Architecture: Decentralizing New York cultural offerings

As part of AIA|DC Architecture Month, Sergio Pardo, Miguel Quismondo and Daniel Lobo address the cultural decentralization of New York through architecture and public art.

Every challenge can lead to great new ideas. Every crisis can turn into an opening for new opportunities. Sergio Pardo, from the Percent for Art Program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Miguel Quismondo, architect of Magazzino Italian Art in Cold Spring, NY, address these themes in conversation with Daniel Lobo, urban planner and designer at the Urban Land Institute, during Architecture Month on April 23, 2018. The conference will focus on the way in which cities and rural communities are shaping themselves to become important venues for cultural centers, their own infrastructure acting as stages to showcase a diversity of artistic expression.

Pardo will address the cultural decentralization of New York through public art, whereas Quismondo, a rising Spanish architect in the U.S., will discuss the importance of Magazzino Italian Art as a key asset in the vibrant cultural community of the Hudson Valley. Together, these two initiatives attest to how art can engage communities as part of a new evolution.

About Miguel Quismondo

Born and raised in Spain, Quismondo attended the Polytechnic School in Madrid, where he graduated with a degree in architecture. A desire to expand his understanding of architecture led him to travel to the United States, where he has carried out most of his career, first working for corporate America (Perkins+Will) and later collaborating with award-winning architect Alberto Campo Baeza in the design and construction of the Olnick Spanu House.

He was awarded with an Honor in Architecture by AIA New York for the project of Magazzino Italian Art in January 2018, and his work has been published in such magazines as la Biennale di Venezia, Architectural Record, A+U, Domus and Casabella. Over the past decade, he has worked for Olnick Spanu in several fields spanning from design, construction and management. Additionally, he had the opportunity to work with many international artists in order to help them implement and install site-specific projects in Garrison, NY.

During the more than two decades of professional experience in the fields of architecture, construction and development, Quismondo has continued his education; he holds one Master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University, and another in Construction Management from NYU. He has also recently started his PhD studies in architecture, focusing on the financial aspects of design and development.

He practices architecture blending design and construction management to achieve a personal, cost-sensible and meticulous result.

About Sergio Pardo López

Pardo López co-manages the Percent for Art Program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs a leader in the public art discipline, where he oversees all phases of development and implementation of New York City’s permanent public art. He defends that public art can be used as a tool for social engagement, civic pride and economic development.

In the arts administration and curatorial field, he has shaped projects in the U.S., Italy and Spain including: the Spanish Pavilion at the 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture; exhibitions at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Canal de Isabel II Foundation and Casa Encendida in Madrid; and The Crown Hall in Chicago. He has also managed one of the largest private photography collections in Spain, exhibiting artists such as Medardo Rosso, Cecil Beaton, Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus and other prominent artists of the 20th century.

Pardo López holds a M.A. in Visual Arts Administration from New York University (Fulbright Scholar), a M.S. of Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (ETSAM), and he has been a visiting scholar at the Illinois Institute of Technology awarded with the Rafael del Pino Foundation Scholarship. He has recently started his PhD studies in Art Administration and Architecture focusing on the elements that shape successful site-specific art pieces.

About Daniel Lobo

Daniel Lobo is the Senior Director of Awards, Education and Advisory Group, for the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education and research institute that focuses on issues of land use, real estate and urban development. The mission of the Institute is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Since 1947, ULI has been conducting panels that provide strategic advice to communities and organizations on a wide variety of real estate, planning, and urban design and public policy subjects.

Lobo is an urban planning and design professional with over eighteen years of experience dedicated to built environment initiatives, an extensive track record in project management, community participation, sustainable neighborhood development, disaster preparedness and response, cultural engagement, freelance reporting, and art proposals.

Prior to joining ULI, Lobo was an independent consultant working as project manager for a variety of urban and research initiatives, in particular facilitating open cultural urban interventions internationally, and new media research. Earlier he worked extensively as project manager for the Center for Communities by Design at the American Institute of Architects, and as Urban Designer at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP. He holds a MSc City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics, and a BA (Honors) from the School of Architecture and Interior Design at London Metropolitan University.