Gregg Pasquarelli—founding partner, with Christopher Sharples, Coren Sharples, Kimberly Holden, and William Sharples, of the New York firm SHoP Architects—will present the office’s current projects with a focus on how the firm seeks to reinvent the business model of architectural practice.

As both practitioners and educators, SHoP’s commitment to challenging the process of building seeks to prove that “beauty and technological proficiency are not mutually exclusive.” They state: “We look at an entire project and consider the site, the cultural and economic environment, a client’s physical needs and budget constraints, as well as construction techniques, branding, marketing, and post-occupancy issues … Great architecture demands that design, finance, and technology work together—we’re combining these forces in innovative ways to create a new model for the profession.”

SHoP’s current work includes the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn; a two-mile esplanade and park for the City of New York along the East River Waterfront; projects for the Fashion Institute of Technology; and the new Botswana Innovation Hub in Gabarone, Botswana. Other projects include The Porter House, 290 Mulberry Street, and designs for the development of the South Street Seaport, all in New York, and Hangil Book House–Heyri Art Complex in Seoul.

In addition to the partners, the office currently comprises 60 staff members and is located near City Hall in Lower Manhattan. SHoP recently received the 2009 National Design Award in Architecture Design from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, as well as a 2008 SBIC Beyond Green High Performance Building Award.

Gregg Pasquarelli received a bachelor’s degree from the School of Business at Villanova University and a MArch from Columbia University. He cofounded the architectural firm SHoP Architects in 1997 and has lectured, exhibited, and been published internationally. Pasquarelli was named the Saarinen Professor of Architecture at Yale University in fall 2006 and served as the Shure Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia during the fall of 2003. He was an adjunct assistant professor of architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation from 1996 through 2003. Pasquarelli serves on the board of directors for The Architectural League of New York and is a Young Leader’s Fellow of the National Committee on United States–China Relations.

Moderated by Mark Robbins. Robbins is dean of the School of Architecture at Syracuse University and currently serves on The Architectural League’s board of directors. He previously served as Director of Design for the National Endowment for the Arts and as curator of architecture at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Support

This lecture is cosponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. The League gratefully acknowledges Alan Wanzenberg for his support of this program.  This program was made possible in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.