Jay Bargmann FAIA

Vice President, Managing Partner

Jay Bargmann is Vice President and Managing Partner of Rafael Viñoly Architects and has held a leadership position since the firm’s founding in 1983.

Under his administration, Rafael Viñoly Architects has expanded from its headquarters in New York City to include project offices throughout the United States and abroad. During this period of growth, the firm has added specialists in façade design, waterproofing, laboratory design, facilities programming, structural engineering, interior design, component prototyping, and computer visualization. In its current configuration, the firm has the size and expertise to undertake projects of considerable complexity and breadth. Jay is also responsible for project staffing, office standards, and capital acquisitions. He has negotiated fees, assembled consultant teams, and administered the contract for every building commission.

Jay has experience in every typology the firm has pursued and executed over the 40 years of practice, from cultural projects such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, to lab and life science buildings for private and institutional clients.
Jay’s area of expertise includes the management of large-scale projects designed and procured through a fast-track or multiple bid package methodology. He implemented a firm-wide project delivery system that seamlessly weds the construction process to design and documentation to deliver complex projects with multidisciplinary teams. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, became a fast-track construction project with a significant master plan component, which evolved in conjunction with the building design. For the Stavros Niarchos Foundation-David Rockefeller River Campus at The Rockefeller University, he led a team in an innovative pre-fabrication of entire building sections over an active highway, permitting the university to utilize air rights to bring new laboratories facilities to the edge of New York’s East River. Both these projects have been awarded Laboratory of the year in recognition of their accomplishments.

He also developed a patented laboratory bench system with flexible casework for the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, an approach to bespoke problem solving that is now standard in all the firm’s lab planning and lab design. His work in planning laboratories and in developing modular casework systems to support each facility according to its specific programmatic needs has been recognized with his board leadership position in the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association.

For New York University Abu Dhabi, Jay directed relocated to Abu Dhabi to manage an integrated site office bringing together RVA’s team, the engineering disciplines, and the subconsultants in one room in an integrated design approach. He led daily workshops and reviews with the entire design team, multiple stakeholders, contractors, and fabricators for two years during construction.

Jay is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and co-chairs the science and research facilities committee for AIA New York.

Education

University of Pennsylvania, Master of Architecture, 1975

University of Iowa, Bachelor of Arts, 1970

Stanford University, 1966-1969

Professional Affiliations

American Institute of Architects

Society of College and University Planning

National Council of Architectural Registration Boards

Registered Architect in 28 states and the District of Columbia: New York, AL, AZ, CO, CT, FL, HI, ID, IL, KS, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TX, UT, VA, WV, WI

Honors and Awards

US Patent Holder, Van Andel Laboratory Bench

General Service Administration, Design Excellence Peer Review

AIA Design Jury, Houston, Texas

Advisory Board, Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association

Speaking Engagements

Higher Education Design Quality Forum (HEDQF), Manchester, United Kingdom, “University and the City,” June 2015

Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, “Contemporary Trends in Advanced Laboratory Design,” April 2013

Achieving Excellence in Custom Lab Design and Execution Symposium, Safe Labs for a Better Tomorrow (SEFA), Madison, Wisconsin, USA, “Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Farm Campus,” April 2013

Washington University – Sam Fox School of Design College, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, ”

Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Farm Campus,” October 2007

Research Buildings Conference, Tradeline, San Diego, California, USA, “Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Farm Campus,” May 2007