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

Exhibition: Responding to Kahn: A Sculptural Conversation
Location: Yale University Art Gallery, on view through 07.08.07
Curators: Timothy Applebee – M.Arch. candidate, Yale University; Sonali Chakravarti – Political Science Ph.D. candidate, Yale University; Shannon N. Foshe – History of Art B.A. 2006, Yale University; Kate Howe – Graphic Design M.F.A. candidate, Yale University; Harriet Salmon – Sculpture M.F.A. 2006, Yale University; Catherine Sellers – Education Intern, Yale University Art Gallery; Sydney Skelton – History of Art 2007, Yale University; under the direction of Pamela Franks – Curator of Academic Initiatives, Yale University Art Gallery

Bricks the size of his hands make up the walls. Concrete columns bearing the scars of their creation hold up the suspended ceiling of tetrahedrons. A circular stairwell capped by a dark floating triangle completes the geometry of the space. These are cues we, as student curators, took from the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) building for the Responding to Kahn: A Sculptural Conversation exhibition. Connections are made between Louis Kahn’s history and the building while providing a space for conversation between architecture and art.

In representing Kahn’s architecture in the form of a sculpture exhibition, we focused on bringing the visitor to the architect through art. Specifically positioned lights cast the triangular shadows of an Alexander Calder mobile onto the broad cylindrical stairwell behind it. The artwork moves gently with the movement of the building – from door drafts, air conditioning, or passing visitors – connecting elements of Kahn’s vision: the city, the building, and the viewer. Christian Boltanski’s three towers of La fete de Pourim are constructed of biscuit tins that visually mimic the intimately measured bricks of Kahn’s walls.

The concrete columns in the gallery express their construction with imprints of the wood framework – which we saw as translations of Kahn’s physical scars (caused by a fire from his childhood). Likewise, Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled bears the rawness of its creation in her plaster casting, and Lynda Benglis’ Hitch glass sculpture clutches the sand in which it was formed.

Maintaining the life of a building and rejuvenating the spirit of its architect, especially an icon like Kahn, is a challenge. After the recent renovations by Polshek Partnership Architects (see Un-cluttering a Kahn Classic, by Kristen Richards, eOCULUS 07.25.06), the life of YUAG continues, and hopefully we, as curators, have heightened its spirit as well.

Shannon N. Foshe is the Development Associate at the Center for Architecture, and a member of the curatorial team for the Responding to Kahn exhibition.

“When you ask people to select their favorites… they choose buildings that hold a place in their hearts and minds,” said RK Stewart, FAIA, 2007 AIA President, of the recently released America’s Favorite Architecture list. The public poll compiled 150 “best works of architecture” in celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the AIA’s founding. Many of the buildings are what you might expect – a garden variety of classical icons that speak of patriotism and democracy. Most of the buildings are accessible to the public, whether they are hotels, museums, transportation hubs, or memorials. Indicative of the types of buildings included, the Empire State Building tops the list. The list is generally uninteresting to me (as are most survey results), but the fact that only 21 buildings were constructed in the last 10 years does compel me to question why practicing architects are generally unsuccessful at tugging the heartstrings of the general public.

Perhaps it is a good sign that the largest percentage of those 21 recently constructed buildings are located in NY (six in NYC and one in Long Island). However, three are places where people go to shop: the city’s two Apple stores (#53 and #141) and the Time Warner Center (#105). We are a consumer-oriented society, and we spend more time interacting with retail architecture, maybe more than other types of architecture. So it could be good that people are considering the architectural experience rather than an image. Then again, the Hearst Tower (#71) is inaccessible to the public, and the New York Times Building (#68) is still under construction.

Ultimately, I think it all comes down to branding. Name recognition is at the forefront of the public’s and architects’ minds (after all, it was architects that came up with the initial 248 buildings). Currently, corporations are striking a chord more so than the buildings themselves – and that does not bode well for the future of architecture.

Event: P/A Awards Party
Location: Center for Architecture – 01.24.07
Organizers: ARCHITECT magazine
Sponsors: Hanley Wood Business Media

The 54th annual Progressive/Architecture, announced at the Center for Architecture January 24, honors architects and designers whose un-built work varies in scale, from Marc Boutin Architect’s Calgary Centre for Global Community, a 25,000-square-foot community center, to Michael Maltzan Architecture’s 2,500-square-foot Pittman Dowell Residence in La Crescenta, California. Although many of the winning projects have international settings – Aziza Chaouni won for her in-depth analysis and proposals for vacant sites in the old medina of Fez, Morocco, and Boston-based Office dA won for an expansion of the Kuwait Sports Shooting Club – many of the projects are community-oriented.

The University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) received a Jury Citation for its Good Shepherd Ecumenical Retirement Community in Little Rock, Arkansas. “The benefits of being recognized by the P/A awards include bringing to light a type of planning for an aging community and increased visibility to Arkansas’ struggle with urban planning in a disproportionate economic environment,” according to Aaron Gabriel, project director of the UACDC.

The awards ceremony itself was a modest affair. With the P/A Awards being inherited by ARCHITECT, there was a sense that this patriarch of design awards was a nascent event. Replacing the traditional exhibition that usually accompanies the ceremony, full descriptions of the projects were only available in the free copies of ARCHITECT offered at the event. Even though a slide show of the winners cycled throughout the evening, many attendees were disappointed by the omission of an accompanying exhibition. The ceremony itself was rushed and understated as winners were not invited on stage for recognition. In the end, the ceremony did not live up to the preeminence and prestige that a 54-year-old award program deserves.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Boerum Hill Grows a Green Urban Show House
• New Spaces Round Out Music Conservatory
• Two Interactive Playgrounds Stretch Kids’ Minds, Muscles
• 30-Story Condo Slated for Brooklyn
• Piazza for SUNY Purchase
• Reopen Airport as Service Center
• NYC IDA Spurs New Office, Industrial Space in Brooklyn
• Survey Predicts Engineer Shortage

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Boerum Hill Grows a Green Urban Show House
Working with developers R & E Brooklyn and Studio A/WASA, Natural Home magazine is converting a circa 1920s Brooklyn brownstone that had been slated for demolition, into the city’s first American Lung Association Health House. Plans call for preserving the existing historic brick commercial façade, while creating two three-bedroom residences.

Designed to meet a high standard of environmental performance, solar panels will provide electricity, and an innovative hybrid solar-thermal and gas-fired system will provide heating and cooling. Eco-friendly materials will include cement made from fly ash, recycled glass countertops, bamboo flooring finished with low-VOC water-based poly, and sorghum stalk kitchen cabinets. In order to be a Health House, a project must meet stringent standards that address moisture and humidity control, energy efficiency, air filtration and ventilation, and materials emissions. In addition, the project will include site inspections during the construction phase and performance testing upon completion. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007.

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New Spaces Round Out Music Conservatory

The Manhattan School of Music gained two new performance spaces and a residence for the president, completing the school’s plan for a fully functional and centralized campus community on the Upper West Side. The $65 million project, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, began with the construction of a 19-story multi-use building to house dorms, practice rooms, and a new music library.

Now the school’s campus has the Miller Recital Hall, designed for recitals by faculty and students it is an intimate 1,775-square-foot performance space that seats 151. The multi-functional, 2,080-square-foot Ades Performance Space accommodates 216 persons and allows for multiple configurations for staging informal performances including chamber music, jazz, opera, and musical theater, as well as rehearsal space for large ensembles. The residence, with a penthouse and wrap-around terrace, also serves as an extension of the president’s office and as entertaining space for the institution.

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Two Interactive Playgrounds Stretch Kids’ Minds, Muscles

Imagination Playground, a private/public partnership between the Rockwell Group and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation got a thumbs-up from Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) after receiving necessary approval from the local community board. Billed as a place “where kids will exercise their minds as well as their muscles,” the Rockwell Group’s model, initiated as a pro bono project, adds a rich environment of diverse materials encouraging unstructured “free play” in addition to traditional fixed equipment for physical activity.

The playground, located at Burling Slip adjacent to South Street Seaport, incorporates elements such as climbing ropes, a lookout ramp with telescopes, amphitheater seating, and a multi-level “crow’s nest” that has a double function as storage for loose parts. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) provided a grant for the construction of the Playground and the architect and the city are seeking to raise an additional $2 million for an endowment. Construction is slated to begin late 2007.

On West 25th Street near Madison Square Park, two friends, both moms of twins, decided they needed an indoor place for kids and their parents to hang out in the neighborhood. Designed by Ellen Honigstock Architect, apple seeds is a 15,000-square-foot play space, café, and boutique with classrooms where students can learn music, art, cooking, and yoga. The main attraction of apple seeds is its 2,500-square-foot NYC-themed interactive playground created by children’s museum designer, Roto Studios. The playground is divided into three zones – “the neighborhood,” ‘the park,” and “the city,” coinciding with early childhood development.

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30-Story Condo Slated for Brooklyn

Forté, a 30-story residential condo designed by FXFOWLE Architects, will be constructed in the new BAM Cultural District. Containing 108 residences, from studios to three-bedroom apartments, the streamlined glass ribbon façade will house four homes per floor and include gourmet kitchens and luxury amenities.

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Piazza for SUNY Purchase

Kevin Hom + Andrew Goldman Architects has recently completed a new, $12.6 million student services building for Purchase College. The project is part of a campus master plan conducted by the firm, designed to create a new center for academic and outdoor functions. The 57,000-square-foot glass and brick building has a two-story atrium with a one-stop-shop for student services and a multi-media conference center. The center is located at the end of the newly created Central Campus Mall, a plaza extension consisting of an overpass infill that bridges over an existing roadway, creating a new quad area know as the “Piazza.”

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Reopen Airport as Service Center

After a 15-month, $9 million renovation that converted its pre-jet age airplane hangar, Avitat Westchester reopened as a modern airport service center at Westchester County Airport. The 21,000-square-foot, two-story lean-to terminal, designed by Margulies Hoelzli Architecture, contains multi-tenant offices, crew facilities, maintenance shops, and storage facilities. Hoping to make the trip from to the aircrafts interesting, the facility has a glass canopy, an atrium, custom stainless steel staircases, aquariums filled with tropical fish, a baby grand piano, and its own Starbuck’s with freshly brewed coffee for pilots and passengers.

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NYC IDA Spurs New Office, Industrial Space in Brooklyn
New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA), administered by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), approved financial assistance for the office component of The Center at Albee Square, a mixed-use development in Downtown Brooklyn that will serve as the city’s first major commercial project constructed in the area since a 2004 rezoning. The $60.4 million project is expected to create more than 470 construction jobs over three years and provide office space for about 500 permanent jobs. The IDA Board also approved financing assistance to four industrial companies, an auto parts manufacturer, commercial printer, importer/distributor of groceries, an apparel manufacturer, and a not-for-profit religious school.

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Survey Predicts Engineer Shortage
In time for National Engineers Week 2007, a survey of 175 member firms conducted by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACECNY), reveals the direction, trends, and challenges the consulting engineering industry expects to face over the next five years. Critical issues include finding and retaining qualified personnel. Currently, 42% of those surveyed said they have enough engineers to meet their needs, and they anticipate this problem to grow. Personnel shortages in civil engineering, including transportation, highway, and bridge engineers, followed by mechanical and electrical engineers, fire safety, structural, and environmental engineers appeared to be of greatest concern to respondents. Topping the list of factors important to retaining professional engineers are higher salaries, more visibility and recognition, mentoring, and job security.

Check out two new website resources for the architecture and planning community:

VIVA2
Launched by the Skyscraper Museum, this is the second in a series of Web projects that present the museum’s archival holdings with an interactive interface. The Visual Index to the Virtual Archive 2 (VIVA2) provides access to more than 1,000 photographs of the construction of the Empire State Building, including workers, machinery, ceremonies, and city scenes. All images can be enlarged, e-mailed, or printed. This spring, the World Trade Center towers will be made available as well.

PlanningWiki
Created to be a general user-contributed encyclopedia, glossary, reference and resource guide, directory, and compendium of best practices, PlanningWiki is intended to be more than just an encyclopedia-like reference guide. The new Wiki will provide a resource for specialized and localized planning knowledge that would otherwise be considered too narrow in scope for encyclopedia-type sites such as Wikipedia and Digital Universe. Anyone can contribute, so spread the word and consider adding an entry or two!

The AIA New York Chapter released its list of 2007 Design Award recipients; 31 winners were selected from over 400 submissions. Architecture Honor Award winners include: Weiss/Manfredi (Olympic Sculpture Park); Diller Scofidio + Renfro (The Institute of Contemporary Art); Steven Holl Architects (Pratt Institute, Higgins Hall Center Wing, and New Residence at the Swiss Embassy); Steven Harris Architects (92 Jane Street); and Foster + Partners (Hearst Tower). Interior Architecture Honor Award winners are Dean/ Wolf Architects (Operable Boundary Townhouse/ Garden) and Della Valle Bernheimer (23 Beekman Place). Project Honor Awards were awarded to Thomas Phifer and Partners (North Carolina Museum of Art) and nARCHITECTS (Windshape).

Michael Kwartler, FAIA, and Carmi Bee, FAIA, will receive the John Hejduk Award from the Cooper Union Alumni Association in April at the Cooper Union Founder’s Day Dinner…Civitas, the citizens’ group dedicated to improving neighborhood quality of life in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and East Harlem, has chosen Metropolis magazine publisher Horace Havemeyer III and editor-in-chief Susan Szenasy as the 2007 recipients of its August Heckscher Award for Community Service and Excellence… The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is the recipient of a grant of $10 million from The Starr Foundation…

Balcony Media, Inc., publishers of art and architecture books and LA Architect magazine, announced that it will launch a new national trade publication, FORM: pioneering design, in June 2007…The Architect’s Newspaper launched a California edition on 02.21.07 with Sam Lubell as the chief editor…

Raymond C. Bordwell, AIA, LEED AP, has joined the Perkins Eastman as a New York City-based principal… Meltzer/Mandl Architects has promoted David G. Carpenter to Associate Principal and Director of Development… David Kriegel, AIA, has been named Managing Principal at Gran Kriegel Associates, a newly named full-service architecture and planning firm originally founded in 1965 as Gran Associates…

More than 200 art enthusiasts and designers were “wowed” Tuesday night with the official launch of the Art Production Fund’s (APF) new Works on Whatever (WOW) series at the Madeline Weinrib Atelier, ABC Carpet & Home.

Oculus 2007 Editorial Calendar
if you have ideas, projects, opinions – or perhaps a burning desire to write about a topic below – we’d like to hear from you! Deadlines for submitting suggestions are indicated; projects/topics may be anywhere, but architects must be New York-based. Send suggestions to Kristen Richards.
06.01.07 Fall 2007: Collaboration
09.07.07 Winter 2007-08: Power & Patronage

02.23.07 Submission: The Future of Architecture
The Small Project Practitioners Journal is seeking articles, practice tips, and case studies on architecture of engagement and lessons learned for SPP Journal #40: Leaders or Followers: The Future of the Architecture Profession. The issue will address such questions as what it means to be a community leader and define architecture of engagement. Contact Diane Trevarrow Evans for more information.

02.23.07 Submission: On the Water
As part of the AIA 150 celebration, AIA Seattle seeks examples of innovative waterfront design projects, both built and imagined, from the U.S. and beyond. The designs will hopefully inspire and generate dialogue as part of a community-level campaign focused on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and other waterfront design issues in the region.

03.01.07 Registration: NYCSCA Grants
The New York State Council on the Arts is awarding grants, valued up to $10,000, for projects that relate to architecture, architectural history, landscape architecture, urban and rural planning, urban design, historic preservation, graphic design, and industrial design. The program is particularly interested in innovative ideas being explored outside of traditional practice. Only New York State residents are eligible to apply.

03.02.07 Nomination: Jane Jacobs Medal
The Rockefeller Foundation will award the first annual Jane Jacobs Medal to two individuals whose contributions have significantly shaped the urban environment of New York City. Prizes will total $200,000.

03.15.07 Submission: 2007 AIA St. Louis Architectural Photography Competition
AIA St. Louis has announced the call the call for entries for its annual Photography Competition. The 14 winning images will be exhibited at the 2007 convention and cash prizes will be awarded to the top four prizes. Fifty-two of the images will be used in the 2009 Rizzoli Architectural Engagement Calendar. The competition is open to any/all actively registered architects in the US, Associate AIA members, and student members of AIAS.

03.30.07 Submission: 2007 AIA NYS Convention: Call for Presentation Proposals
Inspired by the 150th Anniversary of the AIA, the theme of the 2007 AIA New York State Convention (10.04.07 – 10.06.07) will be “The Past as Prologue.” Proposals are being accepted for seminar topics that address this theme – or better yet, take it to the next level: to educate design professionals.

04.06.07 Submission: Smart Environments Awards
Metropolis magazine and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) invite architects and interior design professionals to submit interiors projects that achieve design excellence while promoting human well-being and sustainability. Winning projects will be considered for publication in Metropolis.

04.06.07 Submission: SMPS 2007 Marketing Communications Awards
Open to both members and non-members of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), this competition recognizes excellence in 18 different categories of marketing communications by design and building industry firms.

04.15.07 Submission: Lifecycle Building Challenge
Building materials from construction and demolition account for one-third of the total waste produced in the United States each year. This national competition invites students and professionals to submit designs and ideas that provide possible solutions for the disassembly of entire buildings, building components, and/or tools and strategies.

05.04.07 Submission: HPD RFP
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced an RFP for a mixed-use development comprised of affordable housing, performing arts space, and retail that will be located in the Brooklyn Academy of Music Cultural District. A pre-submission conference will be held on 02.23.07 at 11:30 A.M at HPD, and responses to the RFP are due by hand on 05.04.07 no later than 4 P.M.