COTE-versations Creating Livable Communities in Our Towns
Date: May 30, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Format: Zoom (1 hour)
Cost: AIA $5, Associate AIA/Students Free, Non member $10
Registration Required to receive Zoom link
AIA Credit: 1 AIA HSW PDF
This event explores how local communities can make meaningful progress towards sustainability and resilience through a bottom-up approach. How can architects guide communities, municipalities, and organizations toward building stronger, more sustainable towns? Together, we’ll discuss how strong towns, public transit, walkability, and shared values can bring us closer to a better future, and how this can be done in Westchester and the Hudson Valley.
1. Understand the principles of a bottom-up approach to sustainability and resilience in local communities.
2 Identify key strategies architects can use to guide municipalities and organizations toward building stronger, more sustainable towns.
3 Examine how concepts like strong towns, public transit, and walkability can be applied in the Westchester and Hudson Valley regions.
4 Discuss the role of shared values in creating more connected and resilient communities.
Lissette Mendez-Boyer is a Studio Design Leader for the Cities and Communities practice at HKS. With over 20 years of experience, she has led various architectural and urban design projects, including healthcare, mixed-use, campus planning, and educational and cultural facilities. As an architect and urban designer, Lissette is deeply committed to advancing healthy, sustainable, and equitable planning strategies and architectural solutions.
She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from the City College of New York’s School of Architecture and holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. A resident of Westchester County, Lissette also serves on the Village of Tarrytown’s Planning Board.
Nikola Gjurchinoski - Nikola is an architect and researcher focused on connecting research with practice to improve how the built environment supports people’s health and experience. He works as an architect in the Research Team at HKS Architects, helping to bridge the gap between research and practice with a focus on translating research insights into design. His work combines design, research methods, and data analytics to understand and shape the relationship between people, place, and the planet. Nikola has contributed to initiatives at the intersection of housing and health, including the development of a conceptual framework for healthy and resilient communities “Community-BLOC,” as well as FDA’s Home as a Healthcare Hub initiative that aims to reimagine the home environment as an integral part of the health care system