The Architect Is In
The Architect is IN / Yale Day of Service—May 9, 2020
The Architect Is IN is a project held in conjunction with the annual Yale Day of Service. It was first conceived from a desire to connect Yale architectural alumni with other alumni in the Yale community who could benefit from a day of donated professional architecture, planning, and design services.
This volunteer workshop service event—first held in 2014 in New York, Washington DC, and Boston—was created to serve local non-profit organizations who are affiliated with Yale or Yale alumni in some way, and it occurs at various locations and at different scales across the globe. In recent years it has been opened up to serve any and all non-profit organizations, with or without a Yale alumni affiliation.
The skills and talents of volunteer architects (of all ages and backgrounds) are matched with local community service and non-profit organizations who are most in need of assistance. The resulting service opportunities are likely to be very diverse and unique.
The service workshops aim to be rewarding to all participants wanting one day of volunteer service. Beyond that, they educate all of the participants in a more meaningful and long-term way about what the architectural profession can provide, and who can positively be affected by them on a daily basis.
If you have come to this site as a non-profit organization looking for help, please fill out our online non-profit signup form.
If you are an architecture alum looking to volunteer, please fill out the online volunteer information form.
If you are an architecture alum, and you want to start a site in your area, please fill out the online volunteer information form.
2020 Sites
May 9, 2020
Beacon, NY. Site Leader: J.C. Calderon (M.Arch ‘92).
Cincinnati, OH. Site Leader: Brent Sturlaugson (MED '15).
Los Angeles, CA. Site Leader: Melissa Shin (M.Arch '13). Site Host: Ross Wimer (BA '84).
New Haven, CT. Site Leaders: Melinda Agron (M.Arch '19), Phil Bernstein (M.Arch '83), Dov Feinmesser (M.Arch '16).
New Orleans, LA. Site Leader: Elaina Berkowitz (M.Arch '17). Site Host: Steve Dumez (M.Arch '89).
New York, NY. Site Leader: Aary Lee (M.Arch '18). Site Host: David Rush (M.Arch '89).
Newburgh, NY. Site Leader: Jieun Yang (BA '03).
Roxbury, NY. Site Leader: Melissa DelVecchio (M.Arch '98).
Taipei, Taiwan. Site Leaders: Li-Yu Hsu (M.Arch '03) and Cheng-Hsun Wu (M.Arch '00).
Other dates
Cleveland, OH. Site Leader: Raymond Kent (Drama '99).
Holon, Israel. Site Leader: Elias Messinas (M.Arch '92).
More sites to come! If you would like to sign up to lead a site in your city, please contact the organizers.
Links to sign up are below. Please contact the site leader directly if you have any questions about signing up as a volunteer or as a non-profit in need of consultation.
2020 Planning Coordinator
Special Thanks
Mara Balk, YAA Assistant Director for Volunteer Engagement
AJ Artemel, Yale School of Architecture Communications
Rachel Littman, YANA Executive Director
Ann Goulet, co-organizer and concept development
Dale Cohen, originator of The Architect is IN
Matthew Hettler, original web developer
Additonal thanks to all the Site Leaders, Hosts and Volunteers who have made this project a success for the past 6 years.
Photos from past years
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In seven inaugural locations—from Dwight Hall to Shanghai—90 participants spanning 60 years of Yale graduates gathered for a day-long pro-bono workshop to review local Yale-affiliated nonprofit needs and to consult on architecture, planning, and design solutions. Nonprofit board members from all over the US also joined in a roundtable call hosted from the NYC site to discuss strategic project planning as well as financial and organizational concerns.
Projects included proposing design solutions for a library expansion, revised office work spaces, a new hydroponic greenhouse, homeless shelter and residence renovations, as well as landscaping for a school’s entry and parking area.
2016 event co-chairs Dale Cohen (M.Arch ‘89) and Anne R. Goulet (M.Arch ‘00) agreed that the day was a huge success all around: “The alumni collaboration across multiple generations was inspiring. Volunteers showed real creativity and suggested solutions that met needs on many levels.”