Join us on Thursday, October 23, 2025, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM for a special evening dedicated to honoring excellence in architecture at the 2025 AIA Central New Jersey Awards Dinner!

Enjoy dinner, networking, and the celebration of outstanding projects and professionals in our community. Please note: There will be a cash bar, but drinks must be purchased with a credit or debit card.

The evening will feature a special presentation by Robert Blaser, Principal at Michael Graves!

Awards Up for Recognition

Unbuilt Projects | Built Projects | Open | Residential Design | Interior Architecture | Small Projects | Preservation | Social Impact | Sustainability

Course Presentation (1 LU)

Creating Your 2.0: The Story of Graves Post-Michael

In the aftermath of Michael Graves’ influential career, his legacy has often been viewed through the lens of Postmodern architectural language, style, and iconography. Yet Graves’ deeper impact lies in his dedication to humanism, storytelling, and imagination—principles that continue to shape contemporary design practice.

This course explores how architects and firms can evolve their own “2.0” by focusing less on what they design and more on why they design. Drawing on the work of Simon Sinek and Chip Conley, the session examines strategies for discovering purpose, cultivating cross-generational collaboration, and creating transformative, human-centered design.

Guest Speaker

Robert Blaser is a place-maker passionate about designing user experiences, whether for hospitality, entertainment, or wellness venues or a workplace or municipal center. An imaginative, thoughtful, and engaging collaborator, he helps owners, developers, operators, and other designers articulate their stories and artfully co-author the architectural character of their projects. He believes that the user experience encompasses all scales, and therefore, his projects span from large-scale planning and architecture to the smallest details of the interiors. Prior to becoming an architect, Robert was an aerospace engineer, so he has always had the capacity to dream big.