Category: In The News

Event: The Growth Catalyst: Reviving New York City’s Economy through Infrastructure, The Port Authority Lecture Series
Location: Theresa Lang Community & Student Center, 01.28.10
Remarks: Christopher O. Ward — Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ); Seth W. Pinsky — President, NYC Economic Development Corporation
Discussion: Joan Byron — Director of Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative, Pratt Center for Community Development; Robert D. Yaro — President, Regional Plan Association; Kathryn S. Wyle — President & CEO, Partnership for NYC
Moderator: Daniel Massey — Reporter, Crain’s New York Business
Organizer: Center for New York City Affairs, The New School

ARC Penn Station Expansion.

Courtesy of PANYNJ

“Visit any major city in the world, and you’ll see how far behind we are,” stated Seth Pinsky, president of the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). “We’re still paying for choices made [in the 1970s and 80s], and we’re still underinvested.” The laundry list of negatives far outweighed the positives at a recent discussion about reviving the city’s economy through infrastructure. Toll and fare increases will always be insufficient; LaGuardia Airport needs to be rebuilt; JFK’s poor cargo operations is leading to longer wait periods to get goods to users; trucks are choking the city; we need a better rail freight system; we need better ferry service.

Despite the pessimism, two transportation projects that excited panelists were the ARC (Access to the Region’s Core), a project of the Port Authority of NY and NJ (PANYNJ) and NJ Transit that will be the first new rail tunnel to be constructed under the Hudson River in 100 years, and the MTA’s East Side Access, which will make the east side of Manhattan more accessible to Long Island Rail Road commuters. PANYNJ is investing $6 billion in ARC, which has been on the drawing boards for decades. Ground was broken on the NJ side in June 2009 and, when completed by 2017, it is anticipated that the number of commuters from NJ to Manhattan will double since it will provide more frequent trains and express service. An expanded Penn Station will connect travelers directly to subway concourses at 7th and 8th Avenues, and for the first time, 6th Avenue and Herald Square.

Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), concurred: “We need to continue to make investments.” He talked about “value recapture,” and finding ways to make money from the projects on the boards, such as an airport access fee, container fees, and congestion pricing, which he feels will be back on the table for discussion. “People think they can get something for nothing, but to get something, you have to pay for something.”

As for Moynihan Station, Christopher O. Ward, PANYNJ’s executive director, believes it will be built and believes it is not just a beautiful building, but it is a lynchpin to the Northeast Corridor.

And what about the Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at JFK, which is being rehabilitated by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners? PANYNJ appreciates its architectural legacy and sees it as an asset. They hope it will monetize itself as a corporate center and a place to do business — once the economy picks up.

Linda G. Miller is a NYC-based freelance writer and publicist, and a contributing editor to e-Oculus and OCULUS.

Event: No Fixed Points in Space: Transferring Form, Time, and Narrative between Architecture and Performance
Location: Miller Theatre, Columbia University, 01.26.10
Panelists: Trevor Carlson — Executive Director, Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation; Michelle Fornabai — Principal, Ambo.infra Design; Paul Kaiser — Digital Artist & Writer, Open Ended Group; Paul Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky) — Artist, Composer & Writer; Tere O’Connor — Founder, Tere O’Connor Dance
Curator & Moderator: Annie K. Kwon — Architectural Designer, Kwon Studio
Performances: Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Repertory Understudy Group
Presenters: Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation; Barnard College Dance Department; Columbia GSAPP; School of the Arts, Columbia University

Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Repertory Understudy Group.

Columbia University

Dance choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) collaborated with visual artists throughout his career. For his final work, Nearly Ninety (2009), he chose to collaborate for the first time with an architect, Benedetta Tagliabue of Barcelona-based Enric Miralles – Benedetta Tagliabue | EMBT, who designed the multi-tier set. This collaboration inspired the creation of a series of public programs to explore the “intersection between architecture and the performing arts.” The first of the three symposia convened a variety of talents from the fields of dance, music, and architecture.

Cunningham was a proponent of Einstein’s proclamation that “there are no fixed points in space.” Moderator and architect Annie K. Kwon agreed, noting that architecture and dance “steal from each other; they shift and merge and become something unexpected.” Much of Cunningham’s work involved the dancer’s interaction with the set. Rather than utilizing conventional proscenium staging, he preferred three-dimensional sets with multiple centers of focus.

Nearly Ninety‘s set was progressive within the world of modern dance, but it was panned by many critics who referred to it as “clunky” or too “sci-fi.” His set for the production BIPED was decidedly more elegant. Dancers slipped through slits in the back curtains; and a patterned, metallic scrim hung in front of the stage to frame the dancers’ figures. The “volumetric apparitions” varied depending on the sightlines from the audience, according to digital artist Paul Kaiser.

Tere O’Connor, founder of Tere O’Connor Dance, explained that “dance involves ‘around and through’ and not just a frontal experience,” which is similar to the way one experiences and understands a building. O’Connor looks to architectural concepts as a resource for his own work; for example, Rammed Earth is a performance piece inspired by ancient building techniques and is adaptable to almost any space.

Between discussions, dancers from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Repertory Understudy Group performed. The music was dissonant, composed of seemingly random and harsh sounds, and the dancers’ movements ranged from fluid to rigid. The choreography of the dance was not set to the music, and at times they would coincide by chance while at others they seem awkwardly paired.

DJ Spooky sees dance as a way of “interpreting the space around you.” The human form bends and morphs within its liquid, ambiguous surroundings. Through its limits and capabilities, the body strives to explore space, just as the materials and structural systems that comprise buildings attempt to capture it.

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

Most people in NYC think of the gym when they think of fitness, despite the fact that there are so many parks, bike lanes, and unexpected places to get in the 30-min-a-day workout recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hopefully this will change as the urban fabric becomes more activity-friendly, thanks to publications like the “Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design,” issued by the NYC Departments of Design and Construction, Health and Mental Hygiene, Transportation, and City Planning, among other agencies (See “Active Design Guidelines Tell NYC to Shape Up,” by Jacqueline Pezzillo, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP in this issue of e-Oculus). Seminal to its development was the annual Fit City conferences hosted by AIANY, a collaborator on the publication.

In addition to the many case studies, which give full credit to the architectural firms (!), the Guidelines are broken down into chapters covering environmental design and health; urban design; building design; and synergies with sustainable and universal design. Charts and checklists make referring to the recommendations easy. Especially useful to those of us inundated with LEED requirements is a chart that compares LEED to Active Design criteria.

What makes the Guidelines so valuable, in my opinion, is that the report goes beyond simple data supported by research. Each suggestion is organized into three categories: strong evidence; emerging evidence; and best practice. It is the last category that makes the book interesting, since it “indicates strategies without a formal evidence base. However, theory, common understandings of behavior, and experience from existing practice indicate that these measures will likely increase physical activity.” Recommendations include signposts on bikeways that provide directions, distances, and times to various destinations; or stairs designed to be easily maintained so they will encourage use and discourage graffiti and vandalism. These are ideas that seem obvious once on paper, but are not inherently integrated into architecture.

Overall, the Guidelines are easy to read, have a lot of great photographs of thought-provoking projects — from the Richard Morris Hunt’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to 41 Cooper Square by Morphosis Architects (the latest poster child for active design) — and are sure to catch the imagination of architects. Now is the time to roll out chairs from behind computer screens and actively engage with the built environment!

In this issue:

· Lincoln Center Tops the Vivian Beaumont
· Times Square Hearts Valentines
· A New Museum Lets Kids Learn About Kids
· Curtains Up on West 52nd Street
· Just Add Water
· Sun Shines on Cochin
· School Educates Kids in Malawi about Sustainability

Lincoln Center Tops the Vivian Beaumont

Claire Tow Theater.

H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture

Lincoln Center Theater’s long held desire for a third theater will be realized on the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater with the addition of the Claire Tow Theater, designed by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. The Tow will become the home of LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater’s programming initiative dedicated to producing the work of new artists and the development of new audiences. Construction will begin this spring on the 23,000-square-foot, two-story addition. Budgeted at $41 million, the project will house a 131-seat theater, dressing rooms, rehearsal and administrative space, and an outdoor terrace surrounded by a green roof. The new building, only partially visible from below, was designed to complement Eero Saarinen’s building, which also houses the Mitzi E. Newshouse Theater. The project is intended to achieve LEED Silver and completed in early 2012.

Times Square Hearts Valentines

Ice Heart.

Moorhead & Moorhead

On the morning of 02.11.10, designers from the architecture and industrial studio Moorhead & Moorhead will lead a team of ice sculptors and engineers to create a large heart in Duffy Square. As a result of winning the second annual invited competition, the firm was commissioned by the Times Square Alliance to construct a 10-foot-tall heart made from masonry-scaled ice blocks. Kaleidoscopic in nature, “Ice Heart” will be activated by the constantly changing lights and colors of Times Square and will transform as it melts — though it will remain intact at least until Valentine’s Day. Okamoto Studio will construct the sculpture; Robert Silman Associates is the structural engineer; and Tillet Lighting Design will illuminate the public space.

A Museum Lets Kids Learn About Kids

DiMenna Children’s History Museum at the New York Historical Society.

Rendering by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture & Design Partnership

The New-York Historical Society has received a $5 million donation to create the DiMenna Children’s History Museum. Designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership, the museum-within-a-museum will be located in a vaulted space on the lower level, and feature both permanent and special exhibitions for and about children, incorporating historical artifacts and replicas, objects and illustrations, three-dimensional pavilions, and interactive elements. The creation of the museum is part of the New-York Historical Society’s renovation, designed by Platt Byard Dovell White Architects, to bring a new level of openness to the building while improving the society’s ability to serve the public and showcase its collections and exhibitions. The new space is set to open in November 2011.

Curtains Up on West 52nd Street

The 52nd Street Project.

Vanni Archives

The 52nd Street Project, a non-profit that matches kids from Hells Kitchen with professional theater artists (Cynthia Nixon, Billy Crudup, and Edie Falco to name a few) to create original works, has officially opened in its permanent home designed by BKSK Architects. After occupying various temporary spaces since it was founded 30 years ago, the group now has its own entrance and two floors in the new Archstone Clinton mixed-use development. The 17,000-square-foot space contains dressing rooms, studios, private and open offices, a workshop, and an after-school clubhouse with full kitchen, as well as tutoring and teaching spaces. At the heart of the space is a 156-seat black box theater, which also serves as a multi-purpose courtyard. A five-foot-wide catwalk with an open steel grating spans the length of the theater box and creates a shortcut between offices and a workshop and after school areas on either side. Windows in the street wall of the theater space were opened up, bringing in natural light. The project is expected to achieve LEED Gold.

Just Add Water

Concrete Cloth.

Material ConneXion

The NY office of Material ConneXion held its first annual MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year, naming UK-based company Concrete Canvas’s Concrete Cloth as the winner. Concrete Cloth’s cement-impregnated flexible fabric technology allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes. When water is added it creates safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of commercial, military, and humanitarian uses. The award recognizes materials juried into the company’s Materials Library within the past year that demonstrate outstanding technological innovation and the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of design, industry, society, and economy. The winners will be on view through 02.19.10.

Sun Shines on Cochin

Choice Marina.

CetraRuddy

Choice Marina, CetraRuddy’s first international commission, recently broke ground in Cochin, on the southwest coast of India. The 138,000-square-foot, 13-story residential resort condominium features three-bedroom homes, with two homes per floor. Rarely seen in Indian developments, the building will include private elevators and grand master bedroom suites with windowed master bathrooms, freestanding bathtubs, and dressing rooms. The design incorporates a rooftop lounge and pool, outdoor verandas, a private terraced garden that steps down to the waterfront, and two private yachts for use by the residents. Responding to the area’s tropical climate, the two towers are oriented to reduce solar heat gain and to minimize the impact of monsoons without compromising views. Each of the towers will bear an array of fixed and operable exterior screening and sun-shading devices to enhance the curtain wall performance and further improve energy efficiency. Occupancy is slated for July 2011.

School Educates Kids in Malawi about Sustainability

Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.

Adams Kara Taylor/Studio MDA

Work on the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, designed by NYC-based Studio MDA, is underway. Located on a 100-acre site on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi, the school will board 450 girls. The campus will contain a library and administration building, dining hall, gymnasium, wellness center, sports field, 30 classrooms, 12 dormitories, and 18 staff houses.

The design concept is sustainable throughout. Most construction materials are sourced locally, such as Hydraform bricks made from soil on site, avoiding the use of burned bricks that have been responsible for widespread deforestation in Malawi. A field of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the gymnasium and passive ventilation and natural light will help the school to be energy independent. Two constructed wetlands will process all the black and grey water to be used for irrigation in the playing field. Learning landscapes and educational agriculture areas will educate the students on the ecosystems in Malawi and help to develop sustainable agriculture in the country. Some of the other participants in Raising Malawi’s design team include the New York office of ARUP, Brooklyn-based landscape architects dlandstudio, London’s Adams Kara Taylor engineering, ePod Solar of British Columbia, and IM Designs of Malawi. The school, being funded by pop-star Madonna, is expected to open in 2012.

On 01.12.10 a powerful 7.0 quake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This was followed by more than 30+ strong aftershocks. There has been widespread major damage and a loss of life estimated to be in the tens of thousands. There are projections of 2-3 million residents without shelter.

Architecture for Humanity will soon start exploring specific opportunities for rebuilding projects in cooperation with its partners on the ground. In the meantime, it has launched a fundraising appeal to support this long term reconstruction effort.

In its reconstruction plan, Architecture for Humanity has outlined several phases: Pre-Planning Assessments and Damage Analysis (underway, will run for a year); Establish Community Resource Center and Reconstruction Studio (Week 6 to Month 3); Sorting Out Land Tenure and Building Ownership (Month 6 to Year 5); Transitional Shelters, Health Clinics and Community Structures (Month 6 to Year 2); Schools, Hospitals and Civic Structures (Month 9 to Year 3); and Permanent Housing (Year 1 to Year 5). To get involved, click here.

The AIA-New Jersey 2009 Design Award winners include, in the following categories: “Built,” Port Authority Ferry Terminal at the World Financial Center by Donald T. Fram, FAIA, Port Authority chief architect, Robert I. Davidson, FAIA, chief architect retired, and FTL Architecture & Engineering Associates (Honor Award), and PREttyFAB by GRO Architects, and Roberts Soccer Stadium at Princeton University by Anderson Architects (Merit Awards); “Unbuilt,” Al Asmariya University for Islamic Sciences, Zliten Campus by RMJM Architects & Planners (Honor Award), and Headquarters for Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in Dubai and the Georgia Institute of Technology Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory by HDR CUH2A (Merit Awards)…

The 57th Annual P/A Award Winners include the Museum of Image and Sound by Diller Scofidio + Renfro; LM Harbor Gateway by Steven Holl Architects; and Five Principles for Greenwich South: A Model for Lower Manhattan by Architecture Research Office (ARO)… The 2010 AR/MIPIM Future Projects Award winners include Nordhavnen: City Regenerative by FXFOWLE Architects, and Al-Birr Foundation Headquarters by Perkins+Will…

Architectural Record‘s “Good Design is Good Business” China Award Winners include these NY-based firms in the following categories: “Best Commercial Project,” Chervon International Trading Company, Perkins+Will, and Shanghai World Financial Center, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; “Best Public Project,” United States Embassy of Beijing, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; “Best Residential Project,” Linked Hybrid, Steven Holl Architects, and Evian Town (Phase II), RMJM Architects & Planners; “Best Green Project,” Vanke Center, Steven Holl Architects; “Best Planning Project,” Longchi Town Conceptual Master Plan, AECOM Design + Planning, and Meixi Lake Master Plan, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates…

The Citizens Housing & Planning Council’s 51st Annual Luncheon will honor Michael Schill, Dean, University of Chicago School of Law and Founding Director, NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy with the Impact Award for Excellence in Housing, and Steve Ross, Chairman, CEO, and Founder of The Related Companies with the Impact Award for Excellence in Planning…

The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has awarded AARRIS Architects and its president, Nicole Hollant-Denis, AIA, NOMA, its Honor in Design Excellence Award for the African Burial Ground National Monument; Hollant-Denis was also recently named NOMA’s National Liaison to Haiti…

The Architect’s Newspaper will receive a 2010 Collaborative Achievement Award at the AIA National Convention in Miami… Perkins+Will will receive a 2010 National Building Museum Honor Award for the company’s commitment to civic innovation in design, construction, and education…

Butler Rogers Baskett Architects has renovated the Johnson Chapel at the Trinity School… City College of New York (CCNY) announced the founding of a scholarship in honor of James L. Lammie, former CEO and Chairman of Parsons Brinckerhoff, and endowed by New York Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch…

Kirsten Sibilia, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, has joined Dattner Architects as the chief marketing officer… Bill Bouchey, IIDA, has joined the NY office of M Moser Associates as design director… Jeff Knoll and Lillian Kim, LEED AP, have joined Ted Moudis Associates (TMA) as design manager and senior designer, respectively… Evan Weremeychik, AIA, LEED AP, has been promoted to vice president and is leading Karlsberger’s NYC Health and Science Architecture practice… James Kolker, AIA, LEED AP, has joined NBBJ as a senior associate…

2010 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, OCULUS editors want to hear from you! Projects/topics may be anywhere, but architects must be New York-based. Please submit story ideas by the deadlines indicated below to Kristen Richards: Kristen@ArchNewsNow.com.

THE 2010 THEMES:
Spring: Architect as Leader: (CLOSED).

Summer: AIANY Design Awards 2010: (CLOSED).

Fall: Thinking Back / Thinking Forward and Understanding the Shift: The recession has given us the opportunity to reflect on the last decades of design and building — and what might be ahead. We will investigate trends in design, building, and marketing that are coming into play. What are the next steps in social media, BIM, sustainability, technology, competitions, stalled projects, adaptive re-use, design for flexibility, mergers and firm acquisitions?
Submit story ideas by 05.21.09

Winter: Practice without Borders: The world is growing smaller. New York is an international city, and it is easier than ever for overseas firms to work here and for New York City firms to work abroad. We will look into reciprocity, licensure, removal of boundaries to practice, and international competitions as ways to build renown.
Submit story ideas by 08.13.09

04.16.10 Call for Entries: Office Needs for Good Deeds

Event: Light Walk in Bryant Park
Location: Bryant Pakr, 01.12.10
Speaker/Tour Guide: Leni Schwendinger — Principal, Leni Schwendinger Light Projects
Organizer: Leni Schwendinger Light Projects

The brightly lit New York Times building framed by darker buildings to either side. In the foreground, to the left is the Pond skating rink at Bryant Park; the space with the blue light to the right is the Celsius Bar, a temporary pop-up restaurant.

Bill Millard

If you saw someone peering around at the pavings of Bryant Park, you might assume they’d lost something. In Leni Schwendinger’s case, she’d found something instead — an intricate network of shadows whose beauty drew her to drop to her knees for a close-up view during a recent walking tour devoted to the park’s public lighting. Thanks to the illumination of multiple bright floodlights shining from atop the nearby Verizon building, the park trees were casting a “cacophony of shadows,” she explained, comparing the effect to a Jackson Pollock painting.

The acclaimed designer first began her Light Walks as a tool for teaching her Parsons students about public lighting in various areas; the walk in Bryant Park was one of her first to be offered to the public. “My Light Walk is about any and all lights in public space,” she said as she began the tour at the northeast end of the park, taking a moment to point out the halo effect the floodlights caused in one woman’s white hair. Reaching all the way across the park, the lights’ illumination was still intense enough that the group could see each other clearly.

How brightly public spaces are lit can be a delicate balancing act between the demands of energy efficiency and the desire to keep spaces bright enough to make people feel safe, she explained during the walk. Adding the floodlights in December had made the park four times brighter, while still being a fairly energy-efficient, pragmatic solution. “It brings all the lights together; you can take care of them and maintain them very nicely. They’re very high, and they make a huge, broad swath of light like the moon,” she said. Other sustainable lights in the park include some of Schwendinger’s design — LED-encrusted round lights called “Jewel-Light Luminaires,” which help illuminate the skating rink.

The intensity of the floodlights creates some lovely if surreal effects: along the northern promenade, the backlight throws the forms of London plane trees into stark relief against the night sky. “Look at these absolutely gorgeous trees that are outlined and filigreed with the light,” Schwendinger said. “It’s like a beautiful stage set — it’s a stage set for urban living. It’s a gorgeous sight that you wouldn’t really have if these lights were a whole lot dimmer.”

Beyond the park, the lighting of the surrounding architecture also caught her eye, such as the Cook + Fox and Gensler-designed Bank of America building on 42nd Street. Contrasting warm and cool-hued lights on the façade help emphasize its faceted form, she observed.

As the group explored the dimmer southeastern sides of the park, she noted the changing ambience. Away from the floodlights, smaller, warmer lights from traditional globe lanterns, a carousel, and the windows of the Bryant Park Grill punctuated our surroundings. “These things are glowing out of the darkness, and it gives this beautiful romantic feel,” Schwendinger said.

At one point, she paused to draw our attention to some gray paving stones that glowed with a subtle gradient of color cast by lights on either side. “Now look carefully at the amber light being cast by the lantern and the bluish light by the [floodlights],” she said. “The sheen of the stone is like a satin, and that careful, careful nuanced relationship between the bluer light and the soft gold lights — it’s there! And now you will always see it.”

Indeed, it’s the kind of detail that’s easy to overlook, unless one is trained to notice it. Schwendinger hopes to offer more Light Walks in the future, helping city residents become more attuned to the ways lighting designers bring safety, sustainability, and beauty to public spaces.

Lisa Delgado is a freelance journalist who has written for OCULUS, The Architect’s Newspaper, I.D., Blueprint, and Wired, among other publications.

Event: Detour: Art, Architecture, Cities, and Landscapes Symposium
Location: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 01.19.10
Keynote Speaker: Peter Zumthor — Principal, Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner (Haldenstein)
Panelists: Craig Dykers, AIA — Principal, Snøhetta (NYC); Einar Jarmund — Partner, Jarmund/Vigsnæs (Oslo); Svein Rønning — Artist & Head, Arts Council for the National Tourist Routes Project (Bergen); Nader Tehrani — Partner, Office dA (Boston)
Moderator: David van der Leer — Assistant Curator of Architecture and Design, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Conversation: Jerry Gorovoy — Artist’s Assistant, Louise Bourgeois Studio; Nancy Spector — Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Organizers: Architectural League of New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; in conjunction with the “Detour” exhibition at Parsons, The New School for Design
Sponsors: The Royal Norwegian Consulate General

Landscape/Pavilion in Eggum, Norway, by Snøhetta.

Snøhetta

The designers and artists commissioned by Norway’s National Tourist Routes program face an enviable challenge: beauty overload management. To prevent visitors on its driving tours from growing bored by hours of dramatic scenery, the government seeks out creative talent from Norway and beyond to punctuate the experience and focus attention on specific features of the landscape. By hiring innovative architects and artists to work on infrastructure projects, such as bathrooms and picnic shelters, the project simultaneously provides key services and inserts what program director Svein Rønning referred to as “question marks,” or unexpected, playful, and sometimes destabilizing cultural experiences that serve as both complement and counterpoint to the spectacular natural surroundings.

The Guggenheim symposium, scheduled to coincide with the closing of a Parsons exhibition celebrating the National Tourist Routes program, used the Norwegian example as a jumping-off point for a broader discussion about design, infrastructure, and community. Snøhetta’s Craig Dykers, AIA, discussed a pro-bono project in Guatemala City in which the firm, approached about the possibility of creating a signature building to raise the city’s profile, recommended that the municipality instead focus its attention on a project that would have a far greater impact on its residents: fixing its dilapidated sidewalks. The design team drew up initial sketches for new sidewalks and street furniture, developed ideas about ways to incorporate the work of local artists and craftsmen, and then turned the project over to the city to implement.

Dykers expressed admiration for the National Tourist Routes and similar government initiatives but said that it was ultimately up to designers to take on socially relevant work, with or without external incentives. “As an architect, I think it’s important that you think about ways you can do it without the help of government… that you initiate things on your own, that you take on tasks that might not be well-paid, that have the kind of integrity to move a city forward, on the smaller scale as well as the very large scale.”

Sarah Wesseler is a marketing coordinator at Gruzen Samton.