Author: Rick Bell, FAIA, AIANY Executive Director

The “FitNation” exhibition on view earlier this year at the AIA New York Chapter’s Center for Architecture can now be seen at the American Institute of Architects National Headquarters at 1735 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, located just to the left of the White House. Projects from across the U.S. are displayed in the building’s “social gallery,” and will be seen by all those attending the upcoming AIA Board meeting in December. The National Component supported the nationwide dissemination of the exhibit, which presents more than 30 examples of how design contributes to more physical activity in daily life, with the goal of reducing the obesity rates and the corollary public health epidemics linked to a sedentary lifestyle. Continue reading “FitNation|DC”

A tree planting ceremony commemorating the completion of 30 acres of new parkland on Governors Island brought a crowd of architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, and city officials out to the “Island at the Center of the World” last Thursday, 11.14.13. The tree, a southern gingko (Ginkgo biloba), was the 800,000th to be planted as part of MillionTreesNYC.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was accompanied by Ronay Menschel, chair of the Trust for Governors Island; Veronica White, Commissioner, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; State Senator Daniel Squadron; and Leslie Koch, president of The Trust for Governors Island. The mayor’s remarks started by noting: “Governors Island is a spectacular one of a kind destination” that “is part of our effort to create a greater, greener, and more resilient New York.” He said that the tree represented the Bloomberg Administration being “more than 3/4 on our way to our goal of planting a million trees two years ahead of schedule.” Continue reading “The Park at the Center of the Whirl”

oh, I know you’ll say
I haven’t been here long…
but the things that you say
make me wanna stay
from “Closet Full of Bones,” by Kate Taylor Hollingsworth of Dead Fingers

The newest Center for Architecture opened in October in Birmingham, AL, last month. A storefront at 109 South Richard Arrington Boulevard, the 1896 building is in the heart of town. The opening ceremonies on 10.21.13 were attended by Birmingham Mayor William Bell and AIA National President Mickey Jacob, FAIA. On the occasion, AIA Birmingham President Robert Thompson, AIA, said “The Center’s vision encompasses a broad range of design issues that can bring a positive impact to the state.” He added, “Mayor Bell and Birmingham architects have a long history of partnership and friendship, especially during times of weather-related disasters such as the tornadoes of 2011.” The Alabama Center for Architecture, according to AIA Birmingham Past-president Ty Cole, AIA, who was instrumental in its creation, is “dedicated to developing the understanding of architecture and its influence on our lives, our communities and world. Continue reading “FitNation SweetHome”

The annual meeting of leaders of the dozen largest AIA Chapters took place last week in Boston, as the American League Championship Series, the Head of the Charles Regatta, the Fort Point Open Studio weekend, and various mayoral races were unfurling.

BSA Space, the new architecture and design center of the Boston Society of Architects, was the venue. Designed by Meejin Yoon, AIA, and Eric Höweler, AIA, of Höweler & Yoon, the location features two levels of gallery space linked by an inviting Celtic green stair – featured in AIANY’s “FitNation” exhibition. An absorbing exhibition about Boston City Hall complemented the Canstruction installation there. Continue reading “Sibs, Sox and Repositioning”

NORWAY

At the invitation of the Royal Norwegian Consulate, I travelled to Norway to participate in the Oslo Architecture Triennale. This conference attracts a large number of architects, urbanists, and theorists from Europe and Asia. The U.S. was represented by Barry Bergdoll (MoMA & Columbia GSAPP), Eva Franch i Gilabert (Storefront for Art & Architecture), Gregory Dreicer (Chicago Architecture Foundation), and Chase Rynd (National Building Museum). The conference, organized by Norsk Form director Andreas Vaa Bermann, focused on sustainability, and was complemented by the exhibition “Beyond the Green Door,” curated by Rotor, a young collective of architects, engineers, designers, and researchers based in Brussels. The exhibition remains on view at DogA Norsk Design, the Norwegian Architecture Center at Hausmanns Gate 16, Oslo, until 12.01.14. It brings together more than 600 projects and objects from more than 200 architecture offices, companies, and environmental organizations. The “cabinet of curiosities” exhibition questions accepted assumptions about sustainability, arguing for a more engaged interaction. A related exhibition at the Nasjonalmuseet – Arkitektur, or National Museum of Architecture, is called “Far-Out Voices,” curated by Jérémie McGowan with Caroline Maniaque-Benton, on view until 03.02.14. It speaks of lessons from 1960s U.S. counter-culture that started to change the world, especially in regard to sustainability.

RUSSIA

Invited by the Union of Architects of Russia (UAR) to speak in St. Petersburg at the time of its annual conference of emerging professionals, I was also asked to be a juror for the Lazar Khidekel Award. Named for the renowned Russian Suprematist, the Lazar Khidekel jury and other student and post-graduate awards also drew some 600 projects from 30 cities and universities throughout the Russian Federation and former Soviet Union. Suprematism, founded in St. Petersburg in 1913, is distinct from Constructivism in that it is based more on pure geometry and artistic feeling, using a limited but specific range of colors. The awards jury was led by architect Mark L. Khidekel, son of the award’s namesake, and included deans of architecture schools as well as Swiss architect Martina Bigliardi Möhr. A series of meetings was also hosted by UAR St. Petersburg President Alexei Romanov and held at the UAR/SPb’s building, the former Stieglitz mansion on Bol. Morskaya. It followed two days of equivalent discussions in Moscow, with UAR National President Andrey Bokov at Granatniy Per. 12, the UAR national headquarters, with Irina Korobina at the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, and at the Strelka Institute in the Red October chocolate factory district. Continue reading “Rhetorically Speaking: Don’t Know How Lucky You Are…”

The Architects’ Regatta took place this year on Thursday, 09.12.13, following a course laid out near the Statue of Liberty. As we have come to expect, the AIA New York Chapter’s “Flying Eagles” did exceedingly well given the strange skies and despite an unfortunate technical mishap. Skippered by AIANY Housing Committee Co-Chair Wids DeLaCour, AIA, this year’s salty crew included 2013 Chapter President Jill N. Lerner, FAIA, former President Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, Blake Middleton, AIA, of Handel Architects, and Bruce Fowle, FAIA, of FXFOWLE. Continue reading “The Architects of the Sea”

Former Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota, a Republican candidate for mayor, met with members of the AIA New York Board of Directors, Committee Chairs, and colleagues from other civic and design groups at the Center for Architecture on Friday, 08.23.13. After touring the “FitNation” exhibition and Hudson Yards installation, Lhota discussed what he sees as the key issues in this election, including the economy, education, and quality of life. Describing his background in the operations of city government and as head of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), Lhota talked about the need to diversify the economy, suggesting that he would bring “more businesses that are on the cutting edge” to New York, building upon the applied technology initiatives of the Bloomberg Administration at Cornell/Technion and NYU-Poly.

Continue reading “Lhota at Center”

The Council of Architectural Component Executives (CACE) – AIA National’s staff association – had its annual meeting the weekend of 08.04.13 in Atlanta. Mickey Jacob, FAIA, 2013 AIA President and Robert Ivy, FAIA, AIA National EVP/CEO, were there to discuss the Institute’s Repositioning initiative and to announce eight innovation grants to Chapters including Seattle and Chicago.

“Fund-to-Fit” grants, intended to support the installation of AIANY’s “FitCity” exhibition at five smaller Chapters, were awarded to AIA Birmingham, AIA Columbus, AIA Eastern Oklahoma, AIA North Dakota, and AIA Phoenix. The announcement’s location was appropriate considering one of the 33 projects in this exhibition, now on view at the Center for Architecture, is Atlanta’s partially-opened BeltLine. When complete, this radial park will link some 35 neighborhoods as it defines a green perimeter of the city.
Continue reading “CACE Study”

Candidates for the office of Manhattan Borough President exchanged ideas with Crain’s Columnist Greg David today at the Yale Club in a program sponsored by Crain’s New York Business. An audience of architects and activists, political junkies, and the journalistically curious joined together to hear the four competing Democratic candidates offer their suggestions for the future of the Borough and the City. Any set of excerpted comments necessarily diminish the cogent and comprehensive view of the role of the BP’s office post-Scott Stringer, who all praised as a tough act to follow. But among the thoughts which made this highly subjective tweet-length top-ten list are the following: Continue reading “BEEP BEEP”

The 2013 AIA Convention took place last week in Denver with almost 17,000 architects, designers, and vendors convening to elect new leadership, learn new skills, and build new bonds of fellowship. This “top twenty” pecha kucha style narrative of Convention highlights is personalized by what photos were most in focus and which memories most vivid after a few days back in New York. (The slideshow is above; click the arrows.) Continue reading “2013 AIA Convention Special: Rhetorically Speaking: Please Come to Denver”