News – What’s New at AIANY and the Center for Architecture.

In this issue:
· AIANY Re-launches Diversity Committee
· AIA AAJ Establishes Sustainable Justice Committee
· Changes in Filing Procedures at the Department of Buildings
· Foundation Teams with Brooklyn Children’s Museum
· ACE Internship: What I Learned
· Non-Profit Aims to Make Hotels More Sustainable
· Published: State of Green Business 2008

AIANY Re-launches Diversity Committee
Responding to interest from the NYC architectural community, the AIANY Diversity Committee is again in business. The committee seeks to provide meaningful programming for the Chapter, tackling topics such as community diversity, education, and business development opportunities. In 2008, the committee will be meeting on the last Thursday of every month. This month’s meeting will be held February 28 at 6:30pm at the Center for Architecture. New members are encouraged to join. Committee co-chairs will be announced in upcoming months. If you have questions about the committee feel free to contact Carolyn Sponza, AIA, LEED AP.

Professional diversity is one of the AIA’s major objectives. Over the past decades numerous resolutions, research papers, focus groups, and studies have made architects aware that their membership does not wholly represent the society for whom it designs. This year, the issue is in the spotlight even more, with Marshall E. Purnell, FAIA, taking office as the first African American president of the AIA, where he is raising diversity as a major goal.

AIA AAJ Establishes Sustainable Justice Committee
The Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ), a knowledge community within the AIA that focuses on the planning, design, and delivery of justice architecture, has established a Sustainable Justice Committee. Co-chaired by Susan K. Oldroyd, AIA, LEED AP, and Ken Ricci, FAIA, the purpose of the committee is to promote and support sustainability in law and justice facilities. To this end, the committee plans to publish a guide to sustainable justice design and proposes a LEED-J (LEED for Justice) rating system to the U.S. Green Building Council. For more information, please visit the committee’s website.

Changes in Filing Procedures at the Department of Buildings
There have been a number of developments at the Department of Buildings (DOB) that will affect the way you file applications:

   · PC Filing will no longer be available for use as of Feb19; a new e-filing system is up and running.
   · There are new PW1 forms.
   · Controlled Inspection forms have recently changed and have an additional sign-off at time of permit.
   · Controlled Inspections will be changing over the next year; the DOB will be implementing a system whereby a third party will have to take responsibility.

To subscribe to the DOB Newsletter, please click here.

Foundation Teams with Brooklyn Children’s Museum
By Michelle Dezember, Design Educator, Center for Architecture Foundation

The Center for Architecture Foundation is currently collaborating with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum to develop Building Brainstorm!, a 1,200-square-foot tri-lingual traveling exhibition that invites children and their caregivers to explore the built environment through hands-on investigations of building forms, features, materials, and the architectural design process.

Building Brainstorm! will be a fantasy architecture studio that presents children with design challenges to research and solve. Kids and adults will experiment with building materials and engineering problems as well as investigate light, form, structure, and organization.

The exhibition research team is currently gathering images and materials that will be used in these stations and activities, and would like to tap into the resources that AIA members might like to offer. Items currently needed:

   · Three-dimensional models of buildings (massing models, topographical models, etc.)
   · Floor plans
   · Quick sketches that show early phases of projects
   · Sample boards
   · Material samples for exteriors
   · Material samples for interiors (paints, textiles, countertops, wall paneling, flooring, etc.)

If you or any of your colleagues have the following materials available for the exhibition, please contact Michelle Dezember, Design Educator, Center for Architecture Foundation or Liza Reich Rawson, Senior Exhibition Developer, Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

ACE Internship: What I Learned
By Olivia Lau

The design and technical processes of building intrigued me throughout high school. During my senior year, after enrolling in my school’s architecture course, I decided to sign up for the ACE Mentor Program and NYC School Construction Authority (SCA) Summer Internship Program. The program provides college-bound high school students with exposure to the professional world of architecture, construction, and engineering. I had the opportunity to work as an intern alongside one of my mentors, Darris James, Assoc. AIA, senior associate at Gensler. Throughout the summer of 2006, I was a member of the Aviation Studio working on construction document sets, translating documents from French, ordering sample materials, and helping organize presentations. In addition to developing professional relationships, perhaps the biggest benefit for me was the chance to learn and use AutoCAD, which has put me steps ahead of many of my peers in studio.

In the program I learned how a project is built from design concept to engineering to construction. As the college application process loomed, I was encouraged to pursue architecture. In the end, I narrowed my search to universities with accredited architecture programs, and I am now a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. ACE also helped me network within the profession. As the world continues to develop, I think it is essential that these programs also grow to encourage emerging designers and builders.

The SCA is currently recruiting firms for the upcoming summer program, which runs July 7 through August 15. Interns are paid by the SCA, so there is no cost to sponsoring firms to participate. For more information about how to become an intern sponsor or to learn more about the NYC SCA Summer Internship Program, contact Ruby Saake at 718-752-5047 or by e-mail. To learn more about the ACE Mentor Program visit the website or e-mail Ed Jerman, Assistant Executive Director for the ACE Mentor Program’s Greater New York Chapter.

Olivia Lau is currently a sophomore at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Non-Profit Aims to Make Hotels More Sustainable
The Global Green Hospitality Consortium (GGHC) hopes to increase sustainability practices by providing a clearinghouse of standards, certifications, and opportunities. The recently-launched non-profit provides its members assistance with the major green standards and practices overseen by state and federal agencies and other organizations. USGBC’s LEED certification, Energy Star, and the EPA’s Green Power Partnership are just some of the programs the GGHC provides help with, along with details on rebates, grants, and tax benefits offered for green programs. The group also offers access to consortium-certified products and services, and facilitates communication between vendors and buyers. The GGHC is owned by the Global Green Energy Consortium.

Published: State of Green Business 2008
In this report, Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com answer the question: How are U.S. businesses doing in their quest to be greener and more environmentally responsible? It introduces the GreenBiz Index, a set of 20 indicators of progress, tracking resource use, emissions, and business practices of U.S. companies: carbon, materials, energy, and toxic intensity, clean-tech investments, e-waste recovery, paper use, employee commuting, and more.To download the report, please click stateofgreenbusiness2008.pdf.

Event: 2008 Architecture: Designs for Living; Public Lecture Series: New Design Directions for Education
Location: Center for Architecture, 01.22.08
Speakers: Stephen Thomson, AIA, LEED AP — President, Thomson Architects; Paul Broches, FAIA, LEED AP — Partner, Mitchell/Giurgola Architects; Henry Myerberg, AIA — Principal, HMA2; Timothy Dufault, AIA, LEED AP — President, Cunningham Group; Chris McVoy — Senior Partner, Steven Holl Architects
Moderator: David M. Steiner — Dean, School of Education, Hunter College
Organizer: AIANY Architecture for Education Committee
Sponsors: Champion: Studio Daniel Libeskind; Supporters: Gensler; Humanscale; James McCullar & Associates; Friends: Costas Kondylis & Partners; Forest City Ratner Companies; Frank Williams & Associates; Hugo S. Subotovsky A.I.A. Architects; Mancini Duffy; Magnusson Architecture and Planning; Rawlings Architects; Ricci Greene Associates; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Syska Hennessy Group; Trespa North America; Universal Contracting Group

(l-r): P.S. 156/I.S. 392 (Mitchell/Giurgola Architects); Interdistrict Downtown School (Cunningham Group); School for Art & History, University of Iowa (Steven Holl Architects).

(l-r): ©Kevin Chu/KCJP, courtesy Mitchell/Giurgola Architects; photo by Peter Batianelli Kerze, courtesy Cunningham Group; ©Erid Dean, University of Iowa, courtesy Steven Holl Architects

Educational facilities should be built around how students learn, agreed a panel of professionals designing for academia. Principals of five architectural firms presented recent projects that illustrate varying approaches to design and programs for public and private educational facilities. The program is a sequel to last year’s School Buildings — The State of Affairs exhibition and symposium at the Center for Architecture that featured innovative designs from Zürich and other European cities (See Architects Return to School, by Carolyn Sponza, AIA, 02.23.07).

Projects should foster creativity and aim to improve academic performance, according to Stephen Thomson, AIA, LEED AP, president of Thomson Architects. In the CUNY School of Journalism, a new program in the former Tribune Building, placing print and broadcast journalism classroom areas next to each other created an open, interactive environment for learning. A media wall/screen that displays student work divides and organizes the space.

The Robin Hood Foundation Library Program for Public Schools, places learning spaces within older NYC schools and engages acclaimed architects — including HMA2 — to reshape the image of the library through graphics, color, and light. Libraries typically occupy 5% of schools’ real estate but serve 100% of the school community, pointed out HMA2 principal Henry Myerberg, AIA. Children learn best in a collaborative setting, and these libraries are not places to be quiet; rather, they are “playgrounds for learning.”

Paul Broches, FAIA, LEED AP, a partner at Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, believes there is a gap between teaching strategies and building standards for schools. P.S. 156/I.S. 392 Annenberg School of the Arts in Brooklyn, a K-9 public school for 1,500 students, seeks to bridge this gap while also engaging the community. Rather than place the playground at the back of the school, the designers located it prominantly in front near the street so the community can see and feel the energy of active children. The glazed lobby showcases a monumental stair and mural — part of the “Percent for Art” program where large scale development projects help fund and install public art — and lights the playground at night to create a safe space.

Flexibility is key to educational facilities, argues to Timothy Dufault, AIA, LEED AP, president of the Cunningham Group. The Interdistrict Downtown School (IDS), in Minneapolis, MN, is an example of a new educational approach. A “lab school,” IDS serves 650 kids in grades K-12. The school lacks traditional elements such as a music room, gym, and theater; instead, it has formed partnerships with downtown organizations such as the YMCA to meet those roles. A glass lobby serves as the “retail portion” of the building, placing learning on display. One lab has glass garage doors that roll up to create a stage/performance and gathering space.

The School for Art & History, University of Iowa, is a hybrid instrument for theory and practice. Chris McVoy, senior partner at Steven Holl Architects, described it as a “tough building” designed for the making of art. The school has an open center and open exterior. A library component is cantilevered above a lagoon, and a double-height reading room at the end provides space for reflection.

These schools, though different in program and purpose, show that good design can improve education. Flexible, stimulating environments increase students’ test scores and attitudes as well as foster creativity. This discussion was the first of 12 monthly programs by AIANY committees to explore current design directions that will form the “building blocks” for new growth envisioned by and as a response to PlaNYC. The next panel on 02.11.08 will focus on justice facilities including courthouses, police stations, and detention facilities.

Murrye Bernard is designer with TEK Architects in NYC and Director of Forward, the quarterly publication of AIA’s National Associates Committee.

Event: “Green Affordable Housing” screening
Location: Center for Architecture, 01.24.08
Speaker: Jonathan Rose — Jonathan Rose Companies
Moderator: Jessica Strauss, AIA, LEED AP — Co-Chair, AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE)
Sponsors: COTE; Jonathan Rose Companies; Autodesk; Natural Resources Defense Council; Enterprise

Via Verde in the South Bronx — a sustainable, affordable housing project by Phipps Rose Dattner Grimshaw.

Phipps Rose Dattner Grimshaw, courtesy AIANY

The success of a sustainable and affordable housing development hinges on the community in which it resides, not on the building itself. This insight has helped Jonathan Rose of Jonathan Rose Companies develop a portfolio of successful affordable housing projects, some in areas that initially fought the idea with a not-in-my-backyard mentality. With the Burnham Building, David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens, and the upcoming Via Verde, Rose has proven that sustainable architecture can thrive in the intensely budget-conscious arena of affordable housing.

“Green Affordable Housing” is one of a handful of documentaries in the PBS series dedicated to sustainable design, Design e2. The film opens with examples of our past misguided attempts at affordable housing — specifically the isolated brick tower planted on a swath of dying grass with little or no community social life. Previously, the goal was to provide as many housing units as possible, as cheaply as possible, creating a monoculture in these towers. This model was doomed to failure as it ignored the critical biological principle of strength in diversity. A sustainable community should support a poly-culture of individuals and families.

In his quest to strengthen communities through diversity, Rose’s recent sustainable, affordable housing developments all include a mix of uses. In the adaptive reuse of the Burnham Company’s abandoned boiler and greenhouse plant in Irvington, NY, Rose with Steven Tilly Architects not only engaged in a housing renovation, but also inserted the town library into the ground floor. This allowed the existing community to interact with the low-income residents enough to realize that “they” are a lot like “us.”

With David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens in Harlem (expected to come in at $170-per-square-foot), Rose, in partnership with non-profit Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI), built on the idea of diversity. Not only does the building mix uses with the Youth Construction Trades Academy and the Learning Garden on the ground floor, but also mixes the types of affordable housing — one-third of the units are reserved for 18-year-olds who have aged-out of foster care, and the remaining two-thirds are for low-income residents.

Finally, Rose’s current affordable housing project is the highly publicized Via Verde, winner of the New Housing New York competition with Phipps Houses and architecture firms Dattner Architects and Grimshaw, collectively PRDG. Located on an abandoned lot in the South Bronx, Via Verde will include 139 rental units and 63 co-op apartments, designed sustainably with an emphasis on health. The project will include a Montefiore community health center, an exercise facility, and an organic food co-op, promoting community contacts not only at street level, but also vertically within the project via stepping roof gardens and linked paths.

A strong community, like an ecosystem, consists of a network of multiple linked systems where greater complexity leads to a richer social and cultural experience for those living there. In Via Verde, the South Bronx will have a symbol of a new way forward, repairing the fabric of a community, and Rose, a man who believes in the potential of people regardless of their social or economic standing, has set a precedent of success.

Max Driscoll is a junior architect at Croxton Collaborative Architects and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.