Author: Murrye Bernard, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP - Contributing Editor

Through 12.23.08
BronXscape

BronXscape.

Courtesy Parsons The New School for Design

The Design Workshop presents an exhibition documenting its latest project, BronXscape, the rooftop space of a new apartment building for young adults aging out of foster care. The Design Workshop, led by director David Lewis, co-founder of Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis, trains students to design and construct a medium-scale project for a non-profit client. This year, the students teamed up with the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter (NCS), an organization that provides housing and support to homeless men and women.

Parsons The New School for Design
The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
66 Fifth Avenue

New Practices Preview: Six New Firms in Five Slides

Event: New Practices New York 2008: Winners’ Symposium
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.15.08
Speakers: Representatives from winning firms: Baumann Architecture; Common Room; David Wallance Architect; Matter; Openshop | Studio; Urban A&O
Moderator: Olympia Kazi, Institute for Urban Design
Organizer: AIANY New Practices Committee
Sponsors: Underwriter: Häfele; Patron: ABC Imaging; Lead Sponsors: Ibex Construction; MG & Company; Poliform USA; Thornton Tomasetti; Supporters: Fountainhead Construction; FXFOWLE Architects; Media Sponsor: The Architect’s Newspaper

Courtesy AIANY

With this year’s New Practices New York jurors’ symposium, exhibition (See On View: At the Center for Architecture), and upcoming individual presentations at the Häfele showroom, undoubtedly, the exposure is invaluable for a new firm trying to gain traction in design-saturated NYC. At the recent winners’ symposium, the founders behind these new practices presented what motivates them: how they view themselves within the context of the city, the profession, and the struggle to succeed as a new firm.

Each firm was asked to prepare five slides and discuss their practice. Not surprisingly, the approaches were vastly different. Some firms carefully prepared slides as though they were interviewing with a potential client, showcasing professionally photographed built projects. Philippe Baumann of Baumann Architecture took this approach, explaining that his firm strives to create “straightforward work in a difficult environment,” exploring designs simultaneously through hand drawing and 3-D computer rendering. David Wallance, AIA, of David Wallance Architect, also discussed his practical approach to residential design cultivated by years of experience working on cultural and institutional projects in large firms.

Others took an indistinct approach, relying on heavily Photoshopped, candid pictures of firm members or random collages accompanied with catchy phrases. While such presentations give some insight into what it’s like working in these firms and what they stand for, they didn’t speak specifically to the practice of architecture. Common Room members, while obviously passionate about their work, spoke in such complex metaphors I was left wondering if they did, in fact, practice architecture. Adam Hayes and Mark Kroeckel of Openshop | Studio claimed to have no pictures of their work and only showed one slide — a black-and-white image of the firm’s two founders sitting nonchalantly on a couch. They chose, instead, to discuss how their firm got started and how they work together.

The jurors selected the firms based on their work, which they considered to be interesting and new. With the upcoming individual firm lectures throughout 2009 (for information go to the Häfele website), this symposium was a preview of what’s to come.

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

In this issue:
· AIA Invites Comments on Position Statements
· Hudson River Park Trust Wins AIANYS Award

AIA Invites Comments on Position Statements
The AIA Board of Directors is conducting a sunset review of many of the AIA’s position statements. As part of the review process, there is an open comment period where component leaders, committees, members, and other stakeholder groups can submit revision suggestions for review and possible adoption. The comment period is open until 11.14.08. The Board is scheduled to take final action on recommendations during its December 2008 meeting.

AIANYS represents nearly 10% of the AIA Membership, so comments carry great importance. AIA has also agreed to track how many AIANYS members respond during the comment period. Please click here to view the position statements and the feedback form.

Hudson River Park Trust Wins AIANYS Award
The Hudson River Park Trust is the recipient of the 2008 Honor Award in Community Development from the AIA NY State Chapter for its achievement in transforming acres of derelict land along the waterfront on Manhattan’s West Side into a waterfront park. Hudson River Park, stretching from 59th Street to Battery Park City, is the largest recreational amenity and open space project to be built in Manhattan since the opening of Central Park more than 150 years ago. With 10 piers and three miles of upland area already complete, the park offers a range of activities including boating, fishing, biking, jogging, and sunbathing. The Trust sponsors a series of free educational programs and outdoor entertainment such as concerts, movies, dancing, and amateur boxing. With some 17 million visits annually it is home to the nation’s busiest bikeway.

Polshek Partnership Architects has won a 2008 Honor Award for Design Excellence from the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) for the Public Broadcasting Station Headquarters for WGBH… The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Intensive Care Unit, designed daSILVA Architects, has won a 2009 ICU Design Citation Award… Winners of the Holcim Awards 2008 for region North America include NY-based Christopher J. Collins, Executive Director of Solar One Green Energy, Arts, and Education Center, who also won a Gold 2008 Holcim Award for the Solar 2 Green Energy, Arts, and Education Center…

Peter Claman, AIA, of SLCE Architects, received the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award… The Historic Districts Council will present its 20th Landmarks Lion Award to preservation architect Walter B. Melvin, AIA…

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) announced that the Mid-Hudson Section is merging into the NYC Section, making the IESNYC one of the largest sections of the IES…

SMWM, a women-owned architecture, urban design, and planning practice, has joined forces with Perkins+Will… Perkins Eastman announced the opening of a new office in Guayaquil, Ecuador… BBG-BBGM announced that senior partner Louis R. Hedgecock, AIA, has been promoted to managing partner…

12.31.08 Call for Entries: The 2009 North American Copper in Architecture Awards
The Copper Development Association Inc. (CDA) and the Canadian Copper & Brass Development Association (CCBDA) are seeking architectural building projects across North America that have earned recognition for their innovative use of copper. There are two award categories: New Construction and Restoration/Renovation. Projects must be located in the U.S. or Canada and must have been completed within the past two years. Significant application of architectural copper or copper alloys is required. Award winners will receive a custom copper etching commemorating their project. Entries also will be showcased on the CDA and CCBDA websites, and will be publicized in various industry publications.

Through 01.07.09
theanyspacewhatever

Z Point, 2001. 48 plastic pixels, soundtrack by David Grubbs. Installation view, Modern Art Oxford, 2005. On permanent loan from a private collector, Städtische Galerie Im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München.

Carsten Eisfeld, © Angela Bulloch

Using the museum as a springboard for work that reaches beyond the visual arts, these artists’ practices often commingle with other disciplines such as literature, architecture, design, and theater, engaging directly with everyday life. The multimedia exhibition brings together 10 artists: Angela Bulloch, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, AIA, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Jorge Pardo, AIA, Philippe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue

Through 02.01.09
OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding

OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding.

Courtesy Parsons The New School for Design

With the U.S. presidential elections upon us, Parsons presents an exhibition investigating the potency of democracy as a brand and featuring international contemporary artists. Curated by Carin Kuoni, director of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, with a web component curated by Rhizome Curator-at-Large Marisa Olson, the exhibition inaugurates the first fall season at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons’ new venue for art and design exhibitions and public programming designed by Lyn Rice Architects.

Parsons The New School For Design, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery,
Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
66 Fifth Avenue

Through 04.05.09
Solos: Tulou/Affordable Housing for China

Solos: Tulou/Affordable Housing for China.

Courtesy Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

In the fifth installment of the Solos series, the museum presents Tulou, a prototype for affordable housing being built in the city of Guangzhou by the Chinese firm Urbanus. The Tulou project incorporates 245 apartment units, a dormitory, small hotel, shops, gymnasium, library, and various communal and public spaces. On view are two full-scale bedrooms with additional areas of the unit outlined on the gallery floor and walls.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
2 East 91st St

11.07.08 through 12.08
An Architect’s Dream

An Architect’s Dream.

Courtesy Animazing Gallery

On view is a collection of new paintings by watercolorist Daniel Merriam known as an “architectural illustrator” whose works frequently features architectural subjects.

Animazing Gallery
461 Broome St

In this issue:
· Don’t Forget to Vote: 2009 AIANY Nominating Committee

Don’t Forget to Vote: 2009 AIANY Nominating Committee
Online voting for the election of the 2009 AIANY Nominating Committee will end on 11:59pm, 10.15.08. The Nominating Committee is responsible for proposing a slate to fill positions on the Chapter’s Board of Directors and Elective Committees (Fellows, Finance, Honors, Oculus), with all terms beginning January 2010. Those members attending at the AIANY Annual Meeting scheduled in June 2009 will vote on the slate.

Members have received an e-mail with a link and instructions on how to vote. Contact Suzanne Mecs, director of member services, for more information via e-mail or call 212.358.6115.

The National Art Club honored Steven Holl, AIA, with the 2008 Gold Medal for Achievements in Architecture…

Studio Daniel Libeskind and Foster + Partners are leading the competition among five short-listed bids to build a major maritime extension to the Mediterranean state of Monaco (the winner will be announced later this year)…

The NYC Grand Prize Winners of the 2008 Green Building Competition are the Battery Park City Conservancy’s maintenance facility by Dattner Architects and The Visionaire by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; Winners are The Bowery Hotel by FLANK Architects and the West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc.’s (WE ACT) Environmental Justice Center by AQC Architects; Honorable Mentions are 1347 Bristow St. in the Bronx by the Community Environmental Center (CEC) and Hearst Tower by Foster + Partners…

Presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the 2008 International Architecture Award winners include NY-based firms Kohn Pederson Fox (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Headquarters; Ruth Deech Building at St. Anne’s College; and Unilever London Headquarters); Steven Holl Architects (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and School of Art & Art History); Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects (New York Aquarium); RMJM Hillier (Becton, Dickinson and Company Campus Center); Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Alexandria Egypt Master Plan; Infinity Tower; Tyrol Tower; The New Beijing Poly Plaza; Transbay Transit Center Terminal And Tower; Al Hamra Firdous Tower; City Santa Fe Four Seasons and Residences; Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 and Skyplaza; Beijing Finance Street; Harvard University Northwest Science Building; and Hudson Railyards Towers); Handel Architects (Georgetown Incinerator); Thomas Phifer & Partners (Salt Point House); BKSK Architects (Queens Botanical Garden Visitor and Administration Building); Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (Overture Center and Carnival Center for the Performing Arts); Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (Reece School); Weiss/Manfredi Architects (Olympic Sculpture Park); Asymptote Architecture (World Business Center Busan); Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects (Glenstone Museum); and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8 Headquarters)…

Eric C. Y. Fang, AIA, LEED AP, has rejoined Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects as associate principal… Nancy Cheung is Perkins Eastman’s new marketing manager… Gale La Cave is the new director of marketing, Neill Coleman will spearhead U.S. public relations, and Mitch Green, and Rich Kahn, AIA, LEED AP, were promoted to associate principals at RMJM Hillier…

10.31.08 Call for Entries: 2008 Earth Awards
This annual $10,000 prize program supports the development and implementation of an eco-solution that will improve the collective social, cultural, economic, and ecological quality of life. Submissions will be accepted in categories: architecture, product design, alternative energy, fashion, food, and more. Ten finalists will be flown to NYC for an awards gala on 12.08.08, where the first prize will be announced.

11.06.08 Call for Ideas: Red Hook Food Vendors
Architecture for Humanity New York (AFHny) seeks innovative concepts for a new market place for the Red Hook Food Vendors in Red Hook Park, Brooklyn. Entrants are asked to generate concepts that address both the city’s concerns for clean and sanitary vending spaces, and reflect the vendors’ and their patrons’ desire to create a public market space. Finalists will be invited to continue developing their concepts in collaboration with AFHny and the Red Hook Food Vendors.

12.05.08 Call for Nominations: 2009 America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places List
The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is accepting nominations for its 2009 America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list. This annual list highlights examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural, and natural heritage that are at risk from destruction or irreparable damage. NHTP, which has identified 200 sites through 2008, has been successful in galvanizing preservation efforts across the country and rallying resources to save one-of-a-kind landmarks.

12.31.08 Call for Entries: Woodstock Museum Architectural Competition for Deck & Promenade
This two-phase competition provides an opportunity for architects and students to challenge conventional approaches to design, and to investigate and develop new concepts for an open and sustainable architecture for the 21st century. To enter, send an e-mail to hello@WoodstockMuseum.org. Monetary prizes are up to $2,500 for professionals and $500 for students.

02.09.09 Call for Entries: The Great Places Awards
The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the journal Places: Forum of Design for the Public Realm, and Metropolis magazine expand a 12-year effort to advance a critical understanding of place, the public realm, and the design and creation of human environments through joint sponsorship of The Great Places Awards — formerly the EDRA/Places Awards. The program will continue to recognize professional and scholarly excellence in design, planning, research, and academic publication, and to raise awareness and appreciation of the design and maintenance of the public realm.

Through 11.07.08
Frederick H. Evans: A Logical Perfection

Wells Cathedral: A Sea of Steps, 1903, platinum print, 23.4 x 19.2 cm.

Courtesy Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs

A survey of Frederick H. Evans’s architecture and landscapes presents more than 24 platinum prints from 1890-1910. Among the highlights are his cathedral interiors. An illustrated catalogue with an essay by photographic historian, Dr. Larry J. Schaaf, is available. An exhibition of the artist’s work has not been on view in NY since 1971.

Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs
962 Park Avenue

Through 11.08.08
Architectural Drawing: Thought, Conviction, Resolution

Courtesy Situ Studio

Organized by professors Colin M. Cathcart, AIA, and Sandra McKee, AIA, drawings from a range of established to younger architecture firms are on view. Each firm exhibits drawings from one project, demonstrating the range of drawing tools and representations required to fully imagine and execute a single work. The exhibition also shows the various roles drawings play in the design and construction process, from thinking to convincing to resolving. Firms include: Dean/Wolf Architects, FRONT, Inc, noroof architects, Polshek Partnership Architects, Situ Studio, Raphael Viñoly Architects, David Wallance Architect, Workshop For Architecture, and Yoshihara/McKee/Architects.

Center Gallery, Fordham University
113 W. 60th St

Through 11.09.08
Max Lamb

“White Bronze Poly Chair,” hand-carved polystyrene chair, lost-foam cast in bronze with white patina. UK, 2007.

Courtesy Johnson Trading Gallery

Johnson Trading Gallery presents the first U.S. exhibition of contemporary furniture by British designer Max Lamb. The exhibition features new commissions Lamb has crafted from New York Bluestone, along with a retrospective of important limestone, pewter, bronze, copper, wool felt, and polystyrene objects. A film series offers an understanding of Lamb’s design philosophy and processes.

Johnson Trading Gallery
490 Greenwich Street

Through 11.26.08
Thirteen New York Architects Design for Ordos

Site plan for Ordos, Inner Mogolia.

Courtesy The Architectural League of New York

One hundred international emerging architects will each design a 10,700-square-foot villa on lots ranging from a quarter- to a half-acre in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. With a master plan by artist Ai Weiwei and architect selection by Herzog & de Meuron, the Ordos 100 challenges conventional ideas about urban design, placemaking, and context. On view are designs by the 13 NY-based firms working in Ordos.

The Urban Center
457 Madison Avenue

Through 02.22.09
Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940

Promotional photograph of the Normandie superimposed on NYC streets, photograph by Byron Co., 1934.

Museum of the City of New York; Byron Collection (93.1.1.11962)

The cultural love affair and rivalry between two world capitals, NYC and Paris, are explored. Highlights include: historic reproductions, ca. 1931, of schemes submitted for a Paris architectural competition, the goal of which was to create the Voie Triomphale (Triumphal Way) connecting the Arc de Triomphe with La Defense; and Alfred Auguste Janniot’s (1889-1969) plaster model of part of the bronze relief above the doors of Rockefeller Center’s La Maison Française. The exhibition will also feature drawings, photographs, plans, and other material documenting two international expositions — the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris and the 1939/40 World’s Fair in NYC.

Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue

10.20.08 through 12.13.08
April Greiman: Does It Make Sense?

Hand Holding a Bowl of Rice (daytime view), wall mural, Wilshire Vermont Station, Los Angeles, 2007.

Courtesy School of Visual Arts

The School of Visual Arts honors April Greiman with the Masters Series Award and a retrospective exhibition. One of the first American designers to embrace digital technologies, Greiman has explored the intersection of art, design, and architecture for more 25 years. Born in NY, she now heads the L.A. design consultancy Made in Space. Interested in the built environment, she frequently collaborates with architects, including Frank Gehry, FAIA, and Michael Rotondi, FAIA.

Visual Arts Museum
209 East 23rd Street