Gensler Family AAP NYC Center opens doors, possibilities on Cornell Tech Campus

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning's Gensler Family AAP NYC Center (AAP NYC) is settling into its new location on the fourth floor of the Tata Innovation Center on Roosevelt Island. With expanded New York City-based options, increased student interest, and AAP's ongoing commitment to immersive, multi-disciplinary learning and research, AAP NYC now has a permanent home offering 16,000 square feet of customized yet adaptable space for curricular and co-curricular activities. In celebration of this milestone, beginning this fall, architect Peter Eisenman (B.Arch. '55) and critic Cynthia Davidson will host Island Editions, a curated series of conversations with some of the architecture discipline's leading practitioners at the center.

Iterating and Evolving

The establishment of robust New York City-based programming as a hallmark of the AAP student experience over the last two decades has largely been due to the commitment of the AAP community, which has consistently invested in the city's unique experiential learning and professional development opportunities. The center was founded in 2006 by then AAP Dean Moshen Mostafavi in collaboration with late alumnus Art Gensler (B.Arch. '58), and expanded incrementally through an ongoing partnership between Gensler and AAP Dean Kent Kleinman (2008-18). During AAP Gale and Ira Drukier Dean J. Meejin Yoon's current tenure, AAP NYC's future was further solidified with a $10 million gift and ongoing support from the Gensler family.

"The program has been around for nearly two decades, and there's been a constant cycle of iterating and evolving; it's never ever been static," said Robert Balder (B.S. URS '89), AAP NYC's longtime executive director. "Over the 15 years I've been here, there has been this ability to stretch, change, modify, and amend. We've gone through significant changes in both the physical space and in what we can do. Almost every year, there's something new and different we have to offer any student who comes to New York."

Continue reading on the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning website.