Thursday, October 2, 2008

Hundredhands presents Doshi, a film by Premjit Ramachandran

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 6:00–8:00pm

Bijoy and Premjit Ramachandran have made a documentary feature on Balkrishna Doshi, Architect, Academician, and Philosopher. The film presents Doshi’s architectural work, his role in the setting up of arguably the best school of architecture (Center for Environmental Planning & Technology, CEPT) in India, and posits these roles within the larger narrative of his philosophies on life and his relationship with people. The film is not a biopic, but a series of conversations around his projects and it serves as an insight into the way Doshi approaches life.

Two monographs have been published on Doshi’s work and he is regularly published in architectural magazines. The scope of these printed articles is limited in capturing the spatial and qualitative aspects of his work and do not adequately present Doshi’s unique personality and his philosophy. Film is the perfect medium in which to capture architecture - it covers the spatial narrative and sequence, the quality of light and the impact of movement. It is also the best way to engage a person like Doshi. Having a conversation with him is to immediately understand his appeal and the reasons for his unique success. Not only is his work as an architect seminal but his contributions to academia through the setting up of the school of architecture in Ahmedabad and his own Vastu Shilpa Foundation are unparalleled. These successes are primarily due to his ability to communicate to and inspire the people around him, and his rigor as an architect. Both these aspects can be satisfactorily captured only on film. The film will not only introduce people to a truly great modern architect, but also to an evolved, cultured human being and help redirect our attention to the truly important questions of our time. His approach to the work, and the story of his practice would be great lessons for younger architects who struggle to negotiate the pressing commercial demands of running a practice with the ‘ideal’ project/process. Doshi’s constant search for alternative ways in which to articulate persistent themes in his work, like community, layering, fragmentation, and rootedness set him apart from many of his contemporaries, and this is particularly relevant today, where often the underpinnings of formal and spatial compositions are merely stylistic. He will also appeal to the non-architect as he talks about his work within the context of his philosophies about life. The film transcends the model of the architectural documentary focussing also on the person and not only on the architect. I believe his philosophy has universal appeal and his work demonstrates a way to simultaneously be modern/contemporary, local/of the place and sustainable.

Speakers: Bijoy Ramachandran; Born in 1971, Bijoy Ramachandran is an architect and urban designer based in Bangalore. His firm, Hundredhands (hundredhands.com) is an internationally recognized practice and has been featured in Architectural Design (UK) magazine’s survey of contemporary Indian architecture (‘Made in India’, January 2008). Other awards include an official selection for the Project South Exhibition and the Leone di Pietra at the Venice Biennale, 2006, and the Cityscape/Architectural Review Award in 2005. ‘Architecture & the City: A Bangalore Perspective’, a documentary feature he made on professional practice in the city in 2005 is now part of the curriculum in schools across India. He has been a panelist at the annual all-India undergraduate thesis review, the Kurula Varkey Forum, at CEPT, Ahmedabad, in 2005. Bijoy also writes a regular column on architecture and urban issues for the Times of India group.
Organized by: Hundredhands and the Center for Architecture
Sponsored by: AIA Planning and Urban Design Committee
Location: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place (Directions)
Price: Free

BuildingSuccess

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 6:00–8:00pm
Given the pace and scope of change in our industry, you can never have too much information. BuildingSuccess brings together C-levels and managers, to discuss timely issues, share experiences and consider the future. To catalyze the process, each gathering features a keynote speaker or an interactive panel relevant to the AECO field. These quarterly executive receptions are held in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. By providing a venue where industry leaders can meet, we promote and increase the exchange of ideas. Join us at the W Hotel to hear Stephen Del Percio, publisher of GreenBuildings NYC, discuss the legal implications involved with Green Building. And learn how we can impact sustainability.
Sponsored by: Microdesk
Location: The W Hotel
Telephone: 800.336.3375
Contact: RSVP to Kristin Harris at 800.336.3375 or kharris@microdesk.com

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The New York Transit Museum Presents a Screening and Discussion with Transportation Alternative’s Paul Steely White

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 6:00–7:30pm
On Thursday, October 2 at 6 p.m., the New York Transit Museum will present a screening of the documentary “Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock,” followed by a discussion led by Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White. This evening about sustainability and transportation will take place at the Transit Museum’s subway station home in Downtown Brooklyn. It is free to the public. Produced in 2006, “Contested Streets” is as relevant today to the city’s transportation debate, as it was when it was first released. The film recalls the rich diversity of New York City’s street life before the automobile age, and travels to cities around the world where innovative solutions have succeeded in breaking the chokehold of urban traffic. New Yorkers focused on rising oil prices, greenhouse gases, squeezed mass transit budgets and the defeat of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan will enjoy a lively and thoughtful evening about the balance between urban growth and sustainable, city-friendly transportation. Paul Steely White will lead a discussion about these critical issues. As Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, White is a leading spokesperson for the movement to reclaim the city’s streets from the automobile. Transportation Alternatives promotes a “rational transportation system” based on a hierarchy that promotes walking, cycling and public transit, and discourages single occupancy vehicular travel. The New York Transit Museum is the only institution dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting the history of public transit systems in the New York metropolitan area. Its mission is to make the Museum’s extensive collection accessible and meaningful to the broadest possible audience. In partnering with Transportation Alternatives, the Transit Museum embraces an expanding role as a historical resource in the important debate about the future of our city streets and the role of public transportation. *** The New York Transit Museum will also be screening the film the entire month of October during its hours of operation. Call 718 694-1600 for additional information or log onto www.mta.info/museum --30--
Speaker: Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White.
Organized and sponsored by: New York Transit Museum partnering with Transportation Alternatives
Location: New York Transit Museum Corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
Price: Free
Telephone: 718.694.1600
Contact: New York Transit Museum www.mta.info/museum

IIDA NY Retail Forum - Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 6:00–8:00pm
Come and experience the IIDA NY Lester Dundes Interior Design Competition award winning retail space Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center. Shattering a preconceived notion of an ordinary “bike shop,” Cadence explores an environment that illuminates their hand crafted products in a modern, open Tribeca loft with a focus on vibrant workout spaces as well as coaching and testing facilities for the professional cyclist’s and triathlete’s every need.
Speakers: Alec Zaballero, Studio Director, Principal, TPG Architecture; Matt Heitmann, President & Co-Founder, Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center; Melissa Heitmann, Vice President of Operations, Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center
Organized and sponsored by: IIDA NY Chapter
Location: Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center 174 Hudson Street Street Level New York, NY 10013
$15 IIDA members | $25 non-members | $10 students and educators
0.1 IDCEC CEU
Contact: http://www.iidany.org/eventreg.html
More Info: www.iidany.org

ARCHITECTS DRAW- FREEING THE HAND Exhibition to follow panel discussion

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 6:30–9:00pm

To celebrate the launch of Architects Draw and to honor Sue Ferguson Gussow, professor at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, a symposium on the subject of drawing in architectural education will be held in The Great Hall of The Cooper Union. The distinguished panel, to be introduced by Associate Dean Elizabeth O’Donnell, will feature: Sue Ferguson Gussow, noted painter and educator; Dore Ashton, renowned author, art critic and professor of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of The Cooper Union; François deMenil, acclaimed architect; Michael Webb, internationally known visionary architect of Archigram; Steven Hillyer, Director of the Architecture Archive at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union and film maker.
Following the panel discussion, Architects Draw - Freeing the Hand exhibition opens and will feature many of the original illustrations from the book.

Location: The Cooper Union, The Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street b/w 3rd and 4th Aves. Subways: Astor Place (6), 8th Street (N, R,W)
More Info: The Exhibition will continue to be on view through October 14th. Hours of operation: 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. (Monday-Friday), 12- 5 p.m. (Saturday)

Maison Tropicale: A film by MANTHIA DIAWARA

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 7:00pm
In the late 1940’s, builder and architect Jean Prouvé designed three prefabricated aluminum maisons tropicales as prototypes for the housing of French colonial administrators in Africa. One was sent to Niamey, Niger and two to Brazzaville, Congo. Recently they were removed and have since been exhibited in Europe and North America, and sold for millions of dollars. In 2007, Angela Ferreira made an installation on the maisons tropicales for the Portuguese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Manthia Diawara’s documentary is a complement to the Ferreira artistic project, and brings to life the hidden stories and memories of those left behind in Africa when the maisons tropicales were removed. It is a postcolonial excavation into African identity, art, and the notion of cultural patrimony.

Designs for Maison Tropicale are currently exhibited in MOMA’s Home Delivery: Prefabricating the Modern Dwelling on view through October 20.
Speakers: Manthia Diawara is University Professor at NYU. He is the author of We Won't Budge, recently translated into French as Bamako, Paris, New York. He is also known as a documentary filmmaker. ;; Richard Sennett, sociologist at NYU and the London School of Economics, is best known for his studies of social ties in cities and the effects of urban living on individuals in the modern world. ;; Anthony Vidler, Dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, The Cooper Union, is the author of Warped Space: Art, Architecture, and Anxiety in Modern Culture and The Architectural Uncanny.
Organized by: AIANY and La Maison Francaise of NYU
Location: Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, NY, NY 10003

Current Work: Allied Works Architecture Brad Cloepfil Introduced by Billie Tsien

Thursday, 10/02/2008, 7:00pm
Recent projects by Allied Works include the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, an addition to the Seattle Art Museum, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. In addition to the firm's redesign of 2 Columbus Circle for the Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, which opens to the public this weekend. The firm's current projects include the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, and the Dutchess County Residence in upstate New York.
Organized by: The Architectural League of New York
Location: Scholastic Auditorium 557 Broadway
Member Price: Free for League members; $10 for non-members.
Members may reserve a ticket by emailing rsvp@archleague.org. Non-members may purchase non-refundable tickets at https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=29269 from 7 days before the program.
CES LUs: 1.5
Telephone: 212.753.1722 x13
Contact: Nicholas Anderson
More Info: For more information, visit www.archleague.org.

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