Month: October 2010

The “Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art claims to present “radically pragmatic, ‘acupunctural’ projects — limited interventions with wide-reaching effects.” It is refreshing to see that Curator of Contemporary Architecture Andres Lepik is embracing a more socially responsible approach to exhibiting architecture at the MoMA, and many of the selected projects are stunning examples of exactly how small projects can have major impacts on communities. In Gando, Burkina Faso, West Africa, community members were trained in construction techniques at the Primary School by architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, for example. In a move to revitalize a Modern apartment complex in Paris, Frédéric Druot, Anne Lacaton, and Jean Philippe Vassal are transforming the Tour Bois-le-Prêtre by expanding the units and replacing a dull brick façade with large windows and prefabricated porches.

However, not all of the projects are successful. The Manguinhos Complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by Jorge Mario Jáuregui / Metrópolis Porjectos Urbanos elevates a train to create a pedestrian underpass. Even if the dark spaces that this will create are activated with program, the project does not address (or relocate) the major highway adjacent to the train tracks. I cannot see how this project will successfully bring together communities by creating a long corridor adjacent to a major traffic artery.

Also, while Michael Maltzan Architecture created Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles, inserting an outlet for children to create art and play in an oasis of a courtyard, the exterior façade of the building is a long, blank, windowless wall. Buses and cars drive to the parking lot on the roof of the building, so visitors need not go out into the Skid Row community. It is an enclosed space that does not physically open itself to the community. Instead, it turns its back to it creating a monolith on the block.

Finally, I was taken aback by the Housing for the Fishermen of Tyre in Tyre, Lebanon, by Hashim Sarkis A.L.U.D. A quote on the wall by the designer reads that the community “did not want to be involved. They trusted our ‘expertise’…. It helped expand the definition of what architects do rather than make a specialty out of social engagement.” The housing complex is a cul-de-sac with brightly painted units. For a community of fishermen who live in poverty and have been prevented from fishing by the conflict with Israel, what kind of message does it send to give them an enclosed complex that culminates at a dead end? To read that the residents did not want to be involved in the process only emphasizes why it is so important to engage them in the process so they may take ownership of their environment and create a vibrant, sustainable community.

I like the metaphor that the projects in the exhibition are “acupunctural” — the idea being that small projects have the capacity to heal large communities. And while the exhibition is worth visiting, it is important to view it with a critical eye.

Thirty projects by AIA New York Chapter members are on view at the Zodchestvo 2010 Architectural Festival in Moscow. “NEW YORK NOW: The Architecture of Social Responsibility,” includes: the Pike & Allen Street Center Mall by AECOM; Zuccotti Park by Cooper Robertson; Frank Sinatra School of the Arts by Ennead Architects; Flushing Meadows Natatorium & Rink by Handel Architects / Hom & Goldman; St. Agnes Branch Library by Helpern Architects; St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s School by Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects; Millstein Family Heart Center by Pei Cobb Freed & Partnerse; HPD Site 8, 1465 & 1473 Fifth Avenue by RKT&B; Boricua Village by Hugo S. Subotovsky; Queens Library & Discovery Center by 1100 Architect; Hunters Point So. Intermediate School by FXFOWLE Architects; 59th Street Recreation Center by Belmont Freeman Architects; Poets House by Louise Braverman Architect; 1070 Anderson Avenue, Bronx, by Magnusson Architects & Planners; Brooklyn Navy Yard Center Bldg. 92 by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners; East Harlem School at Exodus House by Peter Gluck and Partners, Architects; Museum of the Moving Image by Leeser Architecture; SIMS Municipal Recycling Facility by Selldorf Architects; James B. Hunt Library (Raleigh, NC) by Snøhetta; Lehigh County Courthouse by Ricci Greene Associates; Avalon Morningside by Kliment Halsband Architects; Lincoln Center Theater by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture; Brooklyn Community Center by Leroy Street Studio; Illustration for Sustainability by Gage/Clemenceau Architects; 9/11 Memorial by Handel Architects; Water Street Study by Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners; DemocracyNow Studio by Bogdanow Partners Architects; PS-90 Housing Renovation by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects; Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center by ikon.5 architects; and Stapleton Public Library by Andrew Berman Architect…

The New York Society of Architects will hold its annual awards dinner on 11.18.10 and will present the Sidney L. Strauss Award to George Ranalli, AIA; the Distinguished Achievement Award to Raymond Daddazio; and Distinguished Service Awards to Jonathan Marvel, AIA, and Richard Toder & Sol Schwarz….

The Ninth Annual Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Award winners include: in the category of Lifetime Achievement, William Pedersen, FAIA, the Lynn S. Beedle Award, and Ysrael A. Seinuk, the Faziur Khan Medal; Best Tall Buildings winners include Bank of America Tower by Cook + Fox Architects and Burj Khalifa by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill…

The 2010 GREEN GOOD DESIGN AWARD winners include: in the category of Research/Technology, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Active Modular Phytoemediation System (AMPS) and CASE: Center for Architecture Science and Ecology; and in the category of Architecture, Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso by Louise Braverman Architect with Paulo Almedia and Artur Afonso; the Royal Bank of Canada Centre by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates with Sweeny Finlayson & Co. Architects and B + H Bergman + Hamann; Massena Land Port of Entry by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects; Vanke Center by Steven Holl Architects with CCDI Architects; Brooklyn Children’s Museum and David L. Lawrence Convention Center by Rafael Viñoly Architects as well as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Campus, along with Kishimoto Gordon Dalaya; and the Westchester Reform Temple by Rogers Marvel Architects…

Canstruction announced the winners of its 14th Annual International Competition, including Ted Moudis Associates‘ “We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends” for Best Use of Labels…

Hart Howerton announced the addition of Paul Milana, AIA, as a Principal based in its NYC office… Handel Architects has promoted Vivian Lee, AIA, to Director of Interior Architecture… Cannon Design announced that Richard J. Kahn, AIA, LEED AP, has joined the firm as Senior Project Manager and Associate Principal…

11.01.10 Call for Applications: Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant

02.09.11 Call for Submissions: 2011 AIA Diversity Recognition Program