Student Organizations

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Student organizations at Columbia GSAPP support our community and enhance the academic experience.

All groups must be advised by a GSAPP Program Office and/or the GSAPP Student Affairs Office. The administration is available to support student groups, process event approvals and forward communications.

Please reference the Student Organization Handbook for information and resources, or contact studentaffairs@arch.columbia.edu with any other questions.

AAD Student Committee

This student-run organization ensures that AAD students, alumni, and prospective students are connected through events and activities. The role of this important organization is to intellectually engage with others whilst further stewarding possibilities and opportunities that the AAD program has to offer.

The AAD Student Committee aspires to further engage as peers through different social media platforms, events, activities, and discussions. Our goal is to enrich, preserve, and build the AAD Legacy.

For more information follow us on Instagram @gsapp_AAD or connect via email: AADsc@columbia.edu

Members:

Benjamin Akhavan
Fahad Al-Dughaish
Noor Begum
Michelle Clara
Marie Christine Dimitri (Faculty Liaison)
Behruz Hairullaev
Jasmine Jalinous

APA Student Representative Committee

The New York Metro Chapter’s Student Representatives Committee (SRC) of the American Planning Association provides a means for Urban Planning students’ interests to be represented within APA and promotes student participation in the organization at the local and national levels. SRC presents a host of networking and professional development opportunities for students at New York City’s five urban planning schools and emerging planning professionals, including conferences, Q&A sessions, company tours, as well as the annual end-of-year APA Student Showcase. All urban planning students are eligible for an APA Student Membership: planning.org/join

Chair Sebastian Salas

Asia Real Estate Club

The Asia Real Estate Club is an inclusive club bridging the Asia real estate market with Columbia Students. We engage Columbia students in the real estate industry by bringing keynote speakers, organizing immersive tours, and providing networking opportunities as well as holding social events. The club is open to anyone, especially those with a passion for the exciting real estate markets and practice in Asia.

Co-Presidents: Yu Qi Zhang and Shannon Lee
Social Chair: Stella Dai
Media Chair: Michael Lau and Celine Hyerim Ha
Hong Kong Outreach Chair: Sabrina Chong
Korea Outreach Chair: Shannon Lee
Taiwan Outreach Chair: Eleni Long
Greater China Outreach Chair: Miranda Li
Singapore Outreach Chair: Marcus Yoong
Thai Outreach Chair: Sunny Prakaisriroj
India Outreach Chair: Urjabrn Parmar
US Outreach: Aaron Zeligs

ASAPP

ASAPP is a student organization within the GSAPP, to provide a community for students who self-identify as Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander and those interested in API area issues. We plan to promote more API students in architecture planning and preservation careers, help the API students speak, organize academic, social, career, and cultural events, and explore opportunities outside of school, aiming to build a strong and supportive API alumni network.

Members
Sean Chew; Wenqi Ni; Daniel Li; Carmen Chan; Andrew Chee; Erisa Nakamura; Rozette de Castro; Victoria Lin; Mollye Liu.

Contacts:
Mollye Liu
Victoria Lin

Black Student Alliance at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (BSA+GSAPP)

The mission of the Black Student Alliance at Columbia GSAPP is to support the advancement and improve the experience of students who self-identify as members of the African diaspora by providing community, acting as a source of collegial support, and crafting meaningful, interrogative spaces for the many voices of the black GSAPP community to speak, engage in deliberate, careful, and shared modes of study within the school, and explore forms of exchange beyond the institution. Actively promoting the interests, scholarship, and creative production of black students, alumni, and future students at GSAPP, as well as black faculty, designers, scholars, and practitioners, BSA+GSAPP aims to cultivate a culture that supports affiliation for the development of a robust black alumni network.

Jennah Jones (Chair)
Fukunda Mbaru (Co-Chair)
Syeeda Simmons (Secretary/Historian)
Kelsey Jackson (Events Chair/Coordinator)
Laurin Moseley (Communications Chair/Coordinator)
Teonna Cooksey (Student Representative / Outreach Liaison)

Contact email: bsagsapp@gmail.com
Instagram
Twitter

Details

Design Driven Development

The Design Driven Development Club aims to bring together individuals passionate about architectural design and real estate to foster a holistic, design-centric approach to real estate development. Considering the creative and analytical processes involved in development are integrally connected, this club meets with design-driven developers to study the correlation between design excellence and ROI while also learning how to navigate developer and architect relationships. While developing an understanding of the value of design in the field of development, this club also explores the architect as developer, design-build and developer as constructor business models.

Executive Committee:
Sam Lewis
Jackson Tyler
Augie Schott
Morgan Reuther

GreenSAPP

The mission of GreenSAPP is to promote a greater emphasis on and engagement with the topic of climate change in the curriculum and student life at GSAPP as we step into our roles as leaders in shaping the built environment.

GreenSAPP was founded in 2019. We pursue a number of different projects ranging from campus sustainability initiatives to curricular research.

Instagram

Contact email: greensapp@columbia.edu

Shreya Arora
Natalie Bartfay
Sarah Mawdsley

GSAPP American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS)

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is an independent, nonprofit, student-run organization dedicated to providing unmatched progressive programs, information, and resources on issues critical to architecture and the experience of education. GSAPP AIAS aims to promote excellence in architectural education, training, and practice: to foster an appreciation of architecture and related disciplines, to enrich communities in a spirit of collaboration, and to organize students and combine their efforts to advance the art and science of architecture.

Board:
President: Rourke Brakeville
Vice President: Saba Ardeshiri
Treasurer: Alonso Ortega
Secretary: Rose Zhang

Contact: ColumbiaU@aias.org
Instagram: @AIASColumbia

GSAPP NOMAS

NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) is an association comprised of designers, architects, and allied professionals involved in creating a more diverse and inclusive design industry. The GSAPP NOMA Student Chapter will utilize professional and social programs to become a more equitable institution and connect students to the greater NOMA community. Our chapter will promote inclusivity through learning environments, professional development opportunities & social awareness through every design discipline.

Instagram: @gsapp_nomas

Co-Chairs:
Meissane Kouassi
Santiago Alvarez Santibanez

GSAPPX+

GSAPPX+ is a student-run initiative led by womxn that champions learning and unlearning through the power of conversation. GSAPPX+ cultivates a discourse that highlights and amplifies a diversity of voices engaged in the fields of design and the built environment. We use a combination of casual meetings and external events to nurture a collective notion of gender equity and individual empowerment to inform an inclusive and collaborative future.

Contact: gsappxplus@columbia.edu
Instagram: @gsappxplus

Details

Hospitality Development & Investments Club

The Hospitality Development & Investments Club explores topics across market environment, fiscal strategy, and design vision in order to understand how the industry is building with respect to consumer preferences. We organize lively events to experience hotels and venues firsthand as well as bring in world-class professionals within the industry to educate us on their insights across GP, LP, operational, and architectural relationships. We look forward to your engagement with our wonderful club and its active members!

Co-President: Venkat Reddy
Co-President: Alejandro Colindres Kriete

Impact Investing Club

By creating opportunities for GSAPP students to engage with and learn from mission-driven professionals whose work has a double bottom line—a quantifiable social impact as well as a financial return—the Impact Investing Club seeks to educate those whose immediate and long-term post-GSAPP professional goals are to become investors and developers with a purpose.

Sebastian Colville-Reeves
Nia Mair

International Real Estate Investment Club

The International Real Estate Investment Club aims to explore the nuances of investing in global real estate markets by harnessing the unique backgrounds of our members and promoting diversity of thought.

President: Daanish Lalani

Latin GSAPP Association

LatinGSAPP is an interdisciplinary student organization dedicated to the promotion, discussion and reflection of contemporary issues and ideas in Latin America. We recognize the importance and timeliness of thoughtful practice and research in the region of Latin America and by Latin Americans across the globe. Our primary objective is to raise awareness of this work and encourage cooperative involvement.

Co-Director, Outreach: Katherin Sibel ’22 MSUP
Co-Director, Secretary: Andrea Wong Magnalardo ’23 MSUP
Events Chair: Osvaldo Delbrey ’22 MARCH
Communications Chair: Ari Bon ’23 MSUP
Alumni Advising Chair: Guillermo Hevia García ’20 MSAAD

contact email: latin.gsapp@gmail.com
Instagram

Details

Masaha

Masaha is a student association that investigates contemporary issues facing the Arab world. Using the historic Saha as precedent, Masaha creates a platform where diverse perspectives coexist to question and redefine the many Arab identities. The association aims to connect creative students across disciplines to contribute to the improvement and development of scholarship that focuses on the Arab world. In an existential time where we are witnessing cities being flattened to the ground, while others ascend vertically and unsustainably, we offer this platform for people who are interested in learning about our past, present, and future issues that continue to shape our cities and shape us. Masaha is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious professional organization that is open to all GSAPP students.

Academic Advisor
Ziad Jamaleddine

Members
Aya Abdallah
Zenah Sakaamini
Zina Berrada
Sarah Abdallah
Mickaella Pharaon
Alya Abourezk
Bisher Tabbaa
Nayef Alsabhan
Sarah Hejazin

Contact
Masaha@columbia.edu

Details

PropTech Club

The Columbia MSRED PropTech Club intends to bridge the gap between the rapidly evolving technology sector and the traditional real estate built environment. Through speaker series, networking opportunities, and company tours, this club will introduce students to the innovative companies that are shaping the landscape and the people behind them. Leveraging the diverse backgrounds of its members, we will work to understand new ways of improving the current efficiency of our industry by introducing creative ventures and revolutionary ideas. In connecting the current generation of industry leaders with the future generation, we hope to foster the interest and exposure of the PropTech sector in the real estate industry.

Trevor Jones
Ohad Bregman

Queer Students of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (QSAPP)

QSAPP (Queer Students of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation) is a student organization that seeks to foster both conversation and community among LGBTQ students, their allies, faculty, and alumni of GSAPP. We actively explore contemporary queer topics and their relationships to the built environment through an engagement with theory and practice.

Recently, QSAPP explored the problem of LGBTQ homeless youth and its intersection with design which resulted in a publication. This academic year, as part of a mission to support structural change, QSAPP will initiate a project we are tentatively calling Disappearing Queer(s); an exploration of individuals and spaces that have fostered queer activism and have been part of the lived experiences of queer people in New York City, with a particular focus on communities and neighborhoods that are underrepresented in the queer canon.

All interested students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend meetings and events and reach out to our organizers for more information.

Abriannah Aiken
Brian Turner
Contact email: qsapp.gsapp@gmail.com
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Details

Global Real Estate Club

The Global Real Estate Club is an organization dedicated to connecting students who are passionate about real estate development and are interested in pursuing it as a career. The Club welcomes students interested in development who may not yet have a focus but are eager to pinpoint their interest within the industry. The organization facilitates networking opportunities with alumni and industry professionals in development, project management, asset management, acquisitions, and construction. The Club also aims to provide educational opportunities for members through guest speakers from industry leaders and alumni, a series of career workshops, in-person site visits, mentorship, and social events.

Contacts:
Kamu Kakizaki, Co-President
Rémi Gontier, Co-President
Anja Do, Chair: Career and Mentorship
Will Harris, Chair: Industry Liaison
Charlie Cojab, Chair: Social Events

Real Estate Private
Equity Club

The Real Estate Private Equity Club, associated with the Columbia GSAPP MSRED program, is committed to bringing accomplished leaders from across the real estate private equity industry to engage with our real estate-focused student body and community.

The Club’s goal is to provide a platform that drives meaningful discussions through dynamic events and speaker series presentations. Through enhancing the knowledge of prevailing market trends, gaining an understanding of current industry practices, as well as building and strengthening relationships, the organization hopes to educate and inspire future real estate private equity business leaders.

President: Takahiro Kuwabara, Dave Freeman
VP Communications : Mayke Vercruyssen
VP, MSRED Liaison : Vinayak Shunglu, Jake Schaevitz, Jordan Wong
VP, Global Investments: Claire Park, Omar Rojas Ferreira
VP, US/North America Investments: Michael Culham, Paul Roman, Matthew Yeckes
VP, Asia Investments: Shannon Lee
VP, European Investment: Konsta Pikkujämsä, Alexandra Olle
VP, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion : Yongjoo Park
VP, Careers: Jason Yoo, Christina Bicks

Sustainable Development Club

The Sustainable Development Club aims to educate and proliferate innovative approaches to environmentally-focused development practices. Subjects covered include energy efficiency and generation, water and resource conservation, environmental resiliency and response to natural disasters, nature conservation, and designing healthier communities. Sustainability topics are covered from a wholistic viewpoint considering the financial, design, legal, and social implications. Club activities include monthly meetings and social gatherings; lectures from industry leaders and innovators; site tours; and educational briefings. The club is open to all members of the greater Columbia University community and welcomes diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Contact Kelly Connelly for more information.

UP Program Council

The Urban Planning Program Council is composed of a group of planning students elected by their peers, who act as coordinators and communicators between the students and the faculty and administration.

Officers
Victoria Lin
Matthew Shore

Contact email: up_council@columbia.edu

Urban China Network

Urban China Network (UCN) is an student organization founded in May 2013 by a group of Columbia GSAPP Urban Planning students with a strong interest in China’s urban issues. UCN aims to bring students, scholars as well as practitioners from various disciplines in the Greater New York area into the discussion of China’s urbanization, and ultimately to facilitate the communication between cities in China and the U.S.

Co-President: Victoria Lin
Co-President: Wei Xiao
Treasurer/Financial Officer: Mollye Liu
Media and Design Officer: Ruiqi Zhu

Contact email: urbanchinanetwork@gmail.com

WeChat: ColumbiaUrbanism

Details

URBAN Magazine

URBAN is a magazine created, edited, and published by students of Columbia University GSAPP’s Urban Planning Program. As a forum for discussion among the students, faculty, and alumni of the program and GSAPP, each semester’s publication opens its pages to all realms of urban planning.

Senior Content Editor: Kyliel Thompson
Senior Design Editor: Gabrielle Coleman
Senior Outreach Editor: Eshwatti Sookram

Contact email: urban.submissions@gmail.com

Details

Urban Observation Squad

Taking advantage of this diverse city that we are in, we hope to bring together curious individuals from across the GSAPP community to explore different areas of NYC in organized walking trips guided by predetermined themes. During these trips, participants will be encouraged to produce photos, videos, audio recordings, sketches, or other creative outputs. In this way, we hope to produce a dialogue between different perspectives via the curation of an end-of-semester exhibition, website, or zine. In the academic setting, we, as GSAPP students, intimately interact with the built environment, but are limited by the outputs and projects required by our classes. We hope this student organization can be a space that transcends academic disciplinary boundaries and encourages creative dialogue amongst students from different backgrounds.

Officer: HaoChe Hung
Officer: Carlos Miranda Pereyra

Women in Real Estate Development

Women in Real Estate Development [WiRED] Club at Columbia’s MSRED program aims to connect, encourage and inspire female professionals in the commercial real estate space. This group promotes and organizes both on and off-campus events that foster women executives in a historically male-dominated field. Events will include but not limited to lectures by female leaders, site tours and social gatherings. While the group is geared towards female students, our events are opened to the entire MSRED community so everyone can benefit from our supportive environment or knowledgeable speakers.

Co-Presidents: Sonia Leung & Katrina Lee
Social: Christina Bicks
Speaker: Adrienne Van
Marketing & Communications: Nell El Souri