Carla Swickerath. She earned a Masters in Architecture from the University of Michigan, following undergraduate studies in English and Art History at the University of Florida. She has taught at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee in Berlin and University of Michigan. Carla speaks publicly on architecture, design, and planning.
Trey Trahan, the Founder and CEO of Trahan Architects, represented his firm on the International Council for the first time this fall in Chicago. Trahan Architects is an architecture firm internationally renowned for their tech-savvy, innovative, and timeless structures. Notable projects include: the renovation of the Louisiana Superdome post-Hurricane Katrina, the Owensboro Convention Center in Kentucky, The Louisiana State Museum, Zhengzhou Mixed Use Development, Baton Rouge Municipal Dock, and the Woodruff Arts Center Alliance Theatre Transformation. Trey was also Principal-in-Charge for the Louisiana State University Academic Center, which won a National AIA Honor Award and the American Architecture Award presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. He was elected to the AIA College of Fellows at the age of 45. In 2005, he received the Architecture Review Emerging Architecture Award in London.
The final, welcome addition to Van Alen’s International Council, Haptic Architects, was represented by two of its Co-Founders and Directors: Tomas Stokke and Scott Grady. Haptic was established in 2009 and is based in London and Oslo. Haptic, which means “the sense of touch,” emphasizes the user experience, craftsmanship, and the tactile qualities of architecture, coupled with a close relationship to the natural environment. Haptic works across a range of scales, from mountaintop lodges and bespoke interiors, to large scale projects such as the New Istanbul Airport and a new Life Science Campus in London. Tomas and Scott previously ran Design Unit 7 at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London and continue in their role as educators, attending crits at UCL, Greenwich and other London schools, while working as a design mentors at Oxford Brookes. Both Tomas and Scott were educated at Bartlett.
To access headshots and firm project photos, visit: http://bit.ly/1UCAo6O
Images: Top Row: Blue Planet Aquarium by 3XN, Frieze Art Fair by SO – IL, JetBlue Airways, Terminal 5, JFK International Airport by Arup (Photo: Nic Lehoux). Second Row: New Istanbul Airport by Haptic Architects, Library of Birmingham by Mecanoo, Denver Art Museum by Studio Libeskind, Louisiana State Museum by Trahan Architects.
About Van Alen Institute
At Van Alen Institute, we believe design can transform cities, landscapes, and regions to improve people’s lives. We collaborate with communities, scholars, policymakers, and professionals on local and global initiatives that rigorously investigate the most pressing social, cultural, and ecological challenges of tomorrow. Building on more than a century of experience, we develop cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions.
Recent and current projects include Ecologies of Addiction, an interdisciplinary research initiative with Imperial College London’s Sustainable Society Network (SSN+) into the complex relationship between addictive behaviors and the physical environment of the city; Future Ground, an interdisciplinary design and policy competition to develop long-term strategies for vacant land reuse in New Orleans; and Changing Course, an interdisciplinary design competition offering 100-year visions for restoring and sustaining the Mississippi River Delta for the people and industries that call it home. Learn more about Van Alen Institute at past.vanalen.org.