For George Ranalli, architecture is not just a simple case of surface-level design. It represents so much more.  “People’s expectations and how they view architecture, it is really fused with their personal experiences,” he said. 

One of the city’s top Manhattan-based architects who has worked on all sorts of projects, Ranalli, 76, carries a lot of inspiration from his home borough of the Bronx. He said while growing up in Parkchester, and then moving to Pelham Bay when he was older, he’d marvel at the design of the New York Botanical Garden, conservatories, Grand Concourse and the Bronx Zoo.