NEW YORK CITY – Plans for the 2015 CTBUH Conference in New York are now well underway, beginning with an initial meeting of the Conference Steering Committee at the Bank of America Tower Nov. 18, kindly hosted by The Durst Organization. Close to 30 representatives of New York-based member firms began to hammer out the details with CTBUH Chairman David Malott, Executive Director Antony Wood and Events Manager Jessica Rinkel, who had traveled to New York for a week of meetings in support of the Conference. With the fantastic view of the Empire State Building and lower Manhattan from the Durst boardroom as a backdrop, the group learned about the conference plans in more detail, and committed to seeking further support among their networks.
The Steering Committee meets in the boardroom of The Durst Organization in the Bank of America Tower
View from The Durst Organization Boardroom
The campaign continued throughout the week with a series of meetings.
Prior to the Steering Committee meeting, Monday the 17th’s agenda included Turner Construction, represented by Nick Billotti, Chairman; and Carol Willis, founder of the Skyscraper Museum.
CTBUH Executive Director Antony Wood (left) meets with Charles DeBenedittis, Senior Managing Director, Tishman Speyer
Aside from the Steering Committee, Tuesday saw meetings with TF Cornerstone, represented by Jon McMillan, Director of Planning, and Tishman Speyer. The meeting with Tishman Speyer, represented by Charles DeBenedittis, Senior Managing Director, resulted in a fascinating tour of Rockefeller Center, including the rooftop gardens and the recently re-opened Rainbow Room at the top of the GE Building. The group was joined by CTBUH Fellow Irwin Cantor, founder of the structural engineering firm that would later become WSP Cantor Seinuk.
View of Central Park from the offices of Vornado Realty Trust
On Wednesday, Antony and Jessica met with Vornado Realty Trust, represented by Eli Zamek, Senior Vice President – Design & Construction and The Related Companies / Oxford Properties, represented by Stacy Feder, Vice President of Marketing and Dean Shapiro, Senior Vice President. On the evening of the 19th, Wood attended the New York Building Congress dinner as a guest of George Leventis, Managing Principal / Managing Director, of Langan Engineering, which took place in the Grand Hyatt, the CTBUH Conference venue, facilitating many connections for the Council.
A meeting with Bob Sanna, Executive Vice President & Director of Construction & Design Development, at Forest City Ratner’s Brooklyn office started off the 20th, followed by Lend Lease, represented by Ralph Esposito, President of Project Management & Construction; Boston Properties, with Robert Schubert, Senior Vice President of Construction; Brookfield Properties, with John Durschinger, Senior Vice President, Global Design; and The Trump Organization with Andrew Weiss, Executive Vice President, which featured fantastic views of Central Park from the Trump Tower.
The final two meetings occurred on Friday 21st, with Aron Kirsch, Senior Vice President of Development of the Moinian Group and John Gilbert, Executive Vice President and COO and Gene Boniberger, Senior Vice President, of Rudin Management, which included an intensive demonstration of the company’s cross-portfolio real-time MEP performance tool, Di-BOSS.
By fortuitous coincidence, the Tongji University / CTBUH tall building design studio — funded by KPF through its Gold + Student Research Package Sponsorship of the 2014 Shanghai Conference — held its class trip to New York, the site of its semester project, the same week. The team, accompanied by CTBUH Research Assistant Peng Du, was able to join Wood for dinner and update him on their findings.
The journey and initial meeting cemented the early impression that the 2015 Conference will be a great success.
Meeting Attendance
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Tara McAdam Kassal | AECOM | Chief Marketing Officer |
| Samuel Luckino | Arquitectonica | Vice President |
| David Farnsworth | Arup | Principal |
| Bertram Beissel | Ateliers Jean Nouvel | Partner |
| Kai-Uwe Bergmann | BIG | Partner |
| Robert Franco | Buro Happold | Associate Principal |
| Paul Allegretti | CBRE | Asset Services/Invester Services |
| Darin Reynolds | COOKFOX Architects | Senior Associate |
| Gretchen Bank | Cosentini Associates | Director of Business Development |
| Steven Lynch | CS (Construction Specialties) Group | Technical Sales Manager |
| Jessica Rinkel | CTBUH | Events Manager |
| Antony Wood | CTBUH | Executive Director |
| James Bonanno | DeSimone Consulting Engineers | Associate Principal |
| David Tepper | Ennead Architects LLP | Associate Partner |
| Dan Kaplan | FXFOWLE | Senior Partner |
| Jim Keen | Gensler | Associate Design Director |
| Gary Handel | Handel Architects | President |
| Kenneth Drucker | HOK, Inc. | Senior Principal, Design Principal |
| Chris Colasanti | Jaros Baum & Bolles | Associate |
| David Malott | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, PC | Principal |
| George Leventis | Langan | Managing Principal; Managing Director |
| SawTeen See | Leslie E. Robertson Associates, RLLP | Managing Partner |
| Ryan Dow | McNamara/Salvia | Principal |
| Arnold Lee | NBBJ | Design Director |
| Jay Berman | Pei Cobb Freed & Partners | Partner |
| Steve Achilles | Pei Partnership Architects | Principal |
| Satoshi Toyoda | Rafael Viñoly Architects, PC | Partner |
| Meghan McDermott | RAMSA | Partner |
| Edward DePaola | Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, PC | President & CEO |
| Dana Getman | SHoP Architects | Project Architect |
| Carla Swickerath | Studio Daniel Libeskind | CEO & Principal |
| Aine Brazil | Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. | Vice Chairman |