12–1 PM
Talk: Designing the Medina Triennial Hub with Serweta Peck
Maia Peck and Gregory Serweta of Serweta Peck discuss their architectural practice and their design for the Medina Triennial Hub, a civic gathering space that anchors the Triennial’s programming. This project was created in collaboration with students and faculty from the University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Planning. Their presentation explores how the Hub’s design reimagines adaptive reuse in the context of Medina. Through sketches and in-progress documentation, they will share how the space for the Triennial developed.
2–3:30 PM
Workshop: Drawing Medina with Miggie Wong
Artist and designer Miggie Wong leads a participatory workshop using Medina’s historic architecture as a starting point. Participants will work from building outlines to explore tactile and graphic techniques—such as stamping, stitching, and collage—to create imaginative reinterpretations of the village’s built landscape. This is an all-ages event, connecting community members to local history through hands-on art making.
4–4:30 PM
Tour: Sydney Gross Memorial
Architects Christopher Romano and Joyce Hwang from the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning will lead a tour beginning at the Hub of the Sydney Gross Memorial, located on the banks of the Erie Canal. The talk introduces the concept of the memorial, which bridges the realms of sculpture, architecture, and landscape design.
Participant Biographies
Joyce Hwang, FAIA, NOMA, is a Professor of Architecture at the University at Buffalo SUNY and Director of Ants of the Prairie, a practice of architecture and public art. For two decades, she has been developing projects that incorporate wildlife habitats into constructed environments. She is a recipient of the WOJR/Civitella Ranieri Architecture Prize, Exhibit Columbus University Research Design Fellowship, Architectural League Emerging Voices Award, MacDowell Fellowship, and NYFA/NYSCA Fellowship, among other awards. Her work has been featured by a range of platforms, including MoMA, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Matadero Madrid, and the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Maia Peck, NOMA, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Architecture and Director of Exhibitions at the University at Buffalo SUNY, and principal of the multidisciplinary architecture and design practice Serweta Peck, which operates at a variety of scales, from temporary installations to exhibition designs and architectural projects. Serweta Peck has received the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Award, an Independent Project Grant from The Architectural League of New York/NYSCA, and the AIA Buffalo/Western New York Distinguished Service Pro Bono Award.
Christopher Romano is an architect and an educator appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo. His research and creative practice are focused on the theoretical and pragmatic bridges that integrate material and structural ingenuity with architectural experience. He is a licensed architect in the State of New York, LEED-accredited, and director of Studio NORTH, a practice located in Buffalo. This work has been recognized with awards, which include the TEX-FAB SKIN Competition winner, the Architects Newspaper Fabrication Award, multiple Architects Newspaper Product Awards, multiple AIA New York State Design Awards, and multiple Architizer A+ Awards.
Gregory Konrad Serweta, AIA, NCARB is a Buffalo-native, principal of the multidisciplinary architecture and design practice Serweta Peck, and an adjunct instructor at the University at Buffalo SUNY in the Department of Architecture. He previously worked at firms including Sou Fujimoto Architects, Tokyo, and OMA New York—where he served as Senior Architect for the expansion and renovation of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. His recent projects include site-specific interactive installations (Buffalo O’s at Buffalo Riverworks in Silo City) and exhibition designs (Reset: Towards a Common Future at the Center for Architecture in New York City).
Miggie Wong is an artist living and working between Buffalo and Los Angeles whose practice explores cultural mutation, migration journeys, sense of belonging, and acts of sincerity. Born in Hong Kong and migrating to the United States in the early 2000s, Wong holds a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and an M.S in Creative Studies from Buffalo State University. Wong’s current mixed media work, Migratory Houses, depicts architectural exteriors and examines domesticity on an intimate scale with an eye toward global experience, which was recently exhibited at NACC (Niagara Falls, NY) and BJAC (Los Angeles, CA).
