UB alum brings public service ethos to New York City’s civic architecture
Leading a 15-year career with New York City's Department of Design and Construction, UB architecture alumnus Joseph Piwowarski, Jr., was most recently promoted to associate commissioner of its Division of Public Buildings. (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
Rachel Teaman June 29, 2026
UB architecture alumnus Joseph Piwowarski, Jr. (MArch ’11, BS Arch ’09) knew from the start that he wanted to serve the public through design. The ethos is etched onto the title page of his final Master of Architecture portfolio:
“My interest in public works…comes with a strong conviction that in order to best serve the community, we must first properly execute our design talents within the public realm. I decided long ago that architecture would serve as my avenue for fulfilling my commitment to public service.”
After earning a post-graduation internship in the summer of 2011 with the New York City Department of Design and Construction, the city’s central capital design and construction operation, he hasn’t looked back. In the ensuing 15 years, the architect would rise among the ranks at the agency, most recently to the leadership position of Associate Commissioner of the Division of Public Buildings, overseeing a portfolio of more than 200 active projects valued over $3 billion.
Along the way, he’s touched nearly every typology of civic architecture and design, leaving an imprint on hundreds of public buildings across the five boroughs, from libraries and museums to youth recreation centers and domestic violence shelters.
“I have always wanted to align my talents with doing good in the world,” says the Queens native who grew up with a family dedicated to military service, law enforcement, public education, and public transit careers. “Government design and construction work is challenging, but always fulfilling. I think it serves a greater purpose.”
Since its founding in 1996 by former Mayor Rudy Guiliani to merge the city’s varied public works divisions, DDC has completed over 4,100 infrastructure and public building projects, including standouts like the reconstruction of Columbus Circle and Times Square, restoration of New York City Hall and the Bronx-Manhattan High Bridge, and construction of visitor centers for the MoMA PS1 and Queens Botanical Gardens.
“Many of the civic structures New Yorkers use every day, we’ve built them,” says Piwowarski, whose previous roles with the DDC include deputy program director for cultural institutions, program director for human services, and assistant commissioner specializing in projects for the city’s offices of parks and social services.
As Associate Commissioner of Public Buildings, Piwowarski’s division focuses on projects serving more than two dozen sponsoring city agencies, from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Queens Public Library to the Administration for Children's Services and Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Managing a staff of 75, he coordinates multi-disciplinary teams of architects, engineers, historic preservationists, and construction managers, and engages constituents like elected officials, agency directors, and community members to bring efficiency, effectiveness, and good design and construction to the city’s public architecture.
“One of the things I value as part of my role is the diversity of public works, just in terms of typologies. We’re performing work on behalf of more than 20 partner agencies and working with representatives from across the built environment professions, all vested in wanting to build better for New York.”
Among the current projects overseen by Piwowarski for DDC is the $34 million Queens Botanical Garden Educational Center. Designed by BKSK Architects to be net-zero ready, the center will include classrooms, a teaching solarium, and demonstration gardens. (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
Joseph Piwowarski, Jr., on the range of civic architecture typologies touched by the NYC Department of Design and Construction
Many of the civic structures New Yorkers use every day, we’ve built them.
Since joining DDC in 2011, Piwowarski has managed a wide range of high-profile public buildings projects, including the façade restoration of the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, a 1898 architectural landmark serving as a Puerto Rican and Latino cultural space on Manhattan’s Lower East Side (2012); restoration of the historic 1885 Wavertree wrought-iron sailing ship in Lower Manhattan (2016); construction of the Marcy Houses Community Center in Brooklyn, a youth development space for the Department of Youth and Community Development and New York City Housing Authority (2020); and several new recreation centers for NYC Parks, including the $92 million Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center on Staten Island (2026). The recently completed Regents Family Shelter in Manhattan won a Gold 2026 Engineering Excellence Award from the New York chapter of the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) in the category of “special projects.”
Currently, his team is overseeing a more than $65 million envelope restoration of the landmarked Bronx County Supreme Court; a $24 million gut renovation of the Nuyorican Poets Café in the city’s East Village; construction of the $18 million Marlboro Agricultural Education Center to improve access to healthy food for the surrounding Brooklyn community; the $92 million Bronx Animal Care Center; and the $39 million Rego Park Library in Queens.
In many cases, Piwowarski has revisited these sites over the course of his DDC career, among them the Queens Botanical Garden. First studying the garden’s 2007 visitor center project, designed by BKSK Architects, as a graduate student at UB, he would return to the site for multiple DDC efforts, including current construction of a new $34 million educational center, also with BKSK Architects. The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, for which Piwowarski is currently leading a $13 million ADA compliance upgrade, served as his introduction to DDC in 2011 as an intern.
The 1885 Wavertree wrought-iron sailing ship in Lower Manhattan was restored by DDC in 2016 under Piwowarski's direction. (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
DDC's recently completed Regents Family Shelter in Manhattan won a Gold 2026 Engineering Excellence Award from the New York chapter of the ACEC in the category of “special projects.” (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
A facade restoration project for the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center served as Piwowarski's introduction to DDC in 2011 as an intern. (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
“The building was wrapped in scaffolding five stories high. They needed to investigate a detail in the terra cotta on the roof, and I was asked by a project manager to climb the scaffolding. I had just gotten my master’s degree, I was an intern, and I was vying for a job. I wanted to make a good first impression, so I climbed the scaffolding all the way to the roof.”
“I didn’t subscribe to the intern title,” says Piwowarski, who also used his time as an intern to jump into the more than $30 million renovation of 122 Community Center, a gallery and performance space in the East Village, with Deborah Berke & Partners serving as architect. “It was a birth by fire approach.”
He says UB launched an architectural ambition that formed early in his life. He was high school freshman when a teacher recommended a new class on CAD (Computer Assisted Drawing). By his junior year, he had mastered the program and was able to get an afterschool position with a local residential firm.
“I took an affinity to the precision of drafting. This was just as the industry was transitioning from hand drafting to computer drafting. I ended up getting connected to a local firm and introduced myself.”
While Piwowarski still appreciates ink on mylar and drafting with differently weighted pencils, he says he learned to make with his hands – and machines – at UB.
“At UB, I had a keen interest in the constructability of the buildings I was designing. In studio and my portfolio, I put a lot of effort into looking at how some of my structures could actually be built.”
Among his most formative experiences were a small built works studio with Clinical Assistant Professor Brad Wales, and teaching assistant positions for an undergraduate computational methods class with Omar Khan, former chair and faculty member of architecture, and Assistant Professor Nicholas Bruscia, and the undergraduate construction technology course with late architecture professor Annette Lecuyer and Assistant Professor Christopher Romano.
“I always like to say I took construction technology three times, once as a student and twice as a TA, which is great because it was my favorite class,” says Piwowarski, adding that he honed his digital fabrication skills by helping students learn how to use the School’s then newly acquired CNC router.
Piwowarski, pictured here in Parker Hall as a first-year student, says UB launched an architectural ambition that formed early in life, through a Computer Assisted Drawing class he took as a ninth grader. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Piwowarski)
Piwowarski, who recently returned to UB for a visit with his family, says the School continues to be defined by its maker culture. “To see the investment the School is making in new technology and fabrication so that students can work with their hands is really important,” he says. The alumnus made a point to stop at Parker Hall to see the renovation under way and get a demonstration of the Fabrication Shop’s latest tools, including a waterjet cutter and CNC robotic arm.
The alumnus says his role with DDC demonstrates the importance of project management in architecture – orchestrating the people, policies, procedures, and partners that make design happen – a skill says he cultivated in studio at UB. “Project management is inherent in all you do. It’s part of studios and group work, and it’s behind the coordination of your projects. This is some of the intangible value of the degree.”
“I would emphasize to today’s students that architecture does not equal architect. An architecture degree opens so many doors,” he says, recalling former classmates who have used the same degree to become interior designers, fabricators, construction managers, small business owners, film and television artists, nonprofit founders, contractors, inspectors, and teachers. “Whatever you do, do it well, and try not to take yourself too seriously.”
Among the many roles Piwowarski plays for the agency is crisis and emergency management, including cleanup and rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy in 2013, supporting New York City’s resiliency efforts to adapt buildings along the edges of the boroughs to a changing climate, structural stabilization of compromised building assets, and alleviating overpopulated detention facilities through new secure housing.
“Providing a safe space for the community’s youth just felt really good. I felt connected to the mission of providing accommodations to the city’s most vulnerable citizens.”
Piwowarski's work on the Marcy Houses Community Center, a youth development space in Brooklyn, occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Providing a safe space for the community’s youth just felt really good. I felt connected to the mission of providing accommodations to the city’s most vulnerable citizens.” (Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Design and Construction)
Piwowarski points to the terrorist attacks of September 11th as seminal to his development as an architect. A ninth grader when the planes struck the Twin Towers, he followed the aftermath, cleanup, and reconstruction throughout high school. “I still have those newspapers,” he says. “The site’s redevelopment brought up so many important design questions.”
He discovered the role DDC played in the city’s recovery in the 2002 book, American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center, by William Langewiesche. “I found the depiction of DDC’s management role in the cleanup and recovery effort at a moment’s notice, amidst the chaos and confusion, inspiring and it instills in me a pride to be part of DDC’s legacy,” he says, adding that the book is recommended reading for his DDC team.
Life-changing experiences like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, COVID, and even the birth of his two children, ages eight and three, have also fostered an appreciation for the fragility of life, and the importance of work-life balance. “I chose civil service because I wanted balance in my life,” he says. “I don’t think finding that balance makes you less than. It’s important that students know their value and advocate for the life they want.”
Joseph Piwowarski, Jr.
I chose civil service because I wanted balance in my life. I don’t think finding that balance makes you less than. It’s important that students know their value and advocate for the life they want.
Today, Piwowarski shares his talents and work-life experience as a mentor to young members of his team. “By making myself accessible to staff on a frontline level, my goal is to provide a collaborative working environment fostering trust, respect, and frequent communication across a multi-cultural, multi-generational, and multi-disciplinary staff.”
Looking ahead, Piwowarski is optimistic about the future of public buildings, in New York City and beyond. “Civic architecture is evolving and we’re making investments in quality and purposeful buildings,” he says, referring to the agency’s Design and Construction Excellence Program and continued advocacy for alternative delivery tools like Design-Build and CM-Build, historically elusive contractual mechanisms in the public realm that require legislative support.
“The sands are perpetually shifting under our feet, especially for our industry. That’s exciting for me. Success is how you respond to adversity.”
Referring back to the value of public service, he concludes: “People often have unfavorable sentiments and criticisms of government or public service, but public employees are one of our city’s greatest assets, the gears of a resilient machine, and I’m proud to be part of that essential civic infrastructure.”
