Author: James Way

Visiting foreign countries has been an important part of education, whether study abroad means the Grand Tour, hitting the road on spring break, short-term foreign study programs, or semester-long exchanges. Universities offering organized programs provide additional enticement to potential students. Universities are capitalizing on this by sending satellite campuses into the field. Some join conglomerate organizations such as Education City in Qatar, which boasts seven institutions under its umbrella. Others, such as Yale and NYU, are establishing their own campuses abroad, while Columbia is sending students overseas on shorter, more focused excursions. Each faces its own challenges of context, program, and politics. Continue reading “Study Abroad”

Asia’s urban centers are global metropolises and construction continues full speed ahead. One need only look at two photos of Shanghai, one from the 1980s and one from now, to see how quickly Asia continues to grow and change, especially China. New neighborhoods replace old ones, seemingly overnight, and suburban cities blossom across countrysides. Korea is developing new hi-tech cities, and Tokyo, like a molting reptile, replaces its architectural skin every 30 years. While some development consumes suburban land or reclaimed territories, other rampant urbanization demands “old growth.” At the “Preservation in Asian Cities” program on 12.03.13, the question the panelists, who were equally divided between practicing architects and academics, addressed was: “What does growth mean for historical Asia and how can we preserve this heritage?” Continue reading “Practicing the Past”

Discussing competitions and new models for disseminating architectural ideas, the “(P) RE:Think | Competitive Ideas” panel discerned little about the future. When directly asked, all panelists shrugged with a resounding, “I don’t know.” They did clarify that large-scale project competitions are rarely built and visionless, while the smaller-scale tend toward experimental installations with little impact. Despite these limitations, alternatives and strategies exist for making the most of competitions.

The Architects’ Newspaper’s Founding Editor William Menking declared his broadsheet an alternative to mainstream media. Supportive of ideas competitions, the paper recently sponsored one to propose an adaptive re-use of the Houston Astrodome, and another for housing in New Rochelle, the latter fully intending to be built. The unorthodox approach in Westchester County enlisted architectural ideas before a second phase required developer partners who could realize them. Continue reading “Competing for Second Place”

Queuing up at Pershing Square amidst the swarm of neon-clad NY Road Runners Dash to the Finish Line runners, a conspicuously darkly-attired group waited in the crisp morning air for a bus to take them along narrow rural roads to the New Hope, PA-based George Nakashima Woodworker property. A variety of 14 workshops, storehouses, studios, and structures combine the seeming paradoxes of Eastern and Western aesthetics, traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, and historic and modern sensibilities into a unique identity also visible in George Nakashima’s furniture. Continue reading “The Nakashima Family Tree Has Deep Roots”

On a balmy, stormy Saturday morning, 40 Water Mill-bound pilgrims joined the ranks inching along the backed-up Montauk Highway in eastern Long Island. Only these pilgrims quickly peeled off into the easily visible, yet subtly hidden, Parrish Art Museum. And they were treated to an insightful tour of the museum, and more interestingly, to stories of the process and details behind the Herzog & de Meuron-designed building. Continue reading “Popping in on the Parrish”