In this issue:
· Active Design Approaches Critical Mass
· One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Re-imagining NYC Streets
· ASHRAE for Architects: Panelists Demystify Energy Standards
· How to Create Winning Proposals
· New Practices New York Winners Break New Ground
· Design, Density, and Development in an Ever Growing Metropolis

Event: Active Living Research and NYC Active Design Summit
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Jim Sallis, Ph.D. — Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University, & Program Director, Active Living Research; Karen Lee, MD — NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH); Jon Orcutt — NYC Department of Transportation (DOT); Shampa Chanda — NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD); Alexandros Washburn, AIA — NYC Department of City Planning (DCP); Adena Long — NYC Department of Parks; Andrew Rundle, Dr.PH — Physical Activity Epidemiologist, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Joyce Lee, AIA, LEED AP — NYC Office of Management and Budget; David Burney, FAIA — Commissioner, NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC); Lourdes Hernández-Cordero, Dr.PH — Clinical Sociomedical Sciences Researcher, Mailman School, Columbia; Mindy Fullilove, MD — Clinical Psychiatry/Public Health Researcher, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Mailman School, Columbia; Kevin Nadal, Ph.D. — Multicultural Psychology Researcher, City University of New York
Organizers: Active Living Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; AIANY

Courtesy of NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

After five Fit City conferences and the Active Design Guidelines (ADG) publication, researchers nationwide are exploring the relation of urban design to epidemic “diseases of energy” that are reaching the point where institutional status seems appropriate. The recent half-day summit drew attention to policy and infrastructural expressions of the city’s commitment to active design and these efforts’ basis in research. What began with common sense, good intentions, and foundation grants is now a movement picking up steam in New York and beyond.

While not a public meeting, the Active Living Research (ALR) Summit included one announcement of potential public interest: DDC Commissioner David Burney, FAIA, citing the overwhelming response to the ADG, proposed a new Center for Active Design, a nonprofit organization that would launch in spring 2012, when current funding for the ADG team expire. Burney and other officials highlighted current and projected efforts to reshape civic space to foster healthier living. Along with pedestrian-plaza reclamations and bike lanes, various agencies are conducting behind-the-scenes activities such as “food desert” mapping to guide City Planning zoning-incentive decisions (the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health program, or FRESH). Volunteers partnering with the Parks Department have built mountain biking and bicycle motocross facilities at long-neglected Highbridge Park; when the High Bridge reopens in 2012 or 2013, linking Manhattan and Bronx bike paths, Washington Heights may become the city’s center for extreme sports.

The city is also laying groundwork for a public/private partnership on bike sharing. Asked about the French experience with Vélib rentals, DOT’s Jon Orcutt noted that the system’s widely publicized problems generate useful feedback about ways to fine-tune details of pricing and vandal-deterring design. Aware of the mixed results in Paris but also the positive effects in multiple cities, NYC is weighing potential vendors carefully before setting an announcement date.

In briefer talks, ALR’s participants presented epidemiologic and sociological findings on a cluster of interrelated topics: walkability studies, ethnic-group correlations with views of physical activity as a cultural norm, and an “intervention block” reversing blight from the 1980s crack-cocaine trade.

Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in OCULUS, Icon, Content, The Architect’s Newspaper, and other publications.

Event: New York City Streets: Top-Down, Bottom-Up
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Janette Sadik-Khan — Commissioner, NYC Department of Transportation; Elizabeth Berger — President, Alliance for Downtown New York; Tim Tompkins — President, Times Square Alliance; Noah Budnick — Deputy Director, Transportation Alternatives; Joan Byron — Director, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative, Pratt Center for Community Development; Thomas Yu — Co-Chair, Chinatown Working Group
Respondents: Rob Eisenstat, AIA — Assistant Chief Architect, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Tom Wright — Executive Vice President, Regional Plan Association; Randall Morton, AIA — Partner, Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Moderator: Walter Hook — Executive Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Organizer: Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in collaboration with AIANY

“Cool Water” by Molly Dilworth in Times Square.

Courtesy NYC Department of Transportation

People love public spaces, but balancing them with the demands of NYC’s streets is challenging. Thanks to the work of the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) and other organizations, the streets are becoming greener and more conducive to lingering.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan discussed pilot projects, including new urban plazas in Herald Square and Madison Square and closing Broadway through Times Square. Though these projects greatly improve the streetscape, they are not expensive. “You can do a lot with a paint can and brush,” she said, and, in some cases, simply providing seating makes all the difference. Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance agreed. Last summer, after the new pedestrian plaza opened, he ordered cheap lawn chairs to offer a moment of respite within chaos. That move drew even lifelong New Yorkers to the tourist mecca.

In Lower Manhattan, Elizabeth Berger sought big ideas. Twelve design firms were invited by the Downtown Alliance to re-imagine the area dubbed “Greenwich South,” though smaller-scale efforts such as the transformation of Water Street into an active pedestrian thoroughfare may be realistically achieved within a few years. Joan Byron of Pratt’s Center for Community Development advocates the removal of the Sheridan Expressway to reconnect the Hunts Point neighborhood with the Bronx and make room for mixed-income housing.

Developer Thomas Yu discussed Chinatown’s love/hate relationship with its infamous buses. Though he believes that they provide an “economic lifeline,” they also create noise and pollution that is unpleasant for pedestrians navigating Chinatown’s already crowded streets. Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives suggested that NYC’s general speed limit be lowered to 20 mph, a speed at which pedestrians have a 40% higher chance of surviving a collision than the current 30 mph limit.

As a result of the ideas and advocacy from these interrelated organizations, the streets of NYC are becoming more pedestrian-friendly. However, these varied strategies prove that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for such a diverse city.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architectural writer and a contributing editor to e-Oculus.

Event: Integration Series 101: Bridging the Roles of Architect and Engineer: 101 Fundamentals of ASHRAE 90.1
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.28.10
Speakers: Michael Waite, PE, CEM, LEED AP — Senior Building Technology Engineer, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger; Fiona Cousins, PE, LEED AP — Principal, Arup
Moderator: Ilana Judah, Intl. Assoc. AIA, OAQ, LEED AP — Director of Sustainability, FXFOWLE Architects
Organizers: AIANY COTE Committee; ASHRAE NY Sustainability Committee

Many designers hesitate to dig too deeply into engineering standards and codes — ASHRAE 90.1, for instance. But as moderator Ilana Judah, Intl. Assoc. AIA, said, “It’s something we could certainly engage with more as architects, in order to ask better questions of our engineers, and to form a more integrated design process.” Furthermore, if technical issues aren’t considered early on, it could lead to costly redesigns down the road.

What is ASHRAE 90.1? This standard determines minimum energy-efficiency guidelines for all buildings (except for residences shorter than four-stories). Many jurisdictions — New York included — have adopted the standard as code. It is developed triennially by a commission of architects, engineers, and product manufacturers, and all proposed updates are subjected to public review.

The standard was born of the 1973 oil crisis, with the first version released in January 1975. Michael Waite, PE, CEM, LEED AP, noted the speediness of its creation: “This is a total of 15 months between the onset of a crisis and the development of a brand new energy efficiency standard — it shows that if you really put your mind to it and the put the effort behind it, you can do big things.” Interestingly, Fiona Cousins, PE, LEED AP, noted that ASHRAE 90.1 was developed in the 1970s to minimize energy costs, not necessarily consumption, which puts the standard at a slight philosophical distance from today’s conception of sustainability. But however it’s measured, given that renewable sources account for only 7% of current-day energy production, energy efficiency remains vitally important.

ASHRAE 90.1 is divided into sections according to building systems: the building envelope, HVAC, and lighting, for example. The way the standard works, most sections have “prescriptive,” “trade-off,” and “performance rated” or “simulation” methods for determining compliance. The prescriptive method (the simplest) lists baseline energy performance criteria for a particular system or assembly — if all areas meet the criteria, the building is compliant. The trade-off method allows diminished performance in one area, as long as it is offset by increased performance in another. For more complex building designs, simulations and computer modeling can be used to determine compliance.

In the future, ASHRAE 90.1 will become more and more stringent — the 2010 edition aims to increase efficiency by 30% over the 2004 standard. The new edition’s scope will expand as well, addressing building operations and maintenance, on-site renewable energy sources, and industrial processes — which will create new challenges for architects.

Carl Yost is the marketing and publicity coordinator for Gabellini Sheppard Associates. He has written for Forbes.com, Architectural Record, and The Architect’s Newspaper, among other publications.

Event: What You Say and What They See: A Client Perspective on Winning Proposals
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.26.10
Speakers: Frances Halsband, FAIA — Principal, Kliment Halsband Architects; Stephen Yablon, AIA — Principal, Stephen Yablon Architect; Mark Gordon, AIA — Director for Design, NYU Strategic Assessment, Planning and Design; Faith Rose, RA — Senior Design Liaison, NYC Department of Design + Construction
Moderator: Kirsten Sibilia, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP — Chief Marketing Officer, Dattner Architects
Organizers: AIANY Marketing & PR Committee

We have all come across poorly crafted Request for Proposals (RFP) from potential clients. Frances Halsband, FAIA, sees this as a missed opportunity for the client to market their projects to architects. “This is their chance to make the project sound great, communicate goals, and get architects excited about their project,” she said. NYU and the NYC Department of Design + Construction (DDC) understand how to do that, but “not all institutions or agencies have a sophisticated proposal process as our two client panelists,” according to moderator Kirsten Sibilia, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP. Since the actual content of the RFP is beyond the architect’s purview, this panel of experienced clients and architects discussed how to create a winning proposal.

Overall, proposals should convey the firm’s understanding of the client’s issues and the process the team will bring to the project. “The client wants to know that you are listening to them and can solve their problems,” said the DDC’s Faith Rose, RA. The clients on the panel stated they do not want design solutions in response to their RFPs. They would prefer analytical approaches and appreciate firms communicating their excitement about specific aspects of the project. In cases where an RFP warrants the inclusion of a design concept, the panelists suggested that more than one good idea be submitted by a firm.

The experience of the team being proposed is crucial, especially in the case of the project manager. The resumé should convey relevant experience, and the project approach should allow the voice of the project manager to shine through. A successful proposal demonstrates that the project manager is capable of handling the job.

When responding to an RFP, the panel agreed that proposals should be brief, clear, honest, jargon-free, and focused on the client and the potential project.

Basima Rum, Assoc. AIA, is the director of marketing at Dattner Architects.

Event: New Practices New York Showcase: Winners’ Panel Discussion
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.29.10
Speakers: Lonn Combs — Co-Founder, EASTON + COMBS; Jonus Ademovic, Assoc. AIA, and Chrostos Athanasiou — Principals, Archipelagos; Christopher Leong, Assoc. AIA, and Dominic Leong — Principals, Leong Leong; Kit von Dalwig, AIA, and Philipp von Dalwig, LEED AP — Principals, Manifold Architecture Studio; Michael Szivos — Partner, Softlab; Jing Liu — Co-Founder, SO-IL; Jeremy Barbour, AIA — Principal, Tacklebox
Moderator: Galia Solomonoff, AIA — Solomonoff Architecture Studio
Organizer: AIANY New Practices Committee
Sponsors: Lead Sponsors: Dornbracht; MG & Company; Valiant Technology; Sponsors: Espasso; Hafele; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Media Sponsor: The Architect’s Newspaper

Gyeonggi-do Jeongok Prehistory Museum, Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

EASTON+COMBS

In its third iteration, AIANY’s New Practices New York competition recognized seven firms that exemplify innovation, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking. The founders of the winning firms — EASTON + COMBS, Archipelagos, Leong Leong, Manifold Architecture Studio, Softlab, SO-IL, and Tacklebox — have each dedicated their practices to collaborative models and novel inquiry. While their projects vary from retail interiors to bars and exhibition installations, the awarded practices share an interest in exploring architectural research, materiality, and production methods to inform their work.

To qualify for the New Practices competition, firms must have been established since 2004. It is the innovative strategies with which they design and investigate architecture that make them worthy of commendation. Jing Liu, co-founder of SO-IL, the designer of the PoleDance exhibition at MoMA’s P.S.1, recalled her firm’s initial work designing loft renovations. Liu said, “A good project often starts with a supportive client” who allows boundaries to be expanded and rules to be broken. Liu and her partner, Florian Idenburg, Intl. Assoc. AIA, aspire to interact with diverse clients and projects while ensuring the ideas are the front-runner in the office, rather than the status of their firm identity.

Trailblazers in their craft, this generation of designers represents not just new offices, observed Lonn Combs, co-founder of EASTON + COMBS, but new directions in design. It has been customary in the past for young designers to spend many years working under the auspices of starchitects and large firms and retaining employment within those firms. However, the norm has shifted to abandoning big name bragging rights to developing new practices that venerate experimentation. The rite of passage for young designers, according to Michael Szivos, partner at Softlab, is no longer passing through a well-known firm. It is opening up a firm of one’s own.

The New Practices New York exhibition is on view at The Center for Architecture through 10.23.10.

Jacqueline Pezzillo, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, is the communications manager at Davis Brody Bond Aedas and a regular contributor to e-Oculus.

Event: Hong Kong: Architectural and Urban Perspectives
Location: Center for Architecture, 06.29.10
Speakers: Tunney Lee — Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies + Planning, Emeritus, MIT; James von Klemperer, FAIA — Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Anthony Vacchione, AIA — Managing Principal, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Moderator: George Melas, AIA, LEED AP — AIANY Global Dialogues Committee. A Q&A session closing the discussion was contributed to by Leslie Robertson, Dist.M.ASCE and SawTeen See, Dist.M.ASCE of Leslie E. Robertson Associates
Organizer: AIANY Global Dialogues Committee

Hong Kong Skyline.

Pwojdacz

In a metropolis that seeks new pathways for expansion, urban design in Hong Kong is currently addressing historical and contemporary approaches to housing, transportation, and open space.

Hong Kong emerged as a trading hub in the British Empire due to its location and harbor, said Tunney Lee giving an historic perspective. Known as “the best deep water port between Singapore and Yokohama,” Hong Kong rapidly grew as a manufacturing center. The corresponding upsurge in land use was achieved by cutting into hilly terrain and infilling surrounding bays. Design of residential stock progressed from low-rise units, typical of construction in the 1950s-1970s, to high-rise developments first built in the 1980s and continuing through today. Residential towers were thoroughly integrated with transportation and retail.

Anthony Vacchione, AIA, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, provided an overview of his firm’s work in the region. Involved in civic projects, such as the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, as well as master planning and design services for the Hong Kong International Airport, Vacchione indicated that transportation functions are “key to global prominence and competitiveness.” A SkyCity proposed for the airport was designed with the intent to create a 24-hour district in the environs of a terminal. The array of uses contained therein would consist of hotel, office, and retail.

Kohn Pedersen Fox is examining elements of Hong Kong’s transportation system as a network of elevated walkways that could provide a locus for activity above ground level, said Principal James von Klemperer, FAIA. Two mixed-use projects — the International Commerce Center in Hong Kong and Ping An Center in Shenzhen — are sited above rail stations. Designs for other projects, such as the Hong Kong Sanatorium + Hospital, incorporate a vertically stacked program to enhance efficiency.

Kinshasa Peterson is the director of marketing at Leslie E. Robertson Associates. She is also a writer and member of the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee.