Category: Chapter News

Event: Biomimicry for a Sustainable Built Environment
Location: Cooper Union’s Wollman Auditorium, 06.26.07
Speakers: Dayna Baumeister, PhD — Co-Founder, Biomimicry Guild
Organizers: AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE), AIA COTE and its Biomimicry Guild
Sponsors: FXFOWLE Architects; InterfaceFLOR

Proponents of biomimicry argue that 3.8 billion years of natural evolution has yielded strategies often more efficient and less wasteful that those developed by humans, who have been around only a fraction of that time. By looking at natural forms, processes, and ecosystems, biomimcry can influence design, as been attested to by many practicing architects including Cook + Fox Architects for the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for the Pearl River Tower under construction in China.

One source of biomimicry-based design is in the industrial design field. A fan developed by PAX Scientific is based on the Fibonacci sequence. With noise reduction, an increase of energy use for the same output, and a reduction in manufacturing costs because less material is wasted, the “PaxFan” blades can be used in kitchen range hoods, refrigerator evaporators, and HVAC fans.

The Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car is a new concept car that mimics the shape of a boxfish. Even though the car has an angular, cube-like shape, it is more aerodynamic than many other cars and achieves 78-miles-per-gallon.

The evening lecture given by Biomimicry Guild co-founder Dayna Baumeister, Ph.D., kicked off a two-day workshop held at the Center for Architecture and at the Interface Showroom, a condensed professional workshop given by the Biomimicry Guild to designers.

Aaron Slodounik, LEED AP, is a freelance art and architecture writer based in New York.

In this issue:
·Sign Up for AIANYS 2007 Convention Today
·AIANY Calls Architects to Support plaNYC
·Individual Jurisdictions to Set Timing for ARE
·Architects Gain accessArchitecture
·Students Build Connections at the Center
·Legislative Session Wraps Up
·Announcements: New Organization/Government Initiatives

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Sign Up for AIANYS 2007 Convention Today

Online registration for the AIANYS 2007 Convention, to take place October 4-6 at the Grand Hyatt New York, is now available. This is the first time the convention will be located in NYC, and with the theme “Past as Prologue,” the AIA continues its celebration of the 150th Anniversary of its founding.

To make overnight room reservations, call Central Reservations at the Grand Hyatt (1-800-233-1234) and identify that you are with AIANYS October 4-6, 2007. Reservations must be made by phone to receive the special group rate: $359 for single/double room plus taxes. Reservations must be made by September 12 to receive the special rate.

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AIANY Calls Architects to Support plaNYC

The fate of the Mayor’s plaNYC 2030, including transportation plans such as the Congestion Pricing program, is now in the hands of the NY State Legislature and NYC Council. AIANY is urging all members to contact their city and state representatives. Let them know you support the plan and request them to push for adoption in time to receive available federal funding. Visit NYC Council, NY State Assembly, and NY State Senate. The deadline is July 16.

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Individual Jurisdictions to Set Timing for ARE

At the annual meeting on June 25, member boards of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) voted to allow individual jurisdictions to determine when a candidate is eligible to begin taking the Architectural Registration Examination® (ARE). The AIA supports architectural registration boards allowing interns for licensure candidacy to take the ARE following graduation from a NAAB-accredited degree program and concurrent with enrollment in the Intern Development Program (IDP).

The adopted-as-amended Resolution 07-8 states: “To begin taking the ARE an applicant shall have fulfilled all requirements for eligibility established by his or her jurisdiction and shall have enrolled in IDP by establishing a Council record.” The resolution also states, “It is the intent and policy of the Council that all jurisdictions accept NCARB certification as a basis for reciprocal registration without the application of any other state requirements applicable to initial licensure in such state.”

Until now, NCARB has had no position on the sequencing of the three requirements for licensure (education, experience, and examination), however, it recommended candidates earn an NAAB-accredited degree, complete IDP, and then pass the ARE. For more information on individual registration boards, visit the NCARB website.

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Architects Gain accessArchitecture

Access Architecture is a joint program between AIANY and Reed Construction Data to better engage architects in their business of publishing project leads, project plans, and project specifications to building product manufacturers and contractors. By creating an open network of information, architects share in the value of the content they provide by gaining valuable tools, marketing exposure, and project leads for no out-of-pocket expense. In addition to the direct benefits (firms get paid $35 for each accepted entry), Reed Construction Data will share the value of this content with AIANY and the AIAS. Specifically, they will pay $10 to AIANY and $5 to AIAS Freedom by Design program for every qualified project contributed. To register, click here or call 1-800-424-3996.

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Students Build Connections at the Center
By Tim Hayduk, Center for Architecture Foundation School Program Manager

The Center for Architecture’s storefront gallery and mezzanine have been filled with model bridges of the bascule, draw and suspension types, colorful groupings of skyscrapers, the landmarks of Chinatown, and many other specimens from New York’s built environment. The Center for Architecture Foundation’s annual exhibition, Building Connections, opened June 28 as guests were tantalized by the architectural models created by K-12 students who participated in the Foundation’s Learning by Design:NY in-school residencies and numerous Programs@theCenter.

Building Connections was opportunity for students from the metropolitan region to share their ideas about NY’s past, present, and future. The variety of projects reflects the Foundation’s involvement in many learning contexts. Students’ experiences are culled from engagement with buildings and neighborhoods near participating schools or from the Center for Architecture’s exhibitions. Student work offers a unique interpretation of NYC shown side-by-side with ideas presented by many of NY’s practicing architects.

The exhibition itself is a celebration of experimentation. 1100 Architect donated time toward design, prototyping, and installation of the exhibition’s unique system of strands that suspends each model. Fishing line was hung in a matrix that gives the models the illusion of weightlessness and suspended animation. The architects worked closely with Casey Maher in developing a graphic design that ties the works together. The collaboration also included the talents of Sophie Stigliano and Rosamond Fletcher, the Center’s exhibition experts who work wonders in transforming the galleries into dynamic visual and spatial experiences.

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Legislative Session Wraps Up

The Senate went into recess on June 21 and the Assembly the following day, wrapping up a generally unproductive legislative session which some have described as the most dysfunctional ever. It is expected that the legislature will re-convene later this year. Here is a listing of where the AIANYS legislative priorities ended.

♦ Passed Both Houses
Qualifications-Based Procurement of Professional Design Services was passed by both the Senate and the Assembly. This bill extends quality-based selection of architects, landscape architects, engineers, and land surveyors to public authorities and public benefit corporations. AIANYS will be urging Governor Spitzer to sign the bill into law.

♦ Passed One House
Wicks Reform passed the Assembly with new threshold amounts: $3 million NYC, $1.5 million for Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $500,000 for the rest of the state. Two additional requirements were also included in the bill. If an owner enters into a project labor agreement (union only workers), the project would be exempt from Wicks. Also, contractors are required to list their subs at the time of bid submission. The Senate had previously agreed to this bill and may take it up upon re-convening.

Historic Tax Credit, the bill would amend the tax law in relation to providing a tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic properties and expands upon the tax credit enacted last year by authorizing additional homeowners to qualify and by removing the cap on commercial structures, passed the Senate.

Corporate Practice of Design Professions, the bill that would have allowed professional design firms to offer key personnel an equity interest in the firm, passed the Senate.

Smart Growth-Livable Communities, the bill that sets a smart growth policy for the State’s public works development in a manner that would maximize existing infrastructure and minimize the negative effects if dispersed development and sprawl, passed the Assembly.

♦ Crossed
Green Buildings and Sustainable Development passed each house but it was not the same version. The bill would require adherence to LEED’s Silver rating level and guidelines, and incorporate the use of life cycle cost analysis in new or substantially reconstructed state facilities.

♦ Died in Committee
Affordable Housing Initiatives, Design-Build, Funding for Prosecution of Illegal Practice, Good Samaritan Act, Civil Justice Reform, and Ten-Year Statute of Repose for Third Party Suits.

♦ Successfully Opposed
AIANYS was successful in killing three bills it opposed as part of its legislative agenda. Construction Threshold would have raised the threshold for construction and maintenance of buildings where the services of architects, engineers, or land surveyors are required. Died in committee. Design Delegation would have transfered responsibility of proprietary design to the architect-of-record. Died in committee. Damages for Delay would require public contracts to include clauses authorizing contractors to recover damages for delay for itself as well as on behalf of subcontractors. The bill passed the Senate, but died in the Assembly.

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Announcements: New Organization/Government Initiatives

♦ NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) announced the beginning of public review on new regulations for commercial and community facility parking lots that impose new regulations for landscaping, perimeter screening of the lots, and requirements for canopy trees in planting islands within the lots.

♦ The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has released a “High Performance Buildings” video highlighting the benefits of sustainability, energy efficiency, and the financial opportunities available through NYSERDA’s New Construction Program (NCP).

♦ The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), together with the United Nations Environment Programme, Deutsche Gesselschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Hewlett Foundation, and Viva, announced the publication of the Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide, the most comprehensive effort to date to provide detailed technical guidance for developing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

♦ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC is teaming with Scott Shuford, AICP, former Asheville planning and development director, and the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina Asheville to develop a practical manual for American planners. “Planning for Climate Change, A Handbook for City, Town and Rural Area Planners” should be completed in 2008 and is intended to guide planning and decision makers in areas such as land use, transportation, natural resources management, structure and site management, public safety, public infrastructure, economic development, and social services.

Event: Fit-City 2: Promoting Physical Activity Through Design
Location: Center for Architecture, 06.12.07
Keynote: Dr. Craig Zimring — environmental psychologist & professor of architecture and psychology, Georgia Tech
Speakers: Deputy Commissioner Mary Bassett, MD, MPH; Assistant Commissioner Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP; and Karen Lee, MD, MHSc — NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH); David Burney, AIA — Commissioner, NYC Department of Design and Construction; Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, IIDA, LEED AP — AIANY President; Laurie Kerr, RA — Office of the Mayor; Joyce Lee, AIA — NYC Office of Management and Budget; Ellen Martin, RA — 1100 Architect; William Stein, AIA — Dattner Architects; Russell Unger — U.S. Green Building Council; Dan Wood, AIA — WORK ac
Organizer: AIANY; NYC DOH
Sponsor: NYC DOH; Esque provided by IZZE Beverage Company

We have a global and personal “Energy Problem” in America, posits Laurie Kerr, RA, of the NYC Office of the Mayor and Karen Lee, MD, MHSc, of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. At a personal level, part of the problem is too much “unusable” energy in (zero-value food products or simple over-eating), and not enough energy out (exercise or even basic movement). As a result, there is an increase in national obesity, which is fast becoming a chronic disease epidemic in the U.S. Remote control air conditioning, automatic doors, and eight hours at the office sitting in front of a computer screen comprise a few examples of activities straining our energy resources while decreasing personal movement. This conference brought together architects, designers, and public health professionals to address how building design and policy decisions can increase physical activity to improve health and conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

One of the biggest culprits is television, which is threatening to replace the refrigerator as the number one energy consumer in American households. There are two ways to look at it: flat-screen TVs are using massive amounts of energy, or people are sitting inertly in front of TVs most hours of the day. Offices and homes present key opportunities for designing increased movement integrated into the daily habits of occupants. On average, Americans gain one pound per year in their overall weight. This could be eliminated if each person took 4 flights of stairs daily. However, walking is not an option for everyone, and opportunities for exercise exist for people in wheelchairs and the aging population.

A successful architectural example, given by AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, is Millennium Park in Chicago, masterplanned by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Ramping meanders through outdoor park space facilitating wheelchair and bicycle movement in the city. In review of Fit City 2 recommendations, Bell acknowledged that congestion pricing can reduce car use in the city, resulting in reduction of fossil fuel exhaust, healthier air quality, and an increase of available space to build safe bike paths.

Government entities have the power to encourage physical activity. Panelists believe LEED points should be offered for designing increased physical activity in building design. Russell Unger, of the U.S. Green Building Council, hinted that buildings could get innovation points for such design efforts. Further, the NYC Department of Design + Construction (DDC) Commissioner David Burney, AIA, shared the pioneering history of the DDC as setting NYC guidelines for Sustainable Design, Universal Design, and Design Consultants. He suggested DDC would be ready to launch a new guideline for Active Living Design beginning with the information provided at all Fit City conferences.

Following the conference, the breakout session included the panelists and public in a focused discussion on Active Mobility. Hopefully, through task force groups, some of the ideas and suggestions will be incorporated into the Mayor’s PlaNYC.

Robyne Kassen is designing for increased mobility as the principal of NYC-based Pedestrian Studio.

Event: Brandism Series: Brand as Sustainability
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.23.07
Speakers: Michael Buckley, FAIA — Director, Columbia University Program in Real Estate Development; Andres Escobar — founder & principal, Andres Escobar & Associates; Robert F. Fox Jr., AIA — partner, Cook + Fox Architects; Alberto Foyo — principal, Alberto Foyo Architect; Kenneth Lewis, AIA — associate partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Christopher Sharples — founding partner, SHoP Architects
Moderator: Susan Szenasy — editor-in-chief, Metropolis
Organizers: Anna Klingmann, Assoc. AIA; AIANY

As NYC experiences a surge in building projects with “starchitecture” branding, it is also becoming an epicenter for green initiatives. The fifth in a six-part series, this panel targeted the possibilities of using “brandism” to promote sustainable thinking — how starchitecture can help forward sustainable building, and how environmentalism has become a brand in itself.

Environmental responsibility is on the verge of becoming a design mandate, with new software making performance-driven design even more attainable. Architects can model dynamic environments in real time and share with the client how sustainability positively impacts the bottom line over time. Already, the international housing market is experiencing a shift towards green, though dollar-driven Americans still equate green with high costs. Among renters, however, green demand is high and perhaps will cause a “trickle-up” effect.

Corporate developers are currently way ahead of their residential counterparts, who often eschew green measures in favor of speed. In order to target these developers, architects must devise a quick version of sustainable building, which can in turn be used as a marketing tool.

With innovative branding, green can be seen as a cost-effective solution. LEED has already had success branding itself as a model of eco-responsibility. By coupling the mandate for responsibility with the reality of energy savings, architects can send a message to clients that green makes sense on multiple levels.

To achieve this, the panel proposed government tax credits based on units of “greenness”; branding architects as sustainability experts; and rethinking curricula at universities. Car companies use celebrities to market hybrid cars to consumers. Likewise, architecture can use branding to market itself as a product with a message of eco-responsibility and cost-efficiency.

Kate Soto is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.

Event: AIA New York Chapter 2007 Design Awards Winners Symposium: Projects
Location: Center for Architecture, 06.13.07
Speakers: Alexander Cooper, FAIA — Cooper, Robertson & Partners; Thomas Phifer, AIA, FAAR 95 — Thomas Phifer and Partners; Eric Bunge, AIA — nARCHITECTS; Sara Caples, AIA — Caples Jefferson Architects; Robert Siegel, AIA — Robert Siegel Architects; Henry Smith-Miller & Christian Uhl — Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects; Kathryn Ogawa, AIA — Ogawa/Depardon Architects; Lea Cloud, AIA — CR Studio; Astrid Lipka — Lyn Rice Architects; James von Klemperer, FAIA — Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects; Robert Rogers, AIA — Rogers Marvel Architects; Frederic Schwartz, FAIA — Frederic Schwartz Architects
Moderator: Peter Waldman — juror, AIANY 2007 Design Awards
Organizers: AIANY Design Awards Committee

The Projects category of the 2007 Design Awards recognized 14 designs that are landscapes, still on the boards, fleeting, or otherwise ineligible for the Architecture and Interiors category. Light structures, flowing forms, and new ideas caught the jury’s eye, according to juror Peter Waldman.

The two Honor awards in the category went to projects memorable for their organic forms. Windshape, designed by nARCHITECTS, is a temporary inhabitable installation for the Savannah College of Art’s summer campus in Lacoste, France, that hosted events throughout the summer of 2006. Students helped wrap 30 miles of string around structural “tripods” made of arcing plastic pipes. As the wind increased, Windshape moved and shimmered over the natural landscape.

After gestating in the office for six years, Thomas Phifer and Partners’ design for the North Carolina Museum of Art is just now gearing up for construction. A “silky” roof of coffers and curved oculi will cover luminous gallery spaces. A series of louvers modulate sun and temperature. Landscape infiltrates the building plan, as the architects thought fitting for a museum with a well-known sculpture garden.

Thomas Phifer and Partners also won a Merit Award with the Office for Visual Interaction and Werner Sobek Ingenieure for a cast aluminum streetlight — the fifth in New York City’s “catalogue,” and the first to be added in 40 years. A taut LED strip, powered by a photovoltaic array, illuminates the entire cantilevered arm.

The façade of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects’ 82-unit condominium 405 W. 53rd Street ripples like a boardwalk, permitting the best possible views of the Hudson River. Not yet constructed, this Merit Award winner will offer maisonettes in the tradition of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille.

Rogers Marvel Architects won Merit Awards for two projects. For the Battery Park City Streetscapes, they designed a security system that incorporates street surfaces designed to collapse under the weight of a laden truck. A new park at 55 Water Street Plaza — a.k.a. An Elevated Acre — includes performance and play areas, artificial hillocks, and a steel-and-glass beacon whose colored evening glow is meant to enliven the southeastern tip of Manhattan.

A Merit Award also went to Robert Siegel Architects for the United States Land Port of Entry in Calais, Maine. Still in planning stages, this competition-winning project aims to deliver a welcoming gateway to the U.S., remain sensitive to the glacial geology of the site, and provide security by creating two fixed access bridges.

The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design will be a soup-to-nuts rethinking of the ground floor of a campus building. Windows with occupiable ledges will be punched through the now-opaque façade, so that work displayed within will form the identity of the Center.

On the boards at Kohn Pederson Fox Architects is a pair of residential high-rises, 71 and 32 stories, for Pershing Square, Los Angeles. Going beyond the typical extrusion, Park Fifth creates “stacked neighborhoods” with a variety of scales and typologies. A low hotel/spa complex creates a monumental gateway.

Frederic Schwartz, FAIA, presented the NOLA shotgunLOFT Affordable Housing, an “affordable, sustainable, quality” housing project that received a Certificate of Excellence in the Global Green USA Housing Competition (sponsored by Brad Pitt). This prefab reinterpretation of the shotgun house includes a double-height space to enable natural ventilation, photovoltaic arrays, and some geothermal temperature regulation. While there is said to be a net 93% energy savings, Schwartz noted that some of the sustainable features were only possible thanks to the Hollywood budget available.

The Merit Award-winning 33,000-square-foot Zuccotti Park just southeast of Ground Zero, designed by Cooper, Robertson & Partners, has been in the works for 10 years. A reorientation effected with planters and an array of light strips in the paving will improve this open space won for the public through transfer zoning.

The Merit Award-winning Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, designed by Caples Jefferson Architects, celebrates a group of 19th century tenement buildings. The “heritage destination,” according to Sara Caples, AIA, acts as a gateway to the past with embedded artifacts and patterns derived from African art.

The Projects category of the AIANY Design Awards is, by nature, the most diverse. The 14 winning projects range in scale and type, are unbuilt or under construction, and are both temporary and permanent. The array of new ideas in the profession is reflected in this category, which was one of the jury’s main goals. More detailed reflections of jury members Peter Waldman, Frank Harmon, FAIA, and Jeanne Gang, AIA, are captured in a DVD now available for free from the AIANY.

Elon Danziger, Assoc. AIA, is a project manager at Silberstang Lasky Architects. He studied architecture in Virginia and Mendrisio, Switzerland.

In this issue:
·AIA Presidents Call for Global Response to Climate Change
·AIANY 2007 Grants Awards at Annual Meeting
·Southpoint Goes North
·AIANY Members Teach at Harvard GSD’s Executive Education Program
·Passing: Margaret Helfand, FAIA

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AIA Presidents Call for Global Response to Climate Change

At the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2007 National Convention in San Antonio, the presidents of 16 national, regional and international architectural associations spoke in one voice to urge the design and construction industry to adopt well-defined global sustainability goals as the benchmarks of their practice. They established the San Antonio Declaration:

We the undersigned, presidents of our respective national architectural institutes, acknowledge the critical nature of global climate change and the urgent need to mount a global response. Statistics clearly show the preponderant responsibility of the design and construction industry for energy consumption and carbon emissions in building construction and operations.

Over the past 35 years, a long list of increasingly urgent calls for responsible action have been issued on the world stage: from United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972; to the Bruntland Report, “Our Common Future” produced in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development; to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992; to the Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future, UIA/AIA World Congress of Architects, Chicago, 18-21 June 1993; to the three environmental principles of the United Nations Global Compact.

We call on all architects, engineers, contractors, developers and educators to adopt and implement these sustainability goals as the benchmarks of their practice.

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AIANY 2007 Grants Awards at Annual Meeting

AIANY bestowed eight awards and six citations for excellence at the Chapter’s 140th Annual Meeting at the Center for Architecture. The recipient of the Medal of Honor — AIANY’s highest award — went to Weiss/Manfredi Architects.

Other awards included the Public Architect Award to Stephanie Gelb, AIA, Vice President of Planning and Design for Battery Park City Authority; the AIANY Award of Merit for non-professional contributions to the profession went to Adam Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art; the George S. Lewis Award for contributing to the betterment of New York City went to Friends of the High Line; the Harry B. Rutkins Award for Service to the Chapter went to Andy Frankl, President and CEO of Ibex Construction; the Oculus Award for excellence in architectural journalism went to The Architect’s Newspaper; and the Andrew J. Thomas Pioneer in Housing Award to Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, a NY-based firm specializing in affordable and sustainable housing. David Dunlap, of The New York Times, is this year’s Honorary Member.

Special Citations were bestowed on: Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis; plaNYC represented by Rohit Aggarwala of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability; and Jared Della Valle, AIA, LEED AP, and Andrew Bernheimer, AIA, for their innovative work in the NYC Housing, Preservation and Development agency’s New Foundations Program in East New York.

Three Vice Presidential Citations were also awarded. Annie Kurtin, AIANY’s Communications and Policy Coordinator, received the Vice Presidential Citation for Public Outreach; Ralph Steinglass, FAIA, Chair of the AIANY Professional Practice Committee, received the Vice Presidential Citation for Professional Development; and Umberto Dindo, AIA, Chair of the AIANY Architecture in Education Committee, was awarded the Vice Presidential Citation for Design Excellence.

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Southpoint Goes North
By Carolyn Sponza, AIA, AIANY Vice President for Professional Development, Southpoint competition organizer

An abbreviated version of the Center for Architecture’s 2006 exhibition Southpoint: from Ruin to Rejuvenation is navigating its way around other New York Chapters, courtesy of a traveling program funded by AIA New York State. Exhibiting work from the Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) Committee’s biennial design competition of the same name, the show has traveled to the AIA Buffalo and AIA Rochester chapters, which have both hosted opening receptions and presentations given by the competition’s coordinators. This is the second ENYA biennial competition to tour chapters statewide — the first was the Groen Hoek competition, launched in 2003.

At the Rochester opening, Carolyn Sponza, AIA, Vice President for Professional Development AIANY, presented the competition planning process and lessons learned that any planning group might apply to future competitions. After the presentation, attendees discussed how the concept of either an ideas or built competition for young architects could be translated locally in Rochester. The Chapter had recently hosted a design competition for “the house of the future” in conjunction with Rochester magazine.

If you missed the exhibition at the Center for Architecture, the traveling version of Southpoint: from Ruin to Rejuvenation will be moving closer to home in July, opening at AIA Long Island. Also, keep an eye out for the launch of ENYA’s new biennial competition in September 2007. Visit the ENYA Competitions website and sign up to receive e-mail updates.

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AIANY Members Teach at Harvard GSD’s Executive Education Program
By Stephen Kliment, FAIA

This summer’s Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) Executive Education Program lists some 40 courses ranging from one to three days, and covering design ideas and technologies; business practices such as financial management, contract fundamentals, writing, and leadership; planning and real estate development. Instructors for the summer program include the following AIANY Chapter members (course names are in parentheses)
· Randolph Croxton, FAIA (Architecture and Sustainability: Integrating Built and Natural Environments; also The Sustainable Campus: Restorative Pathways of Growth on Campus)
· Julia Monk, AIA, (Hotel Design and Development: Hospitality for the Future)
· Gregory Beck, AIA (Experience Architecture)
· William Pedersen, Jr., FAIA (The New American Courthouse)
· Walter Chatham, FAIA (Alternative House Practices: Designing Development Homes)
· Stephen A. Kliment, FAIA (Writing for Success in Architecture and Engineering Design Practice)
· Raymond C. Bordwell, AIA (Public School Planning and Design)
· J. David Hoglund, FAIA (Planning and Design for a New Generation of Seniors: a Focused Look at Retirement)
· Robert A. Klein, AIA (Strategic Facilities Planning: Aligning Real Estate and Facility Assets with Business Goals)

For details on these and other courses, visit the website and click on Summer Programs. Or call 617.384.7214.

By Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, IIDA, LEED AP, AIANY President

It is with great sorrow that we note the passing of Margaret Helfand, FAIA, on June 20, 2007. The AIANY Chapter has lost a great friend, a tireless advocate, and a talented practitioner.

As President of the Chapter in 2001, Margaret was one of the driving forces behind the conception and eventual realization of the Center for Architecture. She had the vision and foresight to see the value and the possibilities in the dream of having a unique place where architects and the public could together celebrate the built environment. She was one of the few individuals who could reach beyond the day-to-day in her strategic thinking, and this ability also stood her well in her role as co-chair for New York New Visions. Her intelligence, organizational skills, and energy were instrumental in the successful development of guidelines for the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.

Throughout the past few years, she had remained a consistent and valued presence at the Center. As chair of numerous committees, such as Exhibitions, Coordinating, and the Advisory Council, she dedicated considerable time and effort into making sure the Center was a success. Her passion for architecture and for the mission of the Chapter and the Center was clearly evident in everything she did.

Somehow, in addition to her involvement with the Chapter and the Center, she managed to run a successful design practice, a practice whose creative and sensitive work has won numerous awards at local, state, and national levels. She served as a role model for women in the profession, and during the course of her career she was a pioneer in that way.

We, collectively, suffered a great loss last week. It is hard to believe that we will not see her at the Center, and get to talk to her, have the benefit of her sage advice and guidance, and hear her laugh. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. We all will miss her.

06.12.07

Have you heard of the new opportunity for AIA members? All events with CES credits are now open to members free of charge. Go to Around the AIA + Center for Architecture for more details, and I’ll be seeing you at the Center!
– Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

Event: Social Housing and the Social Contract
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.30.07
Speakers: Bruce Becker, AIA — Becker+Becker; Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani — The Graduate Center, CUNY & UC Berkeley; Dr. Barbara Lane — Growth and Structure of Cities, Bryn Mawr College; Dr. Susan Saegert — The Graduate Center, CUNY and Director, Center for Human Environments
Moderator: Susan Szenasy — Metropolis
Introduction: Joan Blumenfeld, FAIA, IIDA, LEED AP, AIANY President
Sponsors: Center for Human Environments, The Graduate Center, CUNY; in partnership with AIANY Housing Committee

As the backdrop to our daily lives, housing design in particular plays a significant role in affecting how people live and develop. But architecture is not the only driving force behind the success of a society’s affordable housing; it falls within a systemic framework that is at once complex and dynamic. For this reason, taking part in the social contract for architects can mean an extra challenge that goes above and beyond their typical call of duty.

Frequently, especially in affordable housing design, attention to details is sacrificed for the sake of the bigger picture. Light, air, safety, and communal space are just a few key elements in housing that can enrich the inhabitants’ quality of life regardless of income, but are often neglected for financial reasons. Yet, architectural refinement and quality play a vital role in the social contract because they give many occupants a sense of pride in where they live and allow them to create their own sense of home.

While it may be important, design is only part of a larger equation for success; financial and managerial problems can make or break any well-designed affordable housing project. Actively taking part in the social contract, however, may provide the key for architects to make their role practically indispensable. By learning how to balance funding, design, and management issues, architects can help to create truly sustainable projects in which the initial investment may be more costly, but the long-term savings pay off economically, socially, and environmentally.

Nevertheless, after all is said and done, can architects really do anything if they lack control over a project’s parameters, which are typically controlled by the client? Though the suggestions, such as proposing additional funding strategies to clients, collaborating to encourage a more well-rounded mission, and not allowing the client to fully dictate the program, seem somewhat vague, the overall message is clear: architects need to take more social responsibility. The social contract is nothing new, but in a time when public life and concepts of a collective “us” seem to be slipping away, it desperately needs to be revived and revised. Architects, as creative visionaries, may just be the people to resuscitate.

Rachel Schauer is concentrating her studies on architecture and communications at New York University Gallatin School. She also is e-OCULUS’ graphic designer.

Event: AIA New York Chapter 2007 Design Awards Winners Symposium: Interiors
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.21.07
Speakers: Kathryn Dean — Dean/Wolf Architects; Andrew Bernheimer, AIA — Della Valle Bernheimer; Martin Finio, AIA — Christoff:Finio Architecture; Nazila Shabestari, AIA — Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Jennifer Sage, AIA — Sage and Coombe Architects
Moderator: Debra Lehman-Smith, Assoc. AIA — AIANY 2007 Design Awards jury member
Organizer: AIANY Design Awards Committee

From schematics through detailing, consistency and thoroughness were awarded in this year’s AIANY 2007 Design Awards interiors projects, claims Debra Lehman-Smith, Assoc. AIA, one of the jury members. With a wide range of professional backgrounds, the jury had to justify all of the design merits of every entry. With inspiration from Modern icons to light and architecture, the interiors projects spotlighted in this year’s awards examine a wide range of ideas.

Both Dean/Wolf Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) interiors explore the boundary between interior and exterior. The Honor Award-winning Operable Boundary Townhouse Garden in Brooklyn, designed by Dean/Wolf, is a home for two psychoanalysts who love to entertain. Inside and outside integrate vis-à-vis a giant, pivoting steel-framed glass wall and a continuous 30-foot-long table piercing the wall. When they have company, the glass wall can be pushed aside allowing the back garden to become an extension of the interior living room.

Design efficiency and complete integration were possible for the United States Census Bureau Headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, because the architecture and interior design teams were both lead by SOM. Success lies in the fact that not only did the interiors win the inaugural “Interior Architecture of Interest to the Public Realm” award, but the architecture won a Merit Award as well (see last issue’s, “Architecture Awards Look Outward” by Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP). The project is an example of how to employ sustainable methods at a very large scale in order to minimize its impact on the site. The interior explores design strategies making departmental areas more recognizable through a skillfully deployed color palate.

Light was a key factor for Public Realm winner Sage and Coombe Architects and Merit Award-winning Christoff:Finio Architecture. For the Heckscher Foundation for Children in Manhattan, Christoff:Finio completely restructured an existing townhouse designed by Samuel Beck Parkman Trowbridge (designer of the St. Regis Hotel, and Hayden Planetarium, among others), to spatially integrate all of the different aspects of the philanthropic foundation. Light penetrates the entire building making connections among floors through an uninterrupted vertical slice.

Sage and Coombe Architects worked with a very tight budget at The Children’s Room in the Fort Washington Branch of the New York Public Library, the other project to win the “Interior Architecture of Interest to the Public Realm” award. A collection of small “reading gardens” provides light to the once-gloomy Carnegie branch library. Giant yet discrete white lamps with graphic interiors define activities. The overall effect is a collection of small-scale, illuminated zones within the larger space of the library.

Honor Award-winning 23 Beekman Place, by Della Valle Bernheimer, had completely different challenges from the other interiors projects. This Paul Rudolph-designed-and-inhabited NYC penthouse was inherited as an incomplete renovation. Faced with the difficulty of working on a Modern icon that also served as a testing ground for Rudolph’s ideas while he lived there, the architects employed 3-D digital modeling to focus on and highlight the building’s spatial characteristics. Although the kitchen and bathrooms have been completely rebuilt, Della Valle Bernheimer was able to maintain and restore the original feel of the apartment by stripping it down to its original elements staying true to Rudolph’s ideas.

Although every award-winning project shows comprehensive thoroughness, each is unique in its attention to detail. Unfortunately, representatives from STUDIOS Architecture (Bloomberg LP Expansion Floors 17-20) and Asymptote (Alessi Flagship Store New York) were not on hand to discuss their Merit Award-winning projects. To read more about the 2007 Design Awards, click the link.

J. Arthur Liu is a designer with FXFOWLE Architects.