May 2009 – Page 4 – News – What’s New at AIANY and the Center for Architecture.

Island at Center Preserves Views of NYC

Event: Governors Island Park and Public Space Master Plan: On the Drawing Board
Location: Center for Architecture, 04.24.09
Speakers: Adriaan Geuze — Principal, West 8
Sponsors: AIANY; Architectural League of New York; New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects; Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation

West 8, Rogers Marvel Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Quennell Rothschild, and SMWM’s proposal for Governors Island.

The West 8 Team.

Small, pastoral Governors Island might technically be part of NYC, but it feels like another world, remarked Adriaan Geuze, principal of West 8. When people visit the 172-acre island, “this sensation of leaving the town behind, taking the boat, and crossing is really amazing,” he said. “You’re totally reborn!”

The future redesign of the island aims to extend and heighten the visitors’ sense of wonder throughout their time there, Geuze said. His urban design and landscape architecture firm is part of a larger team that won a competition in December 2007 to design the island’s park and open spaces. West 8, along with Rogers Marvel Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Quennell Rothschild, and SMWM are currently working on completing the master plan, scheduled for release in early June.

As it is, the partially man-made island offers stunning views of the harbor, Lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn, but it is “even flatter than Holland,” Geuze observed. Not only does its low landscape raise fears of flooding, it also eradicates any sense of mystery. “It’s not about temptation and desire — not at all. You are standing there, you see everything…. And you walk, and you still see the same.” To remedy that, the designers used a combination of maquettes and computer modeling to sculpt the island into a hilly topography with viewlines that will make visitors “hunger to walk through the park,” he said. Two high spots on opposite ends of the park will provide sweeping 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding harbor, giving a true sense of place as an island.

The essential look and concept of the design — the “organic grid” of paths, the sculpted hills made from recycled building debris — has stayed true to the original competition entry, but Geuze’s slide-filled talk revealed how the design has been refined in the meantime. The butterfly wing-like pattern of paths has been tested and tweaked to offer better circulation. Lining the paths, seats and curbs act as “edging,” adding visual definition: “It’s the same effect as eyeliner,” Geuze joked. In an ornamental impulse, they hope to embellish lampposts and benches with designs “poetically linked to ocean and shore and wind and sea,” he said.

In addition to the island’s predominant use as a park, some of the existing buildings are gaining new tenants, and around 33 acres on the south side will be devoted to a future development zone, said Leslie Koch, president of Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. This prompted a flurry of questions from the audience. Calling the park a “fantastical place,” and expressing concern that the development could be detrimental to the overall vision, the question was asked whether urban design guidelines had been set for it. It is too early to determine exactly what sorts of buildings will fill that zone, Koch said, but public access through the area will be preserved, along with view corridors — an encouraging sign, for a park whose design is so much about celebrating its views.

Lisa Delgado is a freelance journalist who has written for OCULUS, The Architect’s Newspaper, Blueprint, and Wired, among other publications.

Practice Matters

Event: New Practices Winner Lecture: Matter Practice, “Reading Matter”
Location: Hafele New York Showroom, 04.23.09
Speakers: Alfred Zollinger, AIA, & Sandra Wheeler — Partners, Matter Practice
Organizer: AIA New Practices Committee
Sponsors: Hafele; The Architect’s Newspaper

Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video by Matter Practice.

Matter Practice

Walking through a workshop everyday to get to an architecture office is a continual reminder of the interconnected processes of design and fabrication. Alfred Zollinger, AIA, and Sandra Wheeler, husband and wife as well as partners, have committed to working on at least one design/build project per year in their DUMBO studio. During these periods, Wheeler explained, the office and workshop merge into one chaotic, creative space.

Zollinger and Wheeler have developed their own approach to creating space, having completed designs for institutions including the Cooper-Hewitt and the National Building Museum. Exhibition design, Zollinger believes, “is halfway between architecture and theater.”

Matter Practice designed, fabricated, and installed an exhibition for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art titled, “Quonset: Metal Living for a Modern Age.” For this traveling show, Zollinger and Wheeler fabricated the display in Brooklyn and shipped it to Alaska. The exhibition was comprised of thin, floppy steel components that could easily be packed flat, becoming rigid when assembled.

While “green” is a serious buzzword in the design industry, Zollinger and Wheeler made light of it in their design for “Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video” at the International Center of Photography. They designed pods to house the A/V and theater components for the exhibition. In the process of exploring materials with which to fabricate the pods, they discovered that petroleum tubing — the black foam insulation that replaced asbestos — worked exceptionally well since it sticks together and they could cut it into sections to create screens for the windows — a “toxic topiary,” Sandra joked.

Delightoscope, Matter Practice’s entry for the 2008 MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Competition, employs agricultural shade cloth that also serve as visual screens. In an unorthodox design approach, Zollinger and Wheeler first selected the material and then determined the form through experimenting with its properties.

While most of their projects fall in the category of exhibition design, Matter Practice has also recently completed the renovation and addition of a townhouse in Brooklyn. Operating on a small budget, Zollinger and Wheeler had to be creative. They designed inexpensive, custom, plywood millwork, and they dyed the existing wood floor to delineate a seating area in the living room rather than purchasing a rug — demonstrating that material can definitely define space.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance writer in NYC and has written for Architectural Record, Architecture Boston, and Architectural Lighting.

Architecture, Art Combine to Create New York’s New Public Art

Event: Public Art + Architecture New York
Location: Center for Architecture, 04.20.09
Speakers: Todd Schliemann, FAIA — Partner, Polshek Partnership; James Carpenter — Principal, James Carpenter Design Associates; David Thurm, Hon. AIANYS — Vice President for Operations, New York Times
Moderator: Jean Parker Phifer, FAIA — Author, Public Art New York (W.W. Norton & Co., 2009)
Organizers: Center for Architecture
Sponsor: Margaret Helfand Fund

Dichroic Light Field by James Carpenter.

Photography by Francis Dzikowski/Esto

“Public art can enhance one’s experience of a building or a space by heightening visual perceptions and by focusing the senses on elements such as light, texture, color, or sound,” says Jean Parker Phifer, FAIA, author of Public Art New York. The book captures many of New York’s recently completed buildings that integrate art installations with the aesthetic and function of the spaces they inhabit. These buildings broaden the dialogue on how art enhances and complements architecture and public space.

Todd Schliemann, FAIA, James Carpenter, and David Thurm, Hon. AIANYS — representing architect (Principal, Polshek Partnership), artist (James Carpenter Design Associates), and owner (Vice President for Operations, New York Times) respectively — echoed the sentiment that an early collaboration among all parties along with a shared approach to the building yields a successful union between art and architecture. Referring to the public art installation in Polshek’s New York Hall of Science, Schliemann said, “the closer architecture and art evolve hand-in-hand, the more they are in harmony.” Exemplary of such a marriage is “Moveable Type,” by artist Ben Rubin and statistician Mark Hansen — an installation in the Renzo Piano Building Workshop/FXFOWLE Architects’ New York Times Building lobby. Designed for the vista through The Times building, 560 small screens are suspended in a grid and display choreographed content from The Times database, pulling from both the paper’s memory and real time web commentary. It is an organic, evolving artwork with a specificity to place and program that is undeniable.

Similarly deliberate, Carpenter’s “Ice Falls” in the lobby of Foster + Partners’ Hearst Building creates an experiential reorganization of light. No stranger to atmosphere and perception, Carpenter devised a system of cast-glass prisms to illuminate the lobby and create a glittering reflection of the three-story fountain.

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

Caochangdi: Center for New Creative Development

Event: James Stirling Memorial Lecture on the City: Beijing Inside Out: Caochangdi, a lecture by Robert Mangurian and Mary-Ann Ray
Location: Center for Architecture, 04.05.09
Speakers: Robert Mangurian & Mary-Ann Ray — Principals, STUDIO WORKS
Organizer: AIANY; Canadian Centre for Architecture; London School of Economics
Sponsors: Underwriter: PKSB Architects; Sponsors: Benjamin Moore & Co.; Buro Happold Consulting Engineers; Studio Daniel Libeskind; Syska Hennessy Group; Trespa

Courtesy cca.qc.ca/

The Bird’s Nest Stadium. The Forbidden City. Tian’anmen Square. Caochangdi? Though it may not be on most tourists’ lists of sites to see in Beijing, Caochangdi, which means “grassland” in Mandarin, is one of Beijing’s approximately 500 urban villages. It is the largest revenue producing district in the country, and is the home and workplace of architects Robert Mangurian and Mary-Ann Ray, principals of STUDIO WORKS, who won the competition for the third biennial James Stirling Memorial Lecture on the City.

Their presentation, “Caochangdi Urban Rural Conundrums: Off Center People’s Space in the Early 21st Century Republic of China — A Model for the Momentous Project of the New Socialist Village,” gave an insider’s view of life in a place they called an “urban village.” Urban villages like Caochangdi were originally carved out for agriculture and peoples communes, and are now the new lexicon of Chinese urbanism. As presented from the seat of a bicycle coursing along the streets, one sees the floating populations of migrant farm workers, taxi drivers, ex-pats, and artists who find it a source of cheap, albeit “illegal,” three-story residences.

Caochangdi is also the home of artist Ai Weiwei, who after living in NYC, returned to his native China in 1993. Ai Weiwei served as the artistic consultant for design, collaborating with Herzog & de Meuron on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics as well as Ordos 100, and is part of what the presenters call “the new DNA for creative development” in China.

The James Stirling Memorial Lectures competition was established in November 2003 by the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) to create a forum for the advancement of new critical perspectives on the role of urban design and urban architecture in the development of cities worldwide. It was conceived in homage to British architect James Stirling, who believed that urban design is integral to the practice of architecture and a vital topic for public debate.

While Architects Change Practice, AIA is Stuck in the Past

With the many discussions centered on how the architecture profession can change with the times, this year’s convention was inspiring for me. Many firms garnering awards are changing the profession through their practice. They spoke of treating their employees with esteem, respecting their needs for more flexible hours, supporting involvement in their local AIA chapters as well as in their communities, and mentoring emerging architects by giving them responsibility and allowing them ownership of design. It was most disappointing for me, then, to discover the results of the annual business meeting, in which three AIA National Bylaws Amendments were voted down: changing the term International Associate to AIA International; allowing Associate members to serve as Regional Directors; and creating a Public Membership category in the AIA. Although AIANY voted in favor of all of these motions, ultimately, they were defeated.

By turning away Associate members from regional directorship, the AIA is turning its back on the enormous number of professionals practicing in the field of architecture. Although they may not (yet) be architects, the field of architecture is dependent on them and they deserve a right to hold a voting position on the Board. In a time when the AIA is trying to grow its membership, devaluing the associates will hurt the cause. Also, as architecture increases in public consciousness, it is important that the AIA acknowledge individuals who contribute to the profession in many ways outside of just being licensed. Many individuals are helping promote architects in the public realm and do the profession a service by participating.

In addition, I think it is outrageous that someone who has practiced architecture successfully for many years in other countries cannot claim that they are architects in the U.S. They should not have to register in the U.S. to use AIA after their names.

Seminar after seminar, panelists spoke of diversifying practice, collaborating with experts in other fields, and broadening firms to include specialists who are not architects (See “Convention 2009, The Power of Diversity: It Begins At the Workplace,” in this issue). It may be that the voting is reactive to the economic downturn, and architects are scared of losing their jobs and their control over the profession. But as was evidenced by the award winners who are younger and run practices that are collaborative and comprised of nontraditional unions, the future of the AIA depends on expanding its umbrella. The AIA needs to find new ways to accept more people if it is to truly represent the architecture profession.

In this issue:
· Preservationists Have Something to Dance About
· Port Authority Gets Temporarily Fashionable
· Exhibition Documents Arrival of the Dutch
· New Law School Rises to Head of Its Class
· University Center Innovates With Local Materials

Preservationists Have Something to Dance About

Peridance Center.

Kohn Architecture

The future home of the Peridance Center located in the East Village and designed by Kohn Architecture is currently under construction. The circa 1903 Beaux-Arts building, designed by Jardine, Kent & Jardine, will suit the needs of the dance school’s expanding programs, featuring eight professionally equipped studios with high ceilings, column-free space , sprung floors, and a professional sound system. The ground floor will contain the Salvatore Capezio Theatre, café, a museum, and a store that sells dancewear. The two-story red brick and limestone building looks like it has an additional floor because of an exposed metal truss supporting a shed roof. Its façade is pierced by round and oval windows common to the style of townhouses built during the period. The former horse auction barn was slated for demolition, but a “standstill agreement” was reached with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission that paved the way for the building to be added to the Trust for Architectural Easements, guaranteeing the building will be preserved in perpetuity.

Port Authority Gets Temporarily Fashionable

Port Authority Bus Terminal’s temporary fashion retail and art exhibition space.

super-interesting!

Super-interesting! architecture.design.strategies has transformed an unused 2,500-square-foot storefront in the Port Authority Bus Terminal Building into a temporary fashion retail and art exhibition space that will provide young fashion designers and artists a visible stage to display and sell their work. Off-the-shelf fluorescent strip lights function as a chandelier, merchandise lighting and giant LCD-style signage reflect off a glossy black floor. Oversized, translucent lace super-graphics and white-painted thrift store wood chairs give the space a stripped-down-to-suit-the-economic-time look. Due to budgetary constraints, the firm decided to manage and coordinate the construction, organizing licensed trades people, and set builders from the film industry to execute the highly custom-designed details. The firm worked with the Times Square Alliance and The Fashion Center BID on the project.

Exhibition Documents Arrival of the Dutch
Urban A&O has been selected as the lead designer for the 400th Henry Hudson anniversary exhibition, “The Island at the Center of the World,” at the South Street Seaport Museum, on view 09.10-12.31.09. Working in collaboration with Thinc Design, the exhibition will be categorized into three themes — what the world was like at the time the Dutch were exploring Manhattan, the history of New Amsterdam, and the various groups of people living there at the time. Four galleries will exhibit historical maps, and books. Portrait Stations will allow visitors to sit and listen to stories of early Dutch immigrants and their diverse backgrounds while viewing portraits of contemporary Dutch New Yorkers. The approximately 4,150-square-foot show will utilize 34 transparent acrylic tables of varying sizes and will be arranged to form a dynamic relationship with the four existing gallery spaces and serve as an organizational device.

New Law School Rises to Head of Its Class

Lewis Katz Building at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law.

Polshek Partnership Architects

Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law celebrated its 175th anniversary with the opening of its new 114,000-square-foot Lewis Katz Building, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. The focal point of the building is its glass-enclosed law library with a 100,000 volume capacity and seating for 294 students. The design draws from the idea that the law library is the theoretical and physical heart of the legal educational experience, and was conceived as a floating element, sheltered from the rest of the school’s program beneath.

The ground plane flows unimpeded, linking interior and exterior space to foster the feeling of openness and accessibility. Within, the library’s continuous looping circulation system offers several different types of study environments. Beneath this aerial form is a series of volumes clad in local sandstone that contain the classrooms, auditorium, and courtroom. These elements surround a broad commons area that opens to the landscape and follows its stepping contours, directly connecting the school’s interior programs to the surrounding campus. The project was constructed to meet LEED certification requirements, and from its continuous planted green roof to its reintroduction of pervious surfaces on what was a massive parking lot, the building helps reduce the amount of rainwater runoff generated by the site.

University Center Innovates With Local Materials

University Center expansion.

Holzman Moss Architecture

The University of Southern Indiana in Evansville recently broke ground on its new $18.4 million University Center expansion, designed by Holzman Moss Architecture. The project will convert the university’s former 60,000-square-foot library into dining, lounging, meeting, and student organization spaces and replace the existing conference center bridge linking the old library and existing University Center. The project features a 103-foot-tall, conical stone tower at the center of campus, and incorporates local and reclaimed materials. Key design elements formed from select materials produced by leading regional manufacturers include the dome-shaped ceiling in the central atrium decorated by a geometric pattern created out of 1,200 intertwined chair legs from Jasper Chair Company, and the stone-clad tower featuring quarry-faced roughback limestone from BG Hoadley Quarries. A series of solid aluminum ingot ends will be transformed into benches for the lobby as well. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the expansion adds a total of 20,815 square feet of space.

In this issue:
· National Officers Elected at AIA Convention
· AIA Supports Green Energy Education Act
· Green Firms: AIA’s 2030 Commitment Program
· New and Upgraded Software from the AIA
· AIA New York State Legislative Update
· NCARB Updates IDP Requirements

National Officers Elected at AIA Convention
AIA national officers were elected at the 2009 AIA Convention in San Francisco. Clark D. Manus, FAIA, AIA San Francisco, was elected AIA First Vice President and 2011 President-elect. Manus has served as AIA national vice president from 2007-2009. Mickey Jacob, FAIA, managing principal at Urban Studio Architects in Tampa, FL, was elected 2010-2011 AIA Vice President. Peter G. Kuttner, FAIA, was elected 2010-2011 AIA Vice President. Kuttner is president of Cambridge Seven Associates, represents AIA New England on the AIA Board, and is a past president of the Boston Society of Architects. And John W. Rogers, AIA, ACHA, AIA Cincinnati, was elected AIA 2010-2011 Treasurer. Rogers has served on the AIA Board of Directors from 2007-2009.

AIA Supports Green Energy Education Act
The AIA announced its support for the House’s 411-6 vote to approve the Green Energy Education Act of 2009 (HR 957) that authorizes the Energy Department to distribute funds otherwise allotted to the department for energy research and development to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. The NSF programs are aimed at both undergraduate and graduate interdisciplinary engineering and architecture education programs related to the design and construction of high performance buildings. The AIA now strongly calls on the Senate to vote this bill into law.

Green Firms: AIA’s 2030 Commitment Program
The AIA’s 2030 Commitment is a voluntary program for AIA member firms and other entities in the built environment that asks these organizations to make a pledge, develop multi-year action plans, and implement steps that can advance AIA’s goal of carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030. Architects are confronting the fact the buildings are the largest single contributor to the production of greenhouse gases and almost half of the total annual production. Participating firms must commit to following four steps. Click here to learn more.

New and Upgraded Software from the AIA
The AIA announced the release of an updated version of AIA Contract Documents software as well as new Construction Manager documents. The updated software features easier project and document management, flexible dialogs allowing for easier document completion, Microsoft Excel capabilities in several G-Series forms, and one-click custom template creation. The new Construction Manager documents include new documents in the Construction Manager as Advisor (CMa) and Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc) families. Collectively called the “4.0 Release,” this new software and documents release builds on AIA Contract Documents’ 120 years of experience in defining the contractual relationships in the design and construction industry and deliver additional value, ease of use, and new features that address users’ needs. For more information or to purchase AIA Contract Documents, click the link.

AIA New York State Legislative Update
The top legislative priorities for AIANY include the following bills, most of which are currently in committee:

· Design Build — Provides that a contract made by a person unlicensed to practice certain professions shall be against public policy.
· Non-Design Professional Ownership — Relates to design professional corporations.
· Green Schools — Establishes the state Green School Construction Act.

Other bills that AIANYS supports:

· Historic Preservation Tax Credit — Provides a tax credit for rehabilitation of historic properties.
· QBS — Requires public authorities to negotiate with most qualified architectural and engineering professional firms before negotiating with other firms.
· Smart Growth/Livable Communities — Directs state agencies and public authorities to adopt and utilize smart growth principles.
· Good Samaritan Act — Enacts the engineers’, architects’, landscape architects’ and land surveyors’ Good Samaritan act.
· Design Liability Reform — Repeals and reenacts provisions on time limitations on certain actions against professional engineers, architects, other designers and construction contractors.
· Funding for Prosecution of Illegal Practice — Provides for an additional $10 dollar licensing fee to be charged for the registration of any application for a professional license.

The following bills are opposed by AIANYS:

· Prohibiting Professional Certification — Grants cities authority to review and approve plans for the construction of structures proposed to be made within its boundaries.
· Damages for Delay — Requires public contracts to include a clause authorizing contractors to recover damages for delay for itself as well as on behalf of subcontractors or material men.
· Criminal Prosecution for Certain Violations of the State Fire and Building Code — An act to amend the executive law, in relation to criminal prosecution for certain violations of the state fire and building code where such violation leads to serious injury or death of a person.
· Construction Threshold
· Design Delegation

NCARB Updates IDP Requirements
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) is updating the Intern Development Program (IDP) requirements to more closely align with the current practice of architecture. The new program requirements, which will be rolled out as “IDP 2.0,” will help ensure that interns acquire the comprehensive training that is essential for competent practice and will make reporting experience fundamentally easier.

The changes to the IDP have been developed in response to the 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture. The proposed changes to the IDP offer many benefits to interns by allowing them to complete some of the training requirements during periods of unemployment, expanding the definition of “direct supervision,” and simplifying the reporting process. These changes will be rolled out in three phases over the next two years. For more information, visit the NCARB website.

American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2009 Professional Award winners include NY-based firms in the following categories: General Design — The Museum of Modern Art Roof Garden and Observation Balloon Preview Park Orange County Great Park by WORKSHOPWEST Ken Smith Landscape Architect; Analysis and Planning — Brooklyn Bridge Park by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.; and Research — Restoration ecology processes to advance natural landscape design, by Steven N. Handel, Hon. ASLA…To view all award winners and images, click here…

Three NYC projects are among the winners of the Preservation League of New York State Excellence in Historic Preservation Award: The Emerson (team: Clinton Housing Development Company; New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development; Enterprise; Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects; Abraham Joselow; Robert Silman Associates; Higgins Quasebarth & Partners; and Mega Contracting); The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (team: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Wank Adams Slavin Associates (WASA/Studio A); Robert Silman Associates; Integrated Conservation Resources; William B. Rose & Associates; AKF Engineers; and Nicholson & Galloway, Inc.); and The Chapel of the Sisters, Prospect Cemetery (team: Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects; Hage Engineering; Gabor M. Szakal Consulting Engineers; Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc.; Fame Construction; The Gil Studios; Greater Jamaica Development Corp.; New York Landmarks Conservancy; Prospect Cemetery of Jamaica Village; and the New York City Parks Department)…

The 26th Annual International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) International Lighting Design Awards Winners include a Citation for the TKTS Booth in Times Square by Perkins Eastman based on a competition-winning concept by Choi Ropiha Architects with lighting design by Paul Marantz, FIALD… The 10th Annual SpecSimple.com Save A Sample! winners include Kim Farrah, Lauren Haber, Nicole Moudis, Heather Groff, Janet Rotondo, and Megan Meade… United Cerebral Palsy of New York City (UCP/NYC) has selected Juliette G. Lam, Director of Interiors for HOK NY, as a recipient of its “Women Who Care” honors…

Parsons, The New School for Design announced that Joel Towers, the inaugural director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center and Associate Provost for Environmental Studies, has been appointed as the Interim Dean… Ed Feiner, FAIA, has joined the Washington, DC-based office of Perkins+Will… Einhorn Yaffee Prescott recently appointed Judy Pullar as a principal and director of business development…

04.29-05.02.09: Approximately 22,500 architects convened in San Francisco for the 2009 AIA Convention. From awards to convocations, New Yorkers were honored on many accounts.

Barbara Nadel, FAIA, received the Edward C. Kemper Award.

Rick Bell, FAIA

Venesa Alicea, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP (center), received the AIA Associates Award. Marvin Malecha, FAIA (left), and Chris McEntee, FAIA (right), presented her with the award.

Franklin Ortiz, Assoc. AIA

The NY-based architects elevated to Fellowship (l-r): Belmont Freeman, FAIA; Kenneth Drucker, FAIA, LEED AP; Annabelle Selldorf, FAIA; John Grady, FAIA; Sylvia Smith, FAIA, LEED AP; Frank Lupo, FAIA, LEED AP; Robert Heinteges, FAIA; Joanna Pestka, FAIA. Not pictured: Christopher K. Grabé, FAIA

Rick Bell, FAIA

Marcy Stanley, Hon. AIA, received Honorary AIA membership.

Rick Bell, FAIA

04.29.09: The AIANY New Practices Committee celebrated the opening of the New Practices San Francisco showcase at the Hafele Showroom in San Francisco.

Co-chairs of the AIANY New Practices Committee Matthew Bremer, AIA, (who also received the Young Architects Award at the convention) and Marc Clemenceau Bailly, AIA, with Rick Bell, FAIA, discussing the evolution of the program as AIASF New Practices winners look on.

Kristen Richards

04.30.09: AIA New York State hosted a party at the City Building, sponsored by Ibex Construction.

Andy Frankl, President of Ibex Construction (left), with George Miller, FAIA, AIA President-elect (right).

Darcy Padilla

(L-R): AIANY President-elect Tony Schirripa, AIA, IIDA; AIANY President Sherida Paulsen, FAIA; AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA.

Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

(L-R): AIANY Vice President of Public Outreach Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP; AIANY Secretary Abby Suckle, FAIA, LEED AP; AIANY President-elect Tony Schirripa, AIA, IIDA.

Kristen Richards

FXFOWLE Architects Senior Partners Bruce Fowle, FAIA, and Sylvia Smith, AIA, LEED AP.

Kristen Richards

05.01.09: AIASF Host Chapter Party at San Francisco’s magnificent Asian Art Museum (formerly the city’s Main Library).

(L-R): Pelle Lind Bournonville, Commercial Affairs Officer for Construction & Civil Engineering, Consulate General of Denmark; AIANY Director of Development Sophie Deprez; AIASF Assistant Director Erin Cullerton; AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA.

Kristen Richards

The NY State Associate Members gathered at the National Associates Committee Reception. (L-R): Elizabeth Shipley, Assoc. AIA; RK Stewart, FAIA (Past AIA President); Franklin Ortiz, Assoc. AIA; George Miller, FAIA (AIA President-elect); Shanntina Moore, Assoc.AIA (Associate Director AIANYS); Javier Gonzalez, Assoc. AIA; Venesa Alicea, Assoc. AIA (Associate Director AIANY); Stephanie Burns (AIA National Staff).

Courtesy Venesa Alicea

Architecture for Humanity’s 10th anniversary fete at the very engaging and entertaining Autodesk Gallery at One Market: AFH co-founder Cameron Sinclair and Margaret Castillo, AIA, LEED AP.

Kristen Richards

04.21.09: The annual Design Awards Luncheon took place at Cipriani Wall Street.

John Hockenberry, WNYC and PRI host, gave the keynote speech.

Courtesy AIANY

2009 Oculus 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 want to hear from you! Projects/topics may be anywhere, but architects must be New York-based. The themes:

Fall Issue: Carbon Neutral Now. The new green frontier, carbon neutrality, researched, explored, planned, and designed at all scales by New York architects.
06.01.09: Suggestion Deadline

Winter Issue: Health & Architecture. Architecture designed to promote fitness, health, and wellness will be profiled. Projects selected from within this growing field will demonstrate sensitivity to generational and demographic issues, sustainability, and technology.
08.01.09: Suggestion Deadline

If you have suggestions, please contact OCULUS editor-in-chief Kristen Richards.

05.15.09 Call for Nominations: Skandalaris Awards

06.08.09 Call for Entries: 2009 McKinley House

08.15.09 Call for Papers: Society of Architectural Historians 63rd Annual
Meeting

08.31.09 Call for Entries: Gondwana Circle Design Competition

08.31.09 Call for Entries: Sustainable Suite Design Competition

09.11.09 Call for Submissions: Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award for Istanbul