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09.05.07
The summer is winding down, and soon the city will be overwhelmed with architecture events. Brace yourselves and check out the AIANY online calendar to see what’s coming up.
- Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Event: New Practices London and New York: Milieus and Methods
Location: Häfele Americas Showroom, 08.22.07
Speakers: Tom Emerson & Stephanie Macdonald — Directors, 6a Architects; Vincent Lacovara — Founder, Agents of Change (AOC); Andrew Groarke — Carmody Groarke; David Howarth, RIBA, & Daniel Rosbottom — Co-directors, drdharchitects
Introduction: Elias Redstone — Curator, The Architecture Foundation, London
Moderators: AIANY New Practices Committee co-chairs Matthew Bremer, AIA — Principal, Architecture in Formation; and Marc Clemenceau Bailly — Founding Partner, Gage/Clemenceau Architects
Organizers: AIANY; The Architecture Foundation, London
Sponsors: Exhibition Underwriters: Häfele Americas; SKYY 90; Associated Fabrication; Patrons: 3form; ABC Imaging; Sponsors: Severud Associates; Thornton Tomasetti; OS Fabrication & Design; The Conran Shop; Supporters: Arup; Bartco Lighting; Fountainhead Construction; FXFOWLE Architects; MG & Company; Microsol Resources; Structural Enterprises; Friends: Barefoot Wines; Cosentini Associates; DEGW; Delta Faucet Company; Perkins Eastman; Media Partner: The Architect’s Newspaper
Center for Architecture
The Architecture Foundation, London’s equivalent to the Center for Architecture, has joined forces with its American counterpart to bring the principals of four up-and-coming British firms to Manhattan for an exhibition and two symposia. The opening event at the Häfele Showroom focused more on day-to-day practice topics than on particular works and styles. (The accompanying exhibition, New Practices London, at the Center goes a bit further in that direction.) With the presentation component limited to two slides each(!), the panelists only had time to hint at their practices’ defining principles.
If the four selected British firms are representative of their local scene, they give a collective impression that under-publicized UK practices are thriving, even while most international attention is concentrated on the usual suspects, the Zahas, Fosters, and Alsops. Younger practitioners are inclined toward understatement — they recoil from grand proclamations and aggressive manifestos — and independence. Daniel Rosbottom of the housing-specialist firm drdharchitects, for example, proclaimed a reluctance to join the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on political grounds, charging RIBA with promoting “too corporate a view of practice,” and lamented the local emphasis on “wow factor” designs. He favors more circumspect “things that sit back” and asserted “the things you’re stubborn about give you character.”
Prominent awards and commissions do find their way toward these firms: 6a Architects is shortlisted for the 2012 Olympic Athletes’ Village and designed The Architecture Foundation’s first installation at its new gallery in 2005. Carmody Groarke may be already familiar to New Yorkers as winner of the 2005 Coney Island Parachute Pavilion competition. Agents of Change (AOC), whose founding trio includes a linguist or “cultural interpreter” (spokesman Vincent Lacovara is one of the two architects), won the London International Festival of Theatre’s competition for The Lift New Parliament, a transportable meeting and performance space that will be the centerpiece of the 2008 Lift Festival. (The two other firms represented in the New Practices London exhibition, Ullmayer Sylvester and Witherford Watson Mann Architects, were unable to send representatives in person.)
The practice environment for newer London firms has changed in response to the current construction boom. Rosbottom reported that when he left school, the graduate unemployment rate was around 60%, and many colleagues “escaped practice”; there is now so much work that many of drdh’s clients are fellow architects, farming out the details of major projects. Experience in a larger, more established practice led Andrew Groarke to a wake-up call when he and partner Kevin Carmody went independent: drumming up new work calls for real-world rainmaking skills that go untapped in a larger firm where senior personnel handle client contact. Many of the panelists’ concerns appear universal: the value of careful partner selection, the challenges of working with mentors, the capacity for refreshing one’s thinking by teaching on the side. Competitions appear to occupy a larger proportion of the Londoners’ attention, and that of Europeans generally, than the theoretical positions favored by American architects. If England and America are, in George Bernard Shaw’s famous description, “two countries divided by a common language,” there’s plenty to be gained in translation.
Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in OCULUS, Icon, Content, and other publications.
Event: arch schools: r(each)ing out
Location: Center for Architecture, through 10.19.07
Exhibition Designer: Leah Gazit
Participating Schools: The City College of New York; Columbia University; The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art; Cornell University; New Jersey Institute of Technology; New York Institute of Technology; New York School of Interior Design; Parsons The New School for Design; Pratt Institute; Princeton University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; School of Visual Arts; Syracuse University; University at Buffalo (SUNY); University of Pennsylvania; Yale University
Organizers: AIANY; Center for Architecture Foundation
Sponsors: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; RMJM Hillier; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Support by: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners; Friends: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners; Butler Rogers Baskett Architects; Francois de Menil Architect; Gabellini Sheppard Associates; Mancini Duffy; Robert A.M. Stern Architects; Terrence O’Neal Architect
Courtesy Center for Architecture
The arch schools: r(each)ing out exhibition at the Center for Architecture and its title express the unique identity of the nine participating schools while linking them back to their common focus: architecture. To whom do architecture schools r(each) out? Do they network with each other or the field at large? What do the parentheses emphasize? How shall I connect these schools conceptually and graphically? After considering these questions, I was able to focus the design of the exhibition on the connection among the schools and the communicative dialogue it inspires.
How to challenge uniformity was an obvious and inevitable issue. Each school is committed to thinking outside the box and stretching the boundaries of the given space. After the schools proposed concepts for exhibiting their new architectural ideas, I saw a need to tie them together with one consistent and bold gesture — a single, yellow line.
This line serves to visually unify the schools and emphasize the details of the exhibited designs. By giving the schools 24″x36″ model zones and 48″x96″ presentation boards, I could maximize the three-dimensional potential of every two-dimensional surface. The vivid vinyl strip of modulating width traverses the monochromatic space with one clean cut. It starts at the top of the white wall, weaves behind the school boards, folds at the edge of the unfinished concrete floor, and concludes by wrapping around the base of each model. This simple graphic intervention highlights the expression of all contributing schools, while maintaining a coherent continuity among them.
From the interactive projection screens included in the displays of both Columbia University and New Jersey Institute of Technology, to the clever model base designed by the University of Pennsylvania, and the intricately carved floating model from Princeton University, each school creatively overcomes the barriers set by the standardized requirements, and, in turn, sparks a discourse between students and professionals.
Leah Gazit is a recent graduate from the New York Institute of Technology and works as an architectural designer at Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects. She is the arch schools r(each)ing out exhibition designer.
Event: Design for the Other 90%
Location: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, through 09.23.07
Curator: Cynthia E. Smith
The Bamboo Treadle Pump, designed by Gunnar Barnes of Rangpur/Dinajpur Rural Service and IDE Nepal, is used in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Mayanmar, Cambodia, and Zambia to allow farmers to access groundwater during the dry season.
©2003 International Development Enterprises, courtesy Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Both provocative and critical to the well being of individuals and their communities, the innovations presented in Design for the Other 90% at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum aims for relevancy in our current aesthetics-obsessed environment. The exhibition offers a glimpse into how design may encourage growth and prosperity for those who have compromised access to basic human needs. The show addresses categories such as shelter, water, health, and energy, presenting a small collection of products meant to improve the quality of life for those in developing countries. For example, the MoneyMaker Block Press, designed by Martin Fisher and used in various African locations, allows 5-8 workers to produce up to 800 bricks a day. The increased productivity speaks for itself; these are designs that are being put to good use.
For an exhibition striving to emphasize the power of design, however, there is a serious lack of visual media depicting these items actually in use, or even in the context in which the other 90% live. While some products, including the Water Storage System, designed by International Development Enterprises (IDE) India, or Bamboo Treadle Pump, designed by Gunnar Barnes of Rangpur/Dinajpur Rural Service and IDE Nepal, are easily imagined in rural towns, the Solar Dish Kitchen, designed by BASIC Initiative Mexico Program of the University of Texas and University of Washington, or Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child look out of place, provoking issues of regional and cultural specificity that are no stranger to most architects and beg the question: what position are we in as designers to anticipate what the “other” really needs?
The few items shown in action are illuminating on the design level, but also highlight another drastic shortcoming of the exhibition: the definition of design has been limited to mean “objects” — gadgets that, while useful and important, are more like emergency tactics rather than long-term strategies for change. For instance, The LifeStraw, designed by Torben Vestergaard Frandsen and used in Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Uganda, is an invention that can filter typhoid and cholera bacteria to provide adequate drinking water. Yet, imagining the straw as a lifetime solution reveals its own improbability as anything but a temporary fix to a much larger and significant environmental and economic problem. Designers are surely capable of imagining more complex strategies, and not just topical Band-Aids.
Both the vital need for designers to step outside the high-end design world of the privileged 10%, and the potential for creativity are reasons enough to make Design for the Other 90% worthy of conversation and debate, whatever its shortcomings may be. The tools on display offer interesting ideas, but are only the first step, and understandably so; the design process can be long and tedious, and rarely generates a perfect first attempt. Hopefully, if more designers are inspired to participate, better and more enduring solutions may be around the corner.
Rachel Schauer is concentrating her studies on architecture and communications at New York University Gallatin School. She also is e-Oculus‘ graphic designer.
Event: Sustainable Design Review
Organizers: Students at Parsons The New School for Design: Rishi Desai, Justine Abu-Haidar, Patricia Ormaza, Tanye Prive (Design and Management); Aritz Bermudez Monfort (Communication Design)
Winners: First Place: Caroline Pham (Integrated Design); Second Place: Hae Jeong Choi (Product Design)
(l-r): “Subway Light Project” lights up commuters’ days; “Holon A.” is an interactive industrial agricultural information booth; “Why Sustain?” is a learning and information center made from sustainable materials maximizing natural light.
(l-r): Caroline Pham; Becky Stern; Amanda Gilbert
The first annual Sustainable Design Review, a student-led green initiative at Parsons The New School for Design, asked students to define sustainability. “Our mission is to foster an overall awareness and dialogue relating to social, environmental, and other forms of sustainability in school projects and consequently student perceptions,” according to founder and chairperson Rishi Desai, who conceived of the project with other Design and Management and Communication Design students at Parsons.
The winning entry, called the “Subway Light Project,” submitted by Caroline Pham of the Integrated Design Curriculum, introduces natural light into subway stations by incorporating fiber optic technology and sunlight collection panels. Windows and seating areas illustrating natural and urban landscapes are illuminated with full spectrum light to benefit sun-deprived city residents. “Terra Bites,” the second place entry by Product Design major Hae Jeong Choi, is a mobile cart that acts as a delivery and vending truck for local, fresh food.
Jury members, who sifted through more than 100 submissions and chose 10 finalists, included: Susan Szensay, editor-in-chief of Metropolis; Majora Carter, founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx; Kira Gould, Assoc. AIA, AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) chair; Chelsea Holden Baker, assistant editor of DWELL; Douglas Diaz and Loretta Staples, professors at Parsons; Jackie Brookner, ecological artist; and students Ryan Wood and Tracy Chow.
“Word of mouth was the weapon to get this idea the support it needed. Now it is all about the dialogue,” the website background statement declares. After being in contact with some of the students who entered the competition, and in an effort to continue the discussion, they wrote to me about their experiences participating in the Sustainable Design Review:
[This competition] contributes to the argument that design should not only be about beauty and creativity, but should also be about responsibility. Winning this competition has taught me the importance of responsible design. I believe that the idea of sustainability can be beneficial to a new way of thinking, not as an alternative to normal life, but as a trigger for innovation.
- Caroline Pham, Winner. The “Subway Light Project” began Fall 2006 while she was an exchange student at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design in Stockholm.
[The Sustainable Design Review] initiative provides peer and industry review outside the classroom environment for projects with a nontraditional goal. Experiencing the process helped me put my project in a larger perspective.
- Becky Stern, “Holon A.,” Design & Technology Department
By entering this competition, I wanted to increase the recognition of interior design as paramount to sustainability. I hope to focus my career on creating sustainable interior spaces and increase awareness that sustainability can be beautiful and effective on many levels.
- Amanda Gilbert, “Why Sustain?” Associate in Applied Sciences student
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
(l-r): Steve Sartori; Kristen Richards
On a sizzling August day, a small group of journalists were treated to a day trip to a much cooler Syracuse for a hard hat tour of Newhouse III, the latest addition to Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications complex. Designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, the $31.6 million, 74,000-square-foot addition is the final step of I.M. Pei, FAIA’s master plan begun with the completion his 1964 building; the second building by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, opened in 1974. For James Polshek, FAIA, and Tomas Rossant, AIA, the challenges included respecting the period architecture while creating a vibrant, new face for the campus (the school is located at one of the university’s main entrances). “My belief is that any building with an intellectual purpose has to tell a story,” Polshek said. Newhouse III tells its story with an undulating, fritted glass façade with the words of the First Amendment etched in letters six feet high along the base. Inside, a soaring, skylit atrium fills the interior spaces with natural light.
With the rapid evolution of the digital age, communal spaces in the two older buildings had been cannibalized for computer and media labs. According to Rossant, the new building will become “the missing social heart” of the communications school, with lounges, casual gathering spaces, a 350-seat auditorium, and a Food.com dining area, along with high-tech labs and classrooms that bring together the communications disciplines. Opening celebrations for Newhouse III, made possible by a $15 million grant from the S.I. Newhouse Foundation and the Newhouse family, will kick off on September 19 with a keynote speech by U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Kristen Richards is editor of Oculus magazine and ArchNewsNow.com.
Access Living’s new headquarters in Chicago.
Courtesy www.accessliving.org
In describing the building he designed in Chicago for Access Living, a national accessibility rights public interest group, architect John H. Catlin, FAIA, of LCM Architects noted: “Accessible design is good for everyone, not just the people who use Access Living’s building everyday.” The occasion of his remarks was the presentation of the 2007 Barrier-Free America Design Award of the Paralyzed Veterans of America to Catlin and his client, Marca Bristo, President and CEO of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago. Catlin continued: “Through this new building, and through the Barrier-Free America Award, we will deliver the message that accessibility benefits everyone from wheelchair users, to parents with strollers, to shoppers returning home with groceries.” Bristo spoke of how the LEED Silver headquarters will enable Access Living “to build our services and activities as we continue working to create an inclusive, integrated, and independent disability community.”
Access Living’s Headquarters, described as “a model of Universal and Green Design,” is located at 115 West Chicago Avenue. Less than a mile north of AIA Chicago’s new space at 35 East Wacker Drive, it was the setting for a celebration in August attended by previous Barrier-Free America Award winners including Edward K. Uhlir, FAIA, responsible for the creation of Chicago’s Millennium Park. During a tour, Access Living staff members pointed out some of the Universal Design features that make the building distinct. Those that especially impressed this visitor included:
· Easily adjustable desk counter heights to accommodate users with varying seating needs, including different wheelchair heights
· Oversized elevators with doors both front and back on all floors to enhance wheelchair maneuverability in crowded cabs
· Hallway carpeting with darker-colored borders to help those with visual impairment
· Computer screens linked to telephone and video cameras to enable telephonic signing
· Areas of rescue assistance on each floor also usable as lounge space
Access Living is a cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities. Through its programs, services, and now its Chicago headquarters, it fosters dignity and self-esteem of people with disabilities and enhances their options so they may choose and maintain individualized and satisfying lifestyles. The 115 West Chicago Avenue building exemplifies the seven principles of Universal Design developed in 1997 by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Errors, Low Physical Effort, and Space for Approach & Use. The implementation of these principles makes for good design accessible to all.
Other attendees at the award ceremony included AIA Chicago’s Executive Vice President, Zurich Esposito, and AIA Milwaukee President-elect Karen Plunkett, AIA. The Paralyzed Veterans of America, represented by National Vice President Gregory A. Joyce, National Director Gary E. McDermott, and Director of Architecture Carol Peredo Lopez, AIA, also has a design project underway in Milwaukee.
I have been following the discussion about the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) vacancy in Washington D.C. The hiring process is as follows: Congress’s Architect of the Capitol Commission recommends three potential individuals from which the President may or may not choose one to be appointed for the 10-year position. Controversy has sprouted because these names have not been released to the public, and because of the spreading rumor that someone who is not a registered architect may fill the position.
According to the Architect of the Capitol website, the AOC is responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the U.S. Capitol Complex, which includes the Capitol, congressional offices, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, U.S. Botanic Garden, Capitol Power Plant, and other facilities. Duties include mechanical and structural maintenance, upkeep and improvement of the Capitol grounds, and arrangement of inaugural and other ceremonies. Current projects range from the replacement of worn Minton tile in the Senate corridors to the installation of security devices and the development of a Capitol Complex Master Plan. The AOC must also serve as a member of eight governing or advisory bodies including the D.C. Zoning Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Capitol Police Board.
To be expected, the AIA has been voicing its collective opinion that the position must be filled by a licensed, registered architect — see The Architect of the Capitol Should be an Architect website. The website includes links to the AIA Board of Directors’ letter to the President, a letter supporting the AIA’s position from former AOC George M. White, FAIA, ongoing coverage in the Angle, and commentary on the AIA Archiblog. There is also a petition to Congress.
I agree that for a job called “Architect,” a registered architect must fill the position. This has been established by law. However, in reviewing the many responsibilities of the AOC, I see that it would be difficult to find one person who can successfully fill the vacancy. On the AIA Archiblog, Desiree Sheehan asks, “Wouldn’t appointing a design team be a better choice?” Collaboration and specialization is a trend in the architecture profession. Here is an opportunity to redefine the AOC, giving a team of individuals with diverse experiences the chance to successfully shape the future of the nation’s capital.
In this issue:
·Kaufman Undergoes Renewal
·Birds Sing in Battery Park City
·Austrian Hills are Alive with the Sound of Construction
·Old Tracks Lead to New Cultural Center in Oslo
·Triangular Building Sails Downtown
Kaufman Undergoes Renewal
The Kaufman Center.
Rendering by Augustus Wendell for Robert A.M. Stern Architects
The Kaufman Center, an arts and educational institution in an award-winning Brutalist building designed by Ashok Bhavnani, AIA, in 1978, is undergoing a $17 million restoration and renovation designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. Located a block from Lincoln Center, The Kaufman is composed of three divisions — two educational facilities (Special Music School (P.S. 859) and Lucy Moses School) and Merkin Concert Hall. Plans call for respecting the building’s original form while enhancing its functionality and appearance, physically and conceptually uniting the three divisions with one entrance and lobby for the facility.
Channel glass will replace corroding metal rods on the main floor and balcony levels, while other façade elements will be restored in keeping with the original architectural intent. The interior transformation will include a renovation of public spaces with new materials, signage, lighting, and furnishings. The concert hall will be refurbished, and its technical functions will be updated while preserving the hall’s much admired acoustical capabilities. The project will be completed in time for a January 8 celebration.
Birds Sing in Battery Park City
Battery Park City Community Center.
hanrahanMeyers architects
hanrahanMeyers architects is in the process of designing a new 55,000-square-foot LEED Platinum rated community center north of Ground Zero. The project will feature a 540-foot-long glass “bird wall” featuring songbird sounds. The architects are working in collaboration with NY-based composer, performer, and installation artist Michael Schumacher, who specializes in computer-generated sound environments. The wall will demonstrate passive energy systems fueling the new community center. Facing inside the center, the wall unifies swimming pools, a gymnasium, theater, classrooms, and recreation and dance spaces while bringing natural light into the primary spaces. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
Austrian Hills are Alive with the Sound of Construction
Sternbrauerei Salzburg.
Hariri & Hariri Architecture
Coinciding with the Salzburg Festival, ground will be broken on the $80-million Sternbrauerei Salzburg designed by NY-based Hariri & Hariri Architecture later this month. The firm won a competition to create a luxury residential and mixed-use complex on the five-acre site of an abandoned brewery at the foot of the Rainberg Mountain, close to the historical center of the city. Eight residences will occupy six new structures on the site, none of which reach more than eight stories. The scale of the site is intended to be a microcosm of Salzburg, complete with manmade canal representing the river Salzach. The site’s changing levels produce views for the spa, restaurant, and public promenade. The program also includes exhibition space for the House of Architecture, a gallery and lecture space in the brewery’s underground vaults to be run by Initiative Architektur Salzburg and covered by a green public space. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2009.
Old Tracks Lead to New Cultural Center in Oslo
Deichmanske Library and Stenersen Museum.
REX
The City of Oslo has commissioned NYC-based REX, in collaboration with Oslo-based Space Group, to initiate design studies for the new Deichmanske Library and the Stenersen Museum. The site is located in the historic Vestbanen section of the city, home to the Nobel Peace Center designed by Adjaye/Associates. City plans call for preserving the old railway station buildings; the track area, currently used as a car park, will be the site of the 300,000-square-meter library and museum. Intended to be part of the city’s new cultural center, the master plan allows for the construction of more cultural spaces, offices, and residential developments. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009, with the opening projected for early 2012.
Triangular Building Sails Downtown
One 7th.
Rogers Marvel Architects
Located on a triangular-shaped site of a former 1950s gas station, One 7th (Avenue South), designed by Rogers Marvel Architects, is a mixed-use development housing commercial space on the ground level and residential units above. One 7th’s signature element resembles the prow of a ship with a façade composed of floor-to-ceiling glass interspersed with Manganese Ironspot brick. The rhythm and materiality of the façade is intended to respond to the scale of the neighboring buildings, creating a transition from the industrial loft buildings across the street to the smaller buildings adjacent to the site. Projected date of occupancy is next month.
In this issue:
·Two Years Later: AIA National Still Contributes to Katrina Relief
·Thinking Outside the IDP Box
·OHNY Opens Doors This October
Two Years Later: AIA National Still Contributes to Katrina Relief
Marking the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the AIA unveiled a proposal to reform the Stafford Act, the key law that provides for federal relief to states and localities after a disaster. Under this proposal, federal emergency funds would be provided for temporary and transitional housing.
In addition, the AIA, along with the engineering and contracting industries, is continuing its efforts to enact a federal Good Samaritan statute. In April, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) introduced legislation, H.R.2067, to provide licensed architects with qualified immunity from liability in times of a declared emergency or disaster. The AIA worked closely with Reichert and his staff to draft this bill.
For more information on the AIA’s disaster assistance resources, visit the Communities by Design website.
Thinking Outside the IDP Box
By Carolyn Sponza, AIA, AIANY Vice President of Professional Development
Announced earlier this summer, the National Council on Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) has made a number of important changes to its Intern Development Program (IDP) policies, notably exam timing. The AIANY Chapter’s Professional Practice and Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) Committees, with the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), will jointly hold a panel discussion at the Center for Architecture on September 14 called IDP: Inside Out to help acquaint interns and architects about these changes and how they can affect the path to licensure. A special focus will be placed on current implementation in New York State.
Panelists will include NYS IDP Coordinator Thom Penn, AIA, and Regional Associate Director Shanntina Moore, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, who will represent Cannon Design , the 2006 IDP Firm of the Year. The panel is organized in association with the exhibition arch schools: r(each)ing out, on view at the Center through October 19.
This seminar has been designed as the first in a series of discussions geared towards students, recent graduates, and emerging professionals who may have been enrolled in IDP for a number of years. A future session that will address the questions of IDP mentors and supervisors is also in the works.
OHNY Opens Doors This October
openhousenewyork (OHNY) will celebrate its fifth annual OHNY Weekend this October 6 and 7. Free access will be provided to nearly 200 sites of architecture and design significance throughout the five boroughs, including many usually closed to the public, as well as nearly 150 tours, talks, performances, and family activities and workshops. The Center for Architecture will again serve as the OHNY Welcome Center. All site and program information will be available online on September 28. Guides will also be distributed at key venues throughout the city and in the September 28 city edition of The New York Times.
Some of the new and returning sites include: the High Line; Morgan Library & Museum; 7 WTC; Chrysler Building; United Nations; and an MTA Substation. In addition, AIANY’s Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) Committee competitions program is hosting two sites — Southpoint, the abandoned ruins of the Renwick-designed smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island and site of the 2006 ENYA competition, and the new biennial competition location, to be announced in September.
Anticipating upwards of 100,000 visitors, OHNY is offering two ways for you and a guest to bypass the lines. One is to volunteer, assisting tour guides and building owners on-site, supervising visitor admission, greeting the public, and answering queries about OHNY. For more information, e-mail volunteer@ohny.org. The other way is to purchase one of three types of commemorative tickets (ranging in price from $150-$250). For more information or to purchase tickets, please click here.
Do you think a registered architect should fill the Architect of Capitol position?
Note: Results from this poll are non-scientific.
The Sunday NY Times published an article about architecture competitions ("Ready, Set, Design: Work as a Contest," by Robin Pogrebin). What's your opinion on architecture competitions?
Note: Results from this poll are non-scientific.
Artist Eve S. Mosher is marking the 10-foot flood line around the city.
Courtesy High Water Line
High Water Line is a public artwork conceived by artist Eve S. Mosher. Throughout the summer she has been marking the 10-foot-above-sea-level line by drawing a blue chalk line and installing illuminated beacons in parks. The line marks the extent of increased flood trends and is intended to create an immediate visual and local understanding of climate change. Mosher will be covering Red Hook to Williamsburg throughout September. Check out the website for updates and neighborhood locations.
AIA New York State announced the 2007 Honor Awards. Mark Strauss, FAIA, AICP, AIANY Immediate Past President, is the recipient of the Fellows Award. Rick Bell, FAIA, AIANY Executive Director, is the James William Kideney Gold Medal Award winner. Peter J. Arsenault, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, AIA Central New York Chapter, and Stuart B. Chait Sr., AIA, AIA Rochester Chapter, are recipients of The Matthew W. Del Gaudio Service Award. David Burney, AIA, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design + Construction, received the President’s Award. The Firm Award was given to Helfand Architecture. Sustainable South Bronx won the Community Development Award. Ryan Clarke, Assoc. AIA, AIANY and At-Large-Member of AIA’s Community Committee, is the recipient of the Intern-Associate Award. Evan Lepore, AIANY, won the Student Award. A President’s Citation has been given to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester…
BusinessWeek and Architectural Record magazines announced the winners of their 10th annual “Good Design is Good Business” international competition. The 2007 Award of Excellence winners include IAC/InterActive Corporation, designed by Gehry Partners/STUDIOS Architecture, and United States Census Bureau Headquarters, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Hearst Tower interior, designed by Gensler in collaboration with Foster and Partners received a Citation for Excellence…
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced its shortlist for a new office building in Preston. Among the four finalists chosen is NYC-based Stephen Yablon Architect.
Real time electronic information boards are being tested on 15 bus lines throughout the city notifying riders when the next bus will be arriving. This one is on the M15 line on 2nd Avenue at 57th Street. Not much information about the initiative is available on the MTA’s website, but keep checking as more pop up around the city.
Jessica Sheridan
(l-r) Polshek Partnership’s James Polshek, FAIA, and Tomas Rossant, AIA, with Donald Newhouse ready to head to Syracuse University to tour Newhouse III.
Kristen Richards
08.23.07: Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Conference in Washington, DC
Amid columns and ferns, Michael Graves, FAIA, was animated and humorous during his keynote speech at “Build Business: Politics at Work;” Butler Rogers Baskett Architects was the only NYC firm to win 2007 Marketing Communications Award — in the category of Holiday Piece.
Kristen Richards
SMPS Conference: Wayfinding — D.C.-style (will it be donkeys if Democrats win?).
Kristen Richards
9.21.07 Submission: The First Competition: This Urgent Moment
This international art competition seeks new talent speaking to the urgency of our times, which are marked by major advances (and regressions) in art, technology, politics, science, and culture. Art of any medium is accepted. The best submissions will be featured online and in a year-end publication, The Annual. One artist will win a solo show in NYC, a $2,007 grant, and full membership to the 3rd Ward artist workspace.
10.01.07 Nominations: National Civil Engineering Awards
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and The Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation (CEFI) are looking for nominations for the 2008 National Achievement Awards, which call attention to and celebrate the leadership, creative spirit, and commitment to excellence within the engineering profession. The awards will be presented at ASCE’s Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Awards Gala on April 30, 2008.
10.26.07 Submission: Hue Awards
Benjamin Moore is conducting a search among the U.S. and Canadian architects and interior designers who have brought color to their work in respectful, novel, and celebratory ways. The competition is in four categories: residential interiors, residential exteriors, contract interiors, and contract exteriors. Additionally, a Lifetime Achievement Award is conferred on an individual whose color talent has resonated and helped influence generations of others. There is no fee to enter. Each honoree receives $5,000 plus an original sculpture by renowned glass artist Robert DuGrenier.
11.15.07 Submission: 2008 Palladio Awards
This seventh annual awards program honors outstanding achievement in traditional design, recognizing individual designers and/or design teams whose work enhances the beauty and humane qualities of the built environment. The competition is open to commercial, institutional, public, and residential projects.
Center for Architecture 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
August 23 — October 27, 2007
New Practices London
Galleries: Judith and Walter Hunt Gallery, Mezzanine Gallery
The Future of the Architecture Profession in London. The exhibition features young firms whose work shows invention and promise. New Practices London is organized by the AIA New York Chapter’s Center for Architecture in collaboration with The Architecture Foundation in London.
6a Architects
AOC
Carmody Groarke
drdharchitects
Ullmayer Sylvester Architects
Witherford Watson Mann Architects
Exhibition Design:
Gage/Clemenceau Architects
Organized by:
AIA New York Chapter in collaboration with The Architecture Foundation in London.
Related Programming Organized by:
Center for Architecture in collaboration with the AIA New York Chapter’s New Practices Committee and the AIA New York Chapter’s International Committee and the Center for Architecture Foundation
Media Partners: The Architect’s Newspaper
Related Events
Saturday, September 15, 2007, 1:00 — 4:00pm
FamilyDay@TheCenter: Design Your Own Exhibition
Organized by the Center for Architecture Foundation
Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 6:00 — 9:00pm
New Practices London Symposium
Super-Model Lecture Series
AIA New York Chapter’s New Practices Roundtable presents an exploration of innovative models of architectural and design practice.
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007, 6:00 — 8:00pm
MEDI_20—100, Medium Size Firms Compare
Tuesday November 6, 2007, 6:00 — 8:00pm
MINI_1-20, small firms means & methods
Thursday, December 6, 2007, 6:00 — 8:00pm
Exfoliation- RE-GENERATION
Exhibition Underwriter:


*Opening presented as part of the SKYY90 Diamond Design Series
Sponsors:

OS Fabrication & Design, The Conran Shop
Supporters:
Arup
bartcoLighting
Fountainhead Construction
FXFOWLE ARCHITECTS
MG & Company
Microsol Resources
Structural Enterprises
Friends:
Barefoot Wines
Cosentini Associates
DEGW
Delta Faucet Company
Perkins Eastman & Partners
July 19 – October 19, 2007
arch schools: r(each)ing out
Galleries: Kohn Pedersen Fox Gallery, HLW Gallery, South Gallery
Last September, leading New York area architecture schools participated in an exhibition that set out to foster a closer connection between the schools, students, and the profession.
This summer will feature our third annual architecture schools exhibition, arch schools: r[each]ing out, devoted exclusively to the work of students. The AIA New York Chapter’s annual architecture schools exhibition demonstrates exemplary student work representing the 9 New York area architecture schools, whose deans sit on the Board of the AIA New York Chapter, and 8 invited schools, including the four interiors design programs in New York City. The schools are asked to submit work related to the 2007 New York Chapter’s presidential theme “Architecture Inside/Out”.
Participating Schools:
The City College of New York (CUNY)
Columbia University
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Cornell University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York School of Interior Design
Parsons the New School for Design
Pratt Institute
PrincetonUniversity
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
School of Visual Arts
Syracuse University
University at Buffalo (SUNY)
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University
Exhibition and related programming organized by the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation
Sponsors:


Supporters:
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Friends:
Beyer Binder Belle: Architects & Planners
Butler Rogers Baskett Architects
Francois de Menil Architect
Gabellini Sheppard Associates
Mancini Duffy
Terrence O’Neal Architect
Related Events
Friday, September 14, 2007, 7:00 –– 9:00pm
AIAS Event
Monday, September 24, 2007, 6:00 –– 9:00pm
Deans Roundtable and Reception
Monday, October 1, 2007, 6:00 – 8:00pm
2007 Dean’s Forum
Thursday, October 11, 2007, 9:00pm – 2:00am
Party@theCenter!
Canopy Nobel Peace Center, Oslo.
Photo by Adjaye/Associates, courtesy Austrian Cultural Forum
Through 10.28.07
David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings
In the first major museum exhibition of British architect David Adjaye’s work, emphasis is placed on the emotion and functionality behind his public buildings, both realized and in development. On display are models, sketches, photographs from his travels, and films of his projects in the realms of learning, community, contemporary art, and performing arts. Projects include the 2005 Venice Biennale pavilion, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.
The Studio Museum in Harlem
144 W.125th Street
Courtesy Austrian Cultural Forum
09.06.07-01.12.08
The Austrian Winery Boom
In addition to a nuanced survey of the cultural and economic situation in Austria since the 1980s, the exhibition offers a study, in 43 projects, of the development from the manor winery to the high-tech wine factory. Individual buildings and architectonic interventions are presented with a wide variety of materials such as blueprints, photographs, models, and sketches, but also individual vintners’ and wineries’ wine bottles.
Austrian Cultural Forum
11 E. 52nd Street
eCalendar includes an interactive listing of architectural events around NYC. Click the link to go to to eCalendar on the Web.
The Public Information Exchange (PIE) is an AIANY initiative designed to create an archive of NYC projects, proposals, programs, and exhibitions presented or discussed at the Center for Architecture. It is a forum for public discussion, both general and professional, that includes continuous commentary from users and participants. Click the link to take part.
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Looking for help? See resumes posted on the AIA New York Chapter website.
Voted 2006 top architecture firm by AIA. Corgan Associates is actively recruiting Architects, Project Architects and Project Managers in NYC. Located in the Empire State Bldg, we specialize in Aviation, Critical Facilities, and Corporate Office. Excellent benefits, bonus, and culture.
Apply online at www.corgan.com
Design Consultant/Programmer
Job Location: DEGW North America
Job Region: New York, NY
Salary: Commensurate with experience
Position Requirements:
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
Experience:
· 2-4 years experience, including 1-2 years space programming experience
· Space planning experience
· Competency in analyzing and assessing information from a variety of sources to create cohesive and relevant findings related to space and occupancy
· Strong organizational skills with the ability to multi-task
· Ability to communicate complex issues visually and verbally
Technical skills:
· Competency in AutoCad
· Competency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
· Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Civic Builders seeks Project Manager. The Project Manager will work with the Director of Real Estate and a team of Project Managers to build Civic’s portfolio of public charter school facilities in NYC. Position will be responsible for helping to execute the firm’s objective of completing eight facilities in the next four years. Responsibilities include researching, vetting, and developing potential real estate deals; supervising environmental, market, physical plant due diligence prior to building/site purchase; assisting with purchase and lease negotiations; project managing construction projects ranging from limited physical plant upgrades to large scale gut renovations and new construction. This includes managing architects, engineers, cost estimators, expediters, contractors, and attorneys to meet tight job schedules and construction budgets.
Successful candidate will have a proven ability to multi-task, take initiative, and work with a team. College degree, excellent organizational, written, verbal communication skills, relevant real estate and/or project management experience and an interest in Civic’s mission a must. Send Resume to hr@civicbuilders.org.
ARCHITECTURE FT/PermPosition
Tired of complaining about your limited influence as an architect? Ever wonder how development and design can work together to make great places and regenerate our cities and smalltowns? Seeking to expand your skill set? If so, Street-Works may be the place for you! Street-Works LLC, an entrepreneurial, award-winning, and design-oriented development & development consulting firm, is seeking urban designers, planners, or architects to work on a range of exciting large-scale mixed-use, and retail-oriented development projects. The candidate must be geared toward working collaboratively in multi-disciplinary teams. Architecture or planning degree req’d and 3-7 years of related experience. Pshop, 3D-modeling, Autocad-proficiency, hand drawing skills and interest in the “bigger picture” a must.
Excellent growth opportunities, competitive salary and benefits.
Send CVs to info@street-works.com.
PROJECT MANAGER
RAND Engineering & Architecture seeks architect to manage large, multifaceted projects (exterior/interior, M/E/P, structural) for residential and commercial buildings. Review plans, coordinate tasks/schedules, client interaction. Strong design, project planning, communication skills required. Resume, salary requirements: hr@randpc.com. www.randpc.com.
ARCHITECT: BUILDING SURVEYS (engineering jobs)
RAND Engineering & Architecture, PC, a fast-growing 75-person Midtown firm, is seeking an architect to conduct building surveys for exterior and interior building systems and prepare reports for capital improvement planning. Knowledge of NYC Building Code, building design from various eras, and strong writing skills required. R.A. license a plus.
Rand offers a comprehensive benefits package that features health and dental coverage, a vision plan, a 401(k) retirement plan with company match, long-term disability, life insurance, and educational opportunities.
Applicants should send resumes and salary requirements to hr@randpc.com or by fax to (212) 691-7972. Please reference ad PCS-0708. www.randpc.com
Senior Landscape Designer for International Practice
The New York City office of one of the largest US-based planning/landscape practices seeks a leader for the landscape portion of their practice. The practice of eight professionals is embedded within a larger design firm that offers many other services. But the Planning/landscape practice is one of the most successful: it has several high profile clients and projects around the New York metro area as well as a few in other parts of the world. As part of a group of over 100 planning, landscape and urban design professionals, the New York office contributes to a portfolio where about 70% of the work is on standalone projects: the remainder are projects where planning, landscape architecture or urban design are integral to projects also requiring the other services of the parent. About half of the work of the group is built work. About half of the work is domestic and half international.
The practice is varied, so as a designer, you would need to be able to work at a variety of scales for a variety of client types from developers, to large corporations, to municipalities and colleges and universities. You should be able to demonstrate leadership ability, since half of the New York practice is comprised of landscape architects who are in search of a mentor. Your leadership abilities should extend beyond the management of the small team, to include a project and business development focus as well, though the latter would not be a large portion of your responsibilities.
By joining this team, you’d be part of a unified collection of experienced individuals who are enthusiastic and entrepreneurial. If you have a Masters in Landscape Architecture and would like to explore the possible directions this positions could take your career, as well as obtain more information, please send your resume in confidence to mary@breuerconsulting.com.
PM/Leader for significant design firm with a new office in New York City
One of the nation’s most respected design firms quietly opened a New York City office at the end of last year. Now with seven people, the office has multiple opportunities for new work… primarily with very prominent clients with complex programs. They are seeking an individual who can bring at least 10 years of predominantly New York experience to the mix in the office and potentially lead the practice within the next couple of years.
If you are a registered architect who is ready to display leadership within the context of one of the nation’s best design firms, this could be an excellent career move for you. Warning: this firm is understandably careful in selecting its team members. You should have worked for a firm with outstanding credentials… particularly in the institutional community (e.g. colleges and universities, museums, labs, healthcare) and your own background must be able to demonstrate an ability to organize complex projects and assume a leadership role quickly. If you would like to learn more, please send your resume in confidence to maryboltz@breuerconsutling.com
Callison: A World of Design Opportunity
Callison is an international architecture firm focused on excellence, in design and client service. The New York office, which services the Retail, Corporate Workplace and Mixed Use markets, is growing and seeks talented:
Project Managers
Project Architects
Designers
Interior Designers
We offer competitive salary, full medical and dental / vision, 401(k) / profit sharing, transit subsidies, and a great location! See how you can join us on our journey by visiting us at www.callison.com Email resume to employment@callison.com
We are an Affirmative Action/EEO Employer who values workplace diversity.
ARCHITECTS
PROJECT MANAGERS & JOB CAPTAINS
Rapidly expanding, award winning NYC firm specializing in boutique hotels and large-scale residential projects throughout North America has multiple openings for Intermediate and Senior Project Managers/Job Captains for large and medium scale projects. AutoCAD proficiency, experience with client contact, consultant coordination a must.
Excellent benefits, salary commensurate with experience. Email resume to H. Weber: contactus@SBJgroup.com
Design Office Coordinator
Pentagram Design seeks an energetic and motivated Office Coordinator for its New York studio. F/T position includes benefits and has growth potential. Salary based on experience. Available immediately. Please send PDF resume/cover letter to apply@pentagram.com.
Architecture–Project Manager
Nationally recognized health/science practice seeks Project Manager to join our NYC-based team. Masters or Bachelors Degree in Architecture a must. 8–10 years experience in research/hospital design required. Communications skills/computer design software proficiency required. E-mail resume: nyhr@karlsberger.com
Architecture–Junior Project Designer
Karlsberger seeks junior project designer to join our NYC-based health/science practice. Masters or Bachelors Degree in Architecture a must. 1-3 years experience in research/healthcare design preferred. Communications skills and computer design software proficiency required. E-mail resume: nyhr@karlsberger.com
ARCHITECT/JOB CAPTAIN
The Pratt Center for Community Development works for a more just, equitable and sustainable city for all New Yorkers, by empowering communities to plan for and realize their futures. We seek an architect to provide architectural services to not-for-profit, community-based organizations in New York City.
For a detailed position description, requirements and application procedures, please visit our website at www.pratt.edu/jobs. For more information about Pratt Center, please visit www.prattcenter.net.
Pratt Institute is an equal opportunity employer.
Seeking Landscape Architect with strong graphic, design and technical skills for position in an established office with a diverse range of projects: parks, campuses, public art, waterfront, rooftops and cultural facilities.
Entry level to 3 years experience. Degree in Landscape Architecture required. Architecture graduates with landscape experience will be considered.
Proficiency in AutoCad, digital graphic programs, 3D modeling/computer rendering essential.
Email resume and images of design work, rendering, and AutoCad.
Andrew Moore
Quennell Rothschild and Partners
moore@qrpartners.com
www.qrpartners.com
Senior Architect/Project Manager
Minimum 15 years experience, license preferred.
Award-winning mid-size firm seeking talented and experienced architects for leadership on significant mixed-use urban projects. CAD proficiency, design and construction document experience required. Congenial, design-oriented office specializing in sustainable ‘Green’ design, housing, community development and schools. Good benefits + salary with growth opportunity.
Please email resume and salary requirements to Lrondon@maparchitects.com
NBBJ, a leading global architecture firm, has growth opportunities for qualified Intermediate and Senior level Architects, Project Managers, and Interior Designers to join teams working on Corp/Comm, Sci/Ed and Healthcare projects regionally and internationally. To apply, please visit http://www.nbbj.com/whoweare/careers/joblistings.htm.
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