Keynote: Claire Weisz

Claire Weisz FAIA is a founding partner of WXY, a New York firm globally recognized for its community-centered approach to architecture, urban design and planning. Her work around urban issues have been featured widely in national and international publications including the New York Times, Metropolis, AD,Architectural Record, and many others. She has received the Architectural League of New York’s Young Architects Award and the Emerging Voices Award. Weisz was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business in 2017, awarded the Medal of Honor from AIANY in 2018 and was honoredwith the Women in Architecture Award by Architectural Record in 2019.

Her firm WXY won the 2016 AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, and is listed as one of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019. Claire is the co-founder of The Design Trust for Public Space and from 2000-2005 was the co-executive director. She currently holds a seat on the Industry Advisory Group for the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Operations and serves onthe board of the Regional Planning Association. She has served on design juries, both nationally and internationally, including the 2018 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, Jury Chair of the Nova Scotia Museum of Contemporary Art, Azure Design Awards; Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC Housing Design Competition and Metals in Construction Design Challenge in 2019.

Claire is a Fellow of the AIA and the Urban Design Forum and has served on the NYSCA Architecture Design Panel, the New York AIA Board of Directors and on design juries both nationally and internationally. She has received research grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Graham Foundation. She has taught and lectured widely both in academia and for professional associations in both design and planning.

Spotlight News / Articles / Videos

- "Behind the Problem: Claire Weisz on People, Ideas, and Opportunities" By Julia Gamolina

     - “Architects are the biggest sponsors of architecture - we actually are the ones that make architectural opportunities. Waiting for       someone else to do it is not the answer - it’s us.”   (https://www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2019/5/1/claire-weisz)

- How an Architect Redesigns NYC Streets | WIRED

     - "Designing streets is a little like being a detective. If you look hard enough you can see the traces of all the decisions people made before." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsDaZH-RpWA)