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A stairway railing made of concrete, glass, and metal with people sitting in chairs. Gensler Visiting Critic

For more than 30 years, the Gensler family has helped provide vision, support, and a standard of excellence at AAP and the Department of Architecture.

The Gensler Visiting Critic program has allowed AAP to expand its faculty ranks with exceptional practitioners and industry thought leaders who immeasurably enrich the teaching and learning of our students on the Ithaca campus. This program has helped bring renowned national and international architects to campus to educate, exchange ideas, and build a powerful network of students, faculty, critics, and alumni. Each Gensler Visiting Critic has a full time appointment during the semester with teaching responsibilities, student engagement activity, and a community lecture. In many cases, a field trip or site visit is included for the students. This experiential learning opportunity has taken student from New York to Beijing and various places in between. Their presence is felt by our students who have a unique opportunity to connect with a leader in the field, while the critics engage with our outstanding students and see firsthand the caliber of an AAP education.

Below you will find a list of recent Gensler Visiting Critics from 2010–2023. Thank you for your generosity, leadership, and the indelible impact you have made at AAP.

Current Semester

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Róisín Heneghan

Gensler Visiting Critic (spring 2024)

Gensler Visiting Critic Róisín Heneghan was born in Ireland and studied architecture at University College Dublin. In 1992, she graduated with a master's degree in architecture from Harvard University. While at Harvard, she met Shih-Fu Peng, and they founded heneghan peng architects (hparc) in New York 1999. In 2001, they moved to Dublin after winning an open international architectural competition for the design of the Kildare Civic offices.

Today heneghan peng architects are based in Dublin and Berlin. Major projects include the Grand Museum of Egypt beside the Great Pyramids, the Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre on the Causeway Coast World Heritage Site, the National Gallery of Ireland historic wings refurbishment, and the Palestinian Museum at Bir Zeit, which was awarded the Aga Khan Award in Architecture. Significant recent projects include the Visitors' Centre at the Botanic Gardens Berlin (with Studio Qwertz), Storm King Art Center in upstate New York, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche in Berlin.

Previous Semesters
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