Person Place Thing with Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson

On December 3, Open House New York and Person Place Thing present a live, in-person conversation with Sara Caples, Everardo Jefferson, and host Randy Cohen at the recently completed Louis Armstrong Center.

Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson design for the public. As founding principals of Caples Jefferson Architects, they have crafted spaces for cultural, educational, and social institutions that reflect and enhance the important work taking place within, like the Weeksville Heritage Center, Marcus Garvey Community Center, and the headquarters of Heritage Health & Housing. As practitioners, they begin from the premise that listening to and engaging in-depth with a building’s future users–importantly, people outside the design community–results in innovative solutions that improve individual projects and broaden the language of architecture as a whole. Modern without being cold and functional without being dull, Caples Jefferson’s work reflects their belief that beautiful buildings can also promote social justice.

Designed by Caples Jefferson Architects and completed in 2023, the Louis Armstrong Center sits across from the Armstrongs’ original home in Corona, Queens and serves as a hub for music education, performance, and exhibits celebrating the enduring cultural legacy of musician, composer, and actor Louis Armstrong. Person Place Thing, hosted by humorist Randy Cohen, is a long-running public radio program series that asks creatives and leaders in diverse fields to talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them, yielding a new perspective on the featured guest’s work, life, and inspirations.

The program will feature live music from a performer to be announced.

AIA CES credit is pending for this program.

Speakers:

Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson are Principals and co-founders of Caples Jefferson Architects. Caples Jefferson’s social equity work has gained national recognition in the US and has been published internationally for its exceptional design qualities. In 2017, the firm was honored with AIANY’s President’s Award. CJA was awarded the AIA’s New York State Firm of the Year in 2012. With work widely published from Architect Magazine and Domus to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the firm was listed among the ‘Top 50 Sustainable Firms in the United States’ in Architect 50, a nationwide ranking by Architect Magazine, in 2013.Everardo and Sara frequently teach as guest educators in schools of architecture, most recently jointly as Davenport Professors at Yale University, and Sara as a Fellow for Innovation in Engagement at Pratt Institute. In addition to their professional practice, Everardo has served on the boards of social justice and educational institutions and is currently acting as a Commissioner of the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission. Their most recent book is Many Voices: Architecture for Social Equity (RIBA, 2022).

’s first professional work was writing humor pieces, essays, and stories for newspapers and magazines (The New Yorker, Harpers, The Atlantic, Young Love Comics). His first television work was writing for “Late Night With David Letterman” for which he won three Emmy awards. His fourth Emmy was for his work on Michael Moore’s “TV Nation.” He received a fifth Emmy as a result of a clerical error, and he kept it. For twelve years he wrote “The Ethicist,” a weekly column for the New York Times Magazine. In 2010, his first play, “The Punishing Blow,” ran at New York’s Clurman Theater. His most recent book, Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything, was published by Chronicle. He is currently the creator and host of Person Place Thing, a public radio program.

is produced with the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan and sponsored by WAMC Northeast Public Radio. An interview show, it is based on this idea: people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to them. The result? Surprising stories from great talkers.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Louis Armstrong Center, 34-47 107th Street, Queens, United States