New Boundaries
By Annie Kurtin

(l-r): Thom Mayne, FAIA; Miguel Angel Cortes; Mark Strauss, FAIA; Terence Riley, AIA
Rick Bell, FAIA


Metropol Parasol, Sevilla, Spain
J Mayer H.

Event: In Process: Contemporary Architectural Practice in Spain
Speaker: Arsenio Perez Amaral, Corona y P. Amaral; Carlos Arroyo Zapetero, architect, winner of Europan 6 prize; Miguel Angel Cortes, former Ministry of Culture of Spain; Jurgen Mayer H., Jurgen Mayer H. Architects; Thom Mayne, FAIA, Morphosis; Terence Riley, AIA, Director, Miami Art Museum
Organizers: AIA NY Chapter, Museum of Modern Art
Location: Center for Architecture, 04.22.06

New York City can learn from Spain's approach to public policy and the role the City can play in commissioning and investing in open space, design, and cultural amenities to spur private investments. "Spain is a lucky country," according to German architect Jurgen Mayer H. It places a premium on engaging the public through the creation of public, open space. Furthermore, it has recognized the importance of these spaces and their essential function in the life of its cities.

Bringing together both emerging voices in the field of architecture in Spain such as Carlos Arroyo Zapatero, a winner of the Europan 6 prize, with more established figures such as Thom Mayne, FAIA, of Morphosis, and Terence Riley, AIA, former chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, now the director of the Miami Art Museum, for the first time the Center for Architecture partnered with MoMA for a full-day symposium. To accompany the Barcelona in Progress exhibition at the Center and On-Site: New Architecture in Spain at MoMA, the individual presentations and panel discussions addressed the relationship between academia and practice; the role of competitions in engendering built projects; and the interchange between the public and private sectors.

Constructions of Light: 2006 Design Awards
By Bill Millard

Architecture Jury (l-r): Ales Vodopivec; Natalye Appel, FAIA; Moshe Safdie, FAIA
Kristen Richards


Interior Architecture Jury (l-r): Ammar Eloueini; David Salmela, FAIA; Jeffrey Hoover, AIA
Kristen Richards


Projects Jury (l-r): Carol Herselle Krinsky (moderator); Odile Decq; Raymond Huff, AIA; Alan J. Plattus
Kristen Richards

Event: Design Awards Symposium 2006
Speakers: Mark Strauss, FAIA, AICP, President AIANY; Lorenzo Pagnamenta, AIA, chair, Design Awards Committee; moderator Carol Herselle Krinsky, PhD; jurors Natalye Appel, FAIA, Natayle Appel + Associates Architects, LLC; Odile Decq, Odile Decq + Benoît Cornette; Ammar Eloueini, AEDS; Jeffrey Hoover, Tappe Associates; Raymond Huff, Huff + Gooden; Moshe Safdie, FAIA, Moshe Safdie and Associates Inc.; David Salmela, FAIA, David Salmela Architect; Alan Plattus, Yale University; Ales Vodopivec, University of Ljubljana
Organizers: AIA New York Chapter
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.08.06

Light and spacious designs dominated the AIA New York Chapter 2006 Design Awards in Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Projects. In the presentations and discussions, led by Prof. Carol Herselle Krinsky of NYU, the jurors stressed the ever-cogent appeal of large-scale fenestration, light color palettes, and a resilient modernist composition. Thirty projects from a total of 348 entries received Honor, Merit, and Citation Awards.

The Architecture Honor Award went to the revamped Morgan Library and Museum, a collaboration between Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners. Harmonizing the three-part modernist expansion with the existing structure while containing expanded functions within a consistent and site-appropriate building height, the addition brings natural light into a largely underground volume. Attention to sustainability marked Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's 7 World Trade Center in the Architecture Merit Awards category. Adaptive-reuse characterized OpenOffice arts + architecture collaboration with Robert Irwin for Dia:Beacon, and J.M. Lin Architect's Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. The desert slabs of Steven Holl Architect's Planar House channeled the ghost of the Mies Barcelona Pavilion; and a pair of houses by Voorsanger Architects demonstrated the grace and drama of vast glass surfaces.

Honors in Interior Architecture went to Gabellini Sheppard Associates for the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center. With a ribbon staircase spiraling around a stalactite-like chandelier, Top of the Rock updates the original Art Deco design and creates continuity between past and present sculptural elements.

The top prize among Projects was shared by Kevin Kennon Architect's The Incubator Project and Morphosis's NYC 2012 plan for an Olympic Village. Jurors commented on the innovative integration with both projects' sites. SOM's Bridging the Rift Center, a life-science library seated directly on the Israel-Jordan border, an attempt to advance international harmony through scientific inquiry, obtained a Project Merit Award. The Guggenheim Museum Guadalajara by TEN Arquitectos, placing a tower at the city's edge above a gorge; and Zakrzewski + Hyde's Artbox, a portable cardboard "instant gallery," the competition's only entry with explicit political and theoretical implications both obtained Citations.

Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Oculus, Icon, Content, and other publications.

Next West Side Story
By Gregory Haley, AIA, AICP

Aerial view of the approved Hudson Yards.
Courtesy NYC.gov

Event: Architecture as Public Policy: The Far West Side
Speakers: Keynote: Lynne Sagalyn, School of Design and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; Panel Discussion "Policy & Development:" moderator Vishaan Chakrabarti, AIA, The Related Companies; Andrew Winters, Director of Capitol Project Development, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding; Ann Weisbrod, director, Hudson Yards Development Corporation; Anna Hayes Levin, co-chair, The Clinton/Hell's Kitchen Land Use Committee, Community Board 4; Eric Deutsch, president, Alliance for Downtown New York; Case Studies "Open Space and Transportation:" moderator Margaret Castillo, AIA, Helpern Architects; Tom Jost, Field Operations; Jeffrey Holmes, AIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Beth Greenberg, AIA, Dattner Architects
Organizers: AIA New York Chapter
Sponsors: AIA New York Chapter
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.06.06

The far West Side—a "nexus of activity" between Chelsea, midtown, and the 8th Ave. corridor—is primed for development, according to Lynne Sagalyn, but the goals and priorities of its plans are not clear. The current local context, along with the future of the area within larger city goals must be considered. Eric Deutsch, supporting the area's projected need for office development as a means of maintaining Manhattan's competitive edge, believes development is needed to offset the trend of converting office space to residential uses. Conversely, Anna Hayes Levin of Community Board 4, while in favor of development, emphasizes the need to provide affordable housing and open space, and a desire to minimize property condemnation.

Within the framework of a large plan, the Dattner Architects design for the No. 7 Subway Line Extension, Field Operations and Diller Scofido + Renfro's plans for the High Line, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment/James A. Farley Post Office, and the street infrastructure development by the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation, all provide incentives for future private development. However, while acknowledging the importance of these projects to the success of the new West Side, Sagalyn believes that in this situation "the catalyst is Manhattan."

Gregory Haley AIA, AICP, is a project architect and urban designer at Studio V Architects, New York, and has taught architectural design studios at NYIT School of Architecture.

UN and WTC Construct Architectures of Peace
By Aileen Iverson, RA

The unadorned UN headquarters represents new world order during a war torn era.
Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA

Event: Presentation of the film "A Workshop for Peace" and Panel Discussion
Speakers: Peter Rosen, Filmmaker; Thaddeus Crapster, UN Architect; Steven Holl, AIA, Steven Holl Architects; Susan Farkas, Chief Radio and TV Service UN Department of Public Information
Organizers: AIA Historic Building Committee, AIA NY International Committee
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.05.06

The United Nations headquarters was to symbolize a new world order in which a unilateral government presided over its international citizens. The architecture, intended as a symbol of this universal society, was a product of international collaboration. The formal language broke from the past using unadorned forms—historically neutral and geometrically pure. The film, "A Workshop for Peace," documents the collaborative efforts of 11 internationally renowned architects in the design of the UN.

Whether or not architecture is capable of building a vision of the future in a post-war society is a basis for critiquing the World Trade Center rehabilitation along similar lines. Can you reclaim—physically, spiritually, and economically—what was lost in the unprecedented terrorist attack? The problem with creating a symbol combining capitalistic enterprise with personal freedom takes shape largely in an architecture of politics individual celebrities find neither the ability for collaboration nor a united vision of a collective future.

Aileen Iverson, RA, is an architect practicing in New York.

From Amoeba through Zebra
By Carolyn Sponza, AIA

A leaf can provide insight into self-sustaining building.
Carolyn Sponza, AIA

Event: BIOMIMICRY: Innovation Inspired by Nature
Speaker: Janine Benyus, biologist, writer, and co-founder the Biomimicry Guild
Organizers: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Location: Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 05.09.06

Future plans to engage designers include a database of biological phenomena, cross-referenced against engineering terms, which will allow the natural spectrum to act as a reference for continued design innovations was the topic of biologist Janine Benyus's lecture, "BIOMIMICRY."

The human race is facing an "evolutionary knothole," and technology should be "looking for splinters," argued Benyus as she illustrated how incremental technological advances taken from natural processes are changing the built world. Benyus predicts that natural principles could prove self-sustaining when applied to the building industry.

Prefacing her talk with the idea that a product or building solution could be "a chimera of products from many different organisms," Benyus outlined the three characteristics defining her methodology—mimicking form (design), process (how something is made), and ecosystems (how the pieces fit together). Architectural examples include using the model of a tree under stress to determine how to streamline building structure by providing denser materials only in areas of anticipated loading. Current research in self-ventilating systems uses termite nests as a model for air-cooled building cladding. The water and dirt-shedding capabilities of leaves are being used in design of self-cleaning paint and roofing tile products, all currently on the market.

Motion and Abstraction Deemed Unstable
By Aaron Slodounik

The movement of fish determines the shape of the fish tank in Finding Meiosis.
Courtesy MAD Architectural Design Studio

In the Holocaust Education Resource Center, a patterned wall references paper cuts produced during the Holocaust.
Courtesy WilliamsonWilliamson

Event: Young Architects Forum: Instability
Speakers: Yansong Ma and Yosuke Hayano, MAD Architectural Design Studio, Ann Arbor/Beijing; Betsy and Shane Williamson, WilliamsonWilliamson, Toronto
Organizers: The Architectural League of New York
Location: The Urban Center, 04.27.06

Architectural forms inspired by fluidity and movement typifies the work of MAD Architectural Design Studio, and the permutations of form drive the designs of WilliamsonWilliamson. Both evoke this year's Young Architects Forum theme: instability.

In Finding Meiosis, an installation for the 2004 Beijing Architecture Biennial, MAD Architectural Design Studio designed a curvilinear fish tank based on the recorded movement of fish. For the design proposal of the Guangzhou Twin Tower (West Tower) competition, a doubled-over tower allows for twice the variety of programmatic elements and horizontal circulation when compared to a conventional skyscraper.

WilliamsonWilliamson uses random mathematical processes and digital modeling to create iterative forms. The 184 unique cubic shapes that comprise the proposed Pentagon Memorial were derived by manipulating a single form. Joined by a common derivative process, the units can either be dispersed throughout the world or form one greater whole. In the proposal for a Holocaust Education Resource Center at the University of Maine, a series of algorithms takes on symbolic significance in a patterned wall referencing the traditional Jewish paper cuts on display.

Aaron Slodounik is a freelance art and architecture writer and an executive assistant at FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS, PC.

A 21st Century Weissenhofsiedlung
By Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA

Architecture and agriculture work together in the Sociopolis.
Courtesy AIANY Committee on the Environment

Event: Sociopolis: A Prototype for an Advanced Urban Development in Spain with Vicente Guallart
Speaker: Vicente Guallart, architect
Organizers: AIA NY Chapter Committee on the Environment (COTE)
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.02.06

Successful systems lead to thriving cities, argued Spanish architect Vicente Guallart. Architecture and landscape must work together as a unit through a network of infrastructure, agriculture, and building. Sociopolis attempts to create this symbiosis in Valencia and develop a new prototype for the 21st century city. Using the Deutsche Werkbund's 1927 Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart as a model, 13 international architects—including Toyo Ito & Associates, MVRDV, Greg Lynn FORM, among others—were asked to submit aspects of Sociopolis's urban plan to create a model society relevant to current ways of living.

Using the existing agricultural pattern to determine plots, housing is arranged around the perimeter of the site leaving the interior open to agriculture and sports fields. Cars access the housing on a road that circumnavigates the site. An athletic path connects buildings weaving through the landscape along old irrigation lines revitalized to service the grounds. Institutional centers are located in restored existing buildings dispersed throughout the site. This self-sufficient community is expected to contribute to the landscape according to agricultural needs. Developers who agree to grow food and maintain a plot of land are given a percentage of a building that can be sold to residents.

Guallart's Sharing Tower, featured in MoMA's recent "On Site: New Architecture in Spain" exhibition, consists of an art and performance center, as well as apartments for young, single inhabitants. Each floor has eight apartments with shared amenities (including laundry, for example). Guallart intends to create "living environments," giving the population a sense of identity with its community.

Installation Spawns Change
By Paul M. Davis

Courtesy Municipal Art Society

Event: System Wien with author Lebbeus Woods, Urban Center Books Program
Speaker: Lebbeus Woods
Organizers: Municipal Art Society with Urban Center Books
Location: Urban Center, 05.02.06

A team of performance artists set forth on the orderly streets of Vienna's historic core last year armed with long, thin aluminum rods bent at seemingly random angles. Sent by Lebbeus Woods, architect and founder of the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture (RIEA), the performers arranged the rods at various locations throughout the city. This performance took place over several weeks as part of the Woods's "System Wien" installation, commissioned by Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts.

Disenchanted with budgetary and typological limitations in architecture firms, Woods shifted his attention to writing and experimental drawing. He found inspiration in war-ravaged, post-siege locations, such as Sarajevo, that offer lessons to the "ordered" world. His drawings explore those lessons establishing a formal vocabulary of fragments and fields in place of grids and objects.

System Wien further explores the theme of formal crisis through layered transformation. Woods argues, "The crisis of Vienna is that there is no crisis, that the city is too ordered." Installing contorted rods throughout the city, arranged by others, redistributes energy to instigate change.

Paul M. Davis is a project designer at Belmont Freeman Architects.

Preservationists Win Big in Far West Village
In 1963, Jane Jacobs advocated designation of the Far West Village. Following an intense campaign by preservationists, particularly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) unanimously approved expanding the designation three blocks west of the existing 1969 Greenwich Village Historic District and creating a new Weehawken Street Historic District. This designation follows last fall's downzoning of the Far West Village, the landmark protection of several blocks and buildings in the area, and the 2003 designation of the Gansevoort Market Historic District in the meatpacking district.

Federal Courthouse and Post Office Restored in Brooklyn

U.S. Post Office and Courthouse
Courtesy R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects Under the auspices of the General Services Administration (GSA) Design Excellence Program, R. M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects has completed work on the historic U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Brooklyn. The original 1892 Romanesque Revival-style building and its matching 1933 extension are on the National Register of Historic Places and are a part of the Brooklyn Civic Center. In addition to four renovated courtrooms, two new courtrooms were added to the 1933 building. The 575,000-square-foot complex, 490,000 of which has been restored and adaptively reused, houses the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Trustee.

Buildings Scrape Sky in Bangalore

Brigade Gateway retail/dining area
Courtesy HOK At 128 meters high, the Brigade Gateway will be the tallest building in Bangalore. The 31-story tower is designed with large "International Style" floorplates measuring 35,000 square feet and a unique curtain wall system. The tower is part of a mixed-use urban complex designed and master planned by the New York office of HOK. Plans for the 40-acre site also call for a 600,000-square-foot retail and dining center, a 300-room hotel and conference facility, a neighborhood for over 10,000 residents, and other civic, educational, health, and entertainment facilities, gardens, and plazas.

Sustainability Is Elementary, Watson

Hamilton Avenue School
Courtesy Swanke Hayden Connell Architects Contemporary sustainable features in the Hamilton Avenue School include geothermal wells, daylighting/top-lighting, displacement ventilation, and a super-insulated enclosure. This $25 million primary school in Greenwich, CT, designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects is scheduled for completion at the beginning of the school year September, 2007. The project consists of 60,000 square feet of new construction along with a partial restoration and reuse of a 1938 building with an additional 16,000 square feet of space. The existing brick and stone school with a slate roof and copula, complements that of neighboring buildings.

W Hotels Say Hola to Chile

W Santiago
Courtesy Handel Architects Scheduled to open in 2008, W Santiago will be the brand's first hotel in South America and its fifth international following Barcelona, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., the parent company of the W, in a joint venture with the Territoria Group, are planning a 205-room hotel as part of a larger mixed-use building containing retail and office space. Gary Handel, AIA, of Handel Architects, will design the new hotel, which will include the signature W Living Room, Bliss Spa, and 37,000 square feet of meeting space.

Cities are Focus of Biennale di Venezia
This year's Venice Biennale exhibition, entitled "Cites, architecture and society," intends to re-engage the physical structure of cities—their buildings, spaces, and streets that is the domain of architects and urban designers—with the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of urban existence. Mixed media presentations will focus on 16 cities: Barcelona, Berlin, Bogotá, Cairo, Caracas, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan-Turin, Mumbai, New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Robert Ivy, FAIA, serves as commissioner and Suzanne Stephens as deputy commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion, whose focus will be the city of New Orleans. La Biennale opens to the public 09.10.06–11.19.06.

Building Permits Skyrocket in Gotham
At a time when national residential construction is down, in New York City it is skyrocketing due to the rise in residential property values. A recent edition of Crain's reports that the proof is in the number of permits filed. The stats by borough: Staten Island up 385% to 296 units; Manhattan up 38% to 2,466; Queens up 51% to 1,647 units; Brooklyn up 2% to 2,265 units; The Bronx up 38% to 1,074.

Designs Sprout Students' Green Roof Plans
By Al Kurchin, Design Educator, Center for Architecture Foundation

Robyn Strauss, a School of the Future student, proposes a new layout for her school's garden roof.
Al Kurchin

As part of an Environmental Science elective, students are developing their own green roof for their school. Design educator Al Kurchin from the Center for Architecture Foundation program joined teacher Allison Godshall to teach 16 seniors theories of environmental architecture over the course of a 10-week program.

First, students outlined green roof principles, basic landscape design, and landscape graphics. The students were then asked to plan a 4,000-square-foot green roof for their 11-story school to be used for student research, recreation, and study. Working in groups, students proposed a new roof using conceptual and design development sketches and final design drawings. After presenting the designs to the class, one refined composite plan was chosen.

Visiting lecturers from the ASLA and SEAoNY gave the students a professional assessment of their work. Pablo Bruno, an engineer with Cameron Engineering & Associates, reviewed the live load capability of the structure, while Martha Desbiens from Balmori Associates and Gus Robertson from EDAW gave the class valuable guidance. As one student commented, "I enjoyed seeing many talents blossom from each classmate. This brought a positive attitude to the class which is reflected in our garden."

With funds that Godshall received for plant research, the class is now in the process of purchasing soil, plants, fabrics, and GreenGrid modules, enabling the students to build their design. Next semester, students from City College who are studying green roofs will mentor the class.

New NCARB Grant Program Stresses Innovation
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has established a NCARB Grant program. Expected to award up to $10,000 total per academic year, grant funding may be divided among up to three organizations. NCARB's objective is to support and encourage concepts that may be more risk-taking than a school can initially afford, helping to develop a project is still on the boards.

NCARB Prize Grant submissions for the 2006-2007 academic year are due in the NCARB offices, on or before 5:00 PM EST, on Wednesday, November 1, 2006. For more information, see www.ncarb.org.

"Women sunbathing on the Williamsburg waterfront" by Joyce George.
Courtesy Art 101

Through 06.04.06
The Disappeared & The Endangered

Curated by a long-time resident of Williamsburg who felt the impact made by a typhoon of alterations to the neighborhood, this exhibition of photography points at the rapidly vanishing urban condition. "Urban Renewal," an associated walking tour, will be held on May 21 at 9:45am, departing from the gallery.

Art 101; 101 Grand Street, Brooklyn

Courtesy The Center for the Living City at Purchase College

Through 06.13.06
Learning from Disaster: New Orleans after Katrina

Photographs and commentary by nine students (among them anthropology and new media majors) comprise this exhibit, which explores the issues of interconnectedness that define cities in the wake of disaster. The Center for the Living City students visited New Orleans to study the devastation of the city, but also its resilience.

Museum of the City of New York; 1220 Fifth Ave.

"The Dawn of Luxury" by Susan Hamburger
Courtesy Safe-T-Gallery

05.18.06–06.17.06
Progress

Eight large oil paintings by Brooklyn artist Susan Hamburger highlight a panoramic view of the new and old architectural developments along the southern border of Williamsburg's McCarren Park. The paintings will be installed within one of Hamburger's foam core, faux-period rooms contrasting modern "progress" against the decorative comfort of yesteryear.

Safe-T-Gallery; 111 Front Street, #214, Brooklyn

Courtesy MAD

05.18.06–09.03.06
The Eames Lounge Chair: An Icon of Modern Design

The design, production, and social impact of the Eames Lounge Chair is the focus of this exhibition that marks the 50th anniversary of the chair's production.

Museum of Arts & Design; 40 W. 53 St.

Solos: Matali Crasset installation rendering
Courtesy Matali Crasset

05.19.06–09.24.06
Solos: Matali Crasset

In the fourth installment of the Solos exhibition series, an interactive light and sound installation by French industrial designer Matali Crasset that explores residential and urban rituals and the domestication of technology, comprising industrial design products, graphics, theater sets, wallpaper, and furniture.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; 2 East 91st St.

Isamu Noguchi with the sculpture Octetra, 1968. Photographer unknown.
Courtesy The Noguchi Museum

05.19.06–10.15.06
Best of Friends: R. Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi

The exhibition is devoted to the long friendship and collaboration between the visionary designer and inventor. Over 50 years, they collaborated on only one specific project, but explored ideas about renewable energy sources, accessible design, and "green" architecture.

Noguchi Museum; 9-01 33rd Road, Long Island City

05.20.06–06.03.07
The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design

A comprehensive look at the growing mandate for green design in homes, featuring a model home for visitors to tour. Exhibition design: Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis; graphics and catalog design: Pure+Applied—both NYC- based.

National Building Museum; 401 F St, NW, Washington, DC

Fifth year student Akari Nakai's new plan for New Orleans
Courtesy Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union

05.22.06–06.22.06
Cooper Union's End of the Year Show

At the annual End of Year Show, students from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art make the transition from studios and classrooms to the gallery. Work from the Schools of Art and Architecture will be featured, with projects from the School of Engineering on view May 22–24.

The Cooper Union Foundation Building; Cooper Square

House Into, Espoo, Finland, 1998, Jyrki Tasa
Jyrki Tasa and Jussi Tiainen

05.26.06–08.26.06
From Wood to Architecture: Recent Designs from Finland

17 recently constructed buildings in Finland offer a fresh take on the oldest of building materials: wood; organized by The Museum of Finnish Architecture.

Scandinavia House; 58 Park Ave