The award-winning, multidisciplinary practice specializing in urban design, planning and architectural solutions in challenging contexts, WXY architecture + urban design, has announced the promotion of arts and culture advocate Amy Hau to Managing Principal, and celebrates the elevation of architect Farida Abu-Bakare, WXY’s Director of Global Practice, to Fellowship in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC). On the heels of its second appearance in Fast Company’s top three Most Innovative Companies, the women-owned firm added globally accomplished architect Robert Young as Associate Principal, along with nine other new hires and seven promotions to Associate.

Hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Farida Abu-Bakare OAA, FRAIC, will be inducted into the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada on May 5 at their annual convocation and investiture at the 2023 Conference in Calgary, Alberta. Fellowship, an opportunity for peers to show high esteem for pursuit of excellence, follows a nomination process supported by the College of Fellows’ full membership across the country and abroad. The distinction recognizes individuals who have “achieved professional eminence or rendered distinctive service to the profession or to the community at large.”

Abu-Bakare joined WXY architecture + urban design in February last year, bringing a diverse portfolio of community-focused works in Africa and North America as well as major accomplishments including serving as elected member of the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) council and cofounding BAIDA, the Black Architects and Interior Designers Association of Canada.

Joining as associate principal in January this year, Robert Young AIA, RIBA, NCARB, brings more than 35 years of award-winning architecture and design experience to WXY’s deep studio, with worldwide expertise on large-scale and technically and politically complex works. Formerly with Grimshaw, Young was previously Design Director for both Gensler and Perkins&Will, and his notable projects include the JFK Airport masterplan, a new terminal at Newark International Airport, the reimagining of racing campus Belmont Park, and a widely published sustainability pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
 
The elevation of Amu Hau to Managing Principal further recognizes her leadership of operations, marketing, and finance at WXY as well as her prominence in the cultural sector, where WXY is increasingly active. She previously ran administration and external affairs of the Noguchi Museum, and since she joined WXY architecture + urban design in 2015, the firm has secured several prominent arts commissions nationally. New works underway include such clients as the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Storm King Art Center, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and Pioneer Works.

“We are very pleased to announce these new voices for WXY, and we congratulate Farida and Amy for their exceptional successes,” says Claire Weisz, FAIA, founding principal. “These are not only highly recognized figures in the worlds of architecture and urbanism but also the forces behind organizations and initiatives in design culture and social impact that promise real progress for diverse and deserving communities.”
 
According to Weisz, in recent months WXY architecture + urban design has also welcomed nine new team members, including: the WELL and LEED-accredited senior project architect and Passive House expert Julie Torres-Moskovitz AIA,CPHC; senior project manager Anna Hajdo, who holds an EU architectural license; and senior urban analyst Dare Brawley, a designer and researcher who teaches at Columbia University specialized in mapping and spatial research and whose work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Storefront for Art and Architecture, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.Along with the seven elevations to Associate, newly announced promotions by WXY have included the move to senior associate for Clara Aramburu, R.A., who has been active with the Spanish foundation COAM, the Colegio Oficial Arquitectos de Madrid.