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

Event: Checkerboard Conversations: Ray Kappe: California Modern Master, Forty Years of Modular Evolution and Studio Gang Architects
Location: Center for Architecture, 09.30.10 & 10.14.10
Speakers: Ray Kappe, FAIA — Principal, Kappe Architects/Planners & Original Founder, Southern California Institute of Architecture; Jeanne Gang, FAIA, LEED AP — Principal & Founder, Studio Gang Architects; Suzanne Stephens — Deputy Editor, Architectural Record
Organizer: Checkerboard Film Foundation; Center for Architecture; AIANY Architectural Dialogues Committee

LivingHome by Kappe Architects/Planners (left); Aqua Tower by Studio Gang Architects.

Courtesy of LivingHomes (left); Tom Piper (right).

The work of Ray Kappe, FAIA, and Jeanne Gang, FAIA, seems to exist at opposite ends of the architectural spectrum. Kappe is known for designing warm but modern West coast homes, while Studio Gang’s 82-story Aqua Tower is turning heads in Chicago. However, these designers both draw inspiration from the natural environment.

Kappe holds the double legacy of being a pioneering Los Angeles architect and founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC). “I always thought it was important to have as much glass as possible so we can have that connection with the outdoors,” he explained. One of his most notable designs — his own home — exhibits this philosophy. The Pacific Palisades home features seven split-levels that cascade along a hillside. Modular in design, it is comprised of concrete core units connected by laminated Douglas fir beams, a theme that has continued throughout his work. Kappe “retired” 20 years ago, but he has never stopped working, most recently joining forces with LivingHomes to design prefabricated, zero-energy homes.

Studio Gang, on the other hand, has become synonymous with sleek skyscrapers. The Aqua Tower, which contains a hotel, apartments, and condos, features unconventional surface topography that disappears under the occasional “pool” of glass. The result is a “vertical landscape that responds to views of specific sites and landmarks,” explained Gang. No two of the thin (nine-inch-thick) floor plates are alike, and they cantilever several feet to create balconies. The sinuous nature of the building allows people to see others on balconies, fostering a sense of community.

In the Studio Gang film, architecture critic Blair Kamin commented that the Aqua Tower “becomes like built nature.” In fact, much of Studio Gang’s work deals not with soaring towers but with the horizontal landscape. For example, they are designing a transformation of Chicago’s Northerly Island into parkland, including natural habitats for fish and birds and space for “urban camping.” Both Kappe’s and Gang’s work proves that seeking inspiration in nature enriches the built environment.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architectural writer and a contributing editor to e-Oculus.

Event: Preview of Innovate:Integrate — Building Better Together Location: Center for Architecture, 10.06.2010-01.15.2011
Exhibition Curator: Sara Hart
Exhibition Design: Urban A&O
Organizer: AIA New York Chapter; Center for Architecture Foundation; Innovate:Integrate Advisory Committee
Sponsors: Lead Sponsors: Coreslab Structures; Ductal by Lafarge; F. J. Sciame Construction Co.; Gensler; Georgia Institute of Technology, Digital Fabrication Laboratory; Lutron; Mancini·Duffy; MechoShade Systems; Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope; Peter Arbour / RFR Consulting Engineers; Permasteelisa North America; Plaza Construction; Structure Tone; Syska Hennessy Group; Turner; Zetlin & De Chiara; Sponsors: Francis Cauffman Architects; Polytek; HeliOptix; STUDIOS Architecture; Trespa North America

The Liquid Wall.

Sam Lahoz

The exhibition “Innovate:Integrate — Building Better Together” recently opened at the Center for Architecture featuring six finalists from the AIANY Chapter’s Open Call for Innovative Curtain Wall Design. The highlight of the exhibition, visible from the sidewalk, is the full-scale, two-story mock-up of the winning design, Liquid Wall by Peter Arbour/RFR. His team included Prototype fabrication and construction: Aerotech Manufacturing; Competition Architectural Metals; Coreslab Structures; F.J. Sciame Construction Company; Digital Fabrication Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kammmetal; Ductal® by Lafarge North America; Matthews Coatings; Oldcastle Building Envelope; and Polytek.

Peter Arbour, Assoc. AIA, explained that a benefit of curtain walls is their potential for economical prefabrication. His team “tailored the system to fit with that mode of building” by using low-tech materials in combination with high-tech software. Curtain walls are typically made from aluminum, but Liquid Wall features a frame of Ductal ® high-performance concrete, which can perform in tension. The exterior and interior frames are separated by a thermal break, and the system also features a built-in radiant heating system.

In the Center’s Hines Gallery, the “innovate” portion of the exhibition features renderings, videos, and models of the other five finalists’ designs, as well as notable projects that incorporate cutting-edge curtain wall technologies such as the Seeko’o Hotel by Atelier King Kong with its Corian façade. The “integrate” portion of the exhibition is on the Mezzanine, which provides a “behind-the-scenes” glimpse into integrated project delivery — including top-down construction management, mass customization, digital fabrication, 4-D visualization, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) — in the context of projects such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Burj Khalifa and the Cellophane House by KieranTimberlake. Visitors may also interact with a BIM model of Yankee Stadium.

Architects may find many of the concepts presented in the exhibition familiar, but they are intended to reach a public audience. AIANY President Anthony Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA, who contributed to the development of the exhibition, explained that it is an opportunity to “show the public the complexity of the building process and that it is a team effort.” The exhibition will remain on view through 01.15.11.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architectural writer and a contributing editor to e-Oculus.

Event: Conversations about Public Architecture
Location: Center for Architecture, 10.05.10
Speakers: Peter Magnani, AIA – Director, Capital Program Management/Facilities Planning, Queens Borough Public Library; David Resnick, AIA — Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Design + Construction
Moderators: Michael Plottel, AIA, and Anna Torriani, AIA, of the AIANY Public Architecture Committee
Organizer: Center for Architecture; AIANY Public Architecture Committee
Sponsors: Kramer Levin

Behind NYC’s civic facilities are architects in leadership positions who guide the procurement, design, and construction processes through government entities. Libraries and other community buildings comprise the highest volume of public projects, while the largest portion of the budget goes toward public safety projects, explained David Resnick, AIA, deputy commissioner of the NYC Department of Design + Construction.

Peter Magnani, AIA, director of Capital Program Management/Facilities with the Queens Borough Public Library system, who has overseen several library projects in Queens, and sees transparency as one of the most important themes to encourage visitors to stop by and stay a while. Marpillero Pollak Architects designed the renovation of the Elmhurst Branch Library; its original 1900s structure weighted the middle of the park. The renovation resulted in a “transparent and dynamic building,” according to Magnani, that reconnects visitors with the park. The Kew Gardens Hills Library by WORKac entices passersby with glimpses through the glazing of its ribbon-like façade. The new Glen Oaks Community Library by Marble Fairbanks Architects features varying degrees of opaque glass on the exterior.

On the other hand, for the PSAC II, a 911 call center designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill under Resnick’s guidance, the designers strived to create a pleasant workspace for people who “always have to be on top of their game” by including features like a green wall that functions as a huge air return system. Another large-scale public project that Resnick is involved with is the 35-acre College Point, Queens Police Academy by Perkins + Will, which consolidates several training facilities throughout the city into one. Resnick mentioned that the Design + Construction Excellence program also pairs small firms with small but significant design projects, providing yet another opportunity for architects to take part in shaping the public realm.

Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architectural writer and a contributing editor to e-Oculus.