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05.30.07
AIANY has lost two of its former presidents: Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA, and Denis Kuhn, FAIA. See the Around the AIA + Center for Architecture section for tributes submitted by AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, and other colleagues in the architecture community. If you would like to submit your memories, please e-mail e-oculus.
- Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Note: In last issue’s New Yorkers Set Example at AIA Convention, The Architect’s Newspaper was omitted from the “New Practices New York” exhibition description. They were co-organizers and sponsors of the program, the exhibition, and the party.
In this issue:
·Architecture Awards Look Outward
·Architect Numbers Dwindle at American Academy Honors
·From Doghouse to High Fashion: WORK AC Prevails in Style
·Global Planning Initiative Presents New Urban Age
·Foster Locks Lips with Modern History
·Energy Neutrality Proves to be Sponge-Worthy
·Young Architects Test Their Boundaries NY
Event: AIA New York Chapter 2007 Design Awards Winners Symposium: Architecture
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.01.07
Speakers: Timothy Bade, Martin Cox — Steven Holl Architects; Peter Gluck — Peter L. Gluck and Partners; Scott Oliver, AIA — noroof architects; Nazila Shabestari, AIA — Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Flavio Stigliano — Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Yehre Suh, Todd Hoehn — Weiss/Manfredi; John Woell — Steven Harris Architects; Michael Wurzel — Foster + Partners
Moderator: Dan Hanganu — AIANY 2007 Design Awards jury member
Organizer: AIANY Design Awards Committee
Courtesy AIANY
When the jury decided on the AIANY 2007 Design Awards, they were looking for new trends that are novel yet have a message, according to jury member and Canadian architect Dan Hanganu. What’s this year’s trend? Regardless of size or type, site and location played a major part in the design of all the award winners.
The New Residence at the Swiss Embassy in D.C., designed by Steven Holl Architects and receiving an Honor Award, has a cruciform plan that not only references Switzerland’s flag, but also allows for a spiraling sequence of spaces that culminate in a view of the Washington Monument. Because the architects were required to abide by Swiss engineering standards, orientation was key to abide by sustainability requirements.
Affordable Housing in Aspen, CO, by Peter L. Gluck and Partners, the only design-build project to win a Merit Award, is sited at the edge of the city grid creating a transition between the city and mountains. Instead of designing a skyscraper to provide the 17 units with 44 bedrooms, Peter Gluck designed a dense cluster of residences that allow for views of the mountains between.
Two inward-looking residential projects are oriented around existing site conditions. Honor Award-winning 92 Jane Street, designed by Steven Harris Architects, appears to be a typical West Village townhouse from the street, but opens up to the 750-square-foot garden (or “outdoor room”) in the back. The rear façade is transparent and all of the floor plans are oriented toward the garden. Noroof architects decided to preserve and design a vertical loft around the large maple tree on the small site for their Merit Award-winning Slot House in Brooklyn. The tree can always be seen from inside because of the “slot” window along the front of the house, and, because of its size, it is a passive solar feature for the 1,200-square-foot house.
The tight site at Pratt Institute for Honor Award-winning Higgins Hall presented a challenge to Steven Holl Architects. As an infill project, in order to negotiate between two existing buildings with different floor plate heights, ramps connect floors between buildings. Labeled a “dissonant zone,” the project is mainly a social connector space, accentuated by a translucent façade where students passing through can be seen day or night.
At the University of Iowa, the Merit Award-winning School of Art and Art History, also by Steven Holl Architects, sited the building so it connects directly to the existing art building — reaching toward it with cantilevers.
Two Honor Award-winning arts projects focus on the public realm in the urban environment. Weiss/Manfredi’s Olympic Sculpture Park creates a ‘Z’-shaped topographic transformation from the water’s edge to downtown Seattle. Along the outdoor park, museum visitors view sculpture and the skyline while traversing over three main arteries to the city, blending landscape, art, and architecture. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston animates the harbor front by incorporating a public walk. Outside space wraps into the interior core where an “outdoor room” can be used as an auditorium or gathering space.
The largest building among the Merit Award winners is the U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters in Suitland, MD, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Reaching 1,000 feet end to end, the building is sited on natural woodland. To obtain a LEED Silver rating and stay true to natural surroundings, a wood screen makes up the enormous façade. Made from local laminated white oak, it provides sun shading and lessens the visual impact of the building. Ivy veils the parking garage to camouflage it as well as filters the air.
Finally, the Merit Award-winning Hearst Tower takes advantage of city views in a non-traditional way. By programming conference rooms instead of executive offices at the corners, Foster + Partners took a less hierarchical approach to commercial interiors.
None of the jury members are from the U.S., pointed out Hanganu. He claims that in Europe good design is defined by expression and detail. Acknowledging the amount of red tape involved in building in the U.S., the jury respected the extraordinary effort when subtlety and materiality are preserved in the design process. Obviously there is more to each project than its site, but when analyzing threads that tie all of the projects together, it is evident that location is key to the success of all of the award-winning buildings.
Event: American Academy of Arts and Letters 2007 Awards Ceremony
Location: American Academy of Arts and Letters, 05.15.07
Organizers: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Courtesy American Academy of Arts and Letters
While sparsely represented in the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ membership and awards in general, architects were even further under-represented at this year’s awards ceremony. Every year, architectural achievement is celebrated at the Academy along with figures in literature, fine arts, and musical composition.
Among the nine inductees to the Academy membership this year (a number determined by those of the fixed membership who are no longer with us), the sole architect was Billie Tsien, AIA, who has been producing remarkable buildings with her partner-husband Tod Williams, FAIA. We all know their American Folk Art Museum on West 53rd Street, and some of us have had the pleasure of experiencing their Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla and Phoenix Art Museum. All their work has been joint, but Academy memberships can only be held by individuals, and Tsien is certainly a deserving individual.
Receiving the Academy’s annual Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for Architecture was Eric Owen Moss, FAIA, known mainly for his idiosyncratic adaptations of old industrial buildings in the L.A. suburb of Culver City for the use of high-tech and otherwise hip companies. His adventurous scheme for renovating the Queens Museum of Art was dropped two years ago, and Grimshaw/Ammann and Whitney commissioned for a more modest redo.
Among this year’s 20 winners of Academy Awards (any academy has a right to this phrase) were three architects. Wes Jones of L.A. was cited for works that “celebrate the materials and methods of industrialized production while transforming them into performative instruments that illuminate and give meaning to the human condition.” (How’s that for archi-speak?) Thomas Kundig, FAIA, of Seattle was honored for elegant reinterpretation of Northwest materials, details, and forms (to freely interpret the official jargon). Lebbeus Woods, “an architect-visionary” (says his citation) has long been producing images that are essentially art works on architectural themes.
Among visual artists recognized this year by the Academy was one who has carried out remarkably successful collaborations with architects, Martin Puryear. Recipient of this year’s Gold Medal for Sculpture, Puryear has worked beautifully with Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and Michael Van Valkenburgh on the lobby and courtyard of the New School for Social Research and on the lighting pylons for the Battery Park City waterfront. His work in the current Academy show is in itself worth the trip to 156 Street.
While the membership roster includes such names as Pei, Cobb, Meier, Eisenman, Gwathmey, Gehry, Pelli, and Polshek among its 16 architects, the only ones visible were the new inductee Tsien, the ever-energized Hugh Hardy, FAIA, and Steven Holl, AIA, the Academy member who very effectively presented this year’s architectural honors. If architects want to maintain their standing in this “arts and letters” organization, more of them ought to be visibly involved.
All architects recognized this year have mounted exhibitions at the Academy’s annual show, on view at 633 West 155 Street through June 10 (Thu-Sun, 1-4pm).
John Morris Dixon, FAIA, was chief editor of Progressive Architecture 1972–1996. He has since written for such publications as Architectural Record, Architecture, Competitions, and Harvard Design Magazine.
Event: New Practices New York: WORK AC
Location: Häfele Showroom, 05.10.07
Speakers: Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, AIA — principals, WORK AC
Organizers: AIANY, in association with The Architect’s Newspaper and Häfele America Co.
Sponsor: Häfele America Co.
WORK AC partners Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, AIA, have maintained a sense of humor in their approach to running a young practice. Andraos joked that many of their early projects were either “competitions or cancelled,” including a residential tower in Beirut and a large housing project in Los Angeles. When they founded the firm in 2002, “we didn’t start with big ideas about form,” explained Andraos. “Our biggest rule was to say yes to everything.” Their first project was a design for an urban doghouse that integrated a treadmill surrounded by three flat screens that play videos, allowing the urban dog to experience chasing cars or butterflies.
These days they can afford to break their own rule and say no, as they now have completed high-profile projects such as the new headquarters for Diane von Furstenberg Studio in the Meatpacking District. The design combines two historic buildings, preserving their landmarked façades. The design approach, Andraos explained, was to be “highly specific about one element and generic about others.” To bring light through the depth of the buildings to the offices, they designed a “Stairdelier” — a cross between a stair and chandelier. A heliostat mirror focuses sunlight on guardrails laced with Swarovski crystals, distributing light throughout the building and providing a unifying focal point for the design.
The sixth and final lecture and exhibition showcasing the winners of the 2006 AIANY New Practices Showcase with Zakrzewski Hyde Architects will be 07.12.07 at 6:00pm.
Murrye Bernard, Assoc. AIA, is designer with TEK Architects in New York City and Director of Forward, the quarterly publication of AIA’s National Associates Committee.
Event: Building with History: How the Old and the New Can Co-exist in the Modern World
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 04.24.07
Speaker: Lord Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA
Organizer: World Monument’s Fund
The Hearst Tower represents two eras embracing each other, says Lord Foster.
Kristen Richards
“Once upon a time there was a beautiful courtyard park,” said Sir Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA, referring to the Great Court at the British Museum, one of London’s long lost public spaces. After the museum was completed in the mid 19th century, the space was filled in with a reading room, and later was used for storage. In 2000, Foster + Partners “reinvented” the space, restoring the reading room and adding a glazed canopy, making it the largest enclosed public space in Europe.
Not quite a year ago, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) launched Modernism at Risk program to address the fact that less than a century after their design and construction, Modern buildings are routinely abandoned, disfigured, or demolished, in many instances because of public indifference. This series of lectures is part of the advocacy program for the initiative and Lord Foster, a champion for preservation and reuse of historic buildings, was the first speaker.
Foster + Partners has designed many projects that illustrate how to extend the life of significant historic buildings, monuments, and public spaces. Speaking of the Reichstag, completed in 1999, he spoke of peeling back every historic layer to uncover the building’s intention and preserve time’s imprint, such as mason’s marks, graffiti left by the conquering Russians, and other war scars. The building has since become a living museum of German history as well as a realization of a modern parliament.
Recalling when he began designing the Hearst Tower, Foster’s idea to hollow out its historic shell was met with opposition. He was not only told it was impossible, but accused of “façadism.” The result, as seen the following night at a reception in Hearst Tower lobby for architects and designers in support of the WMF Modernism at Risk initiative and with Lord Foster in attendance, was an example of his belief that each age makes its own mark. There can be a dialogue between the old and the new — and in the words of Lord Foster speaking about the Hearst Tower’s era-jumping components, “one kisses the other.”
Event: Mixed Greens lecture:”Zero-Energy Tower, Guangzhou”
Location: New York Academy of Sciences, 05.08.07
Speakers: Roger Frechette, PE, LEED-AP — Director of MEP Engineering, & Russell Gilchrist, RIBA, — Director of Technical Architecture, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Carol Willis — Director, Skyscraper Museum (introduction)
Organizer: Skyscraper Museum
The Pearl River Tower aims for energy neutrality by taking cue from sponges.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
The two complementary professions of engineering and architecture gain immeasurably from hearing each other’s languages and concerns. Anatomizing a single building (the Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China, scheduled for completion in mid-2009) allows a view into the interlinked processes behind high-performance design. The Skyscraper Museum’s Mixed Greens series concluded with a Skidmore, Owings & Merrill engineer/architect tag-team presentation.
Roger Frechette, PE, LEED AP, began by walking through some of the facts that make sustainable design a priority, particularly the shares of total energy and electricity that buildings consume nationally (40% of the former and 71% of the latter). Overall, because buildings generate as much carbon as transportation and industry combined, Frechette says, “form for the sake of form is no longer good enough.” Borrowing biomimicry principles from Janine Benyus’s work and applying them to new designs, Frechette described four levels of energy processing developed by SOM’s engineers: reduction in consumption; reclamation of lost energy for reuse; passive absorption of natural energy flows such as wind, sun, and water; and generation of power. Sponges, which conduct moisture efficiently, provide habitats for thousands of other species, and channel light through fiber-optic-like microfilaments in their external spicula, offer natural models of structures
that can help a building meet the environmental challenges of hot, muggy, heavily-polluted
Guangzhou.
To reduce dependency on external power, the Pearl River Tower uses many tricks in the book: 32 different conservation systems, including underfloor air, German-style chilled ceilings, double walls to create ventilation cavities, and non-symmetrically arrayed photovoltaics — a feature that the engineers preferred but the architects had to warm up to (”To achieve optimum performance,” Frechette commented, “you don’t often end up with a symmetric answer”). The building’s orientation defies aerodynamic orthodoxy, turning its wide side to the prevailing southern wind and channeling air into turbines. Since turbine power is a cube function of air velocity, the high winds that typically surround a skyscraper become an energy asset instead of a problem. Placing the turbines on mechanical floors also frees up rentable square footage, as does a compressed floor-to-floor height, allowing five extra stories without sacrificing floor-to-ceiling
space.
The Pearl River Tower is a proof-of-concept project for a true energy-neutral building. It’s easily the world’s most efficient tall building, cutting power consumption by 58% over the baseline case and reducing carbon dioxide generation from 20 billion pounds to less than 9 billion. But it only suggests the potential for a building to attain that fourth step and return more power to the city grid than it consumes. In a different site with a less harsh climate (and perhaps more cooperative local utilities), Frechette conjectured, results would be even better. Because the tower is classified as commercial rather than industrial, regulators disallowed a set of highly efficient microturbines that could generate power from either natural gas or methane, along with heat for water — cleanly, more reliably, and more efficiently than Guangzhou’s grid. (The design preserved space for the microturbines anyway, in case the officials change their minds.)
Russell Gilchrist, RIBA, breaking down the various performance benchmarks economically, pointed out that the tower’s multiple economies allow recovery of the up-front sustainable-technology premium in 4.8 years, becoming a net revenue generator for at least 20 years beyond that point. With a financial incentive like that, the challenge to achieve a zero-energy skyscraper is squarely on the table.
Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Oculus, Icon, Content, and other publications.
Event: Young Architects Forum: Proof
Location: The Urban Center, New York City, 05.17.07, 6:30
Speakers: Ivan Hernadez Quintela — ludens productions, Mexico City; Carlos Bedoya & Wonne Ickx & Victor Jaime & Abel Perles — PRODUCTORA, Mexico City
Introduction: Lisa Hseih — Young Architects Committee
Organizers: The Architectural League of New York
PRODUCTORA’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru, is buried under the desert sand.
PRODUCTORA
“Architectural practice is a process of persistently testing and reworking hypotheses continually moving toward ‘proof’,” posits Lisa Hsieh of The Architectural League of NY’s Young Architects Committee. Ludens and PRODUCTORA, two of this year’s selected architectural practices for the Young Architects Forum, both from Mexico City, embody this notion of testing through the exploration of boundary and representation in architecture.
Architecture is an “excuse for interaction” for Ivan Hernadez Quintela of ludens productions. Locating this interaction in a “space of friction,” Quintlela attempts to define the boundary between intimate space and the public realm and spur interaction among individuals. Demonstrating that architecture is incomplete without participation, the See-Saw Table alternates the positions of two participants between eating (lower and closer to the table) and talking (higher and away). Likewise, in some of his public furniture, such as a bench shaped like a spinning top, the interaction of multiple users is required to balance the shifts as each additional person gets involved. The result is equilibrium that is constantly recalibrated through a social and physical negotiation of space.
Boundary is more a question of representation than of social interaction in the work of PRODUCTORA. As inhabited and gradated thresholds, boundaries are experiential. In their proposal for the Tsunami Memorial Site in Oslo, Norway, a simple, abstract pathway that cuts into the land and hovers above the water represents the fragile relationship between culture and nature. In a proposal for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru, PRODUCTORA buries the project in its desert site. By organizing the museum as a hypostyle hall of various-sized columns that scale diagonally from one corner to the other — as thin columns to a series of “inhabitable columns,” their proposal re-presents the history of museums as dialogue of spatial typologies.
The testing of boundaries found in the work of both ludens and PRODUCTORA highlights the boundary as a fundamental condition for architecture while simultaneously questioning its very authority. The resultant “Proof” in the work of these practices then, is never final or determinant.
Gregory Haley AIA, AICP, LEED AP is a senior architect and urban planner at Studio V Architecture and teaches at NYIT School of Architecture.
The Park at the Center of the World: Five Visions for Governors Island opens Thursday, May 31, at the Center for Architecture (See On View At the Center for Architecture). e-Oculus had the opportunity to sit down with Leslie Koch, President of (GIPEC) to talk about the five finalist entries, the exhibition, and future development on the island.
There will be a panel discussion about the exhibition at the Center on June 11, 6:00pm; a public forum at the Fashion Institute of Technology June 20, 6:30pm; park tours organized by the Governors Island Alliance take place June 21 and June 27, 5:00pm; and a walking tour and scavenger hunt with the Center for Architecture Foundation will happen August 11, 9:45am. Go the AIANY website for more information on all of these programs.
e-Oculus: How do you see the parks on Governors Island being unique and unlike other city parks? What activities do you see happening on the island? What will attract New Yorkers as well as tourists to the island?
Leslie Koch: The experience of traveling to the island by boat and enjoying its views and green spaces offer a unique “holiday” for New Yorkers and visitors. The parks will be designed for the unique island location at the heart of New York Harbor. We envision many activities for children and families (water play, picnicking, exploring), active recreation (biking, walking, lawn sports) and programming such as water-based and ecological activities, music, performance and public art, and festivals.
e-O: There are three main features to the GIPEC master plan — the Great Promenade, Summer Park, and the restoration of the Historic District. Please describe these aspects.
LK: The 2.2 mile Great Promenade around Governors Island will feature unsurpassed views of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty. The new park on the South Island will be a “Summer Park” oasis in the city full of active recreation choices and activities that appeal to families and children. The northern Historic District is a green, civic space surrounded by historic homes and buildings dating from 1810 shaded by a verdant mature tree canopy. Design teams will rejuvenate these spaces while respecting their historic character.
e-O: What types of infrastructure will be developed to help facilitate getting people to and around the island?
LK: The passenger ferry access to and from the island will be augmented with frequent service from Lower Manhattan and other embarkation points in the harbor. We are exploring the feasibility of an aerial gondola connecting Governors Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
On the island, there will be a fleet of green vehicles providing public shuttle service. GIPEC is considering a special “free” or low-cost bicycle program for transportation and recreation on the Island.
e-O: How does the GIPEC master plan fit in with Mayor Bloomberg’s plaNYC 2030? Were the teams that responded to the RFP and RFQ required to incorporate plaNYC into their proposals?
LK: GIPEC is committed to sustainable development and green design meeting the policies advanced by both the City and the State. Many of GIPEC’s sustainability goals were laid out in the design guidelines given to the competition teams. Sustainable site planning, reduced energy usage, landscape and habitat enhancement, reduction of wastewater treatment, use of environmentally appropriate materials, and solid waste management are all areas GIPEC will develop with the winning design teams. The teams were required to offer innovative, sustainable, and practical park design proposals, and they responded with a wide variety of ideas including ones addressing energy use, carbon emissions, and storm water management.
e-O: What distinguished the five final teams from other entrants?
LK: The five finalist teams exhibited a nuanced understanding of the island’s special circumstances and its design and programming opportunities. Each of these teams has worked on important public projects and done excellent design work in the past.
e-O: Discuss the selection process.
LK: A jury of design professionals, government officials, and citizens will review the design proposals and make a recommendation to GIPEC. GIPEC will select a team, not a scheme, and will work with public input to design the open spaces. The selection criteria were outlined in the RFP and include: Vision, Design Approach, and Quality of Work Product; Methodology; Relevant Past Experience and Expertise; Feasibility and Cost Effectiveness; Fee; Staff/Team; and Compliance.
e-O: What do you want exhibition-viewers to take away from the exhibition?
LK: GIPEC wants them to understand the exciting possibilities of the island coming back to life through a series of great design and programming visions. We’d like the viewers to visit the island to see for themselves what an extraordinary site this is for a once-in-a-lifetime project. And we’d like to hear reactions from viewers on the website.
e-O: Describe the timeline of development. When will a team be selected, when will construction start, when will the master plan be complete?
LK: GIPEC intends to select a park design team this summer and to begin the design process in the fall. The start of construction will be dependant on many factors including public funding and public review of the project. The public open space designs will be incorporated into the overall master planning for the island, which is ongoing.
By Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA
Note: In response to last week’s Convention coverage, Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA, submitted the followiing. To read New Yorkers Set Example at AIA Convention and Convention Impressions, click the links.
The AIA 2007 National Convention and Design Expo in San Antonio, which drew over 21,000 attendees, was packed with many exciting events and activities. Aside from the chronic humidity and heat that is native to San Antonio, the convention was a great success.
Gore: Architects Are Leaders
Former Vice President Al Gore’s sustainability-themed keynote speech on Saturday afternoon was an inspirational call to architects to solve the global climate crisis. He urged us to “find the power to affect the world around us,” and be aware of “the new alignment of forces emerging in our civilization.”
Gore told the crowd of about 5,000: “Society perceives value in the marketplace. Don’t get tired; you’re needed more than ever. We’ve been operating Planet Earth like a business in liquidation; that’s about to come to a stop. Architects will solve this, especially where communities take a more forceful and visible role through affecting change in advocacy. Architects are leaders,” the Oscar-winning ex-pol declared.
Gore hit his stride at the end of his speech. “The next generation will ask, ‘Were they paying attention? Didn’t they care? What were they thinking?’ or they will ask another question: ‘How did they find the uncommon moral prerogative and rise to meet that challenge?’ The choice is ours. Civilization is asking you to play a leading role in solving this crisis. The Greatest Generation won World War II, and was transformed by that crisis. They gained the moral authority to take the long view… Darfur, HIV, AIDS, the pillaging of our fisheries and rainforests, these are moral imperatives disguised as problems. We will find our moral authority and vision to get our act together and not to turn a deaf ear, to become the next greatest generation, except for the political will, but that too is a renewable resource,” Gore concluded, to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Designing the Sustainable Workplace in the Civic Environment
I moderated a panel (SA13 on the AIA website) featuring Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne, FAIA, former GSA Chief Architect, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) Washington D.C. Director Ed Feiner, FAIA, and SOM NY office Senior Design Partner, Gary Haney, AIA, discussing the impact of sustainability and design for federal and public projects. Mayne’s dramatic images of the San Francisco Federal Building and other current work worldwide captivated the audience. Feiner provided context of the goals and constraints faced by a federal client seeking to implement design excellence. Haney presented the U.S. Census Building, with a series of spectacular images (See Architectural Record, March 2007).
Sins of Omission: Unfortunately, Mayne’s presence on this panel was not well publicized, which was a disservice to the membership. I attribute this to the fact that panelist names were not noted with the session descriptions in the convention catalogue or on the session website pages, which also made selecting sessions more challenging. I have indicated to AIA that this should be corrected next year, but received a noncommittal response. I encourage everyone who would like to see speakers included with session descriptions in next year’s catalogue to add this to your online session evaluation comments. Additionally, contact AIA Continuing Education, the 2008 Convention Committee, and our AIANY Regional Directors Leevi Kiil, FAIA, Peter Arsenault, AIA, and Dennis Andrejko, AIA. Perhaps if there is enough member feedback, this will be fixed.
Working the Rooms
Wednesday night, Communities by Design hosted an event at a sprawling private home with the Mayor of San Antonio, 2007 AIA National President RK Stewart, FAIA, and other AIA leaders past and present. Many attendees had been to the Citizen Architect program earlier, highlighting the role of architects in civic organizations and politics. The Architect’s Newspaper party attracted many New York Chapter members, who celebrated the installation of the “New Practices New York” showcase exhibition. Thursday, the AIA New York State party, held at an historic theater downtown, attracted many New Yorkers, as well as all the national AIA candidates.
Friday morning’s Architectural Record breakfast, announcing the best ads of the year, featured a panel that once again included Frederic Schwartz, FAIA. Later, Jeremy Edmunds, Assoc. AIA, PE, LEED AP, moderated an informative session with former congressman and Ambassador Richard N. Swett, FAIA; and President and CEO of the Congress for New Urbanism, former Milwaukee mayor, and AIA National Public Director John Norquist, Hon. AIA. The Fellows Investiture was held outdoors at the Alamo. The backdrop was architecturally significant, and the heat barely put a damper on a very special event for all the new Fellows.
Saturday’s Fellow’s Luncheon was held at a stately former train station not far from the Convention Center. We welcomed 1995 AIA National President Chet Widom, FAIA, of Los Angeles, as the new 2008 College of Fellows Secretary on the COF Executive Committee. There was just enough time to return for Al Gore’s speech, and then get ready for the Fellows Dinner. Aside from being elevated to Fellowship, few experiences are more gratifying than seeing your friends, colleagues, and those you helped, receive their Fellowships, and celebrating their personal milestones at this special event. I had that privilege in San Antonio.
Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA, is principal of Barbara Nadel Architect, specializing in planning and design of justice, healthcare, and secure facilities. She is editor-in-chief of Building Security: Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design (McGraw-Hill, 2004). Nadel was 2001 AIA National Vice President and served twice as AIA New York Regional Director.
Usually when the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) is in town I look forward to the more progressive expositions off-site from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. This year, for example, I was looking forward to Haute Green, an exhibition of “the best in sustainable design for the contemporary home” in Chelsea. Unfortunately, Haute Green fell short of my expectations. With 58 featured designers, I was expecting cutting-edge design that fully considered what it means to be green. Yes, there were a lot of recycled materials and compact fluorescent light bulbs. But overall I felt as if many of the pieces did not thoroughly explore all aspects of sustainability — every part was not necessarily made of green materials, manufacturing processes were not always taken into account, the recyclability of the pieces was seldom investigated.
If organizers are going to arrange for a separate “cutting-edge” exposition, they should be extra selective with the designers they choose. In general, Haute Green included designers who were taking their first stab at green design, and their amateurism showed.
The ICFF, on the other hand, surprised me with its range of designs. Instead of just showcasing high-end “yuppie” furniture, which has been my impression previous years, there was variety in furniture types and designers. There were booths for children and pet furniture; emerging designers were featured in addition to the usual celebrity bigwigs. Designboom, an organization for emerging designers, allowed designers to sell products. Green design was featured at many booths, including the Next Generation award winners’ Metropolis booth. Overall ICFF was a success, and hopefully next year the trend will continue incorporating more diversity in price range and design.
In this issue:
·Library Dusts the Old and Shines the New
·SVA to offer a Master of Fine Arts in Design Criticism
·The Scent of Performance
·Be@Williams — a New Kind of Downtown Address
·A More Inviting Entrance for a Hospital
Library Dusts the Old and Shines the New
NYPL’s new SoHo branch.
Rogers Marvel, courtesy NYPL
The New York Public Library opened its first SoHo branch in an 1886 building (originally a chocolate factory). The $6.1 million renovation, designed by Rogers Marvel Architects, made use of the building’s existing cast iron columns, underground vaults, and brick archways, and added new elements of wood and metal to create a dynamic contrast of old and new. The 12,000-square-foot, three-level library accommodates a wide range of library resources, including extensive collections and an advanced infrastructure for library technology. Design features include a dramatic stair that connects the spaces and brings natural light downstairs. The vaulted area outside the lower level windows is also lit, providing a subterranean view.
SVA to offer a Master of Fine Arts in Design Criticism
Beginning in the fall of 2008, the School of Visual Arts (SVA), will offer the country’s first graduate-level degree program dedicated to critical writing about design. The two-year, 64-credit curriculum will provide tools for researching, analyzing, evaluating, and chronicling all aspects of design. The program is for students who wish to write about design on a full-time, professional basis, or pursue alternative critical practices, such as curating, publishing, or teaching. Writer, critic, and educator Alice Twemlow, will chair the new department, and faculty will include writers and designers including Kurt Andersen, Paola Antonelli, Michael Bierut, Ralph Caplan, Peter Hall, Jessica Helfand, Karrie Jacobs, Julie Lasky, Cathy Leff, Phil Patton, and Steven Heller. For more information, see the SVA website.
The Scent of Performance
Fully Manicured Raw Spots, set design by Illya Azaroff, Assoc. AIA, Design Collective Studio.
Maribel/Liquid Video Artistry, Dixon Place 2007
The Design Collective Studio has designed the set for Fully Manicured Raw Spots, a performance choreographed by Wendy Blum of blum dance theatre, composed by Justin Mullens. Evolved from an investigation of the architecture of interruptions, according to Director of Design at the Design Collective Studio Illya Azaroff, Assoc. AIA, an interplay of crassness, vulnerability, and begrudging interdependence plays out in a quartet and two back-to-back duets. “Individual idiosyncrasies transform into aggressive buffoonery. The sounds and scents of popcorn, garlic, and onions being cooked onstage infuse the living room theater to rouse the link between smell and memory in this evening-length event. Among other things, the powerful aromas address one way of recalling dance by olfactory association.” Performances at Danspace will occur in March 2008.
Be@Williams — a New Kind of Downtown Address
Be@Williams.
Perkins Eastman
The latest addition to SDS Procida’s line of residential properties branded as “be@,” and geared for young, social, urban professionals has been completed at 90 Williams in the Financial District. The circa 1960s, 16-story office building was transformed by Perkins Eastman into a 113-unit boutique condominium residence. Throughout the 112,000-square-foot building, interior partitions were cleared for new apartment layouts, maximizing the building’s deep volume to create generous new spaces for loft-style studios, one-, and two-bedroom units. A new steel and glass penthouse rooftop addition houses a gym, recreation lounge, outdoor terrace, and outdoor bar. In addition to designing the interiors of the public amenity spaces and ground floor entrance lobby, the firm created the interiors of the model apartments.
A More Inviting Entrance for a Hospital
Columbia Memorial Hospital entrance.
Donald Blair & Partners Architects
As part of their investment in new facilities and equipment, Columbia Memorial has completed its new front entrance addition, lobby, and central sterile/supply expansion, designed by Donald Blair & Partners Architects. The hospital, located in Hudson, NY, serves more than 100,000 residents in Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess counties. The previous hospital entry afforded visitors no protection from inclement weather, nor was it handicap-accessible. The new light-filled double-height entry space and lobby designed with aluminum, glass, and wood complements the hospital’s 1998 Emergency Department wing. Below the covered canopy area, the basement level was expanded providing space required for the central sterile/supply. The project was timed in conjunction with the construction of a new Medical Office Building, which is connected to the existing hospital and new entry way by a two level pedestrian link. The firm has been working with the hospital since 1999 and is
responsible for the design of a patient wing, radiology renovation, and hospice
renovation.
In this issue:
·Passings: Denis Glen Kuhn, FAIA, & Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA
Passings: Denis Glen Kuhn, FAIA, & Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA
By Rick Bell, FAIA, Executive Director AIANY
Fuori di te nessuno lo ricordava
Non ho fatto ricerche: ora è inutile.
Dopo di te sono rimasto il solo
per cui egli è esistito. Ma è possibile,
lo sai, amare un-ombra, ombre noi stessi.
And no one remembered him except you.
I asked no questions; and now it’s useless.
I’m the only one after you
for whom he ever existed.
But it’s possible, you know, to love a shadow,
we ourselves being shadows.
From Tuo fratello morì giovane:
Eugenio Montale (1975 Nobel Laureate)
The obituaries for Giorgio Cavaglieri, FAIA, and Denis Kuhn, FAIA, were side-by-side in the New York Times Friday, May 18. Written by different writers, the intersecting lines of their lives were not noted in the parallel newsprint columns. Both were presidents of the AIA New York Chapter (Giorgio in 1970, Denis in 1989). Both cared passionately about the adaptive re-use of the architectural legacies found throughout our City, our cities. Both labored together and separately over projects in New York City and elsewhere, including the historic Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.
Not mentioned in either obituary were their mutual respect and affection, and the fact that for over 15 years, Denis worked with Giorgio. Many called Denis “Giorgio’s right arm” at the time. Noted in Giorgio’s Times obituary was his fall, the tumble at age 93 “when he badly injured his right arm” and “then learned to paint watercolors with his left hand, fulfilling his first ambition to be a painter.” Giorgio painted his friends and colleagues, as did Denis in a different way, using words calmly and adroitly to diffuse tension and foster common purpose.
Outside Our Saviour Church in Manhasset where Denis was eulogized by friends and family on May 18, Stanton Eckstut, FAIA, his partner at Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, said that Denis resisted entreaties to slow down or take it easy, to not travel so much or not be so fully engaged in the life of the firm. Denis reportedly shrugged and asked what else would he do, what else was more important to do? Giorgio, too, kept his practice active until he was 93 years old. Two exemplary architects and leaders of the architectural profession, lost, sadly, at the same time.
In conversation, by note and by e-mail, their colleagues have sent remembrances. e-Oculus can be the vehicle for sharing these memories with others, starting with the following thoughts by Carl Galioto, FAIA, Nathan Jerry Maltz, AIA, LeAnn Shelton, Esq., AIA, Linda Yowell, FAIA, and Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA. Other remembrances are welcome and can be sent to e-Oculus.
Giorgio & Denis (Carl Galioto, FAIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
Giorgio brought creativity, passion, intensity and professionalism into every effort within each project. He carried himself into client meetings with a sense of dignify and greater purpose that helped me to realize that the ideals that I developed in school were not sophomoric dreams that needed to be discarded once in the real world, but could be the fundamental principles of practice. I don’t believe that Giorgio believed that he had a small practice — just a compact one that projected large and important ideas about the rethinking and rebirth of significant historical buildings, and the importance of the relationship between people and their multi-generational, pan-historical urban fabric. It was a very rich and lively vision.
Denis brought humor, stability, pragmatism, and a sense of craft to the work. We needed the humor as there was Giorgio, Denis, five staff, and a receptionist working in a carefully designed space of under 1,000 square feet. At that early stage in my career, Denis was a model of competence and confidence and I admired his ability to seemingly always know the right answer. Even then, Denis was devoted to the AIA as he labored on editions of Oculus. Typical of Giorgio, he sincerely wished the people who worked for him great professional success as they moved and only saw the larger picture of our profession and his adopted city that he loved.
Giorgio (Nathan Jerry Maltz, AIA)
Giorgio Cavaglieri’s spirit was indomitable. At the age of 90 he was still operating his architectural office, and expressed disappointment that some potential clients were concerned about his being able to perform the work. He remained active in the New York region, sketching, painting, designing, and attending many events sponsored by the professional organizations of which he was a member.
Several years ago he suffered an embolism that partially paralyzed his right hand — he was right-handed. Somewhat chagrined, but undaunted, he embarked upon a new “career” of painting watercolors left-handed! He completed numerous lively portraits in his Central Park West apartment, many of his professional colleagues and friends.
His memory will live with us for a long time to come.
A few thoughts on Denis (LeAnn Shelton, Esq., AIA, Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn)
Punta Patilla is the northernmost point of the Dominican Republic. They say it is the first place that Christopher Columbus landed when he came to the New World. The site is almost indescribable — an expanse of ocean running into beaches framed by morning glory-covered dunes, mangrove trees, rolling hills and lush ravines. The program for the site, an eco-resort, was incidental. It was the perfect place for an architect, steeped in historic preservation, to spend his last moments, completing his life and career, imagining a place that would preserve paradise.
Giorgio’s Relevance Today (Linda Yowell, FAIA, Linda Yowell Architects)
“Architects, as professionals responsible for shaping the environment must utilize their skills to reduce pollution through conservation of energy and through design planning” (”Architects Urge Pollution Fight,” New York Times, April 25, 1971). A widely-held belief in 2007 — but daring in 1971, when Giorgio Cavaglieri, then AIANY President, made this statement at a press conference to promote energy conservation goals. The 1971 list of recommendations is remarkably similar to those included in Mayor Bloomberg’s 2030 sustainability plan, including calling for “the massive reduction of private cars from selected areas of the city.”
Giorgio led the way in adaptive reuse of buildings, perhaps the ultimate act of conservation. He respected the work of earlier generations but was not a historicist. By simply believing that good design, elegance, quality and respect for others were timeless, Giorgio Cavaglieri was always ahead of his time.
About Giorgio (Sarelle Weisberg, FAIA)
1. At one of the first AIA National Conventions I attended — it was in Kansas City — Giorgio invited me to go “on his arm” to the big party and I had such a fantastic evening! He knew everyone and they greeted him with great warmth. At that time he was an honored guest speaker at many conventions, discussing with and educating architects on adaptive reuse. He had submitted a proposal for the abandoned train station in Kansas City, which he showed me, but they didn’t move ahead with it, with him. I was in Kansas City last summer and that building now has a museum and a “destination” restaurant. (yes, adaptively reused — but not by Giorgio)
2. He did a wonderful restoration of the New York Public Library Fifth Avenue Periodical Room as the first major rehab/upgrade of that building’s major spaces. He told me at the time, when I complimented him in the space: “Every architect should have one client like that;” the Readers’ Digest people paid for the project and there was no budget limitation for Giorgio!
3. Just a year ago he painted my portrait — a watercolor — done with his good, left hand, in about an hour, in front of his glorious view-window. I regret I didn’t stop in more often, as I so often passed his building. His spirit was extraordinary, in light of the late tragedy of his fall.
4. Did you know, Giorgio did many Modern small projects? I know about several libraries in New York City neighborhoods. Also, by some odd serendipity, Denis Kuhn worked for a number of years for Giorgio before moving on to Cooper Eckstut. I doubt you want to mention that weird coincidence: that their obits were side-by-side in the Times — a generation apart.
What do you think should happen at the West Side rail yard site?
Note: Results from this poll are non-scientific.
What did you think of this year's AIA Convention in San Antonio?
Note: Results from this poll are non-scientific.
Governors Island has published its Summer 2007 schedule. Opening June 2, visitors will be able to visit both Saturdays and Sundays through September 2. The Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC), along with the National Park Service (NPS), will provide a variety of public activities that will showcase the Island’s historic past and future. Summer programming will kick-off with a Family Festival on June 2, and includes a Saturday concert series in July and August, a cultural festival, musical and theatrical performances, among other activities. For the first time, the entire 92-acre National Historic District will be open for visitors with tours provided by NPS. For more information, click the link.
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum announced the winners and finalists of the 2007 National Design Awards. NY-based firms and designers: in Interior Design, the winner was Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis, with finalists David Rockwell, AIA, and Tsao & McKown Architects. Enrique Norten, Hon. FAIA, was a finalist in Architecture Design. In Communications Design, finalists were C&G Partners and Paula Scher. In Landscape Design, finalists were Field Operations and Ken Smith, ASLA. And the Design Patron winner was Maharam…
The NYC Department of Buildings received the 2007 Sheldon Oliensis Ethics in City Government Award, an annual award given by the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) to a New York City agency that demonstrates a commitment to the promotion of ethics and integrity…
NYU has selected a team to partner with in its strategic planning initiative, NYU 200, including SMWM, Grimshaw Architects, Toshiko Mori Architect, and The Olin Partnership.
The Cincinnati Art Museum announced the short list for its campus enhancement
and expansion project including NY firms Diller Scofidio + Renfro and
Smith-Miller & Hawkinson…
NELSON, an international architecture, interior design, strategies, workplace services, engineering and information services firm, has reached an agreement in principle to merge with two NY-based firms, A/R Environetics Group and Furnstahl & Simon Architects… Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) has named John Jappen a Principal of the firm…
Mayor Bloomberg shakes hands with Chris Garvin, AIA, COTE co-chair at his Earth Day presentation of plaNYC 2030.
James Estrin/The New York Times/Redux
This year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair included a bar and lounge, ICFFscape, designed by Parsons the New School for Design students.
Courtesy Parsons the New School for Design
On the 70th birthday of Bruce Fowle, FAIA, FXFowle held a party. In his honor, a poem was presented. Here is a snippet: We owe Bruce Fowle much thanks tonight. / Bringing us together seems so Wright. / Let’s raise our glass with a cheering howl. / And acknowledge the “Fellowship of Fowle.”
Courtesy FXFowle Architects
Bruce Fowle, FAIA, blows out the candles on his birthday.
Courtesy FXFowle Architects
Oculus 2007 Editorial Calendar
If you have ideas, projects, opinions — or perhaps a burning desire to write about a topic below — we’d like to hear from you! Deadlines for submitting suggestions are indicated; projects/topics may be anywhere, but architects must be New York-based. Send suggestions to Kristen Richards.
09.07.07 Winter 2007-08: Power & Patronage
08.17.07 Registration Extension: Columbus Re-wired: Visions for Intersections
AIA Columbus, in partnership with AIA National, is sponsoring three community charrettes which will culminate in an international competition focusing on the current and future state of public transportation in Columbus, OH. Generating dialogue about public transportation, special emphasis is on illustrating how multiple transportation modes can work together to provide a complete network connecting citizens with their community and sparking economic development.
Gallery Hours
Monday–Friday: 9:00am–8:00pm, Saturday: 11:00am–5:00pm, Sunday: CLOSED
Join an Architalker for a Hosted Tour of Center for Architecture
Exhibitions
Join us for free Architalker-hosted tours of the Center for Architecture exhibitions Fridays at 4:00pm. To join one of these tours, meet in the Public Resource Area on the ground floor of the Center for Architecture.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
May 31-August 25, 2007
The Park at the Center of the World: Five Visions for Governors Island
Galleries: Edgar A. Tafel Hall
The exhibition features five landscape architecture and architecture teams selected to present their design visions for the future open spaces on Governors Island, the 172 acre Island off the tip of Manhattan. Governors Island’s open space will include the two mile Great Promenade that provides outstanding views of Lower Manhattan and New York Harbor, a new park, and restoration of the landscape in the Island’s National Historic District. Showcasing conceptual and illustrative designs by the five teams for the open space of Governors Island, the exhibition provides a platform for public feedback before the jury will take place in late June 2007. A design team will be selected by mid summer.
Exhibition related programming organized by American Institute of Architects Planning & Urban Design Committee , American Society of Landscape Architects New York Chapter, Center for Architecture Foundation and Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC)
Exhibition Designer: Freecell
Exhibition Graphics: WSDIA | WeShouldDoItAll
For a list of the teams click here.
June 2nd – September 2nd on Governors Island
Governors Island is open for visitors every Saturday and Sunday. (For ferry schedule and other information log onto www.govisland.com)
Sponsored by: Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC)
Related Events
Opening Thursday, May 31, 2007, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Panel Discussion Monday, June 11, 2007, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Public Forum
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Fashion Institute of Technology
Reeves Great Hall
27 th Street at 7 th Avenue
Thursday, June 21, 2007 and
Wednesday June 27, 2007, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Park Design Tours organized by the Governors Island Alliance
For more information click here
Panel discussion with winning team date tba
Saturday, August 11, 2007, 9:45 - 11:30 AM
FamilyDay@theCenter
Governors Island Walking Tour & Scavenger Hunt
To Register: 212.358.6133
April 9-July 7, 2007
2007 AIA New York Chapter Design Awards
Galleries: Kohn Pedersen Fox Gallery, HLW Gallery, South Gallery, Edgar A. Tafel Hall
A showcase of the 2007 award-winning projects in three categories-Architecture, Interiors, and Projects. Selected from hundreds of international, national and local submissions, these projects spotlight the extraordinary achievements in architectural design excellence happening in New York City and around the world.
Exhibition and Graphic Design: Graham Hanson Design
Organized by: AIA New York Chapter and the AIA New York Chapter Design Awards Committee
Benefactor: DIRTT,
Oldcastle Glass
Patron:
HOK,
Microsol Resources,
F.J. Sciame Construction,
Laticrete International,
Trespa
Lead Sponsor: Certified of New York, Inc., Columbia, KI, Langan, Mancini Duffy, Richter + Ratner, Syska & Hennessy
Sponsors:
Atkinson Koven Feinberg; Bauerschmidt & Sons, Inc.; Bentley Prince Street; Beyer Blinder Belle: Architects and Planners; Cosentini Associates; Costas Kondylis & Partners; Forest City Ratner Companies; FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS; Gensler; Gilsanz Murray Steficek; Haworth; Hopkins Foodservice Specialists, Inc.; The I. Grace Company, Inc.; Ingram, Yuzek, Gainen, Caroll & Bertolotti; Lutron; Mechoshade Systems; New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies: The Real Estate Institute; Perkins + Will; Peter Marino Architect; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Steelcase, Inc.; Studio Daniel Libeskind; Swanke Hayden Connell Architects; Thornton-Tomasetti Group; Turner Construction
April 12–June 23, 2007
NY 150+: A Timeline
Ideas, Civic Institutions, and Futures
Galleries: Gerald D. Hines Gallery
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the American Institute of Architects in New York City, the AIA New York Chapter will feature an exhibition charting the transformation of the city and the profession from 1857 through the present and into the future. Genetic lines tracing the founding of the institute will intersect with various democratic and social movements and the architecture of New York’s civic structures.
Curator: Diane Lewis
Organized by: Organized by the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation
Exhibition Underwriters:
*opening presented by Ibex
The exhibition is supported in part by an Arnold W. Brunner grant from the AIA New York Chapter
Additional support is provided by: Peter Schubert, AIA; FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS
March 22 to June 16, 2007
POWERHOUSE
New Housing New York
Galleries: Street Gallery, Public Resource Center, Judith and Walter Hunt Gallery, Mezzanine Gallery
Winning proposal
Phipps Rose Dattner Grimshaw
Related Events
Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 6:00 – 8:00pm, CES 1.5, HSW
NHNY: Best Practices for Affordable Sustainable Housing -
What worked, what didn’t?
Making Green Design More Accessible
TBD, CES 1.5, HSW
Power House illuminates the people, projects, and public policies that fuel the affordable housing landscape in New York City.
As New York City’s first juried design competition for affordable, sustainable housing, the New Housing New York Legacy Project (NHNY) is generating creative, replicable approaches to urban development. The exhibition focuses on the NHNY competition and sets it within the context of the city’s efforts to preserve and development sustainable, financially viable residences for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. The show’s emphasis is on the future of housing in the city, as represented by the competition winner, Phipps Rose Dattner Grimshaw (Phipps Houses / Jonathan Rose Companies / Dattner Architects / Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners), the four finalists, and the development mechanisms put in place by Mayor Bloomberg’s 10-year New Housing Marketplace initiative and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Building on the 2004 New Housing New York Ideas Competition, the 2006 two-stage contest will result in construction of the winning design on a 40,000 square-foot Bronx site, which is valued at $4.3 million and was donated by The City of New York.
For the full list of finalists click here
Curator: Abby Bussel
Exhibition and Graphic Design: Casey Maher
Organized by: AIA New York Chapter,
New Housing New York Steering Committee and the
City of New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development with the additional support of the Center for Architecture Foundation and the AIA New York Chapter Housing Committee
Exhibition Underwriters:
Exhibition Patron:
For more information on the New Housing New York Legacy Project click
href="http://www.aiany.org/NHNY/Legacy_About.html">here
NHNY is a partnership between the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, the City of New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Additional support is provided by the Center for Architecture Foundation, and City University of New York.
The NHNY Legacy Project is sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the National Endowment for the Arts, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., an AIA National Blueprint Grant, JP Morgan Chase, and Citibank.
March 22 — June 2, 2007
Making Housing Home
Photographs with residents of New York City housing developments
Galleries: Library
Norma’s House
Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani
This photographic exhibition explores how people inhabit housing to create homes in two of New York City’s affordable housing developments, each of which were developed to provide good homes for all. Because units of housing are in essence homes for families, this project takes an interior look at what architecture can allow and support, to afford the crucial process of making space for oneself within designed spaces and housing markets. If social housing reflects the social covenant of our society, what is it to which every citizen is entitled? What does it take for a life to flourish and can a building help or hinder this process? What becomes of designed spaces once they are inhabited?
An Installation by Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani
Exhibition underwriters: Related Apartment Preservation, 42nd Street Development Corporation, Barbara Stanton
Organized with: Center for Human Environments, Housing Environments Research Group, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Jean Prouvé’s Maison Tropicale in front of the Queensboro Bridge.
Stas’ Kmiec’
05.17.07 through 06.04.07
Jean Prouvé’s Maison Tropicale
This public exhibition of French designer Jean Prouvé’s 1951 prototype Maison Tropicale is set at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge on the banks of the East River in Long Island City. One of the designer’s visionary pre-fabricated constructions, the Maison Tropicale will be auctioned at Christie’s New York on June 5 and is estimated to realize between $4 to $6 million. For directions or more information please contact Christie’s press office at 212.636.2680 or Stas’ Kmiec’ by e-mail or at 212.889.0808.
41-98 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, 11101
“Like Ulysses, we have always to look for new adventures.”
Agora Gallery
06.01.07 through 06.21.07
Javier Irturbe: Architect and Painter
Javier Iturbe is a self-taught artist whose work expresses his personal philosophy. Buildings, figures, violins, butterflies, and other elements interlock and overlap to create a metaphorical pastiche. Born in Bilboa, Spain, in 1945, Iturbe’s paintings are bold in color and form and resemble a sprawling jigsaw puzzle. While the characters and forms are easy to discern, interpreting the relationship between them is usually left up to the viewer.
Agora Gallery
530 West 25th Street, Chelsea
Families on the Move. Thesis Spring 2007. Graduating student Rebecca Casbon, Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union.
Steven Hillyer
Through 06.28.07
The Cooper Union’s End of Year Show
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture presents a five-week exhibition of student works ranging from architectural drawings and detailed scale models to computer aided renderings of famous sites and emerging developments.
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
7 East 7th Street, NYC
Through 07.18.07
Fabrication, On Display
This exhibition explores the roles of material, form, and decoration in defining the relationships between the viewer and the viewed, display and displayed, in the conventional gallery environment. It features full-scale, digitally fabricated prototypes produced by graduate students at the Yale School of Architecture in an elective seminar taught by Ben Pell.
Municipal Art Society
7 Madison Avenue at East 51st Street
eCalendar includes an interactive listing of architectural events around NYC. Click the link to go to to eCalendar on the Web.
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Looking for help? See resumes posed on the AIA New York Chapter website.
Significant opportunities exist for resourceful, talented project architects and intermediate level architects to contribute to our firm’s award-winning projects in NY, China and India. Candidates must have a professional degree, a minimum of 5 – 10 years of experience with a full range of project responsibilities, ability to lead and motivate fellow team members, and proficiency with AutoCAD and other graphics programs.
The studio environment at Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects is recognized for its creative and pragmatic approach to design at a variety of scales. Our current work embraces commercial, residential, educational, public and transportation projects as well as historic structures.
Please email your cover letter and resume to mjames@lhparch.com. No phone calls please.
Interior Designer or Interior Architect
Little, nationally recognized as a “Best Firm to Work For” and one of the nation’s most progressive design firms, seeks Interior Designers and Interior Architects for the Workplace Studio in Charlotte NC.
Our open culture is energetic and collaborative. We value people who are fun and have a positive impact on everyone around them.
Responsibilities include: engaging in strong client relationships, coordinating and motivating internal, external consultants and team members, developing and documenting design, providing construction administration and project management services on a wide variety of architectural and interior design projects.
Great communication, organizational and project management skills are essential, team-oriented, flexible attitude and passion for high quality designed projects.
Requirements: bachelor’s degree - Interior Design or Architecture from an accredited school and 7 years of experience (focused on corporate environments). Registration/licensure (or on registration track). Proficiency in AutoCAD and/or Revit required.
We offer outstanding benefits, compensation, and growth opportunities - www.littleonline.com.
Workplace Strategy and Design Consultant
International strategic planning/design consultancy is accepting resumes for the North America team, based in New York and/or San Francisco. Responsibilities: conducting space inventory and workplace performance assessments; creating innovative workplace strategies to support client business objectives and culture; developing space programs; creating documentation of strategic and programmatic solutions; delivering solutions to and negotiating sign-off with client groups, including travel to client sites (approximately 25%); supporting internal team to develop strategies that enhance clients’ strategic business goals. Qualifications: BA/BS in related field with two to four years industry experience. Skills: written/verbal communications, detail-oriented, team player. Proficiency in AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop required. Competitive salary with excellent benefits including medical/dental/vision, 401(k), life insurance, and others. EOE/AA.
Send resume/letter with salary requirements to csherman@degw.com.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
MECHANICAL ENGINEER:
Manage HVAC, plumbing, and medical gas projects from program development through construction. Meet with end users and prepare concept sketches, presentations, cost estimates, and project schedules.
Requirements: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering; experience in construction management, preferably in a hospital environment; knowledge of Joint Commission and other typical hospital standards; excellent writing and interpersonal skills. Knowledge of Autocad preferred.
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR:
Prepare design and construction contract document packages such as RFQs, RFPs, and bid documents, and maintain project documentation in design & construction unit.
Requirements: Experience in a design & construction office, preferably in the healthcare industry; strong writing and interpersonal skills, excellent organizational skills. Degree in architecture, engineering, or business preferred.
Both positions offer competitive salary and benefits and the opportunity for growth.
Forward cover letter and resume, indicating desired position, to:
SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER
EMPLOYMENT OFFICE
BOX 1194
450 Clarkson Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11203
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER
New Police Academy RFP notice:
The NYC Department of Design and Construction has issued a two-stage RFP for design of the City’s new Police Academy. The new campus will consolidate NYPD’s currently scattered training facilities on a 35 acre site in College Point, Queens. The building program includes 1.48 million s.f. of indoor space and 1.6 million s.f. of outdoor training space. The RFP is available on the DDC website (www.nyc.gov/ddc) under “Doing Business with DDC”.
Urbahn Architects is seeking an architect with 10+ years experience, with skills in design, technical production and construction administration for a range of projects, with particular expertise in transportation facilities. Must be organized, self-starter, with writing abilities and computer skills. AutoCAD knowledge required.
Urbahn specializes in several building types, including school and university, justice, healthcare, research and transportation. The firm is renowned for excellent design and service to large institutions. Competitive salary and benefits offered, with opportunity for growth and development.
EEO-A/A. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Please send resume to:
caffuzzia@urbahn.com
or
Urbahn Architects
49 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
Att: Alix Caffuzzi
Fax: 212.563.5621
Urbahn Architects is seeking an architect with 10+ years experience, with skills in project management, design, technical production and construction administration for institutional projects, including additions, renovations and repairs. Must be organized, self-starter, with writing abilities and computer skills. AutoCAD knowledge required.
Urbahn specializes in several building types, including school and university, justice, healthcare, research and transportation facilities. The firm is renowned for excellent design and service to large institutions. Competitive salary and benefits offered, with opportunity for growth and development.
EEO - A/A. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Please send resume to:
caffuzzia@urbahn.com
or
Urbahn Architects
49 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
Att: Alix Caffuzzi
Fax: 212.563.5621
Architectural Designers I & II
Bermello, Ajamil & Partners www.bermelloajamil.com seeks Designers I & II for our SOHO office.
Designer II will coordinate the development, technical design and analysis of project drawings. BArchitecture + 5-7 years exp w/ architectural projects, with large multi-use buildings experience required. Exp w/ architectural practices/principles/procedures/concepts & construction practices. AutoCAD/ proficiency required; Archicad desired. Registered Architect desired.
Designer I BArchitecture & 3-5 years experience as required above.
Send resume in confidence to careers@bermelloajamil.com.
Intermediate Architect
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP New York is seeking intermediate level architects for involvement in both large and small scale projects. Applicants should have interest in a full range of project responsibilities.
Applicants must hold a 5 year professional degree or Master’s degree in Architecture and have 3 to 8 years of professional experience. Knowledge of AutoCAD, Photoshop and 3d Studio Max and/or Rhino is required.
Please send a cover letter, resume and 1 -2 work samples to:
Human Resources
SOM
14 Wall Street, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
ATTN: Intermediate Architect Posting
Or you may email all files to hrdesign@som.com. (PDF or JPEG only please)
No phone calls please. Work samples will not be returned.
Junior Architect
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP New York is seeking intermediate level architects for involvement in both large and small scale projects. Applicants should have interest in a full range of project responsibilities.
Applicants must hold a 5 year professional degree or Master’s degree in Architecture. Knowledge of AutoCAD, Photoshop and 3d Studio Max and/or Rhino is required.
Please send a cover letter, resume and 1 -2 work samples to:
Human Resources
SOM
14 Wall Street, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
ATTN: Junior Architect Posting
Or you may email all files to hrdesign@som.com. (PDF or JPEG only please)
No phone calls please. Work samples will not be returned.
Senior Architect
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP New York is seeking intermediate level architects for involvement in both large and small scale projects. Applicants should have interest in a full range of project responsibilities.
Applicants must hold a 5 year professional degree or Master’s degree in Architecture and have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience. Knowledge of AutoCAD, Photoshop and 3d Studio Max and/or Rhino is required. Familiarity with Revit is preferred.
Please send a cover letter, resume and 2 - 5 work samples to:
Human Resources
SOM
14 Wall Street, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
ATTN: Senior Architect Posting
Or you may email all files to hrdesign@som.com. (PDF or JPEG only please) Please include Senior Architect Posting in the subject line.
No phone calls please. Work samples will not be returned.
The City University of New York City College
Professor of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture - FY - 13383
Compensation: $38,001 - $95,197. Commensurate with experience and credentials.
Web Site: www.ccny.cuny.edu
Closing Date: Open until filled with review of applications to begin immediately.
The School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture invites applications for a tenure-track position for the architecture program, starting in Fall 2007 or Spring 2008.
Qualifications
Candidate must hold a master’s degree in architecture plus a professional license in architecture, and, preferably offer evidence of published and/or notable built work. A candidate who holds a master’s degree in architecture plus a PhD degree in a related field and evidence of significant scholarly work will also be considered.
To Apply
Send an application for candidacy and three academic/professional references to: Professor Achva Benzinberg Stein, FASLA Chair, Search Committee-FY13383 Shepard Hall S109G 160 Convent Avenue New York, NY 10031.
CUNY/CCNY is an EEO/AA/IRCA/ADA Employer
Desk space available for sublet in lower Manhattan architect’s office. 2-3 stations, use of conference room, plotter, copier, facsimile and library. Available 1 July. Contact darby@cplusga.com.
REALITY DOESN’T HAVE TO BITE!
Life is rough enough without job-hunting. So knock it off, already!
Goshow Architects, a woman-owned firm, located in New York’s Flatiron district seeks Project Architects to excel in our unique environment.
Do socially-conscious public projects peak your interest? How about Green Design? (Very Al Gore, very hip, very now - very Bono, even.) Then Goshow’s where to be.
We’re looking for savvy multi-taskers with 5 - 10 years job experience, people who can bandy about phrases like “extensive technical design skill in construction detailing” and “oodles of experience in construction site administration.” Since we’re ACAD proficient, you should be too and a B-Arch is a given.
Email your cover letter with resume and salary requirements to: JobOpps07@goshow.com and check out our website at www.goshow.com
Marketing/Events Coordinator
International strategic planning/design consultancy is accepting resumes for the North America marketing team, based in New York. Responsibilities: preparing proposals; events coordination; maintaining marketing information; research. Qualifications: BA/BS in related field with five+ years design industry experience. Skills: organizational, written/verbal communications, detail-oriented, team player. Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suites required. Competitive salary with excellent benefits including medical/dental/vision, 401(k), life insurance, and others. EOE/AA.
Send resume/letter with salary requirements to gbank@degw.com.
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