Handel Architects

Michael Arad’s design for the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site, titled “Reflecting Absence,” was selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation from among more than 5,000 entries submitted in an international competition held in 2003. Mr. Arad joined the New York firm of Handel Architects as a Partner in April 2004 where he worked on realizing the Memorial design as a member of the firm.

Mr. Arad earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1994 and a Master of Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999.

Mr. Arad became a resident of New York City following his studies. He worked for Kohn Pedersen Fox in the city before joining the Design Department of the New York City Housing Authority, where he was working during the Memorial competition.

In 2006, Mr. Arad was one of six recipients of the Young Architects Award of the American Institute of Architects. In 2012, he was awarded the AIA Presidential Citation for his work on the National September 11 Memorial. In addition, he was also honored in 2012 by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council with the Liberty Award for Artistic Leadership.

Michael Arad lives in New York City with his wife, Melanie Arad Fitzpatrick, and their children.

Frank Fusaro AIA joined Handel Architects in 1997 and became a Partner in 2004. His work includes many of the firm’s most high-profile projects, including a new residential tower adjacent to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and a new landmark residential building currently under construction on Amsterdam Avenue. This building will be free of internal columns, supported by a concrete exoskeleton. Mr. Fusaro recently served as the Partner-in-Charge for the exterior and interior design of the Dream Downtown Hotel in West Chelsea, New York, a renovation and redesign of the Annex to the National Maritime Union. Other completed projects include Warren Lofts, the renovation and conversion of an Art Deco building in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood; The Ritz-Carlton Downtown, a 600,000 square foot mixed-use development in Battery Park City; The Millennium Residences, the first LEED Gold residential building in New York City; 505 Greenwich Street, a 14-story, residential building; 255 Hudson Street, an 11-story residential building; and the 400-room Trump SoHo Hotel.

Mr. Fusaro’s projects have received recognition from the American Institute of Architects, The Society of Registered Architects of New York and have been published in Architectural Record, Interior Design Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Surface and Hotel Business.

Prior to joining Handel Architects, Mr. Fusaro spent eleven years at Buttrick, White & Burtis Architects where he held dual responsibilities as Project Designer and Project Architect on a variety of institutional and commercial projects, including a series of renovations at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus. His work for the Chapin and Trinity Schools in Manhattan included the renovation and additions to each respective school’s classrooms, gymnasium, laboratories, and art studios.

Mr. Fusaro holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Ohio State University, and earned his Master of Architecture from the University of Texas School of Architecture and Environmental Design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, NCARB, and is a licensed architect in New York.

Gary Handel FAIA is the Founding Partner and Managing Principal of Handel Architects. Since starting the practice in 1994, Mr. Handel has overseen its growth to a firm of over 150 architects, designers, and planners around the world. His designs have been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the Urban Land Institute, the Society of American Registered Architects, and the Chicago Athenaeum, among others.

Mr. Handel leads the firm’s direction by placing an emphasis on enriching the urban environment. His work in Downtown Boston was recently awarded a 2014 AIA Honor Award in Urban Design from the AIA New York Chapter, and he continues to emphasize principles of positive urban design in all of the work he undertakes. He is a leader in the field of hybrid mixed-use buildings, designed to support density as an urban growth strategy. Mr. Handel has made significant pro bono contributions to local urbanism, including serving as a Founding Board Member of the Friends of the High Line, which honored him in 2014 for his contributions to this urban landmark, as well as a Board Member of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, which honored him in 2009 for his contributions to New York’s built environment.

Mr. Handel’s work has appeared in numerous publications including Urban Land, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Progressive Architecture, Architectural Record, and Grid Magazine.

He received his Bachelor of Architecture Degree from Cornell University and has lectured at numerous universities.

Blake Middleton FAIA LEED AP is a Partner at New York-based Handel Architects LLP. Notable projects designed by Mr. Middleton include The Ritz-Carlton in downtown Boston, a 2.4 million SF, four building complex that has dramatically revitalized the Theater District; two new academic and performance buildings for The Boston Conservatory; the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Natatorium in New York City; and renovation of the historic Santa Barbara Bowl Amphitheater. Mr. Middleton is currently serv-ing as the designer of the new Millennium Tower at Downtown Crossing in Boston, a 1.4 million SF mixed-use project that includes the renovation of the historic Filene’s Building.

Mr. Middleton has taught and lectured at numerous universities, and his work has won distinction from the American Institute of Architects, the Society of American Registered Architects, the Urban Land Institute, and the Congress for New Urbanism, among others. His designs have been published widely and exhibited nationally.

Mr. Middleton holds a Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Cor-nell University. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a member of the U.S. Insti-tute of Theater Technology, the Urban Land Institute, the Boston Society of Architects, the Van Alen Institute, The Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome, and the Architectural League of New York. He is also a Board Member of the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Glenn Rescalvo AIA is a Partner at Handel Architects and oversees the firm’s West Coast operations from the San Francisco office. Mr. Rescalvo’s projects include residential, hospitality, and mixed-use buildings in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Santiago, and Abu Dhabi. Notable projects include Millennium Tower, a 60-story luxury residential tower in the Transbay Terminal neighborhood of San Francisco; NEMA, a technology-driven rental building constructed next door to Twitter’s headquarters; W Hotel Santiago, a 31-story office tower, retail complex, and W hotel & residences in Santiago, Chile; and the recently opened Rosewood Abu Dhabi, a 1.1 million sq. ft. (102,000 m2) luxury, hotel and residential development on the coast in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Prior to opening the San Francisco office in 1994, Mr. Rescalvo was a Senior Designer at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, P.C. While at KPF Mr. Rescalvo collaborated on a number of office building projects including the Chalpultepec Tower in Mexico City, the Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu, the Hanseatic Trade Center in Hamburg, the State House in London, the Station Building in Nagoya, and the Telecom Competition in Buenos Aires.

Mr. Rescalvo's projects have received recognition both locally and abroad and have been published in Urban Land, Architecture, Architecture + Urbanism, Oculus, Architectural Record, Interni Magazine, and Icons of Architecture: The 20th Century.

Mr. Rescalvo holds his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and his Master of Architecture from Cornell University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Residential Builders Association, the San Francisco Chapter of the Site Planning and Urban Research Foundation, and is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).