“Architects like to talk about design, and architects like to drink,” declares architect William Singer, AIA. His observation is behind the program at the New York AIA focused on these two obsessions—and now there is a book documenting its success. The series “Cocktails and Conversation” began six years ago when Singer and Abby Suckle, FAIA, began to invite architects and landscape architects to share their ideas about design over cocktails at the chapter’s Center for Architecture.

On Friday evenings, an architect and a journalist or critic were joined by a mixologist, who created a “signature” drink inspired by the designer’s work. Architects included Brad Cloepfil, Jeanne Gang, Charles Renfro, Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, Deborah Berke, and Enrique Norten. Among the interlocutors were Michael Kimmelman, Barry Bergdoll, Alastair Gordon, and (full disclosure) RECORD’s Cathleen McGuigan and Suzanne Stephens.