In this issue:
· For Once, a View from the Ground Up
· What NY Baseball Can Learn from Red Sox
· Design Education Turns Social
· SpeedMentoring Launches Women in Architecture
· NYC’s Anxiety of Change
· New High Line to Open in 2008

Event: The World Trade Center Site: Designing the Public Realm
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.18.07
Speakers: Panel A: Program and Schedule: Steven Plate — Director, World Trade Center Construction, The Port Authority of NY and NJ; Joan Gerner, Assoc. AIA — Executive Vice President of Design Construction & Capital Planning, National September 11 Memorial & Museum; Janno Lieber — WTC Project Director, Silverstein Properties; Panel B: Planning and Design of the Public Realm: Joe Brown, FASLA — President/CEO, EDAW; Peter Walker, FASLA — Partner-in-Charge, Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architects; Anne Lewison, AIA — Architect, Snøhetta; Respondents: Allen Swerdlowe, AIA — Chair, New York New Visions (NYNV) Site Committee; Ned McGuire — Chair, Civic Alliance, NYNV Memorial Committee
Moderators: Panel A: Rick Bell, FAIA — Executive Director, AIANY; Panel B: Ernest Hutton, Assoc. AIA, AICP — Co-Chair, NYNV
Organizer: New York New Visions

Work is being done at Ground Zero.

Courtesy Joe Woolhead, www.panynj.gov

As designs crystallize at the World Trade Center site, people are wondering what Lower Manhattan will look like from the ground — not just from the bird’s-eye perspective seen in many published renderings. Speakers from city agencies and key designers recently provided a status report focusing on at-ground activity and the public realm.

Grade-level planning begins at the programming and scheduling stages. For example, to enhance a visitor’s experience of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, pedestrian planning is being considered while the design is at its preliminary phases, according to Joan Gerner, Assoc. AIA, executive vice president of design construction and capital planning. Using computer software, the team created a visualization of the Memorial’s pedestrian traffic patterns of visitors, residents, and workers. On a larger scale, the new towers will relate to each other and the surrounding neighborhoods because of the collaboration among site architects throughout the design process, not just after the designs have been solidified, explained Janno Lieber, WTC project director at Silverstein Properties.

A key factor when designing a building or memorial is how it will relate to the public realm; and every firm designing for the WTC site is approaching this challenge differently. When planning the overall site, urban designers from EDAW are looking to “totally reform the public realm of Lower Manhattan,” stated president/CEO Joe Brown, FASLA. From details (the design of street lights) to overarching principles (promoting civic activity and interaction), EDAW is carefully considering the shaping of the sites’ public spaces. Peter Walker, FASLA, partner-in-charge of Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architects, designing the landscape of the World Trade Center Memorial, is attempting to re-imagine the relationship between secular and sacred spaces by integrating active and contemplative elements. Planted trees are intended to arch like cathedrals over busy paths, for example. A memorial pavilion, designed by Snøhetta, will glow at all hours and act as a beacon on the site.

The public desires Ground Zero to be wonderful, and built soon.

Laura Manville is the Policy Coordinator and Barb Steffen is the Communications Coordinator at AIANY.

Event: Take Me Out to the Brand-New Ballpark
Location: Museum of the City of New York, 09.27.07
Speakers: John Pastier — Architecture Critic & Author, Historic Ballparks (Chartwell Books, 2006); Janet Marie Smith — Senior Vice President of Planning and Development, Boston Red Sox; Andrew Zimbalist — Stadium Consultant, Author, In the Best Interests of Baseball? (Wiley, 2007), & Professor of Economics, Smith College
Moderator: Frank Deford — Sportswriter, Novelist, Correspondent, HBO & NPR
Organizers: Museum of the City of New York

“The Façade” at Yankee Stadium is a replica of the original copper frieze that ran around the grandstand’s upper deck. The frieze will return to the upper deck roof in the new Yankee Stadium, designed by HOK Sport.

Photo credit goes here.

In association with The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947-1957 exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, experts in the field discussed what made old ballparks unique, how the suburbanization of America affected ballpark design, and why current trends in ballpark architecture take cues from the past.

Old ball fields began as urban parks; the size of the fields depended on the size of city blocks. As structures developed around the parks, they blended with the surrounding neighborhoods. Originally financed by city governments, at a time when team salaries were more reasonable, ball fields and players were an integral part of community life. And with cheap ticket prices, everone in the community could enjoy the games, meanwhile creating camaraderie across classes. Known as jewel box parks, Ebbets Field and Yankee Stadium represent this era.

In the 1960s and 70s, ballpark designs changed to accommodate car culture and became studies in parking lot planning and cookie-cutter construction. Shea Stadium, built in 1960, is an example of these types of arenas with its circular shape and ability to be converted into a football stadium. Multi-use was a priority, not intimacy. It wasn’t until 1992, when Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore was constructed, that designers began looking to the past to recapture what was lost. Sited downtown near the waterfront, it is accessible to all city dwellers. To make Camden Yards unique to Baltimore, an old warehouse was preserved in right field. While it helped revitalize the surrounding neighborhood, unfortunately its economic success is rare among new ballparks.

Oddly enough, new stadiums have not been found to bring prosperity to a neighborhood, says Andrew Zimbalist, stadium consultant, author, and economics professor at Smith College. Since there are only 81 home games per season, the areas surrounding stadiums tend to be blighted most of the year. Also, players can afford to live away from the cities in which they play. With high salaries, income goes to their hometowns and does not filter back into the city’s local economy. However, if new parks bring auxiliary development in addition to the stadium, such as housing and year-round amenities, the profit margin goes up.

The upcoming Yankees and Mets stadiums will be new construction, but planners are trying to preserve the nostalgia of old ballparks and include modern amenities to be economically viable. Both teams should use parks such as Boston’s Fenway Park as a model, claims Janet Marie Smith, senior vice president of planning and development for Boston Red Sox (who also helped plan and develop Camden Yards). Fenway, a jewel box constructed in 1912, has been able to endure all trends with a few minor modern-day improvements such as increasing aisle sizes and adding bleacher seats above the Green Monster. Despite being one of the smallest ballparks, it is able to be financially successful because of the adjacent Yawkey Way, which has year-round concessions, restaurants, and bars. With NY baseball fans as fervent as Boston’s, there is hope for success in future development.

Event: Deans Roundtable and Reception, arch schools: r(each)ing out
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.24.07
Speakers: George Ranalli, AIA — Dean of Architecture, The City College of New York; Mark Wigley — Dean, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University; Anthony Vidler — Dean of Architecture, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art; Moshen Mostafavi — Dean of Architecture, Cornell University; Urs P. Gauchat — Dean of Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Judith DiMaio, AIA — Dean of Architecture & Design, New York Institute of Technology; Scott Ageloff, AIA, ASID, IDEC, NYSID — Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean, New York School of Interior Design; Kent Kleinman — Chair of Architecture, Parsons the New School for Design; Tom Hanrahan, AIA — Dean of Architecture, & Anita Cooney — Chair of Interior Design, Pratt Institute; Stan Allen, AIA — Dean of Architecture, Princeton University; Alan Balfour, Assoc. AIA — Dean of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Jane Smith, AIA — Chair of Interior Design, School of Visual Arts; Mark Robbins — Dean of Architecture, Syracuse University; University at Buffalo (SUNY); Gary Hack — Dean, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; Keith Krumwiede — Assistant Dean & Professor of Architecture, Yale University
Moderator: Marvin Malecha, FAIA — ACSA Distinguished Professor, TOPAZ Laureate, Dean, College of Design, North Carolina State University & 2008 AIA First Vice President/President-Elect
Organizers: AIANY; Center for Architecture Foundation
Sponsors: RMJM Hillier; Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Supporter: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners; Friends: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners; Butler Rogers Baskett; Francois de Menil Architects; Gabellini Sheppard Associates; Mancini Duffy; Robert A.M. Stern Architects; Terrence O’Neal Architect; beverages provided by Izze

Courtesy AIANY

Based on images and themes captured from the recent popular press, roundtable moderator Marvin Malecha, FAIA, dean of the NC State University College of Design, drilled 16 local deans on questions relating to design and social responsibility. Malecha peppered the panel with questions like “Why should the public trust architects?” and “Do architects really care about the ‘other’ 90% of society?”

Most of the deans conceded that social initiatives should be used to engage students, such as providing social housing and designing to avert sprawl. At the same time, some deans questioned the logic of migrating to a curriculum with an entirely social agenda. Stan Allen, AIA, dean of architecture at Princeton University, said that while high-level design and social agendas could work together, students should not be mandated to focus on social problems. “The world is changing; we cannot teach on a snapshot of the moment.”

Malecha, who will serve as 2009 AIA president, asked the deans how far they see architecture practice and the AIA actually affecting architecture education. According to a number of deans, rigorous business and professional practice classes can add to the architecture curricula, but should not supplant the importance of design teaching in a studio structure. Formal education is just the beginning of a long process, said Anthony Vidler, dean of Cooper Union. “We are nowhere near the end of it when a student graduates.”

Carolyn Sponza, AIA, is an architect with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners and is the AIANY Chapter Vice President of Professional Development.

Event: SpeedMentoring: presented by AIANY Women in Architecture
Location: Haworth Inc., 09.25.07
Organizer: AIANY Women in Architecture
Sponsor: Haworth Inc.

Joan Bluemfeld, FAIA, IIDA, LEED AP, 2007 AIANY President (left), and Tina D’Auria, architecture student, participate in the Women in Architecture SpeedMentoring program.

Carolyn Sponza

Inspired by popular “speed dating” events, the format of SpeedMentoring was intended to connect women in architecture with mentors and mentees in a fun and informative environment. Participating in the event, I met several intelligent and motivated women. If this was the AIANY Women in Architecture (WIA) committee’s goal, then it was a success. However, much like speed dating, I do not feel as if it was the best environment to find “the one” mentor or mentee.

During the evening, there were three rounds of structured group discussion; each group consisted of participants with experience levels varying from interns to principals. Receptions held before and after the organized discussions encouraged more informal conversation. Although the event is a good concept in theory, I found the time limitations to be restrictive. Also, the structure was too formal to make meaningful, personal connections. Following initial introductions, most women seemed cheery about their experiences in the profession and their career goals. As someone who is not sure she wants to be an architect, I felt guilty sharing this fact after a speech on the dismaying statistics of women leaving the profession. Rather, I felt pressure to exclaim how I can’t wait to become licensed and work my way up to a partner position.

Perhaps a more effective program would involve placing mentors and mentees in groups with similar goals and experiences and allowing more time to get to know each other. While it is valuable for women to mentor each other within the profession, it is most important to find the right mentor, no matter their sex.

To receive more information about upcoming WIA programs, visit the Women in Architecture NYC Google group.

Murrye Bernard, Assoc. AIA, is a designer with TEK Architects and Director of Forward, a publication of AIA’s National Associates Committee.

Event: This Will Kill That? presents Adam Gopnik discussing his book, Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York (Knopf, 2006)
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.26.07
Speaker: Adam Gopnik — writer, essayist, commentator
Organizer: AIANY Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) committee

Courtesy randomhouse.com

When reading his essays, one can picture author Adam Gopnik exploring the life of NYC streets, rather than laboring behind a desk. Since returning from Paris in 2000, many of his wanderings, recorded in Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York, are attempts to understand events that have affected and continue to profoundly change NYC.

“Change as creative destruction is the rule of living in a capitalist society,” according to Gopnik, and that change is a defining aspect of NYC life. Over the last 25 years NYC has made “enormous gains in civility,” says Gopnik, but at a cost to its identity. Without nostalgia for the 1970s, he mourns the loss of variety and pines for the earlier “soulful and funky New York that seemed worth moving to.” Simultaneously, he acknowledges a tendency to attribute “virtue to the old manufacturing city” and a “moral uneasiness with the new city of finance.” Can this perceived loss of identity be fixed, wonders Gopnik, and if so, should it? Furthermore, is the apparent loss of diversity in NYC real, or simply perceived?

After 9-11, the city changed again and for Gopnik the tragedy highlighted that “more than any other city, NY exists at once as a city of symbols and associations, literary and artistic, and as a city of real things.” In Gopnik’s experience of that day, “the symbolic city, the city that the men in the planes attacked, seemed much less important than the real city, where the people in the towers lived.” Simultaneously, the everyday city and all of “the little rituals of New York” were “enacted more mindfully.” In the struggle for normal urban life post-9/11, Gopnik, stresses that “anxiety is provocative, a stimulant that makes you act out; fear is silencing, a paralytic, and it makes you burrow in. Movement and activity can eliminate anxiety,” he adds, while “fear can only be cured by retreat.”

Gregory Haley, AIA, AICP, LEED AP, is a project architect and urban designer at Studio V Architecture, and teaches architectural design studios at NYIT School of Architecture. He is also a co-founder of TWKT.

Event: High Line Discovered
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.25.07
Speaker: Joshua David & Robert Hammond — Co-Founders, Friends of the High Line
Organizer: NY Chapter/American Society of Landscape Architects

The High Line: NYC will be the world’s second city to boast a 1.5-mile linear promenade (the other is Promenade Plantée in Paris).

Courtesy Friends of the High Line

More than a year after the first grass-covered plank was removed from the abandoned High Line, the elevated rail bed is being transformed, and the first section running from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street is projected to open in 2008. Robert Hammond, co-founder of the Friends of the High Line (FHL), described the design-selection process and recounted the two international competitions that led to the final concept.

The last train ran in 1980. Since then, nature reclaimed the rail bed and the High Line faced demolition plans for much of the past two decades. The design team, led by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro with co-opted engineering, lighting, and horticulture experts, seeks to preserve and reinterpret the industrial-meets-natural condition of the structure.

Concrete planks will meander the promenade, morphing into furniture and acting as a smooth walkway. Hundreds of plant species, selected by Dutch horticulturalist Piet Oudolf, will sprout through the seams of the curbs and create a patchwork of local perennials, shrubs, grasses, and trees. Running through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen, the “park-in-the-sky” will be open at night, with low lighting illuminating the path allowing visitors to experience the city lights.

Hammond used a map to show the development slated to take place near the High Line in the coming years — including the Whitney Museum of American Art’s satellite museum to be located on Gansevoort Street at the gateway to the promenade. While the future of the rail bed from 30th to 34th Streets is still up in the air, Hammond said that the momentum of the FHL’s partnership with NYC and other supporters leaves room for optimism.

Kathryn Carlson is studying journalism at NYU.