About
NYCxDESIGN
Who We Are
NYCxDESIGN is a nonprofit that unites and amplifies New York City’s design community—championing the city as a global capital where design culture and industry meet.
Rooted in New York City’s uniquely diverse, pragmatic, and business-driven environment, NYCxDESIGN reflects a design culture that extends far beyond traditional categories, spanning industries from architecture, landscape, and product design to technology, and entertainment.
To unite and amplify New York City’s multidisciplinary design community.
Design in New York is not just imagined—it is built, scaled, and shared with the world. NYCxDESIGN believes that design thrives where creativity meets industry. New York’s diversity, pragmatism, and entrepreneurial energy make it a place where ideas are not only conceived, but realized and scaled.
Read MoreBy connecting disciplines, industries, and audiences, NYCxDESIGN champions a design culture that is collaborative, globally influential, and grounded in real-world impact—reflecting the city’s uniquely expansive design landscape.
We see a future where New York City stands as a leading global design destination - where design culture and industry meet, sparking connection, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas.
NYCxDESIGN’s core values are centered in community and creativity, guided by an ongoing commitment to inclusivity, equality, sustainability, and regenerative design for humanity’s greater good. Design not only enriches the creative landscape but also has far-reaching economic, educational, and cultural benefits for industry, the City, its businesses, residents and visitors.
Read MoreEconomic Impact
The design industry is a major contributor to New York City’s economy. NYCxDESIGN attracts global audiences, driving meaningful business for local companies and neighborhoods.
Fostering Creativity and Collaboration
NYCxDESIGN creates a dynamic environment where designers across disciplines connect, exchange ideas, and collaborate.
Showcasing Innovation
NYCxDESIGN is a platform for designers, artists, and innovators to present new ideas, products, and perspectives.
Educational Opportunities
Through workshops, seminars, tours and talks, NYCxDESIGN offers valuable learning experiences for students, emerging talent, established professionals, and enthusiasts.
Promoting Design as a Career
By highlighting the impact and achievements of designers—especially those based in NYC—the Festival inspires future generations to pursue design as a meaningful career.
Cultural Exchange
NYCxDESIGN brings together participants from around the world, fostering dialogue and exposing audiences to diverse design philosophies and practices.
Sustainable Design Advocacy
NYCxDESIGN highlights sustainable and regenerative design approaches, encouraging more responsible and forward-thinking practices across the industry.
City Branding
NYCxDESIGN reinforces New York City’s position as a global hub of design and culture, attracting international attention and participation.
Board of Directors
Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMAC, LEED AP is a visionary architect and CEO of Adjaye Associates, New York studio. As the 315th living African American woman registered architect in the U.S., Pascale embodies excellence, innovation, and sustainability. She founded Beyond the Built Environment to empower women and BIPOC designers, and she recently served as the Global President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (2023–2024), becoming the fifth woman to hold this role.
Pascale’s advocacy has earned her the Architectural League 2021 Emerging Voices award and the 2021 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award. She is the youngest African American inducted into the AIA College of Fellows. Pascale has lectured at RIBA, the United Nations, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, and Forbes, and she was recognized by Oprah’s Future Rising platform. With degrees from Pratt Institute and Columbia University, Pascale Sablan is shaping the future of architecture.
Emanuela Frattini Magnusson is a Milan-born architect and designer based in New York. She is the founder and principal of EFM Design, an award-winning, multi-disciplinary practice established in 1991, focusing on architecture, interiors, product design, and brand development.
Currently consulting as Design Director at Howard Hughes Development, Emanuela has also served as Design Director at Related Hudson Yards and Global Head of Design at Bloomberg LP from 2013 to 2017, where she shaped the company’s international corporate culture.
Emanuela co-founded Gianfranco Frattini Studio to promote her father’s architectural legacy and curated exhibitions and authored a book published in 2023. She is also the founder of Articolo, creative director at Spinneybeck, and the founder of Manù, a luxury leather goods line.
A former Board Member and Treasurer of Operation Design, she has created award-winning products for leading manufacturers like Knoll and MoMA. She has taught at Parsons and Yale, with her work published widely in the U.S. and Europe.
Emanuela holds a degree in architecture from Milan Politecnico, an MBA from NYU Stern, and is a LEED-accredited architect in both NY and Italy.
Elan Cole is an accomplished creative strategist with expertise in design, writing, and filmmaking. Over his 30+ year career, he has led and collaborated with teams to deliver award-winning brand strategies, identity and content systems, campaigns, products, stories, and films—earning accolades that include multiple Emmys, Webbys, and more.
As part of his brand consultancy practice, he created On/Brand, a workshop for design students and emerging creatives demonstrating how branding tools and frameworks can strengthen creative careers. He has conducted workshops at the School of Visual Arts, the University of Michigan’s Stamps School of Art and Design, Brigham Young University’s Design Department, and others.
Previously, Elan served as the Executive Creative Director of New York City Tourism + Conventions for over seven years, guiding the city’s tourism industry through the challenges of the pandemic and rebranding of NYC for a global audience.
Other career highlights include co-founding Johnson & Johnson’s Global Strategic Design Office, where he played a pivotal role in driving impact across iconic global brands. He also directed brand communications for The Museum of Modern Art, and initiatives for leading brands including Infiniti Motors, JetBlue Airlines, Timberland, Budweiser, and many more.
Michael Cohen is a global marketing and communications executive with a passion for the arts, design, and creative collaboration. His innovative approach to brand engagement across disciplines has led to the development of global advertising campaigns, corporate brand architecture and design, digital marketing, film and video production, event management, and on/offline publication creation. Most recently, he served as Managing Director and Global Head of Marketing and Communications at Tradeweb Markets, where he was a member of the Executive Committee and led initiatives that elevated the firm’s brand through multimedia content, strategic partnerships, and purpose-driven programming.
Michael’s career spans leadership roles at the New York Stock Exchange and MF Global, where he modernized legacy brands and launched innovative programs that combined data, design, and narrative to engage diverse audiences. Earlier in his career, he shaped consumer and corporate messaging at Sony, Grey Advertising, Deutsch, and Saatchi & Saatchi, gaining a strong foundation in creative strategy and integrated marketing.
His work has been recognized for excellence by leading industry groups including the Financial Communications Society (FCS), the Advertising Club of New York, PR News, and the International Association of Business Communicators, receiving multiple awards for brand innovation, integrated campaigns, content strategy, and corporate communications.
ANITA COONEY, an artist, designer, and educator, is the founding Dean of the School of Design at Pratt Institute, a position she has held since 2014, the year Pratt split its art and design programs into separate academic units. Prior to this, she spent nine years as the chair of Pratt’s Interior Design Department, where her transformative leadership of one of the country’s oldest interior design programs remade it into one of the country’s best—according to national rankings. Anita is one of those rare academic leaders who views program and department administration as a form of creative practice, an attitude she first developed during the three years she served as assistant chair of undergraduate architecture in Pratt’s School of Architecture. After completing her undergraduate studies at Brown University, Anita continued her education at Pratt, which has been her institutional home since the mid-90s, even as she continued to develop her professional practice at such firms as Takashimaya and Robert AM Stern, and in her own studio, acoo design. For more than a decade, she has been a member of DesignInquiry, a collective of thinkers and makers who research diverse topics in design through intensive team- based and place-based gatherings. As a designer and educator, Anita has long subscribed to a simple mantra: how can we “design without borders”? This means something greater than simply working across disciplines. It’s about recognizing what she calls the flows of design in order to prioritize how design—at its best—connects, enables, sustains, empowers and humanizes.
Emmanuel (Manny) Curling is a seasoned Financial Advisor with over 13 years of experience at UBS, specializing in comprehensive wealth management and financial planning. Manny works with a diverse clientele, including athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, helping them navigate complex financial landscapes to achieve their goals.
Holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Advertising from Syracuse University, Manny is also a Certified Exit Planning Advisor® (CEPA®), Accredited Asset Management Specialist™ (AAMS™), and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ (CRPC™).
Beyond his professional achievements, Manny is deeply committed to community involvement, mentoring aspiring professionals through organizations like the Black Innovation Alliance and Exodus NYC.
Lastly, he has curated an event series called Bridging the Gap. BTG fosters a community and builds inclusivity by creating events that connect and inspire through insights from industry leaders, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds to grow and thrive together.
Eddie Opara was born in Wandsworth, London in 1972. He studied graphic design at the London College of Printing and Yale University, where he received his MFA in 1997. He began his career as a designer at ATG and Imaginary Forces and worked as a senior designer/art director at 2×4 before establishing his own studio, The Map Office, in 2005. He joined Pentagram’s New York office as partner in 2010.
Opara is a multi-faceted designer whose work encompasses strategy, design and technology. His projects have included the design of brand identity, publications, packaging, environments, exhibitions, interactive installations, websites, user interfaces and software, with many of his projects ranging across multiple media.
His clients have included Mellon Foundation, Nubank, Calendly, lululemon athletica, re-inc, OPPO, Realme, Simplisafe, Samsung, Dashlane, SFMOMA, The Baffler, The New Republic, Hisense, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Grace Farms, the Menil Foundation, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Queens Museum, Corcoran Sunshine, Ennead Architects, SHoP Architects, Morgan Stanley, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design, Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), Grimshaw Architects, (ARO) Architecture Research Office, Harry N. Abrams and Princeton Architectural Press.
Opara has won numerous awards including a Gold Cube from the Art Directors Club and honors from D&AD, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD), Type Directors Club, Tokyo Type Directors Club, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and Communication Arts. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and has appeared in publications such as Wired, Fast Company, Creative Review, Archis, Surface and Graphis.
Opara is a senior critic at the Yale University School of Art. He has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Columbia University School of Architecture and the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. He is a member of the distinguished design society, Alliance Graphique Internationale and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Opara authored a book, Color Works, published by Rockport. He was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2012 and 2014, and was featured in Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 and Adweek’s Creative 100.
He's on the board of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and on the Design Advisory Board for Canva.
Robin Elmslie Osler is an internationally recognized and award-winning architect and designer with a diverse range of project experience spanning over 35 years and across a broad range of typologies. Hailing from a family of influential Midwestern architects— including her grandfather Emil Lorch, founding Dean at the University of Michigan, and her great-uncle George Elmslie, principal Designer for Louis Sullivan—she carries forward a legacy that helped establish the foundations of American modernism. She has directed her namesake firm, EOA/Elmslie Osler Architect for over 25 years and also served as a Principal and Creative Director at CRTKL/Arcadis. In these roles, she has been responsible for cultivating a broader range of design thinking and mentoring generations of young designers. Her commitment to education extends to the classroom, where she has held teaching positions at Yale, Syracuse, and Pratt, and at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Yale University. She was the recipient of an American Association of University Women Fellowship while at Yale and has served on the Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Virginia’s Architecture School. She is a passionate mentor and advocate for the diversity of the practice of architecture having taught and served on critical reviews and institutions. She is recognized as an industry thought leader and inspirational leader serving on panels and as a speaker throughout the country over the span of her career.
Born in Milan, Italy, he holds a Master’s degree in Global Media and Communications, a program taught jointly by the London School of Economics and the Annenberg School at USC.
He has a 20+ year career in marketing and communications, having worked for prestigious, global luxury brands such as Ferrari, Maserati, Baume et Mercier, amongst many.
At Related he is a VP of marketing, focused on place-making and community-building initiatives and projects, from the launch of Hudson Yards in 2018 to the re-launch of Wollman Rink in 2021, to the soon-to-open Grand LA, and he helms the company’s brand content efforts, telling the many stories of people and communities brought together and supported by the Developer.
He is also the co-founder and senior sponsor of Related Pride ERG, the LGBTQIA+ employee group that has been partnering and creating employee volunteer opportunities with local organizations such as the Hetrick Martin Institute and the Ali Forney Center.
Kimberly Weinrick leads Strategic Communications for FinTechs and Investment Managers; firms include Ninety One, Xponance, Aapryl and TIFIN, along with the biotech, Cytogel and the nonprofit Rock The Street, Wall Street, bringing the M in STEM to high school girls. Previously, as Head of Public Affairs for OppenheimerFunds, she served as Corporate Spokesperson and guided the firm’s messaging and Philanthropy & Community initiatives. Prior, Weinrick managed executive communications for J.P. Morgan’s Investment Banking business and Global Commodities. She is a past President of the Financial Women’s Association and has served as a senior advisor.
Sonia Park is an expert strategist in the creative economy with expertise in fashion, manufacturing, and gaming. She creates and executes tangible outcomes to build eco-systems, set up efficient supply chains, improve delivery of product/programs, increase profitability and efficiencies, develop partnerships, and advance the development process to create increased opportunity. Park’s advisory role is to ensure that New York City and NYCEDC continue to be involved in the programming.
Partner, Levy, Sonet & Siegel, LLP
Alan M. Siegel, Esq., Hon. FASID has 50+ years of legal experience within the design and architectural industry and has represented the interests of interior designers, architects, product designers, and industry resources. For over twenty years, Alan served as national legal counsel to ASID, and is the author of the ASID interior design form contracts. For his years of service with ASID, Alan was named an ASID Honorary Fellow.
Alan is a trustee of the Angelo Donghia Foundation. He has also served as a member of the National Board of Directors of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of NYCxDesign, Inc. He is the co-author of “A Guide to Business Principles and Practices for Interior Designers,” and a frequent lecturer and contributor to the design industry and trade publications.
Steering Committee
