Murrye Bernard, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP – Contributing Editor – Page 30 – News – What’s New at AIANY and the Center for Architecture.

Nine firms were selected out of 40 to be a part of the 2009 Center for Architecture Exhibition Design Shortlist — Open Call: Architecture in Formation, Evidence Design, G TECTS, Incorporated Architecture + Design, Leven Betts, Lyn Rice Architects, MATTER, Moorhead & Moorhead, and nARCHITECTS…

The Interior Design Department at FIT announced that Gaetano Pesce is the 2009 Lawrence Israel Prize honoree…

NY-based winners of the 2008 International Design Awards competition Professional First Place Awards include, in the following categories: Landscape, WXY Architecture + Urban Design for The Battery Bosque & Carousel; Urban Design, Rogers Marvel Architects for Battery Park City Streetscapes; Renovation, Jonathan Kirschenfeld Associates for Floating Pool; Renovation, Taryn Christoff, Martin Finio, AIA, Jeff Hong, Chris Mechaley, Mac Patoulas, John Szot, and Vicky Yuan for The Heckscher Foundation… Mancini Duffy also won an award in the Annual Reports category for “Mancini Duffy’s Year in Review”…

The Alliance for Downtown New York has selected Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners and FXFOWLE Architects to study street-level conditions, and implement a planning and design study of Water Street… The Illuminating Engineering Society of NYC will announce the results of their Ninth Annual NYC Student Lighting Competition and mark the opening of the Audible Light Exhibition on 03.04.09 with a keynote address by Linnaea Tillett, PhD…

George Melas, AIA, LEED AP, has been named a Senior Vice President at Syska Hennessy Group, Inc… Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects (GKV) appointed Benita Welch, AIA, and Joseph Barbagallo, AIA, as Principals… Poulin + Morris has named Brian Brindisi a Principal of the firm… BBG-BBGM named Roderick A. Petschauer and Ronda McCrea Principals.

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:

Spring Issue: Elevating Architecture / Design Literacy for All. Closed.

Summer Issue: AIANY 2009 Design Awards and AIANY/BSA Biennial Design Type Awards. Closed.

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.

03.31.09 Call for Nominations: CTBUH Chair Search
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) seeks a new chair to oversee its strategic steering and direction in conjunction with the CTBUH Board of Trustees. The position is a two-year tenure, ideally preceded by a one-year position as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. There is no fixed profile, but prior involvement in the conception, design, construction, and/or operation of tall buildings is a pre-requisite.

05.15.09 Call for Entries: Maxmix Cities: Celebration of Cities 3
This ideas consultation is open to architects and architecture students internationally. It is a response to the multiple contradictions of contemporary cities: high density and anonymity; man’s distance from nature and his desire to retrieve it; opposition between the urban world and the rural world, between the past and the present. A grand prize of 5,000 Euros will be awarded in each category (students and professionals).

09.04.09 Call for Nominations: MAPA Design 09
The Mid-Atlantic Precast Association (MAPA) announces a new awards competition with two categories to honor architect and student designs that incorporate precast concrete in the mid-Atlantic region. Winners will receive a custom plaque and recognition in a variety of MAPA communications.

Through 03.29.09
Urban China: Informal Cities

Urban China: Informal Cities.

The New Museum

The first U.S. exhibition of Urban China magazine, the only magazine devoted to issues of urbanism published in China, includes a built environment of reclaimed construction materials; a massive wall graphic combining photographs, found images, numerical data, and maps; a Flash-based, user-navigable database of photographs; and a selected collection of past issues of Urban China magazine. Together, these elements fill the lobby gallery, exploding the magazine’s radical worldview off its pages and into the physical space of the museum. The wall graphic and related objects examine how informal systems — spatial, economic, and utilitarian — act to subvert the controlled nature of urban spaces in China.

The New Museum
235 Bowery

Through 03.31.09
Exyzt — Situation Room

Storefront for Art and Architecture

Working on experimental projects, Exyzt invites architecture, video, graphic-design, botany and any other concept to become devices of expression and creation. Situation Room is a playground for [re] creation, collective action, active occupation, open demonstration, and social games. It is meant to be a space for intuitive, interactive, and collective performance. Members of Exyzt will inhabit the gallery space, making use of the furnishings as though it were a domestic space and inviting the audience to reconsider occupied areas in a well-defined timeframe.

Storefront for Art and Architecture
97 Kenmare Street

Through 04.04.09
Building Code

Building Code.

Jen Berkman Gallery

This is an exhibition of eight paintings in oil and acrylic by Sarah McKenzie, who paints buildings in various states of construction, referencing geometric abstraction and 20th-century Modernism. She applies paint to the canvas in ways that often break the unity of the image. Her process parallels construction and her surfaces encourage the viewer to compare the structure of the paintings with the frames of the buildings she is painting.

Jen Berkman Gallery
6 Spring Street

Through 05.31.09
What is Sculpture? Akari from the 1986 Venice Biennale

Installation at the 1986 Venice Biennale with Akari VB6 at right.

Photo by Shigeo Anzai, courtesy The Noguchi Museum

The Noguchi Museum presents Isamu Noguchi’s Akari Light Sculptures, focusing on the examples featured in the American Pavilion at the 1986 Venice Biennale. This display comprises eight Akari from that exhibition, along with some 20 additional designs not shown in Venice. A highlight of the exhibition is a group of unique and rarely seen Akari Light Sculptures that Noguchi created especially for the Biennale — the last the artist would make. These include the VB4 model, which is a large, “floating” pyramidal paper shade that is suspended from a cord and has been tethered to the ground by stones covered in handmade paper.

The Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City

common room Takes Uncommon Approach to Design

Event: New Practices New York 2008, common room: 5 Obstructions (for Architecture)
Location: Häfele New York Showroom, 01.22.09
Speakers: Todd Rouhe, Maria Ibanez, & Lars Fischer — Principals, common room
Organizer: AIA New Practices Committee

NYFA Offices.

common room

The New Practices New York Winners Symposium last October left me wondering if common room, did, in fact, practice architecture (See “New Practices Preview: Six New Firms in Five Slides,” e-Oculus, 02.28.08). It turns out they DO practice architecture. Firm principals Todd Rouhe, Maria Ibanez, and Lars Fischer discussed the firm’s work, philosophy, and interests. Their presentation was structured by a series of five statements that summarize their practice:

1) Appropriate the Everyday
Before beginning design, common room carefully evaluates the daily routines of future users. In the case of office space for the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), common room noticed that workers were using potted plants to form privacy screens. In their design they provided built-in planters and an open framework for hanging plants and climbing vines.

2) Never Finish
Common room sees architecture as an interconnected process where ideas blend from one project to the next. One example: the podium they designed for the New Practices New York exhibition at the Center for Architecture was adapted for their exhibition at the Häfele Showroom.

3) Share Space
Because NYC forces people to share close quarters, common room creates “hybrid spaces.” In the design for CANADA, a gallery in the Lower East Side, a simple table acts as a mediator between public display and functional workspace. Gallerists did not want a typical “white box” gallery, so common room chose to expose the gallery’s operations, making them “as important as the display of art.” True to their name, the large table in common room’s own office allows everyone to participate on one level in everything that happens in the firm.

4) Include Difference
When programming 30,000-square-foot floor plates of the Lehigh Liberty Center, an eight-story warehouse in Newark, common room had to consolidate two divergent programs on the same floor. Storage facilities are situated at the center with flexible office space lining the perimeter. It is an efficient and profitable layout for the owner.

5) Don’t be New
While “innovation” is a key word that comes to mind with New Practices, common room argues that designers shouldn’t “be new for the sake of the new.” At NYFA, common room reused existing light fixtures as a money-saving precaution. While this limited the plan, they were still able to achieve special moments such as the aforementioned screens and planters.

Common room looks to historical examples for organization, values, and ideals — not just form. And while technology is often a driver of modern form, the firm is, instead, “interested in the boundaries of institutional space.” This is evident in their presentation, which lacked digital renderings. They portray their work through simple, rational program diagrams and photos of built projects.

The next NPNY lecture, given by David Wallance Architect, will be 02.12.09. Go to the AIANY calendar for more information.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a designer with TEK Architects and has written for Architectural Record, Architecture Boston, and Architectural Lighting.

In this issue:
· AIA’s Stance on Stimulus Plan
· AIA CCD Selects 10 Communities for Technical Assistance
· NCARB Explores Effects of IPD and BIM
· City Launches CareerLink

AIA’s Stance on Stimulus Plan
“The Senate compromise tells millions of workers in the design and construction industry that they don’t deserve to be a part of the economic recovery,” said Marvin Malecha, FAIA, AIA President. “Eliminating funds for school modernization and cutting investments in energy efficient federal buildings means more than 500,000 Americans lose the opportunity to find a job that could help our economy emerge from this recession.

“Nearly one million jobs have been lost in this vital sector — which accounts for one in 10 dollars of GDP — over the past two years. A study conducted by the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University states that each $1 million in construction spending supports 28.5 full-time jobs. The Senate’s action only slows the momentum of jobs creation that will get the economy moving again.

“In an economic crisis as grave as this, we need to do everything we can to stimulate the economy and rebuild our communities. What better way to do so than to invest in our children. We are going to fight to make sure that as the bill goes to conference, these funds are restored to the bill.”

For more information on the AIA economic stimulus plan visit the Rebuild and Renew website.

AIA CCD Selects 10 Communities for Technical Assistance
The AIA Center for Communities by Design (CCD) has selected Los Angeles; Cleveland; Indianapolis; SE Tennessee Valley; Virginia Beach; Orange, MA; Port Angeles, WA; Hilo, HI; Beatrice, NB; and Eagle River Valley, CO, as 10 communities to receive technical assistance under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program in 2009. The collaborative SDAT brings together architects and other professionals assembled from across the country to provide a roadmap for communities seeking to improve their sustainability — as defined by a community’s ability to meet the environmental, economic, and social equity needs of today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

An architect-led team of professionals including planners, hydrologists, economic development specialists, and others will be selected based on their credentials and the specific needs of each community. The SDAT will work in conjunction with local stakeholders to help shape the community’s strategy to increase sustainability.

To learn more about the program visit: http://www.aia.org/liv_sdat

NCARB Explores Effects of IPD and BIM
In October 2008, the National Council of Architectural Registrations Boards (NCARB) held a hearing on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Arlington, VA. The hearing brought together a group of industry experts to comment on how the IPD process and BIM technology may affect responsible control by architects.

Overall, presenters at the hearing affirmed that responsible control by architects over building design was critical to the public’s safety. They also agreed that this regulatory responsibility could be exercised in a way that facilitated project delivery methods that continue to evolve. The task force has recommended modifications to NCARB’s Legislative Guidelines and Model Law to the Board of Directors to more explicitly address responsible control and its relationship to IPD and BIM technologies. NCARB’s Member Boards will vote on the proposed changes in the form of resolutions at the 2009 Annual Meeting and Conference in Chicago in June.

City Launches CareerLink
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert C. Lieber, NYC Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) President, Seth W. Pinsky, SBS Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, and the NYC Workforce Investment Board announced the launch of CareerLinkNYC, a website devoted to providing New Yorkers with essential resources for those who have recently lost a job, are looking for a new job, want to start a business, or are thinking about continuing education options in NYC. While it is geared toward members of the financial services and information technology sectors, the information provided is relevant to any entry- to mid-level professional impacted by the current economic climate.

The AIA Long Island Chapter’s 44th Annual Archi Award winners include, in the following categories: Un-Built, 245 Tenth Avenue by Goshow Architects; Commendation, Bucharest Medical Center & Hotel Campus and Interior Architecture Commendation, Mason Capitol Management and Commercial/ Mercantile Commendation, Long Island Headquarters, all by Spector Group; Private Residence and Small Projects (Under $200,000) Archi, Private Bathroom by Murdock Young Architects; Archi, Hofstra Performing Arts Center by Wank Adams Slavin Associates (WASA); Sustainable Design Commendation, Ossining Public Library by Beatty, Harvey & Associates Architects; and Commendation, Plumm Shoppes by Allen & Killcoyne Architects…

Syracuse University unveiled the winners of its design competition, “From the Ground Up: Innovative Green Homes,” including NY-based ARO/Della Valle Bernheimer and Cook + Fox… The Forum for Urban Design selected H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, teamed with Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, as one of six finalists culled from over 250 international entrants for its Red Hook Bicycle Competition… The winner of the 2009 MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program is MOS; finalists included Bade Stageberg Cox, L.E.F.T. architects, and PARA-project…

The 2009 P/A Award winners include Stan Allen and Carlos Arnaiz of Stan Allen Architect for the Taipei Waterfront; Charles Renfro, AIA, Ricardo Scofidio, AIA, and Elizabeth Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro for Alice Tully Hall; Sylvia Smith, FAIA, of FXFOWLE Architects, also for Alice Tully Hall; James Vira, AIA, and Jason Cadorette of Viraline for the Rapidly Depolyable Inflatable Container disaster housing; and Stephen Apking, FAIA, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Inland Steel Building Restoration… The National Association of Home Builders 2009 Pillars of the Industry Award Finalists include Handel Architects, which won two awards: Best Mid-Rise Condominium Community, 505 Greenwich, and Best High-Rise Condominium Community, Millennium Tower Residences…

Steven Holl, FAIA, has been awarded the first BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Arts Category… Matthew Bremer, AIA, of Architecture In Formation, is one the eight recipients of the 2009 AIA Young Architects Award…

The Center for Civil and Human Rights has selected five firms to compete to design a new $125 million center in downtown Atlanta, including NY-based firms Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Huff + Gooden Architects; and Polshek Partnership Architects… The Smithsonian has announced the selection of six firms who will participate in a two-month design competition that will determine which firm will submit a formal proposal for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, including Devrouax & Purnell Architects/Planners and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects (joint venture); and Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with KlingStubbins…

RMJM announced the formation of a Global Health Studio (GHS)… openhousenewyork has appointed Renée Schacht executive director… The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance announced Cortney Worrall as the new Director of Programs… Cannon Design named Dale Greenwald Associate Principal… Gensler announces the appointment of Leslie Jabs, AIA, as Principal…

Spring Issue: Elevating Architecture / Design Literacy for All. Closed.

Summer Issue: AIANY 2009 Design Awards and AIANY/BSA Biennial Design Type Awards. 02.13.09: Late registration deadline.

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

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

02.16.09 Call for Nominations: 2009 Sustainable Leadership Awards for Design and Development
These awards honor outstanding contributions to sustainable design and development leadership. Winners will be featured in global outreach. Awards are given in Interior Design, Architectural Design, and Development, and are sponsored by the International Interior Design Association, the AIA Committee on the Environment, the AIA Interior Architecture Knowledge Community, and CoreNet Global.

04.10.09 Call for Entries: 2009 Lester Dundes Interior Design Competition
The annual competition recognizes extraordinary design projects and to honor the members of the New York Chapter of the International Interior Design Association. Projects must have been completed after 01.01.08.

04.23.09 Call for Entries: The John M. Clancy Award Award for Socially Responsible Housing
The principals of the Boston architecture firm Goody Clancy established an award to honor the decades of creative commitment John Clancy, FAIA, brought nationwide to the planning, design, and construction of multifamily housing for diverse populations at all income levels. The award recognizes and encourages excellence in socially responsible urban housing by honoring an organization, group, or individual who has been a major force behind one or more built housing developments.

04.24.09 Call for Entries: Intersections: Grand Concourse Beyond 100
The Design Trust for Public Space and The Bronx Museum of the Arts announce an ideas competition seeking bold visions from architects, planners, artists, designers, and others for how the Bronx and Grand Concourse can evolve in the coming decades and cope with pressing needs for housing, green space, and transportation. Up to seven finalists will be awarded a cash stipend to further develop their proposal for inclusion in the exhibition Intersections: Grand Concourse at 100 — Future at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, opening 11.01.09.

Call for Entries: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Scholarship
The School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is accepting applications for scholarships to two design studio-based graduate degree programs: the Masters and Ph.D in Architectural Sciences with a concentration in Built Ecologies. The degree programs are designed for individuals with backgrounds in architecture, engineering, or other fields who are interested in the next generation of performance-based design strategies. Coursework for the program is taught in NYC at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE). The Research Assistantship program covers full tuition and living expenses, with scholarships available. Applications are still being accepted, but prompt online submission is preferred.

02.13.09 through 2.22.09
Valentine to Times Square

Valentine to Times Square.

Gage/Clemenceau Architects

A temporary 10-foot-tall heart-shaped sculpture of stainless steel, LED lights, and Corian will be on display at Father Duffy Square for Valentine’s Day. The Times Square Alliance commissioned Gage/Clemenceau Architects to create a new work of art that celebrates the uniqueness of the square. The production of the sculpture involved the collaboration between a hot-rod car design company, several robotic metal-cutting robots, an Ivy League University, a concert lighting expert, a graphic designer, a copywriter, a sculptor, and over 350 square feet of a material typically used for kitchen countertops.

Times Square
Father Duffy Square

Through 3.11.09
ImagineConey

Courtesy MAS

Over 350 ideas to reinvent Coney Island have been submitted from around the world to the Municipal Art Society initiative ImagineConey. These ideas, together with results from two public workshops and a charrette, are on display.

Municipal Art Society
457 Madison Avenue

In this issue:
· AIA Makes Policy Recommendations to Congress
· Engineers Sue NYC

AIA Makes Policy Recommendations to Congress
The AIA semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast projects an 11% decline in design and construction activity in 2009. To revitalize the building sector, which accounts for about $1 of every $10 of the U.S. GDP, the AIA developed the Rebuild and Renew Plan, which details its recommendations for the allocation of funds in President Obama’s economic recovery plan. The AIA is calling on the new administration and Congress to create policies that ensure these monies are spent on the planning, design, and construction of energy efficient, sustainable buildings and healthy communities. If implemented correctly, the nearly $100 billion plan would create 1.6 million jobs throughout the design and construction industry.

Recent reports estimate that the economic recovery package may total as much as $800 billion, with at least $350 billion dedicated to infrastructure projects. However, the AIA’s recommendations call for longer planning and design periods for projects to help ensure that they are carried out in the most effective, cost-efficient manner, and that funds are not poorly spent due to the projects being hastily planned and executed. Providing funding for projects across 24 months will ensure a steady stream of funds for job creation over the likely life of the recession.

The plan is comprised of five key policy areas for immediate attention: 21st-century schools; green commercial, residential, and institutional buildings; historic preservation projects; transit, mixed-use development, and complete streets projects; and tax relief for businesses. For more information on the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew Plan, or to download the full report, click the link.

Engineers Sue NYC
The NY State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) is bringing a lawsuit against the City of New York to restore the licensure requirement for the Commissioner of Buildings. Recently, the NY City Council passed legislation removing the requirement that the commissioner be a licensed professional engineer or registered architect. The NYSSPE believes that this law not only diminishes and undermines their profession, but more importantly, puts the public at risk. They believe this law is in violation of the NY State Engineering Licensure Statute and hope to reverse it in a court of law.

Photographer Peter Aaron, Guy Nordenson, Metropolis, and DOCOMOMO US have been awarded 2009 Collaborative Achievement Awards by the AIA… The Department of Small Business Services announced this year’s Celebrating Successful Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Awardees including MWBE of the Year, Everardo Agosto Jefferson, AIA, and Sara Elizabeth Caples, AIA, of Caples Jefferson Architects, and MWBE Rising Star Award winner Elizabeth Kennedy of Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architects…

The AD 100, a selection of the top architects and interior designers whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest over the past several years includes NY-based Penny Drue Baird; John Barman; Samuel Botero; Geoffrey Bradfield; Thomas Britt; Mario Buatta; Diane Burn; Robert Couturier; Elissa Cullman; Joanne de Guardiola; David Easton Mica Ertegun; Ferguson & Shamamian; William T. Georgis, AIA; Peter L. Gluck; Mariette Himes Gomez; Alexander Gorlin, FAIA; Michael Graves, FAIA; Victoria Hagan; Alexa Hampton; Thad Hayes; Ike Kligerman Barkley; Peter Marino, FAIA; Juan Pablo Molyneux; Juan Montoya; Sandra Nunnerley; Campion Platt; AIA; Jennifer Post; Jaquelin T. Robertson, FAIA; Harry Schnaper; Annabelle Selldorf, AIA; Roderick N. Shade; Stephen Shadley; Shelton; Mindel; Marjorie Shushan; Sills Huniford; Scott Snyder; Robert A. M. Stern, FAIA; Carleton Varney; Alan Wanzenberg, AIA; and Dennis Wedlick, AIA…

Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture announced that Abby Hamlin has been elected as Chair of the Van Alen Institute Board of Trustees… Jessica Lansdale, AIA, LEED AP, is now the manager of SBLM Architects’ new Healthcare & Wellness division…