Trump SoHo Opens

When an out-of-scale glass tower in one of New York City's most popular neighborhoods opens, does it make a sound?

Upcoming NYC Events

Here are some upcoming events of note for those in and around NYC.

MOVING TOWARD UTOPIA: What King of City Lies Ahead?
PANELISTS INCLUDE: Tom Angotti, Nancy Levinson, & Bill Menking
Moderated By David Smiley

Wednesday, April 14th
6:30PM
James Room
4th Floor Barnard Hall
(West 117th St and Broadway)

A new concept of the city has emerged among contemporary urbanists. Architects and planners now frame the city not as a set of independently regulated functions but as a mesh of landscapes, spaces, and policies. Streets, paths, parks, and infrastructure are elements of a constantly shifting system that joins the particularities of place and overarching social goals. In this new environment, planning tactics, management techniques, policy goals, and fiscal strategies continuously interact. Building on the Fall 2009 "Rights of Way" symposium, “Moving Toward Utopia” addresses questions of power, health, equity, and ecology that confront and are fueled by new design strategies. “Moving Toward Utopia” will bring together a distinguished group of urban thinkers to examine the implications of new approaches to the design of public spaces. What kind of city lies ahead?

Information: (212) 854-2037

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Minds in the Gutter: Storm Water Management in New York City
...a viewing of the selected designs and
a panel discussion among expert dreamers and do-ers
in the field of stormwater management.

April 22, 2010, 6:30pm
Museum of the City of New York

Click through for tickets!
S.W.I.M. members call 917.492.3395 to enter at MCNY member rate!

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FAST TRASH: Roosevelt Island‘s Pneumatic Tubes and the Future of Cities
April 22 – May 23, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 22, 6 – 9pm

Roosevelt Island’s idiosyncratic underground garbage disposal suggests alternate futures for New York City’s infrastructure.

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The Changing State of the Design Press: Now What?

When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM MONDAY, APRIL 26

Where: At The Center

There’s no question that the platforms for architectural dialogue are in flux. While some design publications are shrinking or even disappearing, other media outlets are using technology to broaden their reach. Design critics and journalists can use web sites, blogs, e-newsletters, and other forms of communication to talk about anything, from practice to technology. The mainstream press is even increasing its design-related reportage, supported by growing interest in such topics as sustainability, innovation, and urban planning. How do we navigate our current media landscape? To prepare for what’s now and what’s next, Oculus editor Kristen Richards will moderate a panel of editors from top publications who will discuss ongoing shifts in the design media and readership; how these changes are influencing the type and content of traditional print publications; the rise of new publications and new audiences; and the influence of blogs and on-line magazines.

Moderator:
Kristen Richards, editor, Oculus and www.ArchNewsNow.com

Panelists:
Julie V. Iovine, Executive Editor, Architects Newspaper
Michael Sorkin, Principal, Michael Sorkin Studio, writer/editor/design critic
John Hill, A Daily Dose of Architecture
Robert Ivy, Editor-in-Chief, Architectural Record

Organized by: AIA NY Marketing & PR Committee and the Oculus Committee

Sponsored by: Hausman LLC

AE 19: Structural Decoration

A couple recent bridge designs make me wonder about the symbiosis of structure and decoration in designing for long spans. Engineering expression in bridges certainly isn't new, but the traditional means of expression have been elements like arches, beams, and suspension cables. Think of the Brooklyn Bridge without its cables, its structural expression. As impossible as ignoring the Gothic stonework of its piers. But the two bridges below, and other recent examples, merge architecture and engineering to create unique expressions where the lines between structure and decoration have disappeared.


[Yale Hill House Bridges | image source]

First is the to-be-realized Yale Hill House Bridges by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Guy Nordenson and Associates. The latter describes the design of the two bridges as such:

Each pedestrian bridge consists of two 3ft 6in steel plate girders which comprise the primary structure of the bridge as well as its railings. The plate girders have 1/4in-thick corrugated, perforated webs. The corrugation depth or "amplitude" of the web is trapezoidal in plan and varies between 2in and 6in across the span to enhance the structural stability of the web and to brace the top compression flange of the girder. The corrugation, therefore, allows for a thinner web and less bracing material. The corrugation also creates a varying pattern of light and shadow when the girders are viewed at an angle. The perforations in the web are diamond-shaped to generate a lattice-like appearance that recalls the original wood lattice canal bridges designed by a local architect Ithiel Towne in 1820. The perforations also help to reduce the weight of the structure.

[Yale Hill House Bridges | image source]

So what looks like a decorative guardrail is in fact a structural member, and an important one in that its shape and perforation increase performance and reduce weight from additional members that are now deemed unnecessary. An of course these pieces create dramatic effects for fairly small bridges.


[Bridge, La Roche-sur-Yon | image source]

Another design merging architecture and engineering, spotted at ArchDaily, is a footbridge recently completed in Roche-sur-Yon, France by Bernard Tschumi Architects and Hugh Dutton Associates (HDA Paris). They describe the bridge as such:

The intention...was to demonstrate an integration of an original structural system with an architectural concept developed from urban scale research of neighborhood identity and carried through the expression of the minutest details.

[Bridge, La Roche-sur-Yon | image source]

The bridge is experienced as a walk through a lattice-like tube. From the exterior it reads like a solid tube or an ethereal object, depending on ones relationship to the bridge. (Check out the PDF press release for many more images.) HDA was responsible for the engineering on the project, though their role as local architects probably aided in fusing the two usually distinct realms of architecture and engineering.

I think this apparent trend of engineering merging with architectural surfaces and decoration is not limited to bridges, much less pedestrian ones. It's found in buildings of many types, though what is special here is the openness that is possible with footbridges; space only needs to be contained for safety not for climate-control. Space then flows through the bridge openings, designed as much for structural performance as for formal appearance.

Today's archidose #407

Herzog & De Meuron TEA, originally uploaded by Héctor Guerra (Pritzker prize to SANAA!!!! ;))))).

TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes in Canary Islands, Spain by Herzog & de Meuron, 2008.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

This week's dose features One Shelley Street in Sydney, Australia by Clive Wilkinson Architects:


The featured past dose is The Art Wall in Surry Hills, Australia by Dale Jones-Evans Architects:


This week's book review is eVolo #02: Skyscrapers of the Future edited by Carlo Aiello:


Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

Drawing ARCHITECTURE
A collection of drawings that Nikita, an architectural student, likes. (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

Student Architecture and Design Inititative (SADI)
"A non-profit organization that will inventory, recognize, celebrate, and promote the outstanding work of student architects and designers around the globe." (added to sidebar under architectural links::organizations)

over,under
The "collective random thoughts" of Boston-based multi-disciplinary studio for architecture, urban design, interiors, graphic identity and publications over,under. (added to sidebar under blogs::offices)

50 Most Amazing Architectural Photography Blogs
Lists like this seem to pop up every other week, featuring the same old sites in a ploy to drive traffic to a site. Usually I shy away from linking to them, but there's a number of sites here that I'm not familiar with, so I'm breaking my own rules.

Today's archidose #406

Here are some photos of the Manhufe Parking Lot in Matosinhos, Portugal by Guilherme Machado Vaz, 2009. (Previously.) Photographs are by z.z.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

28 days to go...

...until the unveiling of some wild and wacky architecture at Expo 2010 Shanghai. The theme of "'Better City, Better Life,' represent[s] the common wish of the whole humankind for a better living in future urban environments." Regardless of the theme, most of the country pavilions are explorations of architectural innovation, like Thomas Heatherwick's UK pavilion:


[UK Pavilion, detail | image source]

The general idea of expos is that the national pavilions are expressions of the country, their culture, innovation, knowledge, etc. So what does the US pavilion by Canadian architect Clive Grout say (besides "who the heck is Clive Grout?")?


[US Pavilion, rendering | image source]

A number of sustainable features are included, though they don't seem to impact the form of the building as much as symbolism. According to the pavilion's web page, the "bold and simple shape of the USA Pavilion shadows that of an eagle with open wings, a creature that is uninhibited by boundaries. ... the eagle has been designed with its wings open as a gesture to welcome guests into the Pavilion." So the pavilion is rhetoric over architectural innovation, business as usual, even in regards to the private sourcing of a very public project, as described in this Architect's Newspaper article. Its location near an entry gate, and the fact its the US pavilion, will guarantee a high number of visitors (projections call for 60 million), but the design hold little promise in impressing them, especially in regards to the other pavilions.

Today's archidose #405

Here are some photos of the Mesa Del Sol Town Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Antoine Predock Architect, 2008. Photos are by jarrod_arq1, who has many more photos in his flickr set on the building.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

Candide Round Table

A week from today I will be participating in a round table discussion timed to the launch of Candide. Journal for Architectural Knowledge. The panel focuses on knowledge, writing, and architectural publishing, among other things. I'll be alongside 306090's Emily Abruzzo, Yale's Nina Rappaport, and Columbia's Kazys Varnelis. Between now and then I need to work on de-jangling my public speaking nerves, come up with a brief slideshow on why I do my blog and weekly web page, and think about the questions posed in the press release below. If you attend the discussion be sure to say hi!

8 April, Thursday, 6-8pm
The Glass Corner, Room 206
25 East 13th Street

In an age of seemingly ubiquitous information, data and networks:
What is knowledge?In an age of self-publication and blogs:
Can peer review ensure quality?
Why should architects write when what they do best is design?

Hosted by William R. Morrish, 
Dean, Parsons, School of Constructed Environments
Moderated by Susanne Schindler, 
Editor, Candide. Journal for Architectural Knowledge

Panelists:
Emily Abruzzo, Editor, 306090, Frequent SCE visiting faculty.
John Hill, Writer and Editor, A Daily Dose of Architecture
Nina Rappaport, Publications Director, Yale School of Architecture, Frequent SCE visiting faculty.
Kazys Varnelis, Director, Network Architecture Lab, Columbia University

–
Candide. Journal for Architectural Knowledge
is a peer-reviewed German-English language periodical edited by the Department of Architecture Theory, Faculty of Architecture at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

For questions or review copies, contact Susanne Schindler
schindler@theorie.arch.rwth-aachen.de