New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Faith Rose, a former senior design liaison at the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), to lead the city’s Public Design Commission. According to the mayor’s office, in her new role, Rose “will be charged with building on the Public Design Commission’s history of prioritizing the quality and excellence of the public realm, enhancing and streamlining the Commission’s review process, and fostering accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the City’s public buildings and spaces.”

The commission’s incoming executive director holds a masters from the Yale School of Architecture and cofounded the Brooklyn-based O’Neill Rose Architects in 2008. In July, AN covered the young firm’s interior renovation of an Upper West Side townhouse, which is pictured above. “Our early interests in sculpture, fairytales and literary theory bring a richness and diversity to our work,” explains O’Neill Rose on its website. “Our architecture seeks balance between the everyday and the unexpected, by exploring materials and exploiting methods of construction.”

“Faith is an excellent choice for the Design Commission,” David Burney, the former DDC commissioner, told AN in an email. “From her work at DDC where she was the agency liaison with the Commission she has seen the process from the agency side. This perspective will enable her to ensure a smooth process for projects through the review process. Faith’s background in supporting the Design & Construction excellence program is also vital. The Design Commission may now be the only part of the new administration where design quality is in real focus, so the role of the Commission is vitally important.”