Architects open house event.

Terrence O'Neal, AIA of the NYCOBA-NOMA Business Development Committee announced that the first annual Minority Architecture Firm Open House was held on October 27.

"This inaugural event was a success," said O'Neal. Conceived by Elizabeth Kennedy RLA, of EKLA, a landscape architecture firm in New York, the Open House was organized to bring potential clients into the offices of minority-owned NOMA member firms. The goal was to better familiarize client groups about firms in the metropolitan area.

"We wanted these potential clients to visit where we 'live' so they can see for themselves not just our work but our staff, capacity, and capabilities," said Kennedy. Participating agencies included the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Battery Park City Authority, NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, NYC Department of Design & Construction, Health and Hospitals Corporation, Harlem Hospital, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, represented by its chief architect, Andrew Thompson, who is also a NOMA member and NYCOBA-NOMA Business Development Committee member.

These individuals were ferried by charter bus to each of five (5) architecture firms.

Participating architects were Urban Architectural Initiatives, RA, PC, Terrence O'Neal Architect LLC, Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects, AARRIS Architects, and Danois Architects, PC. The Open House was a pre-conference event of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) 32nd annual Conference, which was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel from 28-30 October 2004.

For more information on NOMA, visit www.noma.net.