On Governors Island sits a dilapidated military fortification that happens to have the identical blueprint as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The New Globe Campaign wants to restore the fort as a new performing arts center designed by Foster and Partners, and is calling for public comments by March 18 to support its cause. The proposal has received backing from noteworthy individuals and organizations, including Senators Clinton and Schumer, Kenneth Jackson, Kent Barwick, actors Al Pacino, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, and Julianne Moore, directors Woody Allen, and Mike Nichols.
Month: March 2008
The 2008 AIANY Design Awards have been announced. In Architecture, an Honor Award was given to Steven Holl Architects (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art); Merit Awards include: Andrew Berman Architect (Private Library and Writing Studio); Thomas Phifer & Partners (Salt Point House); Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (Skirkanich Hall); FXFOWLE Architects/Renzo Piano Building Workshop (The New York Times Building); and Polshek Partnership Architects (Yale University Art Gallery, Kahn Building Renovation).
In Interior Architecture, Honor Awards include: De-Spec Inc./Vista Engineering (Blanchet Flowers); Architecture Research Office (Susan P. and Richard A. Friedman Study Center); Joel Sanders Architect (Yale University Art Gallery Media Lounge). Merit Awards went to: WORK AC (Anthropologie Store); Bentel & Bentel Architects (CRAFTSTEAK NY); STUDIOS Architecture (IAC Headquarters); Stephan Jaklitsch Architects (Marc Jacobs Paris); Workshop For Architecture (Maritime Intelligence Group Office); Christoff:Finio Architecture (Museum as Hub at the New Museum of Contemporary Art); and Shelton, Mindel & Associates (North Sea Poolhouse).
Project Honor Award recipients include: OBRA Architects (BEATFUSE!); David Yum Architects (ELV Winery); West 8/Rogers Marvel Architects/Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Quennell Rothschild & Partners/SMWM (Governors Island Redevelopment); Toshiko Mori Architect (The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems); Cook + Fox Architects (Waterfront Tower); and Leeser Architecture (World Mammoth and Permafrost Museum). Merit Awards went to: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Al Rajhi Bank Headquarters); Zakrzewski & Hyde Architects (Hudson Square RISE); WRT Design (Queens Plaza Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project); Himma Architecture Studio (Ridge House and Master Plan); Joel Sanders Architect with Haeahn Architecture (Seongbukdong Residences); Leven Betts Studio (Stockholm Public Library Addition); AC Hocek Architecture (The Tristes Tropiques Houses); and GRO Architects (Best Pedestrian Route)…
02.26.08: Building China: Five Projects, Five Stories and Co-Evolution: Danish/Chinese Collaboration on Sustainable Urban Development in China exhibition openings.
AIANY 2008 President James McCullar, FAIA, and 2005 President Susan Chin, FAIA.
Kristen Richards
Center for Architecture Director of Exhibitions Sophie Stigliano and Kjersti Wikstrøm, Project Manager at the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), part of the Co-Evolution curatorial team.
Kristen Richards
02.25.08: AIANY 2008 Design Awards reception.
Architecture jurors Ada Karmi-Melamede and David Adjaye, RIBA, with Design Awards Chair William Singer, AIA.
Kristen Richards
01.24.08: Celebrating the launch of USA: Modern Architectures in History
(l-r): author Gwendolyn Wright, Robert Kliment, FAIA, Frances Halsband, FAIA, and Walter Chatham, FAIA
Kristen Richards
02.26.08: The opening reception for the new Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design designed by Lyn Rice Architects.
Team member Astrid Lipka, AIA, and Lyn Rice, AIA, pose in front of the real yellow-poplar bark wall.
Margaret Rice
Oculus 2008 Editorial Calendar
If you are an architect by training or see yourself as an astute observer of New York’s architectural and planning scene, note that OCULUS editors are looking for writers for the Fall and Winter issues. The themes:
Fall OCULUS: Practice. Focus of this year’s Practice issue is on the architectural office — the culture and decision-making structure of NY-based practices, how the office’s design reflects the culture, along with the views key players in the firm.
Winter OCULUS: Competing for Space. Explore the growing competition between expansionist institutions on limited sites and the interests of adjacent communities, many in residential areas with moderate-income families.
If you’re interested, please contact OCULUS editor-in-chief Kristen Richards. with a brief outline and full contact information.
Spring 2008: closed
Summer 2008: closed
06.01.08 Fall 2008: Practice
08.01.08 Winter 2008-09: Competing for Space
03.20.08 Call for Entries: Design Within Reach: Modern + Design + Function
M+D+F 2008 is a juried exhibition to uncover and promote innovative modern furniture by emerging designers in NY. Organized by Design Within Reach, local creative professionals in the design, architecture, and art worlds will select 10-15 of the top entries to be exhibited at DWR Columbus Avenue. A separate award will be given out to the designer whose submission best exemplifies environmentally conscious design.
03.07.08 Call for Entries: AIA Los Angeles Design Awards
The AIA Los Angeles Chapter encourages any architect who has completed projects in the Los Angeles area to enter the 2008 AIA/LA Design Awards, NEXT LA Awards, and the Cultural Affairs Commission (CAC) Awards. In addition to projects by Los Angeles-based architects, projects that are located in the Los Angeles area but are designed by architects outside of LA are also eligible for the awards.
03.31.08 Call for Entries: Promosedia International Design Competition: Caiazza Memorial Challenge 2008
Architects and designers under 40 and students are invited to submit designs for indoor chairs made predominately of timber. The competition seeks unpublished, original and technically feasible designs with due attention to ergonomics, function, materials and the requirements for mass production. The First Prize of €3,500 will be awarded, and up to two special recognition awards of €500 each will be awarded for reimbursement of expenses. Prototypes will be made of the winning entries and they will be on display at the Promosedia 2008 — International Chair Exhibition.
03.31.08 Call for Submissions: Flip a Strip
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art has launched a national design competition and exhibition calling for visionary renovations of the small-scale strip shopping plazas that are found throughout the U.S. The initiative is an idea-generating competition, not a design/build project. Three cash prizes will be bestowed. Participants must be architects with at least five years professional experience and are asked to develop a model that makes strip malls “economically viable, aesthetically interesting, and communally meaningful.”
03.31.08 Call for Entries: Deborah J. Norden Fund
Administered by the Architectural League of New York, the Deborah J. Norden Fund, established in 1995 in memory of architect and arts administrator Deborah Norden, awards a total of up to $5,000 annually in travel/ study grants to students and recent graduates in the fields of architecture, architectural history, and urban studies.
04.01.08 Call for Entries: Permanent Premises of the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent and permanent court that prosecutes those accused of the most serious crimes of international concern: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The aim of this project is to construct accommodations for the ICC on a 72,000-square-meter site bordering the North Sea dunes and The Hague. This international design competition to select an architect begins with an open application for candidature, followed by a pre-selection of up to 20 participants and a design competition.
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
February 26 — May 31, 2008
Building China
Five Projects, Five Stories
Galleries: Judith and Walter Hunt Gallery, Mezzanine Gallery
The People’s Republic of China is undergoing a phenomenal transformation. Since 1978, with the adoption of an open-door policy, the country has developed a thriving market economy, out of which existing and new cities are experiencing rapid and aggressive growth. A new generation of architects is active in the vanguard of this construction, developing their own architectural identity.
Building China: Five Projects, Five Stories features five unique architectural case studies that were conceived, designed, and recently completed by Chinese architects. Located throughout China, many of these buildings, being exhibited in the U.S. for the first time, offer the public insight into China’s ever changing landscape. Through the stories of these five projects, themes emerge: Production of Contemporary Culture, Reinventing Urban Fabric, Making the Private Public, Reinterpreting Traditional Design Philosophy, and Hybrid Development Models. These case studies of contemporary architecture introduce critical voices from the People’s Republic of China, challenging the West’s stereotypical interpretation of China as a homogeneous society.
Organized by: The AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation in collaboration with People’s Architecture and the AIA New York Chapter International Committee
Curator: Wei Wei Shannon, People’s Architecture
Co-Curator: Shi Jian
Exhibition Design: Popular Architecture
Graphic Design: Omnivore
Photography: Iwan Baan
Patron: Digital Plus
Supporters:
Beyer Blinder Belle: Architects & Planners
EDAW
Jerome and Kenneth Lipper Foundation
Friend: Häfele, Calvin Tsao
Related Events
Saturday, March 8, 2008, 10:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-3:00pm
FamilyDay@theCenter: China – Feats of Engineering
Thursday, March 20, 6:00 — 8:00pm
New York/China Dialogues
Friday, May 9, 2008, 6:30 — 8:30
Asian CineVision presents Films from Contemporary China
Friday, May 30, 2008, 6:30 — 8:30pm
Film from the Da Zha Lan project, Sponsored by
the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and NYU’s China House
To register or for more information: www.aiany.org/calendar
CES credits available
February 15 — April 12, 2008
Co-Evolution:
Danish/Chinese Collaboration on Sustainable Urban Development in China
Galleries: Kohn Pedersen Fox Gallery, HLW Gallery
The exhibition confronts the environmental challenges related to rapid and extensive urbanization in China and illustrates the value of international and interdisciplinary collaboration. CO- EVOLUTION displays four visionary projects – the results of collaborations between Danish architects and professors and students from leading Chinese universities.
This exhibition at the Center for Architecture is financed by the Danish Ministry of Culture
Related Programs organized by the AIA New York Chapter, the Center for Architecture Foundation, the Danish Architecture Centre, People’s Architecture, and the AIA New York Chapter International Committee
Curator: Henrik Valeur and UiD
Sponsored by:
Engineering Consultancy Services:
Related Events
Saturday, March 8, 2008, 10:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-3:00pm
FamilyDay@theCenter: China – Feats of Engineering
Thursday, March 20, 6:00 — 8:00pm
New York/China Dialogues
Friday, May 9, 2008, 6:30 — 8:30
Asian CineVision presents Films from Contemporary China
Friday, May 30, 2008, 6:30 — 8:30pm
Film from the Da Zha Lan project, Sponsored by
the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and NYU’s China House
To register or for more information: www.aiany.org/calendar
CES credits available
January 28 — May 3, 2008
Project Showcase: The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park
Galleries: Margaret Helfand Gallery, Gerald D Hines Gallery, Public Resource Center
Under the growing pressure of the climate crisis, how we design, as well as what we design has become a critical issue. The new office tower at Bryant Park, designed by Cook+Fox Architects and developed by the Durst Organization and Bank of America, is an example of how the design of tall buildings can be fundamentally rethought, serving the client and the planet with equal efficiency and respect. This exhibition explores One Bryant Park as a living ecosystem composed of the elements Light, Air, Water, Fire and Earth. These primary forces, when thoughtfully addressed as integrated and sustainable systems, contribute to a substantial reduction in the environmental impact of tall buildings, as well as to worker health and productivity. Anticipating a LEED platinum rating (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the highest level of sustainable design recognized by the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council), the crystalline faceted 54-story tower is at once both an iconic corporate presence and an emblem for the green design movement. Project Showcase: The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park asks design professionals to look more deeply at how architecture can engage natural systems and infrastructure, how sustainable measures can be more user-friendly, and how we can raise awareness for the urgent need of comprehensive green building solutions.
Exhibition and related programs organized by the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation in collaboration with the Illuminating Engineering Society of New York (IESNY)
Curator: Margaret Maile Petty
Exhibition Design: Morris | Sato Studio
Graphic Design: WSDIA | WeShouldDoItAll
Lead Sponsor: A. Esteban & Company
Sponsors: Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, Illuminating Engineering Society of New York (IESNY), Severud Associates, Tishman Construction Corporation
Supporter: Jones Lang LaSalle
Exhibition Announcements
United Bottle.
Courtesy Van Alen Institute
Through 04.15.08
United Bottle
Resident Fellows Dirk Hebel & Jörg Stollmann created United Bottle, a project that proposes a new form of plastic bottle designed to function as an instant building material in crisis situations. The project’s working hypothesis is that design should think beyond the product and consider the waste for future use. During their fellowship term, Hebel and Stollmann will launch the “United Bottle Participate!” campaign, which asks fellow designers, architects, critics, and prospective secondary users to imagine concepts of implementation and design proposals exploring the potential of United Bottle. The Participate! contributions will be exhibited with a full-scale bottle shelter that explores and tests a variety of building materials and construction methods.
Van Alen Institute
30 West 22nd Street, NYC
New City concept, 2008.
Peter Frankfurt/Imaginary Forces, Greg Lynn/GL Form, and Alex McDowell, courtesy Museum of Modern Art
Through 05.12.08
Design and the Elastic Mind
This exhibition explores the reciprocal relationship between science and design in the contemporary world. More than 200 objects, installations, and concepts are on display, ranging from images of nanoscopic devices to vehicles, from appliances to interfaces, and from pragmatic solutions for everyday use to provocative ideas meant to influence future choices.
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street, NYC
Grassroots Sound Greener (continued)
We all learned from some top word-warriors, including General Henry Shelton, the retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who defined leadership in no uncertain terms. Giving the concluding keynote speech to a standing ovation on Saturday, February 23, the General used humor and cowboy analogies to make points about the qualities of decisiveness, loyalty, courage, and ethics that characterize great leaders. His one-liners were grabbers: “The higher you climb on the flagpole, the more your butt shows,” for example. But the overarching theme, of “riding for the brand” reinforced the sense of the AIA’s coherent vision. It was especially poignant that the AIA was founded on February 23, 1857, a fact that was noted in exactly none of the speeches that I heard.
Candidates for AIA office — including our own George Miller, FAIA, running for 2010 AIA President — gave forth with the most affecting and effective oratory. Often those voting at the AIA Convention know the candidates only from these small snippets. The hotel’s basement bar allowed late night discussion of the merits of their speeches, while the back-bar television showed Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trying to make words count in real time. At other watering holes, from the Hotel Monaco’s Poste Bar to Zahtinya, the AIA candidate speeches were sliced and diced as to content and passion. Hesselbein’s concept of dispersed leadership (“leadership of the future, taking people out of the boxes of the organizational chart and relating them to each other in a structure that is circular”) was discussed all over town, including the round Nest Bar at the Willard during the lunar eclipse.
The shortest major speech was that of Piano, accepting the AIA’s Gold Medal from David Thurm, AIA Public Board Member and Senior VP of the New York Times. After his dramatic start, Piano defined architecture: “Architecture is adventure spent at the frontier between art and science, a kind of contaminated art, happily contaminated by life, which makes it more real. It is also a dangerous art because if you do something wrong it is dangerous for people.” During his speech, the projected images of the New York Times building (done in collaboration with FXFOWLE Architects and Gensler) and the Morgan Library (with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners), spoke for the big picture collaborative AIA theme, “We, The People.”
This collective “We” was, at last, correctly attributed not to Thomas Jefferson but to James Madison. The collaborative aspect of the entire Grassroots conference resonated through every speech. Hesselbein said, “We must challenge the gospel of the status quo, keeping only those strategies and policies that are relevant to the future, to this new world that architects and their partners will build. We must get our house in order, and I can say house, because you are familiar with the term.” She continued: “The day of the Lone Ranger is gone. We require alliances, partnerships, and collaboration.”
President-elect Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, who organized the Grassroots conference with Component Partnerships Director Pat Harris called Hesselbein’s remarks “a call to action.” AIA President Marshall E. Purnell, FAIA, quoted Ralph Bunche to thank Hesselbein, saying “Hearts are strongest when they beat in response to noble ideas.” Hesselbein, who had last addressed the AIA in 1998, suggested that 10 years hence the Institute call her back to the podium.