About Build Tours
Architect-led experiences that help people understand New York through architecture, urbanism, and the stories that shape the city.Build Tours was founded to offer a different way of experiencing cities. Through architect-led tours and urban experiences, we help people better understand New York through its buildings, neighborhoods, public spaces, and development. What began as a series of architect-led walking tours has grown into a range of public tours, private experiences, academic programs, corporate visits, and international delegation programs.
Across every tour format, our goal remains the same: to create thoughtful, fun and engaging experiences that reveal the stories, systems, and decisions that shape the city.
Our Approach
We believe cities are best understood on foot, through conversation, and through lived observation.
Rather than presenting architecture as a collection of landmarks or facts, our experiences explore how buildings, public spaces, infrastructure, and development shape everyday life. We encourage participants to ask questions, make connections, and engage with the city as both observers and active participants.
Every experience is designed to foster curiosity, dialogue, and a deeper understanding of place.
Every experience is designed as a narrative, not an itinerary.
Architect-Led and Designed
Every Build Tours experience is designed and led by architects, urban planners, and design professionals with extensive knowledge of New York City.
Our guides combine professional expertise with a conversational approach, adapting each experience to its audience while encouraging questions, dialogue, and discovery.
Whether leading a public tour, private experience, academic program, or delegation visit, we aim to make complex ideas accessible, engaging, and relevant to the places we explore.
Who We Work With
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We create experiences for locals, curious travelers, educational institutions, companies, professional organizations, public agencies, and international delegations seeking a deeper understanding of New York City.
- Curious Travelers & Private Groups
- Academic & Student Programs
- Corporate & Professional Groups
- Conferences & Incentive Programs
- Delegations & Institutional Visits
Why Choose Build Tours
We approach every experience as a form of cultural hospitality, combining professional expertise with thoughtful, engaging exploration.
About the Founder
Build Tours was founded in 2024 by Ivan R. Shumkov PhD, an architect, urban designer, educator, and professor based in New York.
Over the past two decades, Ivan has worked across the professional, academic, and public sectors, while teaching architecture and urban design at institutions including Columbia University, Harvard, NYU, Pratt, and Parsons.
Through Build Tours, he brings together his passion for cities, education, and public engagement to create experiences that help people better understand New York through its architecture, development, and public spaces.
Your Guides
Ivan R. Shumkov PhD
Founder and Guide
Ivan is an architect, urban planner, entrepreneur, and professor with more than 20 years of experience across the professional, public, and academic sectors. He is the founder of Build Tours and currently teaches architecture and urban design at Columbia University GSAPP, having previously taught at Harvard, NYU, Pratt, Parsons, UIC, and UPC Barcelona.
Combining professional practice, teaching, and a deep knowledge of New York City, Ivan's tours explore architecture, urban development, history, and culture through the perspective of an architect. He is a licensed New York City tour guide and conducts tours in English, Spanish, Catalan, Bulgarian, French, and Italian.
William M. Singer, AIA, LEED, NCARB
Core Guide
William is an architect, urban planner, and code and zoning specialist with extensive experience in the design and construction of major public facilities, including schools, courthouses, transportation hubs, and cultural institutions. He has held leadership roles in architectural practice, taught for more than a decade in NYU's Graduate Program for Real Estate Development, and has led tours for Fulbright scholars and international visitors throughout New York City.
William brings together architecture, urbanism, history, and education to create engaging experiences that reveal how New York has evolved through planning, design, and development.
Joseph Lengeling, AIA
Core Guide
Joseph is a practicing architect who has lived and worked in New York for more than four decades. Throughout his career he has contributed to award-winning projects at firms including Mitchell/Giurgola, Cooper Robertson, and FXFOWLE, while developing a deep appreciation for the city's architecture, public spaces, and urban history.
His tours combine architecture, history, biography, and current events, bringing to life the stories behind New York's parks, skyscrapers, waterfronts, and neighborhoods. Joseph is a registered architect and licensed New York City sightseeing guide.
Explore New York with an Architect
Whether you’re joining a public tour, planning a private experience, organizing a conference program, or bringing an academic or professional group to New York, we’d be delighted to help you discover the city from a new perspective.