For six years, the AIA New York Architecture Dialogue Committee's "Cocktails and Conversations" series has hosted some of the most interesting and provocative practitioners we know to discuss what informs their designs. They shared insights about how to create form, how to relate new to old, what they learned from their built projects and ones unrealized. They talked about designing at all scales, from the macro to the micro, the role of drawing, and that of the client, politics, and the economy. They discussed aesthetics, color, and form. They were paired with journalists, curators, historians, critics, educators, and clients-those who create narratives that frame the intellectual discourse about the built environment for the profession and the general public. The conversations focused on the most compelling and consequential issues that designers currently face. To lubricate the discussion, master mixologists invented cocktails in the spirit of each designer's work. The recipes are included in the book. Cocktails and Conversations intends to inspire and delight, while distilling the ideas presented. Architects included: David Adjaye, Morris Adjmi, Tom Balsley, David Benjamin, Brad Cloepfil, Belmont Freeman, Massimiliano Fuksas, Jeanne Gang, Peter Gluck, Frances Halsband, Hugh Hardy, Frank Harmon, Michael Heeney, Steven Holl, David Hollenberg, Louisa Hutton, Tom Kundig, Andrea Leers, Daniel Libeskind, Michael Manfredi, Scott Marble, Audrey Matlock, Lee F. Mindel, Eric Owen Moss, Michael Murphy, Enrique Norten, Gregg Pasquarelli, William Pedersen, David Piscuskas, Charles Renfro, Robert Rogers, John Ruble, Joel Sanders, Todd Schliemann, Shohei Shigematsu, Mark Simon, Ken Smith, Michael Sorkin, Bing Thom, Calvin Tsao, Billie Tsien, Bartholomew Voorsanger, Richard Weller, Jane Weinzapfel, Marion Weiss, Claire Weisz, Tod Williams " The world may view architects' idealism and aspiration as idiosyncratic, hopelessly romantic, if not naïve. Architects are constantly browbeaten for daring to dream oversized dreams. Why this slavish devotion to design and aspiration, the skeptic asks, when mean, cost-driven functionalism is all that's being asked for? Architects don't have many venues to discuss what makes architecture meaningful, how to "practice" in a world determined to bury aspiration under mandates and me-tooism. That's the genius of Cocktails and Conversations and the Center for Architecture in New York. Audiences are happily liberated from over-serious formats such as academic lectures. Instead, they are treated to a rich back-and-forth between an architect and an insightful interlocutor that has proven to be both amusing and substantial. Architects too rarely let their hair down in such an informal format. A delicious drink aids the flow and takes participants and audience alike away from the day-to-day exigencies that designers confront: shrinking budgets, building codes, change orders, onerous schedules. Participants in Cocktails and Conversations take a few minutes to ask, Why do we do this? How do we confer meaning? What's truly significant? How do you create meaningful places in the cacophony of competing interests and tastes? This book shows, in many rich and diverse ways, how architects truly serve our societies and our cities. Pour me another, please." -- James S. Russell , FAIA, NYC Department of Design & Construction, formerly with Bloomberg News Architectural Record March 6, 2019 "Architects like to talk about design, and architects like to drink," declares architect William Singer, AIA. His observation is behind the program at the New York AIA focused on these two obsessions--and now there is a book documenting its success. ... The conversations, illustrated with photos, sketches, and lush watercolors by the architect Bishakh Som, make this a lively if informal compendium about many issues architects face in design and practice. The cocktails are missing, but you have the original recipes." Wendy Moonan The Architects Newspaper November 12, 2018. "Ever want to drink like Morris Adjmi or Charles Renfro? Now you can. And keep an eye out for moderating appearances from AN 's William Menking and Matt Shaw. Check out the best architecture book releases of the fall" Architects and Artisans November 21, 2018 "No lectures. No pedagogy. No theories. Just cocktails and conversation, on Friday night in Manhattan." ..."I think what everybody wants to know is how architecture gets done," says Abby Suckle, who dreamed it all up. "How did they get there? What they have to say - what insights do they have to add to discussion about where we are in the world?" Michael Welton ArtsFuse March 2, 2019 "The programs have been provocative, inspiring, and lively--and definitely fun." These gatherings are a hoot -- I have attended.....To (literally) lubricate the discussion, master mixologists invented cocktails in the spirit of each designer's work. The recipes are included in the Cocktails and Co