As the spring semester approaches, GSAPP remains active across research, practice, and publication, with work underway that reflects the School’s ongoing engagement beyond the classroom ahead of the term.

Tuesday Talks provides GSAPP students with the opportunity to engage with the wider alumni community for informative mentorship during the Spring semester. This program pairs current students with alumni professionals for hour-long, one-on-one discussions on career development and professional growth. Alumni mentors are welcome to participate in the program at their discretion.

The chance to discuss the job market with trusted alumni, including those from various American cities and international locations, is invaluable for emerging practitioners. The demand for mentorship has consistently remained high since the program’s launch in March 2020. Those interested in volunteering as a mentor are encouraged to reach out to gsappalumni@columbia.edu, providing their job title, company name, and location.

Thank you to our GSAPP Alumni Volunteers for Tuesday, January 13 at 9:00am EST.

John Hooper, RA ‘12 M.Arch
Project Manager
About the Work
New York, NY

Anderson Chider Hsieh '03 MSAUD
Architecture and Design Lead, China
Executive Director, Buildings + Cities
Surbana Jurong Group
Shanghai, China

Andrew Kranis LEED A.P., FAAR, ‘04 M.Arch
Faculty of Art & Architecture
Temple University Rome
Rome, Italy

Hokyu Lee '88 MSAUD
CEO
L5AMC Inc.
Seoul, Korea

Wendy Tsai '10 MSAAD
Project Director
The Oval Partnership
Central, Hong Kong

David (Yi) Wang '07 MSRED
Founder
Northville Capital
Former CEO, Lakevision Capital
Washington, DC

Yijun Wang '17 MSAAD
Founding Partner
Pleasant Hill Design
Shanghai, China

Eleftheria Xanthouli '11 MSAAD
Manager, Customer Success/
Construction Tech Services and Consulting
Hexagon
New York, NY

• Faculty Laura Kurgan, co-sponsored by Columbia’s Department of History and GSAPP’s Center for Spatial Research, receives a new grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation to expand Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas project across all five boroughs, supporting teaching, student research, public engagement, and the long-term growth of its open-access platform. View the project here.

• Mahdi Sabbagh, Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture, publishes an article on Building from the Bottom Up, reflecting on the state of architecture and its political, material, and social conditions over the past year. Read here.

• Faculty Amelyn Ng delivers the Open Assembly Lecture, titled Leftover Architecture: On Designing With Waste ) at Thammasat Design School, Thammasat University, in Bangkok, Thailand. Faculty Amelyn, along with Gabriel Vergara ‘19 AUD, Christine Giorgio '19 M.Arch, Pimchid Chariyacharoen '25 AAD, is also leading a Designing with Dust workshop in Bangkok Thailand with Thammasat Design School students.

• Dean Andrés Jaque, Faculty Sumayya Vally (Counterspace), and Faculty Juan Herreros (Estudio Herreros) are named to the Architectural Digest AD100 list for 2026, recognizing their contributions to contemporary architectural practice.

• Faculty Mireia Luzárraga (TAKK) and Faculty Alejandro Muiño have been shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Awards 2026 with the project 10K House.

• Faculty Mireia Luzárraga (TAKK) has been selected by Forbes Women as one of the 50 Architects to Watch in 2026.

Faculty Andrew Dolkart and alumni Ken Lustbader ’93 MSHP, Jay Shockley, and Amanda Davis ’06 MSHP will receive the Preservation League of New York State Pillar of New York Award for their transformative work documenting and preserving NYC’s LGBTQ historic sites. (pictured)