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
January 22 — April 25, 2009
MAKE IT WORK. Engineering Possibilities
Today’s engineers are working across disciplines and driving innovation. MAKE IT WORK. Engineering Possibilities looks at how engineers are envisioning and realizing the future of our built environment by transforming structures, improving environments, enhancing materials, re-inventing building technologies, and advancing forms. This exhibition highlights how inventive strategies for building are born from multidisciplinary research and integrated practice. Small engineering firms, large engineering firms, engineering schools, university labs, materials labs, artists, inventors, and architects are all part of the exchange of ideas — plotting trajectories of innovation.
Building on observations, analysis, and mathematical principles, engineers have developed the profession from empirical analysis into a field of expertise based on predictability and synthesis. With digital simulation and processing capabilities, engineers are utilizing comprehensive models to explore different options for optimizing structures and systems.
Twenty-first century engineers are tackling some of the most challenging concerns of our day. Exceeding LEED standards for sustainable building, engineers are conceiving of new ways for buildings to harvest and manage energy — floors that create electricity and facade systems that respond to the sun. Anticipating dwindling global resources, engineers are designing structures to new standards of efficiency and economy — stadiums that use 50% less steel and towers formed for optimal wind-loading.
These solutions are the product of creative and collaborative pursuit. This exhibition highlights how inventive strategies for building are born from multidisciplinary research and integrated practice. Small engineering firms, large engineering firms, engineering schools, university labs, materials labs, artists, inventors, and architects are all part of the exchange of ideas — plotting trajectories of innovation.
Exhibition Curatorial Team:
Rosamond Fletcher
Eli Gottlieb
Zak Kostura
Erik Madsen
Jonah Stern
Beth Stryker
Exhibition Designer:
Pure + Applied
Framing Space Installation by:
Phillip Anzalone and Stephanie Bayard, aa64
The Trusset Structural System, invented by Phillip Anzalone and Cory Clarke, is a project of the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University in collaboration with the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Research Assistant:
Ginger Nolan, Columba GSAPP Ph.D Candidate
Research Intern:
Alicia Arroyo
Special Thanks to our Advisory Committee:
Julie Applebaum, Center for Architecture Foundation Board
Phil Bernstein, Autodesk
Vincent Chang, Grimshaw
John Hennessy, ACEC President
Marvin Mass, Cosentini
Dan Nall, Flack + Kurtz
Craig Schwitter, Buro Happold
David Scott, Arup
Susan Szenasy, Metropolis
Richard Tomasetti, Thornton Tomasetti.
Underwriter:
Patron:
Lead Sponsors:
Supporters: American Council of Engineering Companies of New York, Josef Gartner USA, and Weidlinger Associates
Friend: Grimshaw Architects
Supporter: American Council of Engineering Companies of New York
The Framing Space Installation is generously provided by aa64 with additional support from:
Alusion, a product of Cymat Technologies Ltd.
Contrarian Metal Resources
General Plastics Manufacturing
Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group
Maloya Laser, Inc.
Panelite
Related Events
Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 6:00 — 8:00pm
Multi-disciplinary Innovation
Saturday, February 21, 2009, 11:00am — 5:00pm
Symposium: Energy Engineering
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 6:00 — 8:00pm
100% BIM
Thursday, March 19, 2009, 6:00 — 8:00pm
Tapered, Tilted, Twisted Towers: a lecture by David Scott, Arup
Friday, March 27, 2009, 6:00 — 8:00pm
Screening of Bird’s Nest, a film by Christoph Schaub & Michael Schindhelm
March 24 — April 11, 2009
Helfand Spotlight Series: Work in Progress: Green Walls
The success of green roofs has driven Landscape Architects and Architects to explore alternative exterior and interior applications of green planting technology, such as green walls, and green screens. Vertical planting presents challenges to proper irrigation and climate control, requiring innovative solutions.
Exhibition and related programs are made possible through the generous support of Alive Structures; Landscape Forms, Inc.; New York City Green Roof and Landscape; and Lieb’s Greenhouses Inc.
Organized by AIA New York and New York Chapter ASLA
WORK IN PROGRESS: GREEN WALLS is presented as part of the Margaret Helfand Spotlight Series.
Related Events
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 5:30 — 8:00pm
Reception and Panel Discussion
March 26 — April 8, 2009
Scott Peterman: Cities
Photographs from Scott Peterman’s Cities series, documenting the dense urban conditions of Sao Paulo, New York, and Cairo, will be on view at the Center for Architecture through April 8.
Scott Peterman is an internationally recognized photographer; in 2006, his photographs were displayed at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia in Venice, and in 2007, he took part in the Global Cities exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.
Mr. Peterman was born in Philadelphia in 1968. He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Photography from Yale University in 1998. Over the last decade, his photography has been exhibited in both solo and group shows all across the country. In New York City he has had five solo shows, including exhibits at Daniel Silverstein Gallery and Higher Pictures. He has been featured at the Portland Museum of Art, most recently at its 2007 Biennial and Urban Scene exhibitions.
For more information on Scott Peterman, please visit his website at www.scottpeterman.com.
Exhibition made possible through the generous support of Margery Perlmutter and Bryan Cave, LLP.
Organized by AIA New York.
03.24.09
Tickets to San Francisco are just $250 round trip for the weekend of the 2009 AIA Convention (04.30-05.02.09). Be sure to purchase yours soon if you have not already!
– Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP
CLICK ON BLOG CENTRAL: AIANY BLOG: The AIANY Chapter’s Blog Central features opinion pieces on architectural issues relevant to NY-based designers, firms, and projects, along with spotlights on debates and discussions at the Center for Architecture and AIANY. It is an informal discussion board. To become a regular contributor to Blog Central, please e-mail e-Oculus. Pen names are welcome.
Event: Not Business As Usual: Energy Audits
Location: Center for Architecture, 03.11.09
Speakers: Clararose Voigt, and Joanna Moore — Project Managers, NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA); Michael Leech, LEED AP, Assoc. Engineer, and Adam Desio, LEED AP, Assoc. Engineer — Project Managers, EME Group
Organizers: AIANY; Center for Architecture Foundation
Sponsors: AMX; Chief Manufacturing; Lutron Electronics
With the economic downturn, firms are struggling to stay competitive. By helping clients save money in the long run, firms will not only keep the valuable clients they have, but also potentially gain new projects in the future. One way to do this is by encouraging clients to do energy audits. At the most recent Not Business As Usual forum at the Center for Architecture, representatives from the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) spoke about its energy audit program along with engineers who perform the audits from EME Group.
Besides gaining or keeping clients, NYSERDA has launched initiatives to focus on climate change through energy efficiency. The Commercial/ Industrial Programs aim to reduce energy consumption by 15% by 2015. By linking corporate building owners who pay less than $75,000 in electric bills per year with companies that perform energy audits, owners could save a noticeable amount of money by improving the systems in their buildings, stated Clararose Voigt, a NYSERDA project manager. With each audit, there is a billing analysis, walk-through survey, report on the performance of all systems in the building, and ultimately information and assistance on incentives and funding opportunities is provided. For larger companies, and for owners who work with engineers, NYSERDA can help re-evaluate energy consumption in the long term through feasibility studies, energy master plans, and retro commissioning.
Whether or not architects encourage their clients to use NYSERDA’s services, they can encourage building owners to think about energy efficiency as directly linking to cost savings. In these troubled times, this may be one way to keep sustainability in everyone’s consciousness.
In the many discussions about the state of the economy that I have participated in, there is a growing concern for emerging architects. Those graduating this year into a profession that feels as if it is buying time until new projects are announced and construction begins again are finding it difficult to get their foot in the door. Young professionals with a couple of years of experience are often the first to get laid off. Soon, these jobless professionals will start looking elsewhere to support themselves, leaving a major gap in the workplace.
There are several things that can be done to keep young professionals in architecture. Many offices that do have work right now are hesitant to hire when the future is so uncertain. Instead, employees are working overtime (even more than usual) to keep up with the breakneck deadlines that were promised by firms trying to stay competitive. Perhaps these firms can hire emerging architects to work on a temporary basis, to ease some of the pressure. Unemployed emerging architects are looking for any kind of experience to boost their resumes.
The AIA is taking steps in the right direction to support emerging architects, but it can do more, as well. It recently launched a scholarship program that gave away 100 free registrations to next month’s convention. Needless to say, almost the day it launched, it closed due to the overwhelming response. There should be more of these scholarship programs, locally as well as nationally, encouraging emerging architects to get involved with the architecture community even if they are not working. The AIANY’s Not Business As Usual discussions have broached the topic, offering resume advice (portfolio reviews will be offered this Wednesday, 03.25.09). Also, the AIANY Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) committee is hosting a Mentor Match program Tuesday evening, 03.24.09, to give career advice.
Everyone is struggling these days, but looking forward to preserving the profession in the long-run is just as important as finding the next project.
The Queens Museum of Art has launched the Adopt-A-Building program, where individuals may “purchase” real estate on the Panorama of the City of New York. For $50, you can purchase an apartment; $500 will “buy” a school, library, or firehouse; for $10,000, one may own a landmark building or fund a significant update to the model. All new buildings are built through the museum’s internship program with City College New York School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, and proceeds go to help provide for the ongoing care and maintenance of the model. For more information, click the link, or contact Debra Wimpfheimer at dw@queensmuseum.org, or call 718-592-9700 x141.
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