Architecture Research Office (ARO) on Insights for Practice

The AIANY Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) is honored to collaborate with Architecture Research Office (ARO) for an event inspired by the firm's recent book, Architecture. Research. Office. (2024, Artbook | D.A.P. and DelMonico Books), and ARO's principles-based model of practice, which seeks a more responsible practice of architecture grounded in both people and process. Principals from ARO will be in conversation with current and former team members as they illustrate varied professional trajectories and how the design of a practice is its own project. The discussion will be followed by an interactive session with attendees, and the event will include books available for sale and signing. The recent ARO book represents the firm’s diverse projects across three decades and expresses the principles that guide ARO’s work, the firm’s methodology, and its culture.

About Architecture Research Office:
Architecture Research Office is the New York City firm united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. Research gives their work purpose and intention. Their architecture unites beauty and form with strategy and intelligence. Their office designs spaces that inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience. This philosophy has earned the firm over one hundred design awards including the 2020 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. Published in October 2024, Architecture. Research. Office. presents ARO’s diverse body of work, its ethos, and the people behind its projects.

Panelists:
Stephen Cassell, FAIA, Principal, Architecture Research Office
Megumi Tamanaha, AIA, Studio Director, Architecture Research Office
Neil Patel, Project Director, Architecture Research Office
Liz Levy, Designer, Architecture Research Office
Jane Lea, AIA, Principal, Lea Architecture, formerly of Architecture Research Office

Moderator:
Hao-Yeh Lu, Assoc. AIA, Co-Chair, AIANY Emerging New York Architects

About Architecture Research Office:
Architecture Research Office is the New York City firm united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. Research gives their work purpose and intention. Their architecture unites beauty and form with strategy and intelligence. Their office designs spaces that inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience. This philosophy has earned the firm over one hundred design awards including the 2020 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. Published in October 2024, Architecture. Research. Office. presents ARO’s diverse body of work, its ethos, and the people behind its projects.

About the Speakers:
Stephen Cassell is a Principal at ARO. He is a lecturer at MIT and has also taught at Columbia University, the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, Princeton University, and other institutions. Cassell is the former Chair of the Board of the Van Alen Institute and he was a Fall/Winter 2023 Resident at the American Academy in Rome. He holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Princeton University and an M.Arch from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
 
Megumi Tamanaha is a Visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute and has also taught at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Parsons the New School for Design, and Barnard College. As Studio Director at ARO, she monitors each project to ensure conformance with ARO project delivery and design standards, and manages People operations. Tamanaha also leads office mentorship initiatives, including ARO’s involvement in the CityTech Pre-Internship Program. She holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Washington and an M.Arch from Columbia University. 
 
Neil Patel is a Project Director at ARO. Since joining the firm in 2008, he has managed numerous residential, institutional, and academic projects across the country. He led the development of drawings and graphic representations for Architecture. Research. Office. and is currently overseeing the Rothko Chapel campus expansion as well as multiple higher education projects. Patel holds a B.Arch from the University of Texas at Austin.
 
Elizabeth Levy joined ARO in 2022. As an NY ACE mentor, she introduces the architecture profession to high school students through a semester long project. She is also an active member of ARO’s Material Working Group, an office initiative to introduce and integrate sustainable materials throughout ARO projects. Prior to ARO, Levy worked as an architectural designer for offices in New York and Philadelphia. She holds a B.Arch from Carnegie Mellon University with a concentration in Environmental and Sustainability studies.
 
Jane Lea is the Principal of Lea Architecture, is a founding member of Design Advocates, and is the design partner for The All Along Project. Lea approaches design as a collaboration, fully invested in the transformative power of architecture and the latent potential behind every design challenge. She is a graduate of Columbia University, where she holds an M.Arch. Prior to starting her practice in 2017, she spent 10 years working for firms in NYC, including eight years at Architecture Research Office. Lea has taught at Cooper Union, Parsons the New School for Design, and Pratt Institute and is a licensed architect in New York and Pennsylvania. She has been awarded a Brunner Grant from the AIA Center for Architecture.

Hao-Yeh Lu is Co-Chair of the AIANY Emerging New York Architects Committee, dedicated to empowering our industry's young professionals. He also volunteers as a mentor at The Architectural League of New York and Columbia GSAPP. He designs for the people, focusing on award-winning cultural facilities and multi-family housing, a critical issue for our generation. He holds a M.Arch from Tunghai University and a M.S.AAD from Columbia GSAPP.