The Pairing:
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU
Justin Davidson, New York Magazine

Cocktail designed by:
Toby Cecchini, Bartender + Author

Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA, Founder, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU
Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA, is the founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU. Simultaneously, he teaches design and urban theory at Columbia University. His book, A Country of Cities, argues that a well-designed urban world would result in more prosperity, sustainability, equity and joy. Chakrabarti and his team are desiging distinctive architecture projects that reflect and rethink global urban life in the 21st century, including the Domino site in New York, the beginnings of a new downtown for Philadelphia, and a remarkable urban village and cultural centre in Ulanbator, Mongolia.

Prior to founding PAU, Chakrabarti was a principal in major global architecture firms and served as the director of planning for Manhattan under Mayor Michael Bloomberg after the tragic events of 9/11, during which he helped to plan the High Line, the reconstruction of the World Trade Center, and the expansion of Columbia University. Chakrabarti has appeared on Charlie Rose, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, the main stage of TED, and the pages of the New York Times and the Financial Times.



Justin Davidson, Architecture Critic, New York Magazine
Justin Davidson, is the author of Magnetic City: A Walking Companion to New York, which paints a portrait of the city through its architecture, history, literature, art, music, and urbanism. He has been the architecture and classical music critic at New York magazine since 2007, writing about a broad range of urban, civic, and design issues. Before that, he spent twelve years as classical music critic at Newsday, where he also wrote about architecture and other cultural issues, ranging from gun ownership to television. He won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2002.

A native of Rome, Davidson graduated from Harvard and later earned a doctoral degree in music composition at Columbia. His TED Talk has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. He has appeared frequently on WNYC and NPR and written for many publications, including The New Yorker, Smithsonian, New York Times Book Review, Slate, Los Angeles Times, Departures, Condé Nast Traveler, W, Pursuits, and Travel and Leisure. Davidson has taught at Columbia University, the School of Visual Arts, and the Goldring Arts Journalism Program of Syracuse University.



Toby Cecchini, Bartender & Author
Toby Cecchini is a writer and bartender based in New York City. He has written on food, wine and spirits for GQ, Food and Wine, and The New York Times. His first book, Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life, was published in 2003. He is currently at work on his second book, a travelogue of spirits based on his travels for The New York Times' Living and travel magazines. He began bartending at the Odeon in 1987, where he is credited with creating the internationally recognized version of the Cosmopolitan cocktail in New York. He followed that with stints in several bars including Passersby, which he owned until 2008. In 2013 he reopened the shuttered Long Island Bar in Cobble Hill Brooklyn.