New York daily agenda

A conference, a book talk and a neighborhood event lead this week’s New York lineup, with times and locations below, organized by day.

Wednesday, Nov. 4
  • 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Innovation Conference (Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, NY); conference Presented by Architectural Record, The Innovation Conference brings architects and design professionals together for a day of ideas, projects, and conversations shaping architecture today. On November 4, 2026, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, hear from Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on the Obama Presidential Center; Snøhetta’s Aaron Dorf and Michelle Delk on the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library; and Richard Olcott and Graham S. Wyatt in a conversation on designing presidential libraries. The program also features presentations from Thomas Robinson, Johanna Hurme, and Max Núñez. Attendees can earn CE credits, explore new products and materials, and connect with peers from across the profession. The day concludes with The Record Awards, celebrating outstanding built and unbuilt work and leading and emerging voices in architecture.
  • 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Book Talk: “Claying Architecture, Making Machine and Material Kin” (Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl., New York, NY 10012); talk The Center for Architecture is pleased to host a roundtable discussion celebrating the book launch of Claying Architecture: Making Machine and Material Kin (ORO Editions/Applied Research + Design Publishing, 2026), edited by Shelby Doyle, Frank Melendez, Jonathan A. Scelsa, and Kelley Van Dyck Murphy. This publication presents a curated collection of essays, interviews, and projects from leading architects, designers, and researchers who are analyzing the role of clay 3D printing in contemporary architecture. The book blends research, theory, and practice to highlight how this ancient material is being reimagined through 3D printing, robotic fabrication, and innovative construction techniques. The roundtable event and book launch, sponsored by the Pratt School of Architecture, will bring together the voices of the editors, several of the book’s 30 guest contributors, and respondent Lola Ben-Alon to discuss why clay has become a protagonist in contemporary architecture as an agent capable of binding new kinships between processes, environments, and culture. Speakers: Shelby Doyle, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Professor of Architecture, Iowa State University; Co-founder, ISU Computation & Construction Lab Frank Melendez, Founding Partner, bioMATTERS LLC; Associate Professor and Chair, School of Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York, CUNY Jonathan A. Scelsa, AIA, FAAR, Founding Partner, OP – Architecture Landscape; Professor of Architectural Design and Technology, Pratt Institute Kelley Van Dyck Murphy, Associate Professor of Architecture, Sam Fox School, Washington University in St. Louis; Founding Partner, AVV A Respondents: Lola Ben-Alon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Columbia GSAPP; Director, Natural Materials Lab, Columbia GSAPP
Thursday, Nov. 5
  • 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Culture of Place (303 Bond St., Brooklyn, NY 11231); special event A neighborhood’s future depends in part on the organizations that give people a place to gather and a voice in what happens next. How can architecture support that work? Join architect Farida Abu-Bakare in conversation with designer, artist, and educator Curry J. Hackett, and architect Tura Cousins Wilson of Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA) to explore how community organizations can shape stronger, more connected neighborhoods. Drawing on the participants’ respective practices, the discussion will consider how design can sustain local cultural life while responding to changing community needs. The participants bring distinct perspectives on Black cultural memory and the relationships between communities and the spaces they inhabit. Together, they will examine what architects can learn from the people already doing the work of building community, and how those relationships can give residents a greater role in shaping the places they call home. This event is presented by the Van Alen Vanguard, a dynamic network of emerging design leaders. Farida Abu-Bakare and Curry J. Hackett are among the inaugural cohort developing public programs and exhibitions that reimagine designers’ roles in civic life and center equity, resilience, and local knowledge.