07.21.09
I’ve received a great response so far from those of you who are Twittering. If you have not answered my call, please let me know if your firm is Twittering. I’m trying to find all the NY-based firms that take part in the latest in social media. E-mail me at eoculus@aiany.org.
Also, e-Oculus and the Center for Architecture are Twittering! Click here to follow e-Oculus, and here to follow the Center.
– Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
DKNY (left) has been replaced by Hollister.
Jessica Sheridan
Since the late 1980s, 600 Broadway housed a notable DKNY mural featuring the company’s logo functioning as a window to the NYC skyline. Now, almost 20 years later, Hollister has painted over the iconic image with a drab replacement. This marks the end of an era in Manhattan and seems to predict a bleak future for the city.
Hollister’s mural is a murky brown background with the retailer’s logo branded across the top. There is no color, no life, and acts as a dreary reminder of the city’s current economic condition. It turns its back and bears down on the intersection of Houston and Broadway with its austere presence.
The DKNY billboard, on the other hand, may have been an advertisement selling a high-end retail brand, which some argue negatively fed into the gentrification of the neighborhood, but it also celebrated the city. It featured the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the World Trade Center. It played into the sentiments of native New Yorkers as well as visitors, and it gave back to the city by drawing the viewer’s eye up and away from the once empty lot (now a fruit stand) below. The artistry was unique and no other billboard was like it.
It is obvious that Hollister, a brand by Abercrombie & Fitch Co., is not a New York brand. However, with a Southern California-inspired image, one would think the company would try to at least enliven the intersection with Southern California-inspired colors if they were going to cover up one of the community’s most recognized landmarks on one of the city’s most visible intersections. Store employees may dress like surfers, but the sun is not shining on Broadway and Houston.
In its seventh year, openhousenewyork continues to “open” sites of architectural/design/engineering/cultural/historical interest in all five boroughs — free to the public. Join the growing list of architects who are showcasing their projects to an anticipated 200,000 visitors during OHNY Weekend, October 10-11. The current list includes: Selldorf Architects; FXFOWLE Architects; Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners; Lyn Rice Architects; Hanrahan Myers; Polshek Partnership Architects; Richard Meier and Partners; the AIANY Emerging NY Architects committee; and the Center for Architecture. If you’d like to participate or for more information, contact Jessica Mak at jessica@ohny.org.
Jeff Ferzoco
(l-r): Venesa Alicea, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, AIANY associate director, with ENYA co-chairs Megan Chusid, Assoc. AIA, and Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP.
Mauricio Alexander
ENYA members Carolyn Sponza, AIA, LEED AP (left), and Serena Chen, AIA.
Megan Chusid
07.07.09
Is your firm Twittering? Do you Tweet regularly? I’m trying to find all the NY-based firms that take part in the latest in social media. E-mail me at eoculus@aiany.org.
Also, e-Oculus and the Center for Architecture are Twittering! Click here to follow e-Oculus, and here to follow the Center.
– Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
Event: A Space Within: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum Panel Discussion
Location: Center for Architecture, 07.01.09
Speakers: Michael Arad, AIA — Partner, Handel Architects; Craig Dykers, AIA — Project Director, Snøhetta; Steven Davis, FAIA — Partner, Davis Brody Bond Aedas; Matthew Donham — Partner, Peter Walker Partners Landscape Architecture
Moderator: Thomas Mellins — Exhibition Curator, A Space Within: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Introduction: Joseph C. Daniels — President & CEO, National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation
A rendering of the 9/11 Memorial waterfalls.
Courtesy AIANY
“Nearly eight years have passed since 9/11, and the public wants to know what is going on,” stated Thomas Mellins, curator of A Space Within: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, now on view at the Center for Architecture. Moderating a panel of designers working at Ground Zero, Mellins raised questions about the timing of design and construction, and factors leading to design decisions. With literally hundreds of designers and engineers working at the site, collaboration has been trying at times, to say the least. But despite the strong-willed individuals running design teams, at the end of the day, decisions are being made, steel is being topped out, and nothing is being left on the table, said Steven Davis, FAIA, partner at Davis Brody Bond Aedas, the firm designing the 9/11 Memorial Museum. “It’s finally physical and we’re all excited,” remarked Matthew Donham, partner at Peter Walker Partners Landscape Architecture.
A voice of optimism, Davis discussed how rewarding it is to see progress made daily. “Forms are emerging, buildings are being topped out; it’s all going all right,” he said. Michael Arad, AIA, partner at Handel Architects and designer of the National 9/11 Memorial, admitted that, although the first year seemed very slow, recently time has moved faster. Given the opportunity, though, he would not opt for more time to develop the memorial. Those involved needed to be pushed to make decisions and to come to a consensus, he claimed. Craig Dykers, AIA, project director at Snøhetta and architect of the 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion, agreed with Arad, but felt that perhaps more time was needed before the design process began. Although this is not possible in a city like NYC (“things aren’t always done logically,” he said), Dykers believes that the disjuncture between the political process and necessary healing time will yield interesting results.
Despite the pressured schedule, there were many other factors that influenced the design and addressed the challenge of how to create a space apart from, yet a part of, the city. When considering the plaza, Arad realized he had to facilitate among different types of visitors — those who will come once in a lifetime, every day, and anywhere in between. He wanted to construct a place accessible from all sides of the site. The planting strategy of the grove of trees responds to the perimeter conditions while providing a quiet, cool refuge from the city, explained Donham. The trees align in rows to direct visitors through an east/west axis, but the grid shifts for those entering from the north or south, allowing visitors to meander through at a slower pace, Davis elaborated.
For Arad, the political decision to require 10 million square feet of office space dramatically influenced the site’s overall development. Although Fulton and Greenwich Streets are being restored to the site, Fulton Street has shifted from its historic location to allow more space for One World Trade Center (formerly called Freedom Tower). The site, therefore, is divided into four unequal quadrants. In addition, for Donham, negotiating the complex infrastructure on the site was one of the biggest challenges. Each vent and pipe was placed to prevent problems in construction.
Below grade, Davis discussed his “inverted” design process. The museum’s form is defined by the memorial pools above; the slurry wall, PATH station, chiller plant, and 1WTC along the sides; and bedrock below. “Small buildings are a luxury in New York,” Dykers stated when describing the pavilion as a small, intimate space that contrasts the ever-growing city. While the program has been redefined several times, his goal has always been to provide an oasis in the city, a space where people can go to calm down. Part of the genius of the original Studio Daniel Libeskind-designed master plan, according to Dykers, was the provision for a cultural institution on site. Instead of segregating programs, autonomy was encouraged, which reflects the overlapping layers and complexity of the community.
Emotions about the design of the site still run high, as was revealed during the Q&A. Criticism ranged from siting the museum under ground to there not being enough information about the stories of the individuals who perished. Although the museum is planning a number of interactive displays, podcasts, and videos, some family members questioned how accessible the stories will be to “average” people who are not as “tech-savvy and intellectual” as the designers. Perhaps Arad addressed the questions most succinctly when asked to define sacred space. He used Jerusalem’s Western Wall as an example of a place that is unquantifyingly spiritual: “A place such as that is not something you can promise to deliver, but it is what we hope to create.”
P.S. 1.
Jessica Sheridan
There is no denying that a woolly mammoth appears to have landed in the P.S. 1 courtyard — especially with “Ice Age 3” topping box offices. This year’s Young Architects Program celebrates its 10th anniversary with afterparty, designed by New Haven- and Cambridge-based MOS. The installation is comprised of a series of “hut-like chimneys” covered on one side with a layer of “furry” palm-fiber thatching intended to reference Bedouin tents, according to the P.S. 1 press release.
While the structure from the outside appears hot in the midday sun, the chimneys provide passive cooling by siphoning air and creating a light breeze inside. This is the most successful attempt of the YAP projects that I’ve experienced to produce refreshing relief from the summer heat. The thatching also creates a sound barrier, something that is most important during the jam-packed Saturday Warm Up parties that feature DJs and live music.
The best part of the installation, in my opinion, is the small side room in the courtyard that is enclosed by concrete walls with one of the chimneys forming the ceiling. The coolest, shadiest part of the project, the oculus atop the conic shape focuses visitors’ attention to the sky and shadows cast by the sun. Fans of James Turrell will see the connection to Meeting, a “skyspace” on the roof of P.S. 1 where visitors can view the sky through an opening in the installation’s ceiling.
Unfortunately, there is no water feature this year. Perhaps with the torrential downpours we experienced in June there is no need, but for me it is always an exciting aspect of the YAP installations. That, along with the poor quality of the benches (I wonder if the soft construction will survive the summer), are my only criticisms. Overall, I highly recommend taking a trip to P.S. 1, both during Warm Up and the summer’s quieter times.
Since its June 9 opening, I have visited the High Line twice — once during the day and once at night. While I have some criticisms, overall the park, designed by Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is a new amenity to the Meatpacking District and an example of how good design can produce successful public space.
A couple of Sundays ago, even though the line stretched down the block to 10th Avenue, I only waited about 10 minutes to ascend the stairs at Gansevoort Street. As my friend commented, it was like walking through all of the renderings we’ve seen over the last couple of years, with a mix of people and kids of all ages crouching at the plants and pointing to the skyline. The amphitheater that allows visitors to view 9th Avenue recalls Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s ICA in Boston, setting up a familiar vocabulary to followers of the firm’s work and also demonstrating a unique way to solve ADA requirements with a ramp that winds along the seats. When I saw that some of the benches had been vandalized already, at first I thought it was unfortunate. Then, I began to think that street art could add another layer to the park, referencing the city’s past in addition to the preservation of the train tracks.
My biggest criticism of the High Line is the lack of shade structures. Other than the shelter from the buildings that straddle the park, there are no opportunities to escape the hot summer sun or the occasional scattered shower. By the time I descended from the park, I needed water to rehydrate.
At night, the low lights (both in setting and luminescence), designed by Hervé Descottes, provide visitors with uninterrupted views of the cityscape. The lighting under the building overpasses is sparse, and could provide areas for future light installations as well. The only area where the limited lights are not successful — even treacherous — is at the amphitheater. I almost fell as I tried to descend the stairs to the seating area.
There is no question that the High Line is a great addition to the city, already publicly recognized as an achievement (See “Architecture Takes the Stairs,” by Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, and “High Line Offers New Slant on City Views,” by Lisa Delgado, in this issue). I plan on visiting it frequently in all seasons to experience the change in foliage, and I am excited for Section 2 to open, supposedly next summer. I also hope that the success of Section 1 will convince the city and developers to preserve the full Section 3 at the West Side Rail Yards.
Thomas Farley, MD, MPH, the new Commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, was joined by four other NYC Commissioners in kicking off the Fit city conference on June 8th at the Center for Architecture. Look for more information and blog link in the next e-Oculus.
Courtesy AIANY