06/11/2026
A new publication emerging from SSA offers a compelling rethinking of architectural modernism through the lens of contemporary Chinese practice. The Other Tradition of Modernism: Writing Contemporary Chinese Architecture, edited by Guanghui Ding, Adjunct Associate Professor, presents a curated collection of critical essays that foreground alternative architectural trajectories shaped by China’s distinct historical, cultural, and socio-political conditions.
Developed from an advanced seminar in 2025, this booklet represents a rigorous pedagogical experiment that bridges teaching and scholarship. Through a combination of lectures, writing workshops, and editorial guidance, students engaged deeply with a wide range of architectural works in China. The result is a set of essays that examine themes such as nation-state formation, memory, temporality, and nature, and questions of agency and autonomy in contemporary practice.
The booklet positions these student writings as serious critical investigations, demonstrating how architectural writing can function as both a laboratory for ideas and a method of research training. The volume is further distinguished by its careful curation of visual materials, integrating high-quality images with analytical text to reflect the spatial and material concerns central to architectural thinking.
Read the publication here: https://ssa.ccny.cuny.edu/blog/2026/06/05/the-other-tradition-of-modernism/
Image Credit: The Other Tradition of Modernism: Writing Contemporary Chinese Architecture, Courtesy of Guanghui Ding
05/19/2026
Pop Joslaine Manos and Etty Jajati, this year’s Spitzer B Arch valedictorians, have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements, creativity, and identical GPAs. We look forward to celebrating with them as they address the graduating class.
Pop Joslaine Manos, originally from the Philippines, is a B.Arch graduate. Her work centers on the intersection of public service, architecture, and sustainability, with a focus on civic and community-driven spaces. She is deeply committed to collaborative practice and universal, inclusive design. She has contributed to design-build projects for cultural spaces in Costa Rica and for community spaces in Harlem and Brooklyn. Through her work with the NYC Economic Development Corporation, she has supported public projects, including NYC pier resiliency initiatives and cultural developments such as the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Coney Island Sports Center. Pop is passionate about shaping equitable and resilient cities.
Etty Jajati graduates with a body of work spanning published research, physical structural testing, and hands-on lab experimentation in sustainable building systems. Her undergraduate years have been defined by a technical approach to sustainability within architecture, exploring everything from CO₂-reducing concrete alternatives to parametric fabrication to living wall systems. Her design work has earned recognition with her project, "Oculus" featured in Dezeen's 2025 School Show and "From Our Hands to Yours" winning the AIASNY's Recipe for a Room 2025 competition. This summer, she joins Beyer Blinder Belle as an architectural designer intern in their Multifamily, Mixed-Use, and Commercial studio.
05/18/2026
Architecture Licensure and Planning for Success
aka Making Your Job Work for Your Future 💼➡️🚀
📅 Thursday,May 28
⏰ 12:00 PM
💻 On Zoom
Open to experts and newbies alike!
Register here: https://ccny.zoom.us/meeting/register/CeOn5N4EQdSY99SphehFDA
Why get licensed?
- Licensure requirements: education, experience, exams
- Advocating for your path to licensure
- Resources for licensure candidates
- Creating a support network
- Strategic tips
Hosted by Hannah Borgeson
Spitzer School’s Architect Licensing Advisor
05/15/2026
Mike Mense (MUPUD '16) authored: Monument to Instrument, Straight Talk About the Future of Architects, published by Oro Editions
This book proposes that architects must become more important players in North America if we are to solve our problems of climate and immigration. They cannot increase their importance if they are solely understood as deliverers of delight. Architects are exceptionally insecure because so many of them prepare to craft monuments and discover that they are destined to design instruments. They must know what they know and be strong in that knowledge.
The book suggests that architects recast themselves as the experts at the relationships between humans and constructed environments. 164 pages of words and illustrations describing the problem and suggesting how to make this change, both in the profession and in the education of future architects. Delight remains of utmost importance but the profession should also celebrate and inculcate skills supportive of excellent commodity and firmness. In its straightforward telling, the book can also serve as an introduction to the profession or to persons considering engaging an architect.
For more information visit: https://oroeditions.com/product/monument-to-instrument
[image credit: Mike Mense or in the public domain]
history
05/14/2026
Congratulations to Abram Morris (B Arch ’25), current Urban Design graduate student, on being selected for the 2026–2027 NYC Urban Fellows program! 🎉
Sponsored by the City of New York and administered by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, this highly competitive fellowship places emerging leaders across city agencies to gain hands-on experience in public policy and operations while working alongside civic leaders shaping New York’s future.
Wishing you all the best, Abram, as you take this exciting next step—we can’t wait to see the impact you’ll make!
Find out more about the fellowship here: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcas/employment/internship-and-fellowships-nyc-urban-fellows.page
05/13/2026
In Prof. Jennifer Birkeland’s interdisciplinary studio this semester, the students took advantage of NYC's design offerings to explore critical projects in the region.
First, with a visit to the Gothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, students were floored by the tedious representation techniques of the period, followed by a visit to the new extension of the New Museum by OMA. Then they had a tour of the iconic Glass House, followed up by a walk around Grace Farms.
Rich discussions were had, and inspiration was found heading into the final review week!
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05/18/2026
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05/13/2026