Following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, CARRRE (Collective Action for Readiness, Recovery, and Resilience), a group of internationally-based Turkish architects, created a platform to deliver a course of educational panels addressing rebuilding after the earthquakes.
Koray Duman, AIA, LEED AP, is originally from Turkey, where he earned a BArch from Middle Eastern Technical University. Koray furthered his studies at UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design with a master’s degree in architecture. He previously worked as the lead architect on several west coast museum projects.
In 2013, He established B-KD (Büro Koray Duman) is a research-driven architecture and design studio based in New York City and Istanbul. B-KD has designed and executed projects for MoMA PS1 Museum, Finnish Cultural Institute NY, the Noguchi Museum, IKSV, artist Richard Prince, the American Society for Muslim Advancement, Council for Fashion Designers of America, and Design Within Reach, among other cultural visioner and forward-thinking clients.
In 2017, Architizer honored B-KD as Emerging Firm of the Year for ‘its forward-thinking vision for the role of the architect and the desire to disrupt the stigma of the practice’. B-KD is an immigrant and LGBTQ-owned company.
As a thought leader in architecture, Koray was the chair of the New Practice Committee at AIA NY, a board member of the Clemente Center, and a member of the Leadership Council at Van Alen Institute. He is currently a fellow of Urban Design Forum.
Ali C. Höcek, principal of AC Höcek Architecture (ACHA), has been practicing architecture independently for over thirty years. Höcek received a B Arch from the Rhode Island School of Design, his M Arch from Syracuse University, and his RIBA Part I from the Architectural Association where he studied with Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid. Höcek later collaborated with Hadid as in-house architectural consultant to the Guggenheim Museum. He is a member of the AIA and NCARB and holds architectural licenses from five states. His firm has received numerous professional awards and recognitions for its design work, including from the AIA and the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, and for prefabricated informal housing in Nicaragua, and community facilities in disenfranchised neighborhoods of NYC.
He is an Adjunct Professor at the City College of New York Spitzer School of Architecture, where he teaches design to graduate and undergraduate students. Höcek continues to research, write, and speak about the theories and practices influencing architecture. He is drawn to the complexities of arguments made by post-war European avant-garde groups, particularly the Situationists International, and migration and the geo-political disruption of territories.
Ferda Kolatan is a founding director of SU11 Architecture + Design and an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. He received his Architectural Diploma from the RWTH Aachen and holds an MS. in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
Based in New York City, SU11 is a renowned architectural practice committed to exploring design at the intersection of contemporary culture, technology, and theory. Their work has been exhibited at prestigious venues including MoMA, FRAC Center, Walker Art Center, Vitra Design Museum, Art Basel, ACADIA, and Artists Space NY.
Ferda has served as an invited lecturer internationally and participated in the Venice, Beijing, and Istanbul biennales. He has written extensively about architecture and co-authored the book “Meander: Variegating Architecture.” In 2016 his Penn Research-Studio on Cairo received the inaugural 2017 ARCHITECT Magazine Studio Prize. In recognition of his achievements as an educator and designer, Ferda was selected as a Young Society Leader by the American-Turkish Society in New York in 2011.
Inanc Eray is Partner of SOUR, a registered Turkish architect and a designer with more than seventeen years of international design experience. He graduated from Middle East Technical University Faculty of Architecture in Ankara, Turkey in 2003 with a BArch degree with Honors. From 2003 to 2005 he attended DRL- Design Research Lab at Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He graduated in 2005 with Honors and received the degree of Master of Architecture and Urbanism.
In 2005, after his graduation he joined Zaha Hadid Architects in London where he resided full time for 8 years. During this period, he led several design commissions and competitions and won international prizes within ZHA where he mastered computational design, digital manufacturing techniques and digital design, as well as design / contact administration, code and planning legislations. His final project at ZHA, Serpentine Sackler Gallery in Hyde Park, London was completed in 2013. He was the lead designer and the project architect of the project from inception to completion, working closely with Patrik Schumacher and Charles Walker.
In 2013, Inanc was shortlisted by Istanbul Modern and MoMA for “Top 5 Young Architects in Turkey” under the International Young Architects Program (YAP) His project “Seapeaker” was exhibited in MoMA, NY through summer.
In 2015, he founded SOUR, an architecture and design studio based in New York and Istanbul with the mission of addressing social and urban problems through inclusive, sustainable and adaptive processes. Currently, Inanc continues to be a Partner at SOUR and is an active lecturer (among which at NYIT) and speaker at various universities and events globally.
Kutan Ayata is an Associate Professor and the Vice Chair in the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at UCLA where he serves as the Director of the Master of Architecture Program. He previously held teaching positions at University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute, City College of New York, Cornell University and Columbia University. He received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art.
His practice Young & Ayata, formed together with Michael Young is dedicated to both built commissions and experimental research. The firm has recently been selected as the winner in an international competition for the design of Agriculture Resources and Management Institute facilities in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea. Their Project DL1310 in Mexico City designed in collaboration with Michan Architecture was the recipient of the 2021 AIANY Design Honor Award, as well as the 2019 Progressive Architecture Award from Architect Magazine. Young & Ayata were the recipients of the 2016 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record. In 2015 they were one of two first prize winners in the International Competition for the New Bauhaus Museum in Dessau, Germany and finalists in the MoMA YAP Program in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, the partners were the recipients of the Young Architects Prize from Architectural League of New York. The firm's work has been published extensively and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Istanbul Modern, the Graham Foundation, Yale University, SCI-Arc, and Princeton University.
Nizam Kizilsencer, AIA, LEED AP, WELL AP, is the founder and president of Design Innovations for Architecture, a New York City-based architectural firm. With a career spanning over two decades, Nizam has amassed an extensive portfolio of master planning and architectural design expertise, encompassing a diverse range of complex and highly recognizable projects across the United States, Turkey, the Middle East, and Far East Asia.
Before founding Design Innovations for Architecture (DIA), Nizam Kizilsencer held a senior position as a Design Associate at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (SOM New York) and was a Co-Founder and Principal at STRATA Architects (New York).
Some notable career highlights include his involvement in projects such as One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), the Memorial Sloan Kettering Research Center, and the Moynihan East and West Stations in New York, as well as the Digital Media City Landmark Tower in South Korea, the Akbank Banking Center in Turkey, the Beach Road Garden in Singapore, and the Tokyo Midtown Project in Tokyo, Japan.
For his instrumental involvement in the post-9/11 rebuilding efforts at Ground Zero, Nizam Kizilsencer was honored with the prestigious Presidential Citation Award by the AIA.
Nizam Kizilsencer is a LEED and WELL accredited professional and a registered architect in New York and Connecticut. He holds an M.Arch from Yale University and a B.Arch from Istanbul Technical University. Additionally, he is a member of the AIA and the Union of the Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (UCTEA).
Today, as the founder of Design Innovations for Architecture (DIA), Nizam Kizilsencer leads a global architecture and design firm that embraces a research-driven and innovative approach. With a focus on exploring new frontiers and adapting to the ever-evolving contemporary culture and lifestyle, DIA strives to create architecture that is not only adaptable but also a truly innovative product in the rapidly changing world in which we live.
Prior to relocating to New York in 2000, Tahir Demircioglu worked as lead designer and bureau chief of Dalokay/Guzer Architects in Ankara, Turkey. There he oversaw a wide variety of projects and competitions, from residences to large educational complexes. He was a senior associate and lead designer at Costas Kondylis & Partners LLP in New York from 2000 until 2009, where he was involved in more than 40 architectural projects. From 2009 to 2012, he led the design efforts of John Fotiadis Architect PLLC as the design director of the firm.
Tahir has designed a multitude of towers in the USA and abroad, such as the W South Beach Hotel(Miami), the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residences (Westchester), The Atelier (New York) and Silver Towers (New York). He was also personally involved in large master planning projects like Lusail Waterfront (Qatar) and Batumi Riviera (Georgia). Tahir has extensive experience in coordinating complex, large-scale, multi-use projects, which require an intensive analytical approach and a creative conceptualization process. He is well versed in the conditions of global real estate development and his multicultural background serves as an invaluable tool in his ability to adapt a project to international market conditions.
Both as a member of American Institute of Architects and a LEED-accredited professional, Tahir is committed to modeling a sustainable architectural praxis. He believes that a contemporary design approach cannot afford to negate global environmental necessities. Tahir holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Middle East Technical University in Turkey and a master’s degree in architecture from Texas Tech University.
Gamze Kahya is a team leader at Rafael Vinoly since 2016. She has a strong passion for design and a proven track record of successfully delivering design proposals for competitions that vary in program, size, location, and budget. Gamze holds a Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Izmir Institute of Technology. She was the former president of MIM Society (Society of Turkish American Architects, Engineers, and Scientists). With her educational background and extensive professional experience, she strives to create innovative and functional designs that meet clients' needs while pushing the boundaries of architecture.
Kerim Eken, AIA, is the co-founder and architectural principal of Eken Design - a collaborative, interdisciplinary studio that takes on challenges ranging from branding to buildings. He is a registered architect in the state of New York. Kerim received his BS in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Mechanical Engineering and minor in Mathematics from John Hopkins University and holds an MArch from the Pratt Institute, where he was the recipient of the Winnemore Endowed Graduate Scholarship.
After receiving his graduate degree, Kerim collaborated with Urban Movement Design on the winning submission for the 2012 Young Architects Program (YAP) MAXXI in Rome. He continued his professional development as a Project Architect at Robert AM Stern Architects and Morris Adjmi Architects where he gained a broad range of experience in various project types including mixed-use multifamily residential buildings, commercial spaces, master plans and product design.
Kerim also teaches studios and seminars at the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design at Pratt Institute and in the undergraduate department at the Michael Graves School of Public Architecture at Kean University.
Cynthia Corsiglia brings over two decades of experience as a lawyer specializing in the financial services industry to AC Höcek Architecture (ACHA) and CARRRE’s programming, development, and operations. She has worked as outside general counsel, chief operating officer, and chief compliance officer across disciplines to help build, support, and guide business management teams. Her work has always encompassed a broad range of responsibilities, developed during her years of private practice in NYC and as general counsel and chief compliance officer of Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management Advisers in Paris, France.
Cynthia is known for her ability to provide practical solutions, spot issues and manage risk. She previously practiced law at Sidley Austin LLP and Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts, LLP. She has volunteered with Lawyers Foreclosure Intervention Network to negotiate mortgages on behalf of homeowners facing foreclosure, and with Northeast Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (NeVOSH), to assist in the administration of pop-up medical clinics in Central America.
All of these roles prepared Cynthia to support and advance the work of ACHA and CARRRE, not only with respect to the intricacies and demands of the architectural profession, but also because of her commitment to service and respect for collaborative pursuits. She has a keen appreciation of the social, cultural and ecological challenges of our built environment, and of architecture’s ability to improve lives through better design.
Marianne de Zeeuw is the Director, Global Relationships at SOUR, where she develops and cultivates client, collaborator, and community relationships by overseeing business development, project management, research, and community outreach. She is supporting CARRRE in coordination and event management.
Prior to SOUR, Marianne worked at Dutch National Opera as a stage manager and at Entrée, the youth association of The Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as a creative producer. She holds an MA in Art History and BA’s in Art History and Theatre Studies from the University of Amsterdam.
Donna Walcavage has focused on the planning and design of public realm spaces across New York City. Streetscapes, urban waterfront redevelopment, bikeway and pedestrian facilities and public open spaces have been key areas of her practice. Donna’s advocacy for the profession of landscape architecture as a partner to engineering solutions demonstrated that good design alters the public perception of projects. Her current projects include a Shoreline Protection Plan for Tottenville, Staten Island and the East Midtown Greenway, which is currently being built on a new structure outboard of the East River edge.
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