Advocacy Service Award
William E. Gati, AIA
William Gati has over three decades of practice and has demonstrated a genuine value of public service.  His compassion to serve the public and communities in the borough of Queens and around the city goes beyond the call of duty.  He advocates for the profession to raise awareness and the historical presence architecture has in our communities and how architects transform the public spaces coupled with helping buildings to work better for the public.  He served as President of the AIA Queens Chapter in 2005-2006 and was on the board for eight years.  He also served as director of the AIANYS Chapter, and while there he continued to be instrumental in advocating for the architecture profession through state and city legislature initiatives. 
 
He has published many articles for the AIA Queens newsletters as well as the AIANY’s Oculus, and AIANYS.  He leads AIA Queens historical walking tours committee for the past five years and has been instrumental in many of NYC’s zoning and code reforms, multiple advisory boards and public entities.  Besides mentoring CCNY alumni students, he is at career day for CTEA HS in Ozone Park.  He served on the Community Board 9 in Queens and is now on the Board of the Richmond Hill Historical Society.
Emerging Professional Service Award
Michael Riscica, AIA, CSI CDT
Michael contributions to young professionals include his multiple forms of publication on the ARE exams, the Young Architect Podcast and most importantly building a relevant community of emerging professionals. Michael inspires and helps young architects to persevere in a tough profession and become licensed professionals.

The YoungArchitect.com blog does more than provide information it provides a voice for emerging professionals all too rare in the profession. His personal accounts, guest articles and 
advice provide much needed support for the profession through an independent, unbiased and relatable lens. His website draws thousands of viewers because of his unique perspective.  Recently he launched the Young Architect Podcast, which collates the voices of young practitioners from across the profession and nation, which educates and inspires countless aspiring and practicing architects.

Michael is most notable for his ARE preparation and the unique approach he offers in his resources and most recently has lead the country in preparing for the ARE 5.0 exam. He has several mediums for ARE preparation, including a written book, online workshops and in person boot-camps. In all his preparation materials is the foundation of the importance of getting licensed and inspiring those who are ready to take the test. 
Community Service Award
Ann Falutico, AIA
Ann Falutico established her architectural practice in Brooklyn in 1984. Her firm has designed a wide variety of renovation projects throughout the city. During the past twenty years, the firm has focused on projects which serve the needs of developmentally disabled persons, including residences, day habitation centers and other facilities. She is particularly proud to have designed many projects for such noteworthy nan profit agencies as the Guild for Exceptional Children, AHRC, YAI, the Salvation Army, Eden II and many others.

Since 1982, Ann has been active in leadership roles in AIA Brooklyn and served as President from 1998-2000.  A board member of Community Board 10 since June 2009, Ann has also been the chairperson of its Zoning and Land Use Committee for the past five years.  Her experience on the board gives her the opportunity to help to preserve and improve the Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights neighborhood and to work cooperatively with the dynamic Community Board 10 team.

Maintaining her commitment to the community in which she was raised, Ann was a volunteer member of the Bay Ridge Volunteer Ambulance Organization (BRAVO) from 1983 to 2014.  She devoted numberoud hours each week on her tour of duty and served several terms on the Board of Directors of BRAVO.  
Leadership Service Award
Willy L. Zambrano, AIA, LEED AP
Willy L. Zambrano, AIA, is exceedingly committed to the profession of architecture. His ability to solve challenging problems, love for the profession and his installation of notable programs, which led to an increase in public awareness of architecture in the Borough of Queens, are only a few of the many things he achieved as a leader of the Queens Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

As President of the AIA Queens Chapter, Mr. Zambrano championed several initiatives that helped advocate for diversity in the field of architecture and design excellence in the public realm. He helped established a K-12 program, created partnerships with several local institutions and organizations and co-founded the AIA Brooklyn + Queens Design Awards program in 2016 – the first ever for AIA Queens Chapter. Part of his continuing advocacy activities is taking part in the annual Ecuadorian Parade in Queens, which is joined by many local officials; and as an advisor for the Construction Trades Engineering and Architecture High School Advisory Board.

Another accomplishment while being President has been the establishment of The Queens Foundation for Architecture, which will further the educational programs, scholarship programs and the mission of the AIA Queens Chapter. Also, as part of his pursuit to further advocate for the Chapter, he chaired the Urban Design Committee and established a task force to create a study to revitalize Downtown Jamaica. The case study embodies the creation of a public plaza by reclaiming and repurposing an isolated bus stop island. The creation of the pedestrian plaza will be the catalyst for the ongoing revitalization in the community and it will also provide a much-needed daily and weekend cultural activity civic space, which will further enhance the vibrancy and character of downtown Jamaica.

Mr. Zambrano continues to serve in the AIA community as AIANYS VP of Knowledge, from 2017 to 2018 and as President of the newly formed Queens Foundation for Architecture.
Architecture Firm Award
Gans Studio
The Studio is a four-person office located in the Red  Hook  neighborhood  of  Brooklyn.  Firm  founder,  Deborah  Gans,  has  lived  and  worked  in  the  borough  of Brooklyn for more than twenty-five years. In addition to directing her practice, Deborah has also taught the next generation of architects at Pratt  Institute, where she has been a professor for more than twenty years. Deborah’s firm deserves to be honored for its long term and ongoing commitment to studying as well as creating housing the promotes equity, sustainability and resiliency.

Deborah’s passion for housing is evident in the variety of her output on the subject. In response to a request from the Citizen’s Housing Planning Committee and the Architectural League, Gans Studio develop new housing types to match existing housing needs in New York City. The completed work was exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York and subsequently the National Building Museum in New York City. Following Hurricane Katrina, Gans Studio partnered with other architects and local community members to develop a master plan for a twelve-block section of the Plum Orchard neighborhood in New Orleans. This work culminated with the development of a series of new housing types for deployment at over 350 sites in the devastated neighborhoods of New Orleans.

After Superstorm Sandy swept through New York City, Gans Studio found itself working in the beach bungalow neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn. This area features an unusual block structure consisting of an inner layer of cabins facing into a central pedestrian court and an outer layer of homes facing the surrounding streets. Working in concert with local homeowners under the auspices of several NYC agencies, Gans Studio outlined a block  wide,  urban  scale  approach  to  
rehabilitating  these  devastated  neighborhoods.  This  innovative  approach maintained the unusual density of the existing housing while promoting a communal infrastructure of raised walkways to defy future storm surges as well as provide access to newly raised and resilient dwellings.

More recently, Gans Studio assembled a team to participate in the NYC Build it Back program. As a group, the team has designed the elevation or rebuilding of nearly twenty bungalows in the Sheepshead Bay area. Several of the houses are nearing completion, including a group of new structures that cleverly manipulate zoning height limitations to  create  more  spacious  interiors with  cathedral  ceilings  under  both  gabled  and  sloping  roofs.  Just  last  month, Deborah  Gans  published  an  article  in  the  Architectural  League  publication,  Urban  Omnibus,  titled “What  Can Architect’s Do?” In this piece, she expounds upon her experience of balancing top down policy approaches to the housing predicament with bottom up community engagement.