Nandini Bagchee is an Associate Professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture at CCNY (CUNY) and principal of Bagchee Architects. Her research focuses on activism in architecture and the ways in which ground-up collaborative building practices provide an alternative medium for the creation of public space. Nandini is the author of a recently published book on the history of activist-run spaces in New York City entitled, Counter Institution: Activist Estates of the Lower East Side (Fordham University Press, 2018). Her built-work and writing has been published in the New York Times, Interiors Now, Urban Omnibus and the Journal of Architectural Education. She is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council of the Arts and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Her research-based design work involves an ongoing engagement with politically active organizations such as the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, South Bronx Unite, Interference Archive and the Loisaida Center Inc.
Nicholas Korody is Editor in Chief of Ed Magazine, a publication of Archinect, and co-founder with Joanna Kloppenburg of Adjustments Agency, an “architecture of architecture studio” that analyzes and tries to redesign the structures in which architecture operates. He is also co-founder of the research-based art collective Encyclopedia Inc. He has written widely about architecture, real estate, the financialization of everything, suburbanization, Airbnb, and drone warfare. among many other topics. He has also exhibited and curated artwork in Zurich, Stockholm, London, Los Angeles, and, of course, New York.
Germane Barnes was born in Chicago, IL. He received a Bachelor’s of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Architecture from Woodbury University where he was awarded the Thesis Prize for his project Symbiotic Territories: Architectural Investigations of Race, Identity, and Community. He believes strongly in design as a process, and approaches each condition imposed on a project as an opportunity rather than a constraint. Currently he is the designer in residence for the Opa Locka Community Development Corporation and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture at the University of Miami. He has previously taught graduate seminars, and workshops at Woodbury University. His design and research contributions have been published and exhibited in several international publications and institutions, most notably, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, The Swiss Institute, DesignMIAMI/ and Curbed.com, where he was named a member of the 2015 Class of Young Guns, under-the-radar professionals who are busy challenging the status quo in the design industry.
Louise Harpman is Associate Professor at NYU Gallatin and the founder and principal of Louise Harpman__PROJECTS, a firm that focuses on architectural design, design research, and urban design. Before founding PROJECTS, she was a principal for 20 years in the architecture and design firm Specht Harpman, which received multiple Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects. The firm’s designs were featured at the Museum of Modern Art, the Municipal Art Society, the Van Alen Institute, and in gallery shows in the US and UK. Harpman has taught at the Yale School of Architecture, the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Architecture and Planning. She also teaches graduate courses in urban design at the Wagner School where she is an associated faculty member.
Filiep Decorte is currently the Deputy Director of UN-Habitat’s New York Liaison Office. Previously, he was the chief technical advisor and the focal point for UN-Habitat’s crisis-related work in New York. He played a key role in developing an urban track towards the World Humanitarian Summit and the emerging Global Alliance for Urban Crises. During his career, Filiep has predominantly focused on urban initiatives in conflict- and crisis-affected countries, specializing in urban planning, land, and housing issues. He has worked for UN-Habitat for more than fifteen years in different capacities, including long-term assignments in Haiti, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, and Morocco. He also acted as coordinator for UN-Habitat’s Global Disaster Management Program. He was trained as a civil engineer, architect, and urban and regional planner with advanced master’s degrees from the Universities of Ghent and Leuven in Belgium.