Reflecting on Nordic design’s pivotal role in Modernism in America during the 20th century, we turn again to the Nordic tradition for its resilient building strategies for climate action and wellbeing that offer tools for today and into the future. The four-part architecture series Nordic American Connections: Conversations on Architecture and Design engages contemporary Nordic and American architects and designers, highlighting their sustainable design approaches with an emphasis on award-winning projects that shape the American landscape.
The fourth panel of the series, marking Scandinavia House’s 25th Anniversary, will close the series with contemporary Nordic American architects focusing on the challenges they face as designers in a rapidly changing environment—AI and technology, economic volatility, climate vulnerability—and what’s next for future practice.
These design leaders will highlight their firms’ approaches to innovation, research and collaboration, and cross-cultural influences used in their work. They will share strategies embodied in Nordic design for resilience and wellbeing: use of mass timber and natural materials, alternative methods of construction, community building and ‘complete design’.
Participants include Daniel Baumann, Principal and Design Director at Henning Larsen; Daniel Sundlin, Partner at BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group; and Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, Director of Architecture for Communities Los Angeles (ACLA). The program will be moderated by Susan Chin of DesignConnects.
The panel is organized by ASF with Susan Chin in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects New York, and American Institute of Architects Continental Europe.
AIANY Continuing Education Credits are approved for this session; attendees receive 1.5 Learning Units | 1.5 HSW credits. To receive the credits, please ask to sign the AIANY student form at check-in.
PANELISTS
Daniel Baumann is a Principal and Design Director at Henning Larsen, a global design practice founded in Denmark in 1959, which works across Architecture, Landscape, and Urban Design. Daniel joined the firm during a period of rapid international growth, and has worked from Henning Larsen’s studios in Copenhagen, Riyadh, Munich, and New York City, where he has co-led the US- office since 2018. These global experiences inform his approach to architecture as a meeting point between cultures, climates, and social conditions.
The firm’s contemporary portfolio builds on a legacy of working with light, context, and nature, extending Scandinavian design to impact livable and sustainable places and communities. Across scales, the practice seeks to create architecture and urban environments where beauty emerges through performance, social value, and environmental responsibility. Daniel leads multidisciplinary teams to translate these principles into projects that shape meaningful everyday experiences. Notable mixed-use, civic, and institutional developments across North America include Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus, Raleigh City Hall, Visa Global Headquarters at Mission Rock in San Francisco, and Toronto’s 520-acre Downsview Framework Plan.
Daniel Sundlin’s approach to design is anchored in holistic thinking around the synergies of community, economy, ecology and sustainability. His array of design interests and expertise varies in scale from product design, interiors and architecture to master planning. Daniel began working at BIG Copenhagen in 2008, and in 2010 he opened BIG’s first office outside of Denmark with the establishment of BIG New York. Daniel is a Partner at BIG and has worked on The Heights Public School in Arlington, Virginia; VIA 57 West residential building in Manhattan; Wildflower Film Studios in New York City; and the sustainable Google Bay View campus in California. Daniel’s work expands to the urban scale with the East Side Coastal Resiliency project (the BIG U), a master plan to protect 10 miles of Manhattan’s coastline. His urban design projects span the globe, including Penang South Islands in Malaysia and OCEANIX Busan, a sustainable floating city prototype in collaboration with the United Nations. Daniel complements his professional work with involvement in academia as a guest critic with various universities and an instructor at New York Institute of Technology.
Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, FAIA, is a practicing architect, educator, and façade consultant bridging material experimentation with social design. As a Swedish-speaking Finn, she draws on Nordic principles of equity, collaboration, and craft traditions in glass and timber to create spaces that support resilience and delight. Notable projects include the renovation of the Los Angeles Mission – a 300-bed facility serving unhoused individuals, designed by her firm W-ROAD – façade consultant for the Portland Aerial Tramway and for Bloom with DoSu Architects, and Project Architect for the Corning Museum of Glass with Smith-Miller+Hawkinson Architects. These projects established her reputation for material-driven research and innovation.
Ingalill has forged barrier-breaking educational pathways that support her vision of free education for all. She served as Dean of Woodbury School of Architecture (2016–2021) and has taught at Yale, Cornell, SCI-Arc, and the Bartlett (UCL) over a twenty-seven-year teaching career. She is currently Professor at East Los Angeles College.
Reinforcing her belief that design is a social act, she serves as Director of Architecture for Communities Los Angeles (ACLA), AIA LA’s education and community outreach arm, and is a member of NCARB’s Education and Experience Committees. Elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 2018, she has received the AIA|LA Presidential Educator of the Year Award, the AIA California Council Educator Award, and two national DesignIntelligence Most Admired Educator recognitions. Her work demonstrates how thoughtful design can inspire joy, foster community, and transform lives.
MODERATOR
Susan Chin, FAIA, Hon. ASLA is an urbanist and civic leader who leads the independent consultancy DesignConnects, advancing design excellence in the public realm. Most recently, she served as Co-Commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, in partnership with the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Previously, Chin led Design Trust for Public Space, a nationally recognized New York City nonprofit, where she spent more than eight years shaping innovative, equitable public spaces. Before that, she served for over two decades as Assistant Commissioner for Capital Projects at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, commissioning over $3B in high-performance architecture and public art across the city. A national leader in the profession, Chin chaired the AIA Committee on Design in 2024, served as Vice President of the AIA National Board, and was Chapter President of AIA New York. Her civic service includes the East Midtown Governing Group and the NYC & Company Board of Directors. Her honors include the 2025 William A. Bernoudy Resident in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome; Honorary Membership in the American Society of Landscape Architects; the Kideney Gold Medal from AIA New York State; The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumna Award; and the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Future panels in 2026: Nordic firms in NYC, their values and approach that guide their architecture and practice
May 14, 2026 – Next in Nordic American Architecture: Resilience Meets Wellbeing
Contemporary Nordic architects across America, the issues they face, sustainable design, and cross-cultural influence