New York New Visions: Checking the Mirror
By Bill Millard

(top l-r): Robert Campbell, FAIA, Boston Globe; Rosalie Genevro, The Architectural League of New York, and Margaret Helfand, FAIA, Helfand Architecture. (middle l-r): Marcie Kesner, AICP, APA New York Metro Chapter; Mark Strauss, AICP, FAIA, AIANY 2006 President; and Mark Ginsburg, FAIA, Curtis + Ginsberg. (bottom l-r): Ernest Hutton, Assoc. AIA, AICP, Co-Chair NYNV; Petra Todorovich, Regional Plan Association; and Alex Garvin, Yale University.
Kristen Richards

Event: Take Five: New York New Visions—Success or Failure?
Speakers: Mark Strauss, FAIA, AICP, FX Fowle; Margaret Helfand, FAIA, Helfand Architecture; Marcie Kesner, AICP, American Planning Association, NY Metro Chapter; Ernest Hutton, Assoc. AIA, AICP, Co-Chair NYNV, Hutton & Associates; Rosalie Genevro, The Architectural League of New York; moderator Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, Curtis + Ginsberg; respondents: Robert Campbell, FAIA, Boston Globe; Alex Garvin, Yale University; Petra Todorovich, Regional Plan Association; Ethel Sheffer, APA NY Chapter, NY Metro Chapter
Organizers: New York New Visions
Sponsors: New York New Visions; AIANY; additional support provided by the George S. Lewis Fund
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.13.06

After the five years of wrangling among the many stakeholders in Lower Manhattan, few people are happy, and fewer agree about why. Has the New York New Visions (NYNV) coalition made a difference? If Ground Zero remains a civic disappointment, NYNV's experience at least gives useful pointers on how to respond to future disasters (natural and manmade).

NYNV was "a self-invited guest at the table," advising the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and other decision makers without wielding any tangible power, argued moderator Mark Ginsberg, FAIA. Ernest Hutton, Assoc. AIA, AICP, believes, "we ultimately failed, but not because we compromised our principles... We slowly evolved into an underused resource." Original NYNV co-chair Margaret Helfand, FAIA, identified an "effort to influence the media," a critical and risky part of the process. Critic Robert Campbell, FAIA, bringing an out-of-town perspective, noted, "what you want to do is get into the kind of interactive conversation with the media in which you're learning from them as much as they're learning from you." A clear and bold public position, panelists agreed, is essential.

"The very fact of NYNV is a triumph," according to Alex Garvin, the only participant from "the other side of the table" (as LMDC's Vice President for Planning, Design and Development). Neighborhood groups had superseded designers and planners as active players in land-use decisions since before World War II, and the NYNV organizers successfully reversed that trend. Unfortunately, Garvin claimed, the very persuasiveness of NYNV's case came to be a problem as it helped raise standards and expectations. But without its influence, these conditions might have been far worse.

Continues…

Architecture—Not What it "Seams" to UNStudio
By Gregory Haley, AIA, AICP

The transformational spatial sequence in the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
Courtesy unstudio.com

Event: UNStudio Presents Design Models Book Talk
Speakers: Ben Van Berkel
Organizers: UNStudio; Rizzoli
Sponsors: UNStudio
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.21.06

The development of architectural form centers on the relation of part to whole, both within buildings themselves and within their contexts. UNStudio addresses these relational issues by creating a "seamless organization of disconnected parts without a trace of the boundary between," according to Van Berkel, the firm's co-founder.

The recently completed Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany exemplifies UNStudio's approach to form. Organized around a central void, two opposing spiral ramps link, separate, and reconnect the exhibition levels generating a transformational spatial sequence. As floors become walls and then ceilings, the boundaries among the spaces blur. Likewise, the siting of the museum on a hill adjacent to a highway blurs the distinction between building and site—linking the building's form, material, and program to the surrounding infrastructure.

The search for "seamlessness" is not only a formal interest to Van Berkel, but an appropriate approach to the exigencies of contemporary building. The complexity of current building programs and client-consultant relations necessitates a networked approach to design. UNStudio utilizes 3-D CAD models to coordinate multiple consultants and building systems, and to discover unexpected organizational effects. Ultimately, Van Berkel hopes to leave the public with an "afterimage"—a lingering trace of form and experience.

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

Cornell's Milstein Hall: OMA's "miracle box"
By Bill Millard

Milstein Hall takes advantage of an impressive site without overwhelming adjacent buildings.
© OMA

Event: Reception presenting plans for Milstein Hall
Presenters: Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), Cornell University; Rem Koolhaas, Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Organizers: Cornell University AAP
Location: Manhattan office of Cornell AAP, 50 West 17th Street

Those who expect visually jarring acute angles from every OMA project will be surprised here by the Miesian orthogonals. A gentle mound rising from the ground floor, organizing the auditorium and other public areas, provides contrast and echoes the landscape within the box. Milstein does not overwhelm its neighbors; perching above Fall Creek (Koolhaas terms it a belvedere or veranda), the views it creates are striking enough. It's a problem-solving building, much like OMA's well-received McCormick Tribune Campus Center at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Academic commissions can pose special challenges: meeting the needs of complex programs (pedagogy, research, social life, security, transportation, conservation) while stretching strained budgets, satisfying alumni and faculty, and striving to add recruitment-boosting icons. It's not surprising when new campus buildings either fall into well-worn neoclassicist patterns or develop awkward innovative gestures. Fortunately, OMA's new design for an expansion of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, makes an inviting, practical contribution to the storied campus. Rem Koolhaas and AAP dean Mohsen Mostafavi unveiled Milstein, the building Koolhaas calls a "miracle box."

Cornell's position above the gorges of Fall Creek and Cascadilla Creek affords spectacular views, yet some segments of the campus create barriers turning the University's back to its landscape. In response, two of OMA's primary decisions were to extend the campus northward, drawing pedestrian circulation toward the water, and to counteract all forms of isolation, individual and disciplinary, maximizing circulation within and between buildings.

Further priorities include preserving AAP's existing facilities (Sibley and Rand Halls, which create a gateway to the campus from a bridge leading to a residential area, and the Foundry, a sculpture studio/workshop for art students) while creating new gathering spaces and transforming the Arts Quad's northern area into a campus focal point. The solution was a simple two-plate horizontal box that connects Sibley and Rand, places essential academic program elements in a single transparent space visible from multiple angles on campus, and adding a 282-seat auditorium, sunken plaza, and roof terrace.

Sheltered and enclosable areas maximize open-air exposure while respecting Ithaca's formidable winters. Skylights of different sizes ensure that the center of the building receives evenly distributed natural light, give a signature overhead view (the optical illusion of a spherical volume) to passing aircraft, and double as ventilators.

"One of the exciting things about IIT for us," Koolhaas says, "was that it actually behaved in the way it was supposed to behave, and it worked in the way it was supposed to work. That is why we expect the same fit in this case—we hope." Groundbreaking begins in early 2007, and Milstein is scheduled to open in 2009.

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

Deans School Each Other
By Carolyn Sponza, AIA

Event: The Dean's Roundtable and arch schools-public view(ing) Exhibition Opening
Speakers: Alan Balfour, Assoc. AIA, Dean, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Judith DiMaio, AIA, Dean, The School of Architecture and Design at New York Institute of Technology; Urs P. Gauchat, Dean, New Jersey Institute of Technology School of Architecture; Thomas Hanrahan, AIA, Dean, Pratt Institute: School of Architecture; Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean, College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University; George Ranalli, AIA, Dean, The City College of New York School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture; Mark Robbins, Dean, Syracuse University School of Architecture; Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA, Dean, Yale School of Architecture; Anthony Vidler, Dean, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art School of Architecture; Michael Bell, Associate Professor and Director of Core Studies, Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Columbia University; Sarah Whiting, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Princeton University School of Architecture; Moderator Ray Gastil, NYC Planning Commission
Organizers: Center for Architecture; special thanks to Heather Philip-O'Neal, AIA, Director, Educational Affairs; Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, former Director, Educational Affairs; Peter Schubert, AIA, Director, Programs and Strategic Planning
Exhibition Design: Gia Mainiero/Edwin Rodriguez
Graphic Design: Gia Mainiero
Lead Sponsors: Peter Schubert/Hillier; KPF; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.20.06

This year's Dean's Roundtable reinforced that the educational philosophies of New York area architecture schools varies widely, but a shared set of goals can produce more well-rounded architects prepared to face authentic challenges. Eleven local deans debated on the disconnect between education and the profession, and on the value of integrating non-traditional studies into architecture studios.

Community involvement is helping architecture schools influence the profession on new levels. There are ways to "involve architects as citizens in a community" instead of solely using the profession as a medium for change, noted Syracuse University Dean Mark Robbins discussing the school's architecture facility relocation to downtown. NJIT Dean Urs Gauchat stated that design interventions (such as the work NJIT had recently undertaken in Patterson, NJ) are perhaps a more potent solution for schools to consider. "On a local level, there is more institutional memory" and innate expertise offered by architects.

It was agreed that architecture curricula can benefit from a broader base of study, and schools are beginning to integrate science and humanities into architecture studios. Disputing the 40-year paradigm that planted architecture in the realm of art, City College Dean George Ranalli, AIA, said that he believed architecture to be a "hybrid discipline," combining technology and science.

Despite the diversity among the schools' philosophies, Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, introduced the idea that if the deans could unify their goals, students could improve New York regional issues that local and state government can not.

The exhibition, "arch schools-public view(ing)," will be on view at the Center for Architecture through 11.10.06. See the On View section for details.

Suburban Dreamin'
By Aaron Slodounik

Courtesy karriejacobs.com

Event: Waking Up From the American Dream: New Ideas about House and Home
Speakers: Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief, Metropolis; Karrie Jacobs, critic, journalist, author The Perfect $100,000 House: A Trip Across America and Back in Pursuit of a Place to Call Home; Jen Renzi, senior editor, House & Garden; Winifred Gallagher, author, House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live; moderator Abby Hamlin, president, Hamlin Ventures; moderator Jonathan Marvel, AIA, principal, Rogers Marvel Architects
Organizers: Block Party Brooklyn
Location: Block Party, 14 Townhouses, 267A State Street, Brooklyn, NY, 09.12.06.

Current conversations about design aspirations do not address the middle-class, agreed four critics discussing ideas about house and home in the living room of a newly constructed four-story $2.7 million Boerum Hill townhouse (one of the 14 Townhouses designed and master planned by Rogers Marvel Architects as part of the mixed-use Hoyt Schermerhorn Urban Renewal Site). The public's poor visual skills and limited design vocabulary pose a challenge for writers trying to address a broad audience.

The suburbanization of America beginning with the post-WWII housing boom has left us with a powerful and prevalent building typology. There is little demand for alternatives to faux-farmhouses, such as the well-designed homes chronicled by Karrie Jacobs in her new book The Perfect $100,000 House. Americans are often turned off by modern architecture, according to author Winifred Gallagher, because of limited and often poor associations with modern design. Architects who eschew the vernacular in pursuit of the avant-garde lose the emotional value the public associates with traditional building styles.

Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis, lamented the limited reach of the design press There is hope, however, in New Urbanism, noted Gallager; the Liberty Harbor development in Jersey City is a place where traditionalists are embracing modernism as an historic style.

Aaron Slodounik is a freelance art and architecture writer.

Families gather at Ground Zero on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Kass Negash


2:30pm, 09.11.06. After a day of remembrance, families leave Ground Zero.
Kass Negash

Dear eOculus,

Thank you for the "A Day of Remembrance" pictures. I was one of the honor guards for the fifth anniversary, and I want to share with you some of the pictures I took at Ground Zero.

Enjoy,
Kass Negash

Dear eOculus,

The clearest lesson came from Reed Kroloff, Dean of Tulane University School of Architecture, who stated in a symposium, "It was not Katrina that caused the devastation; it wasn't the rains; it wasn't the winds that destroyed New Orleans; but it was the failure of the levies, a failure of the Army Corps of Engineers, and a Federal Government failure." [See "Venice Biennale: Five Impressions," eOculus, 09.19.06]

Yet again, Reed Kroloff gets it wrong. The devastation was the result of the failure of the New Orleans government, or lack thereof, to allocate and mobilize the resources, which it continuously voted down, required to protect the citizens of New Orleans. A more corrupt government you will not find in these United States. This failure is not a mystery, nor has New Orleans' failure to defend itself against the catastrophe that was known to be inevitable has gone unreported except, of course, in the pages of the New York Times, which has its own agenda.

I remain disgusted, and you should be too.

Richard Nash Gould
Richard Nash Gould Architects
New York, NY

Fuzzy Edges in Iowa
The new 70,000-square-foot University of Iowa School of Art & Art History building designed by New York-based Steven Holl Architects is a hybrid instrument for the practice and analysis of art. Based on the idea of "open edges and center," partially straddling a pond and an adjacent limestone bluff, the building's assemblage of glass and Cor-ten steel planes is woven into the site. The building, said to be based upon Picasso's sculpture "Guitar," contains an auditorium, classrooms, studios, offices, meeting rooms, café, and art library suspended over a pond. The exterior follows the contour edge of the pond and extends vertically into the building's central atrium by a suspended stair of red folded steel plates. The building's interior passages reveal works-in-progress within studios.

The Architecture of Science

Howard Hughes Medical Institute seeks to inspire scientists.
Courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects "Architecture does not make great science," said Robert H. McGee, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) architect and senior facilities officer, "but great scientists may be inspired by great architecture."

Hopes are high as the first HHMI research campus opens this week at the Janelia Farm, a 281-acre land parcel along the Potomac River near Leesburg, VA. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the 740,411-square-foot complex is said to transform accepted patterns of scientific research and typical designs for lab buildings. Consisting of a laboratory building, conference guest rooms, and apartments for visiting scientists, the institute blends into the natural surroundings of the site and features highly flexible laboratory space that can be adapted easily to meet changing research needs. The centerpiece, a 1,000-foot-long laboratory building, called the "landscape building," conforms to the site's existing topography, instead of overwhelming it.

ONYX—Semiprecious in Chelsea

ONYX will add to the lively atmosphere of Chelsea.
Courtesy FXFowle Architects Evoking its namesake gemstone, ONYX will have vertical bands of light running up the 11-story façade of this residential condominium. Designed by FXFowle Architects and developed by Bronfman Haymes Real Estate Partners, the building will also have layered glass, granite, and floating metallic panels facing Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. With 52 condos, 21 floor plans will consist of one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences ranging in size from 683 to 1,812 square feet. Prices range from $700,000 to $2,500,000.

Art and Finance Merge in Bronxville

Art and finance enhance the Krenz Academic Center.
Courtesy Peter Gisolfi Associates In time for the college's 125th anniversary celebration, the new Donald A. Krenz Academic Center at Concordia College in Bronxville opened giving the school a new facility on the second floor of Scheele Memorial Library. The 12,000-square-foot center, designed by Peter Gisolfi Associates, provides a public setting for the OSilas Art Gallery and the Yeager Collection Room, which functions as a conference and seminar space and houses a collection of original autographs of American financial leaders. Other features include an 82-seat terraced auditorium, Wi-Fi classrooms, and a student/faculty lounge.

Get Your CultureNOW!

CultureNOW.
Courtesy CultureNOW Since 9/11, CultureNOW maps designed by Abby Suckle, FAIA, have been chronicling the growth of Lower Manhattan. The fifth edition of the map is now available free throughout the five boroughs including the Center for Architecture. The maps serve as guides to discover and appreciate art, architecture, and cultural organizations located south of Houston Street, and includes over 1,000 entries within its expanded boundary. In addition to listing such obvious cultural venues as historic buildings and districts, contemporary works of architecture (interiors, planning, and sustainability), artworks, art collections, performance spaces, film, and schools, it also features hotels, free Wi-Fi locations, greenmarkets, bike paths, and information kiosks. Funding for the map was provided by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, with additional funding by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and AIA NY Chapter.

Museum Blends Building and Garden

Peter Walker, FASLA, Thomas Phifer, AIA, and Robert Ivy, FAIA
Kristen Richards The Thomas Phifer and Partners office on Varick Street was packed to the rafters for the unveiling of the Phifer-designed $138 million expansion on the 164-acre campus of the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) in Raleigh. The project includes a 127,000-square-foot single-story "pavilion," and gardens and outdoor galleries designed by Berkeley, CA-based Peter Walker and Partners. NCMA's existing 1983 Edward Durell Stone building will become a center for temporary exhibitions, education programs and public events, and administration. A garden entry plaza will unify the new and existing architecture with NCMA's outdoor amphitheater created in 1997 by NYC-based Smith-Miller Hawkinson Architects with artist Barbara Kruger. The new museum building, clad in satin-finished stainless steel, will be filled with natural light from a "flying carpet" roof of coffered skylights and "garden galleries." Construction is scheduled to begin this October and be completed by 2009.

It's Architecture Week!
This year's Architecture Week begins Friday, 10.06.06. With activities culminating at the Heritage Ball and Party@theCenter!, here is a schedule of events and activities you won't want to miss:

Event: Films!Films!Films!
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.06.06, 6:00-9:00pm

Event: openhousenewyork
Location: citywide—the Center for Architecture will serve as the information and Welcome Center, 10.07-10.08.06, 9:00am-5:00pm

Event: Design-In Marathon
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.07.06, 12:00-8:00pm

Event: FamilyDay@theCenter: Building Green Art Workshop
Organizers: Center for Architecture Foundation in partnership with openhousenewyork
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.08.06, 10:00am-1:00pm

Event: Exhibition Opening: Going Public 2: City Snapshot(s) and Case Studies of the Mayor's Design and Construction Excellence Initiative
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.10.06, 6:00-8:00pm

Event: Going Public Roundtable
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.11.06, 6:00-8:00pm

Event: Heritage Ball with Dinner Chair MaryAnne Gilmartin
Honorees: Commissioner David J. Burney, AIA; Walter A. Hunt Jr., FAIA; Richard L. Tomasetti, PE, Hon. AIA; Nontraditional Employment for Women
Location: Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers, 10.12.06, 6:00-9:30pm

Event: Party@theCenter! Drinks! Dancing! DJ!
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.12.06, 9:00pm-2:00am

Eighteen and Life

Calvin Tsao, AIA, (left) founding partner of TsAO & McKown, expressing collective sentiments of the departure of Stephen Suggs', Hon. AIA NYS (right).
Marcy Stanley Last week marked the end of almost 18 years serving the AIA New York Chapter, its Board, and members for Stephen Suggs, Hon. AIA NYS. At his going-away party September 29, he was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation stating, "The fiscal stability of the AIA New York Chapter owes much of its existence to the resolve, tenacity and organizational skills of Stephen Suggs." As Suggs moves on to his new job, Commercial Manager of DEGW, the AIANY and Center for Architecture community wish him well.

Through 10.30.06
A Vision for the College Avenue Campus

This exhibition features models and drawings depicting plans by five shortlisted finalists in Rutger's search to re-vision their College Avenue Campus into a more welcoming, pedestrian-friendly public space. Competitors were asked to create a landscape plan for the "greening" of the campus, as well as design a new signature academic building.

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick

Through 11.08.06
Making the Connection: Moving Forward with Regional Rail

As plans for Moynihan Station are developed, this exhibit details a proposal for creating a comprehensive regional rail network connecting Manhattan's two main train stations and the extensive systems that they serve.

The Municipal Art Society; 457 Madison Avenue

Chest of drawers, Tejo Remy, 1991.
Courtesy Museum of Arts & Design

Through 01.14.07
simply droog, 10 + 3 years of creating innovation and discussion

For over a decade, the Droog Design collective has set forth innovative and inspired designs for everyday objects using low-cost, industrial, or recycled materials. This traveling exhibit, making its sole North American stop in New York, reveals the playfulness, significance, humor, and social meaning imbued in the work of this international design platform.

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

Image courtesy BCUE

10.04.06 through 11.17.06
Urban Eyes: Projects from the Academy of Urban Planning

With the idea that overlooked aspects of a neighborhood often help define its character, graffiti, subway art, and other everyday urban scenes are brought to the forefront of this exhibition, which displays student work from the Academy of Urban Planning.

The Municipal Art Society; 457 Madison Avenue

Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition Memorial Garden, Brooklyn, NY
Courtesy USDA Forest Service

10.07.06 through 10.27.06
Land-markings: 12 Journeys through 9/11 Living Memorials

This exhibition will bring documentary photo, video, and archival information on hundreds of 9/11 Living Memorial Project sites together in the newly restored Federal Hall National Memorial.

National Park Service Federal Hall Memorial; 26 Wall Street

Image courtesy Proteus Gowanus

10.13.06 through 2007
Library

While the role of the book is being questioned in today's society, this exhibition tackles the concept of "library," and touches upon the small alternative libraries that have appeared around the country. A series of interdisciplinary presentations will help expand this yearlong exhibition.

Proteus Gowanus; 543 Union Street; Brooklyn, NY