Jason Van Nest

Jason Van Nest is a licensed architect working in New York City, a BIM/VDC consultant working with design and manufacturing partners across the eastern seaboard, and an associate professor in the School of Architecture and Design at New York Tech.

As an architect, Van Nest has contributed to several award-winning projects, including the NYC Pier A renovation (2008) with H3, winning the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, the Hillside House with David Weiner Architects, and winning an AIANY Oculus Award, among many others.

As a building information modeling and virtual design and construction (BIM/VDC) consultant, he has helped several modular production facilities launch and helped many more world-renowned architecture firms use advanced technology to improve their project delivery workflows, including SHoP Architects, Diller, Scoffidio + Renfro, Cooper Robertson Partners, HWKN, Deborah Berke Partners, CookFox, GLUCK+, and others.

As a professor, Van Nest has taught more than a dozen different courses at New York Tech, as well as graduate-level computational design courses at Yale School of Architecture and graduate-level representation courses at New York School of Interior Design (NYSID).

He currently serves as the president of the New York Institute of Technology Academic Senate.

He is a 2008 MacDowell Colony Fellow and a 2015 Byrdcliffe Arts Colony Fellow. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the MacDowell Colony since being elected Fellows Executive Committee President in 2012.

He earned his Masters of Architecture at Yale School of Architecture in 2005, and a B.S. in Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999.

Recent Projects/Research

Research Fellowship Byrdcliffe Arts Guild Woodstock, NY, USA. "Designs and Constraints for the 21st Century Artist Colony." (ongoing)
2021 – present: President, Academic Senate, New York Institute of Technology. Elected from the ranks of tenured faculty, and tasked with the faithful execution of the following responsibilities: Preside at all Senate and Executive Committee meetings. Serve as a faculty representative to the Board of Trustees. Chair the Budget, Finances, and Resource Allocations Committee. Serve ex officio as a member of all standing committees. Perform such other duties as are appropriate to the office.
2012 – 2018 Board of Directors The MacDowell Colony New York, USA.
2016 – 2018 NYC Space Design Task Force.
2018 NYC Space Launch Task Force.
2014 – 2018 Development Committee.
2017 Presidential Search Committee.
2010 – 2018 President - Fellows Executive Cmte. The MacDowell Colony New York, USA. Elected Emeritus Member: 2019 – present. Service: advise Board of Directors on Colony policies and initiatives. Growth: added Regional Liaison and Emeritus positions to sustain new roles.
2016 – present: Founder The Nullary() Group New York, USA MiTek Modular Building Solutions, Inc., Chesterfield, MO.
2020 – present: Undisclosed Modular Project (completed 2020) Lebanon, PA, USA. Undisclosed Modular Project (completed 2021) Various locations, USA.

Selected Publications and Presentations

PATENTS

JAN 09, 2014
- US Pat. App US 14/001,714
- Patent for A Bracket to Secure Plastic Bottles for use as a Building Material.
- Provisional Patent secured in March of 2011.
- Full patent accepted JAN 09, 2014.
- Valid until JAN 09, 2030.
OCT 27, 2015
- Canadian Patent 2,828,887
- Patent for Interface Bracket for Attachment of Recyclable Vessels and Roofing Material Made using the Same.
- Patent secured in OCT 27, 2015.
- Valid until MAR 06, 2032.
2015 Fall Conference Paper Proceedings of the ACSA, Simulating Paradoxes by Jason Van Nest and Mathew Ford, ACSA Press, OCT 08, 2016.
2014 Fall Conference Paper Proceedings of the ACSA, New Design-build Directions: Training the Architect as a Product Designer, by Jason Van Nest and Farzana Gandhi, ACSA Press, OCT 04, 2014.

EDITOR

Retrospecta 2003-2004, Yale School of Architecture. Chief Editor.
Retrospecta 2004-2005, Yale School of Architecture. Editorial Consultant.

INTERVIEWS

Built: The BlueBeam blog "3D Printing in Construction Comes of Age" by Erik Sherman, OCT 18, 2021.
FAST Company (blog: FastCoExist) "Upcycled Disaster Housing Made Of Disaster Relief Water Bottles" by Adele Peters, NOV 22, 2013.
Triple Pundit "Plastic Bottles Turn to Roofing Materials in Disaster Zones" by Jan Lee, NOV 05, 2013
NYIT Magazine "Raising the Roof" by Elaine Iandoli, Volume 9, Number 4.
NYIT Magazine "Faculty Going Green" by Michael Schiavetta, Volume 9, Number 3.
Engineering News Record "Reorganize Divisions of Labor" by Nadine Post, NOV 04, 2013.
Engineering News Record "Process Change for the Paradigm Shift to Virtual Design & Construction", enr.com, DEC 25, 2013.
"This Disaster Housing Is Made From Upcycled Relief Water Bottles" by Jamie Condliffe, Gizmodo, NOV 25 2013.
"This Prototype Turns a Pallet of Water Bottles into a Disaster Shelter" by Derek Markham, TreeHugger, NOV 25 2013.
"Disaster Housing Made from Water Bottles Solves two Needs at Once" by Sarah Laskow, Grist, Nov 26 2013.
"SodaBIB's Jason Van Nest: Rethinking Roofing by Reusing" 1-800-RECYCLING Oct 25, 2012.
"Kickstarter Project Turns Soda Bottles, Shipping Pallets into Roofing" by Christina Caldwell, Earth 911 News Nov 02 2012.
New York Academy of Science | H3 "7 World Trade Center" by Russell Fortmeyer, Architecture Record, Aug 2007.
"Never Forget" by Joseph Giovaninni, Interior Design (75th Anniversary Edition), Mar 2007. "Moving Up" (cover story/art) by Linda Miller, Oculus, Spring 2007.
"For Science Academy, Move to World Trade Center Is Like Going Home" by David Dunlap, The New York Times, New York Region Section, 30 Oct 2006.
"Science is First Full-Floor Tenant at 7 WTC" by Bill Millard, eOculus, Nov 2006.
Jackson Federal Courthouse | H3 "Action Jackson" by C.J. Hughs, Architecture Record, Aug 2007.
"Tech Brief" by Alan Joch, Architecture Record, Jan 2005.
"GSA Goes Virtual With Courtroom Design" by Dave Barista Building Design and Construction, Feb 2007. "Technophobe Young Architects and Chicken Parmesan" by Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record, Nov 2006.
Globe Theater | H3 "Imagining, and Reimagining the Globe" by Jeremy Kahn, The New York Times, Arts Section (cover story/art), 13 Jan 2007.
"All the World's His Stage" by Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post, Style Section, 15 Jan 2007. "New Twists On a Famed Theater" by Tom Gottlieb, Roll Call, Around the Hill Section, 11 Jan 2007.
"Shakespeare's Global Appeal" by Deborah Dietsch, The Washington Times, Arts & Culture Section, 13 Jan 2007.
Pier A | H3 "Pier A Renovation Work Approved" by Julie Shapiro, Downtown Express, 29 Jan 2010.
"City Backs Long-Delayed Plan to Restore Historic Pier A" by Matt Dunning, The Tribeca Trib, 5 Feb 2010.
"Sketch Pad: Reinventing A Stable As an Essay In Light" by Tracie Rozhon, The New York Times, Real Estate Section, 12 Mar 2006."

Honors and Awards

2013 – Lumen Prize: Lumen Prize Exhibition. New York, NY, USA.
2013 – People's Choice Award: NY State Business Plan Comp. Albany, NY, USA.
2012 – Judge's Choice Award: NY State Business Plan Comp. Albany, NY, USA.
2008 – Fall Residence Fellowship: The MacDowell Colony. Peterborough, NH, USA.
2000 – Oculus Award: AIANY. Manhattan, NY, USA.

Courses Taught at New York Tech

ARCH 221: Building Construction I
ARCH 222: Building Construction II
ARCH 291: Parametric Performance
ARCH 291: Parametric Tools for Architects
ARCH 294: Parametric Furniture Design
ARCH 294: Parametric Studio Workshop
ARCH 272: Environmental Site Planning
ARCH 327: Construction Documents
ARCH 340: Visualization II
ARCH 402: Comprehensive Design Studio
ARCH 423: Project Integration Studio
ARCH 474: Real Estate Finance
ARCH 476: Modern Construction Technologies
ARCH 481: Professional Practice
ARCH 501: Architectural Thesis Studio I
ARCH 501: Architectural Thesis Studio II