n e w s

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2007
For More Information:
Tony Tortorici, SchroderPR, 404.872.7289x15
tony@schroderpr.com
Abigail Carlen, Perkins+Will, 212.251.7072
abigail.carlen@perkinswill.com

Perkins+Will's Blumenfeld Named President,
NY Chapter of American Institute of Architects

NEW YORK , (January 22, 2007) -- Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, LEED®AP, award-winning Interior Design Director and Principal at Perkins+Will, has been named president of the American Institute of Architects' New York chapter for 2007.

For her term as head of the oldest and largest of more than 300 AIA chapters, Blumenfeld, an architect practicing interior design, has adopted the theme of "Architecture: Inside/Out" to promote better interior environments for living and working.

"Every year in New York City alone, millions of square feet of office space are built or renovated for workers, some of it with little regard for basic issues such as the way they work best together, or the quality of their physical environment," Blumenfeld said. "Over the next year, I hope to work with the Chapter Board and the Center for Architecture Foundation to raise awareness about creating more humane, sustainable and productive workplaces, while firmly maintaining the focus of the Chapter on its mission of promoting design excellence, advocacy, and professional practice."

Blumenfeld will be leading the more than 4,000 members of the New York AIA chapter during the 150 th anniversary year of the AIA which represents some 80,000 members nationwide. Annual billings at U.S. architectural firms totaled nearly $30 billion last year.

With a Master of Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophical Psychology from the University of Chicago, Blumenfeld joined Perkins+Will in 2005, continuing a prolific career that includes work for firms as diverse as Fidelity, Reuters, Sotheby's, Bloomberg, L'Oreal, and Planned Parenthood, ranging in size up to a million square feet of space.  

In addition, Blumenfeld's projects have received top awards from major design organizations and magazines. She is active in industry and community groups and is a LEED Accredited Professional, reflecting her commitment to the principles of sustainable design.

Established in 1935, Perkins+Will is an integrated architecture, interiors, and planning practice recognized as the preeminent sustainable design firm. With 21 offices worldwide, the firm provides architecture, interiors, branded environments and planning + strategies services for clients in corporate + commercial + civic, healthcare, higher education, K-12 education, and science + technology market sectors. Perkins+Will routinely ranks among the world's top design firms and has received hundreds of awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects Firm of the Year Award.

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