CultureNOW | A Celebration of Culture & Community: Recent Episodes
cultureNOW
Consider the world outside a museum. Imagine that the world that we live in is really another kind of museum where the works of art exist in the landscape itself. Explore buildings of the past, present and future. Look at the vast selection of artwork that graces the public realm. And discover how places have evolved over time. Deconstruct the layers of history that form the fabric of our urban landscape. Meet people who have made their mark on our cities and country who have lived in the past or are living now. Listen to their voices. Our curators are the artists, architects, photographers and historians who created the images, podcasts and videos to share their knowledge and insights. Our collaborators are museums, universities, cities, and civic organizations who are the stewards of our shared cultural history. Like the cities we live in, this is a work in progress. Enjoy!
Architect Jim Collins Jr., principal and president of Payette, talks about the infill development project that expanded and renovated the original group of buildings at MIT, known as the Main Group, for the Physics, Dept. of Material Science, Spectroscopy and Infrastructure Project.
Architect Jim Collins talks about the unique sustainable aspects of Gary Comer Geochemistry Building that has been recognized as a 70,000 GSF LEED Silver geochemistry building, and a key addition to Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus, located on the Palisades bluffs north of Manhattan. Its researchers seek fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world, and much of the group’s work is at the forefront of climate change science. The program called for highly specialized and unique performance requirements that introduced significant challenges for developing a sustainable design.
Architect Jim Collins talks about the URI campus quad which are comprised of different buildings. CBLS represents the first phase of the North District at URI, a new science and technology hub which transforms a series of irregular campus spaces into two, well-defined campus quadrangles bordered by a new pedestrian promenade. The highly cost-effective, LEED Gold building accommodates 30 faculty members and their research groups, in addition to teaching labs, classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium, a genomics lab and a GSL-3 lab for life sciences education. The relationship that these buildings have to the quad and to each other holds them together as an academic ensemble of buildings.
Jim Collins talks about the inspiration for the MEDITECH Computer Science Building. Sited near the decaying mills of Fall River’s industrial past, this computer science building for a leading health informatics software company is part of a new 17-acre campus on the Fall River waterfront. The program called for open office areas, conference and meeting spaces, and a full kitchen and dining area. The design is organized around a south-facing atrium which visually connects the building’s four levels and a continuous curved glass wall facing the water.
Boston-based architect Larry Chan discusses the Signature Aviation terminal at Logan Airport
Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design, Emeritus at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, discusses the urban renewal of Boston city, describing what it was, how it was done and what it looks like today.
Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design, Emeritus at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, discusses the urban renewal of Boston city, describing what it was, how it was done and what it looks like today.
Boston-based architect Larry Chan discusses the 27-acre proposal that makes up the Central Artery in the city.
Larry Chan discusses the architectural renovations at 8 Story Street. The original building was completed in 1965 by Walter Gropius and TAC.
Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design Emeritus at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, discusses the urban renewal of Boston city, describing what it was, how it was done and what it looks like today.
Author Nancy Seasholes discusses how the development of land making techniques used in Boston changed over time.
Author Nancy Seasholes talks about how Bostonians used materials to add land to marshes and other landmaking techniques.
Author Nancy Seasholes defines what "landmaking" is in terms of adding land to the city of Boston.
Author Nancy Seasholes discusses the Tri-Mountain, the three peaks of Boston. Beacon Hill was cut down in the 1820s, and its dirt was used to fill in other areas of the city.
Author Nancy Seasholes talks about the famous buildings along the Boston Harbor that no longer exist.
Author Nancy Seasholes discusses the history and creation of Back Bay Fens, a park and saltwater marshland in the Back Bay neighborhood in Boston. When the area became heavily polluted in the 19th Century, Frederick Law Olmsted was challenged to restore and reinvigorate the marshy area and create an urban wildlife refuge.
Author Nancy Seasholes discusses the Tri-Mountain, the three peaks of Boston. Beacon Hill was cut down in the 1820s, and its dirt was used to fill in other areas of the city.
Peter Kuttner, Principal Architect at CambridgeSeven, discusses the New England Aquarium's architecture and exhibits. The Aquarium in Boston opened in 1967 and became a precedent-setting prototype for many future aquariums. It is a phenomenal tourist draw in its urban waterfront setting; an educational resource serving its community and region; and an early example of Cambridge Seven's ability to offer both entertainment and education through experiential design, integrating exhibits and architecture. This unique institution is credited with a major role in the redevelopment of Boston's waterfront.
Architect Peter Kuttner. Principal at CambridgeSeven, discusses the Boston Children's Museum, which was the second children's museum in the United States. The museum was originally founded in Jamaica Plain and was moved to its current location in 1979. The Smith Family Waterfront Park at the Boston Children's Museum is designed to engage children in the programming of the museum and in the life of the city. The architects followed Dr. Spock's mantra, "Please Touch", in designing the building and its exhibitions.
Peter Kuttner, Prinicipal Architect at CambridgeSeven, talks about the creation of MBTA stations, focusing on the Porter Square Station. The architects worked closely with engineers, government agencies and community representatives to construct Porter Square Station, which serves both the rapid transit and the commuter rail systems. The goal was to create for this neighborhood a sense of place, and a sense of destination. This visually impressive station is situated 105 feet below ground under the heavily-traveled Massachusetts Avenue.
Architect Peter Kuttner, of CambridgeSeven, discusses the New England Aquarium, which is often credited by planners as the catalyst for public investment in an under developed part of Boston.
Matthew Broderick breaks it down for us through a statistical collage: the facts and figures of Bryant Park.
Matthew Broderick takes us back in time to an older New York, through the power of the written word.
Matthew Broderick invites us to come meet him at Bryant Park, located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.
Matthew Broderick takes us back to his childhood, as well as introduces us to the German writer and poet Goethe.
Matthew Broderick reveals to us the hidden world of the chess tables, the players, and the strategies.
Matthew Broderick gives us a new way to appreciate the relationship of the Park and the City.
Matthew Broderick takes us on a walk through Bryant Park, using the scenery and passersby as inspiration for creating memorable characters.
Matthew Broderick helps us to see the park through the eyes of one of its most important and eloquent employees.
Matthew Broderick invites us to observe the daily interplay between the City's movers and shakers at the Bryant Park Grill.
Matthew Broderick shows us the philosophical path of most enjoyment, through the game of petanque.
The artist REZIN discusses the process of creating his mural, "Kids Come in All Sizes," located in Inglewood, California.
In this podcast, the artist REZIN discusses how he created his mural, "Queen Park Garden," in Inglewood, California.
The artist, REZIN, talks about the commission for the mural and about his decision to paint a fish on the side of the building.
Anne Cheek LaRose discusses the modern architecture in Inglewood, CA, including the Rudolph Schindler designed residences and the Gregory Ain medical building.
The architect Lawrence Scarpa talks about the design of the new Animo Leadership High School. Compounding these issues is the school’s location, near Los Angeles International Airport and within a quarter mile of the 105 Freeway, adding noise and air quality to the list of concerns.
Anne Cheek LaRose discusses Randy's Doughnuts and Googie architecture in Inglewood, CA.
Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Arts and Antiquities of NYC Parks, sheds light on the John Ericsson sculpture in Battery Park. The sculpture depicts Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor and engineer, who was important in revolutionizing maritime and military technology and travel.
Located at the southeast corner of Madison Square Park this forthright, bronze full-standing statue of political figure Roscoe Conkling (1829-1888) is by the distinguished artist John Quincy Adams Ward (1840-1910), and dates to 1893.
On March 12, 1888, while on his way to the New York Club at 25th Street, Conkling suffered severe exposure in Union Square, during the famous blizzard which gripped the city on that day. As a result his health rapidly declined, and he died on April 18th, 1888. Five years later friends of Conkling petitioned the Mayor and Park Board to erect a sculpture of him in Union Square. Park officials believed Conkling not of a stature to warrant placement of this work alongside existing sculptures in the park of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and the Marquis de Lafayette, but granted permission at the present location of the work.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Monitor and Merrimac Monument, celebrating the life of John Ericsson. This statue honors the esteemed Swedish-American engineer and inventor John Ericsson (1803 - 1889), as well as the Monitor, the ironclad ship he designed. Created by the Italian-American sculptor, Antonio de Filippo (1900 - 1993), this sculpture was dedicated in 1938. The statue depicts a heroic male nude pulling a rope attached to a capstan, and symbolizes Ericsson's role in military-maritime technology, and honors the memory of the men of the Monitor.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument in Riverside Park. The figure was sculpted by Jencks, the boulder and foot stone by Dwyer. The artwork consists of a figure (heroic scale) half-seated against a boulder, a circular foot stones, an earth pedestal encircled by a low wall, two inscribed pavers, and two plaques. The figure, lettering on pavers, and plaques are made of bronze, the foot stone of Belfast black granite, and the low wall and pavers of granite.
Mayor Abraham De Peyster (1657–1728) was born in New Amsterdam, now known as Manhattan. De Peyster came from a prosperous mercantile family. He was influential in the young city; he had many positions, including alderman, mayor, member of the king’s council, and acting governor. By the end of his life, De Peyster was allegedly one of the city’s wealthiest inhabitants.
The sculpture has moved around several times in lower Manhattan. It was originally in Bowling Green and then rested in Hanover Square till 2003. Then it was removed and put into storage to make room for the British Memorial Garden. It is currently in Thomas Paine Park.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the statue of Balto, a famous Siberian husky responsible for delivering diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, Alaska.
The glowing bronze of this statue on a rock outcropping near the East Drive at 67th Street reflects the loving pats of countless children and adults who recall the story of a heroic dog. In January 1925, the city of Nome, Alaska experienced an outbreak of diphtheria. At that time, Nome had a population of 1,429 people and there was only enough antitoxin serum in distant Anchorage to treat about 300 people exposed to the disease. A train line did run over 325 miles from Anchorage to Nenana, the station closest to Nome, but Nome was icebound seven months out of the year. Alaska's two open-cockpit planes were not safe in the frigid and windy weather.
A relay of mushers and their dog-sled teams was the only way to deliver the fur-wrapped twenty-pound package of serum to the ailing community 674 miles from Nenana. The route followed the old Iditarod Trail used by mail drivers from Anchorage to Nome (now the route of the dog-sled championships). The 20 teams of over 200 dogs covered the frozen terrain at about six miles per hour, in blizzard conditions with temperatures of 50 degrees below zero. An international audience listened over their radios and read in their newspapers of the race to Nome. The last musher, Gunnar Kasson, and his team lead by Balto, a black and white Alaskan malamute, raced over the frozen tundra in only five days and seven hours - a world record time. Within days after the arrival of the serum, the epidemic, which had claimed five lives, was over.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Straus Memorial, honoring the lives of Ida and Isidor Straus, who perished on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.
Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art and Antiquities in NYC Parks, talks about the Benjamin Franklin sculpture located across from City Hall in Lower Manhattan. The sculpture is located on Publisher's Row; Franklin of course was very influential in publishing, being a statesman, and negotiation.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the John F. Kennedy bust in Grand Army Plaza. Neil Estern's bust of John F. Kennedy was first installed on May 31, 1965. When the Plaza underwent a major renovation in 2002, the bust was removed. On August 24, 2010, the bust was re-installed and rededicated in the Plaza.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Puerto Rican Sun', by Rafael Ferrer, which celebrates Puerto Rican culture. The 25-foot-tall, brightly colored painted Cor-Ten steel archway, was dedicated at Fox Park on October 16, 1979. The 12,000-pound sculpture, fabricated by Lippincott Inc., represents arching palm trees embracing the sun on its face, and the moon on its back.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Strawberry Fields', an installation in Central Park dedicated to John Lennon.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses 'African Animals Park Mural' on W. 135th Street.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural: We Bring Light to Everyone Around Us. This mural represents what is symbolic and natural to the indigenous cultures (Native American, Ancient Egyptian, Japanese and African).
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural: The Future of Every State. This mural depicts the importance of education in the lives of youth, and its role in shaping the future of a society.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural: Estuary. Harlem River is an estuary, as is the Hudson River, in this mural, this fact is used as a metaphor to the flowing diversity and life of Harlem.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural: Harlem River. The goal of this mural is to draw attention to some of Harlem's illustrious history across the 'rivers' of time.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural: "The Flowers of the Past are the Gardens of the Future." This mural consists of three archways that act as windows into the past and present time. The focus is on nature; local plants inspire the foliage in each archway.
Muralist Janet Braun-Reinitz discusses CAW's mural "Untold Stories." This mural incorporates both cultural and architectural elements intrinsic to Harlem.
NYC artist Ross Lewis discusses his terrazzo floor painting, "Deep Water", located at the Holmesburg Recreation Center in Philadelphia. Visitors to the Holmesburg Recreation Center trace the local topography and history in the abstract shapes of the terrazzo floor painting, Deep Water. The work represents for the artist the life which grew up around the Pennypack Creek and man's relationship to nature. A natural fall line, made Pennypack a tidal creek, giving early Holmesburg settlers a particular advantage for their water-power run saw mills and grist mills. The names of some of the early mills are included in the floor painting along with those of key streets such as Welsh Road, originally built by Welsh farmers to bring grain to the grist-mills back in the 1600's. Frankford Avenue, a north-south route retraces a route which is at least a thousand years old used by the Native American People. Other names in the painting of particular mention are the Crispin School, which stood on the current site of the Recreation Center, the Harrisburg Colored Settlement, one of the earliest black settlements in the area dating back to the 1720's and the King's Highway Bridge, the oldest stone bridge of its kind in the nation built in 1697.
Peter Gluck discusses the institutional buildings his architectural team created in the inner city, most of which are in Harlem.
Peter Gluck discusses the facade of the East Harlem School. East Harlem, New York is a community beset by poverty and its attendant ills of early high school withdrawal, violent crime, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse. The East Harlem School is an independent, not-for-profit, year-round middle school that recruits students from low-income families in the community. The school had an extremely tight budget, caused both by the high cost of construction that plagues inner-city schools and the fact that its site was within the 100-year flood zone. Peter Gluck and Partners acted as both architect and construction manager in an architect-led design-build process, providing a level of intensive quality control and substantial cost savings, which resulted in a building that would otherwise have been out of reach for such a school.
Harvard professor David Fixler talks about the challenges he faced renovating Louis Kahn's iconic laboratory building. Richard Labs is one of the most iconic buildings of Modern Architecture, and transformative in Louis Kahn's architecture. Kahn treated the scientists as artists separating the functional spaces into 'served' studios and 'servant', allowing natural light to penetrate into the laboratories which were arranged into a group of five towers. He explored many of the technical constraints of the program and carefully detailed the exposed prestressed concrete structure and mechanical systems which had not really been done before.
Carol Berens, VP of the Empire State Development Corporation, the creation of the Piazza at Schmidts, a Romanesque shopping plaza built on reclaimed industrial land in Philadelphia. The Piazza at Schmidts is a Roman-style shopping plaza built on post-industrial land in Philadelphia. The buildings in the Piazza have received the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) most prestigious honors.
New York artist Joyce Kozloff discusses the inspiration for the Galla Placidia & Tobkapi Pullman mosaics. Two mosaics panels integrate local history with early moments in the history of Western art. In "Galla Placidia in Philadelphia." William Penn stands on a schematic hillside, holding the scrolled charter to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He functions as an historical referent and schematic visual symbol, for his silhouette is the primary civic icon of the city. Opposite the Penn mosaic stands "Topkapi Pullman," paying tribute to Philadelphia's role as a transportation and mercantile center. From inside Istanbul's Topkapi Palace, tiled with elaborate floral geometric motifs, a doorway opens up onto a massive, foreshortened locomotive speeding through a streamlined Precisionist space.
250 Bowery sits amidst a hodgepodge of 19th and early 20th century commercial neighbors on the west side of the Bowery. The facade is nearly square, with the width of the lot closely matching the 85’ maximum allowable height. The building faces SANAA’s New Museum of Contemporary Art and Sir Norman Foster’s Sperone-Westwater Gallery. The front and rear facades are clad in Alucobond aluminum-composite panels with floor-to-ceiling, factory-sash windows. The facade responds to both the commercial history of the Bowery and the decidedly contemporary direction taken with recent construction in the neighborhood. The interiors for the residences are open and lofty with spare and minimal detailing. 250 Bowery heralds change for a neighborhood that has been primarily commercial for generations and brings upscale living to a famously down-at-the-heels address.
Architect Morris Adjmi talks about Scholastic, Inc. building. The world headquarters of the educational publisher Scholastic Inc. provides new office and retail space in a ten-story building on the edge of SoHo. Designed in collaboration with Aldo Rossi, and posthumously completed, the Scholastic Building honors the architectural traditions of its landmarked SoHo neighborhood in a contemporary architectural vocabulary. The building’s Broadway façade, in steel, terra-cotta and stone, takes its inspiration from the classical organization of the elegant 19th-century facades that line the street. A second façade, equal in scale and dimension, expresses a more utilitarian and industrial character of Mercer Street that it faces.
Architect Morris Adjmi talks about The Sterling Mason building. This 115,000-square-foot project in Manhattan’s historic Tribeca neighboorhood features 37 luxury condominiums. The 1915 brick and terracotta warehouse at the corner of Laight and Washington Streets has been restored and paired with an aluminum-clad identical twin, as though a photographic negative of the older structure. The center of the seven-story building was removed to create a landscaped courtyard, giving most units both street and interior views.
At Bowling Green, historian James Kaplan talks about Evacuation Day, the departure of the British from New York City, and Charging Bull, a popular statue representing the spirit of Wall Street and American capitalism.
Historian James Kaplan discusses the historic Fraunces Tavern Museum, the location of Washington's farewell address to his troops. The tavern remains today, owned by the Sons of the Revolution.
This podcast by historian and lawyer James Kaplan is the introduction to the July 4 all-night walking tour of Lower Manhattan: Celebrating New York City's Role in the Revolutionary War and Gravesites of Revolutionary War Generals. James Kaplan begins with the history of pre-revolutionary New York.
Architect Morris Adjmi talks about The High Line Building. 450 West 14th Street was one of the primary architectural features along the first phase of the High Line’s development. Utilizing brick, steel, stainless grating balconies, and factory-sash windows, the design reflects the industrial aesthetic of the High Line and the Meat Packing District. This historic Art Deco meatpacking plant straddling the former rail bed has been restored and modernized, creating a solid base that sits in juxtaposition to the new glass and steel tower that floats above it. The building reflects the sustainability principles put forth by the creators of the High Line in utilizing green building technologies and is presently awaiting LEED-Gold certification from the USGBC.
Architect Morris Adjmi talks about 837 Washington Street building. Sitting atop a two-story Art Deco-era industrial depot, this 52,000-square-foot commercial building is distinguished by its dramatically twisted steel exoskeleton that creates small wedges planted with greenery outside each full-height window. The design pays homage to the post-industrial garden of the neighboring High Line and calls attention to the angular offset of its site, where disparate Manhattan street grids intersect.
Ming Fay on his mural Shad Crossing in the Delancey-Essex St. subway station, and the station's transformation from a dark and confusing labyrinth to an easy-to-navigate crossing. The Orchard St. neighborhood has experienced a similar transformation.
Ming Fay talks about the second half of his mosaic project for the Delancey-Essex St. subway station and the history of the Orchard St. neighborhood. The mosaic is made from glass and was produced in Munich, Germany.
Frano Violich, Principal at Kennedy & Violich Architecture, discusses the overview of East 34th Street. In 2000, the architects looked at the master plan that included 6 different ferry landings from Yankee Stadium to the Battery Maritime Building but the focus of the whole project was 34th St. An inter-modal public Ferry Terminal at E 34th St with ferry boat docking facilities, waterfront improvements and amenities is under construction as part of the comprehensive East River Ferry Project in Manhattan. The project expands regional waterway causes by accommodating high speed Ferry service to La Guardia Airport, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey.
The Ferry Terminal design encourages public use of the waterfront through pedestrian, train, bike, and vehicular connections from the City to the Riverfront. It offers commuters an alternate and sustainable means of transportation within Manhattan, and serves as a public safety corridor in times of emergency.
The design of the 34th Street Ferry Terminal takes a non nostalgic attitude toward the NYC Riverfront. Pier 34 is redesigned and expanded to provide passengers with ticketing and waiting facilities and public access to three high speed ferry berths. KVA secured grant monies from New York State agencies for off-grid sustainable energy generation including hi-torque urban wind turbines and solar-powered solid state lighting. The architecture integrates information from New York City’s existing and underutilized maritime GPS to provide electronic way finding signage, intelligent real-time transportation scheduling (ITS), wireless public messaging and information access systems for commuters and waterfront residents.
Robert Garneau, a NY-based architect, discusses 'Pivot', a pre-war studio revamped into a modern adaptable space containing a secret bedroom. The brief called for hosting 10 for dinner, sleeping 6, a home office, a private study, and an efficient kitchen for a client that loves to entertain, all within a modest 400 sf studio apartment. The project emphasizes open space while overlaying multi-functionality, transforming in response to different needs.
Extensive custom cabinetry creates various spatial experiences depending on use ranging from serene white walls to lush wood interiors. A pivoting wall cabinet divides the apartment in two where either space can be used independently when needed, revealing a wall-bed with an open-able window/niche. An expanding hydraulic table can be used for work or extended into the main space when hosting guests for dinner; it can also rise up at the push of a button for additional kitchen counter space. The shower is curb-less and overlaps a double sink, allowing more than one person to use the bathroom at a time. The entrance closet doors have built-in shelving as well as a hanging rod that illuminates when the door is opened.
Investing in multi-purpose cabinetry is a natural progression that blurs the distinction between architecture and furniture creating a seamless combination of various functions. Pivot re-imagines the studio apartment by creating a new type of space for urban living that is flexible, sustainable and invigorating.
Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Senior Curator at Madison Square Park Conservancy, discusses the Prismatic Park artwork. Three sculptures, fabricated from painted wood and prismatic glass, create a stage-like setting where choreographers, dancers, musicians and poets, in collaboration with McElheny, present curated performances throughout the exhibition period.
This original podcast recorded by the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation, is about the background, design parallels, and precedents that ultimately let to the creation of the Modulightor Building. The original 4-storey Modulightor Building was designed by Paul Rudolph as a residential and commercial structure to house Rudolph’s practice and Modulightor, the lighting company he founded with Ernst Wagner. The north façade of the later 2-story addition was built to Rudolph’s original drawings.
Jeffrey Murphy of Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects discusses the conservation and renovation of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The project has been ongoing for the past nine years, and the architects have involved over 21 consultants, the clergy, and the cardinal. The multifaceted restoration included replacing stone, plaster, stained glass, as well as expanding the footprint, replacing building systems, and digging wells for a geothermal system.
Warrie Price discusses the future projects planned for Battery Park, including architect Frank Gehry's plans to build a play area and the ongoing project to wind the Hudson River bike path through the park.
Andrew Ginzel and Kristin Jones on "Oculus," their Arts for Transit murals in the Church St. subway station, which stretches from the World Trade Center to Park Pl. to Chambers St. Ginzel and Jones created the project by photographing New Yorkers' eyes and translating the images into glass and stone for the subway walls.
The artist Ming Fay talks about the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and the process behind his contest-winning public art piece, a set of benches. They recall the historic benches in the old ferry terminal, which was destroyed in a fire.
Warrie Price discusses the new landscape of Battery Park, including the Gardens of Remembrance, a new fountain, and a food kiosk.
Beth Franz, a New York based landscape architect, discusses the renovation and restoration of Battery Park, from a decrepit green space, to a world-class riverfront promenade.
Michael Lehrer talks about the James M. Wood Community Center, an acclaimed community building that his practice designed in downtown LA to serve the community of Skid Row.
Landscape Architect, Mia Lehrer, talks about the future of Hollywood Park and her design to revamp the area.
Michael Lehrer talks about the design of a private home in Santa Monica Canyon, as well as the six buildings his firm completed in south LA, for an agency called "Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles." Both the large, Modernist home and the smaller buildings are driven by "indoor / outdoor relationships" and long views.
Michael Lehrer describes the Spring Street Park project in Downtown LA, a public / private design collaboration between his firm and the city. The park, build on land that used to be parking lots, is designed to provide a wide variety of different social environments to serve the community.
One of the Barnesdale Foundation's programs is the Cotsen Artist Residencies, which is an extended working creative experience with artists of great stature to inspire talented young students. These Master residencies have been hosted at Lehrer Architects LA Studio. Artists such as Tim Hawkinson, Alexis Smith, and Lita Albequerque have worked there. Michael Lehrer describes the program and what it's like to work with the artists in the same space.
For the Macquarie Group, this was an opportunity to consolidate its London offices into a single building. The architect was fortunate to begin working on the project while the building was being constructed allowing some of the ideas about workspace to be incorporated into the building design such the atrium which was carved out of the existing structure.
The client was a bank. They were the only tenant of a large new rental building which was modified to accommodate them. In addition to the addition of atriums, and a very sustainable design, the project also includes an Activity Based Working platform where the offices can be reconfigured for specific tasks which is very efficient and was never used before in Australia.
The Architect talks about the design of the new New York office for the Barbarian Group especially the decision to have the entire company working at the same table.
Designing an office for GLG near Grand Central Terminal was an interesting opportunity for the architect to incorporate some of the innovations he has been working on such as Activity Based Workplaces into the design. This was the first time the highly efficient and sustainable concept where there is no desk ownership was actually used in the US. Other highlights include 'horizontal skylights'. GLG describes itself as "the world’s largest membership for professional learning and expertise". GLG took a lease in a building across the street from Grand Central Terminal. The building at one point was the tallest building in New York, but was eclipsed shortly after it was completed by the Chrysler Building. It has very large floor plates and the lease was for the 3rd and 4th floors. The design involved opening up a large lightwell between the floors. Because they are low, the 'skylights' created were horizontal.
It was also the first time the Activity Based Workplace was used in the US.
Richard Amromin, artistic director of New Town, talks about "City Speaks," a public art piece that incorporates sound.
The artist talks about how he came up with the idea for the mural, selected the site in the library, researched the history of Inglewood and how he decided to encompass all generations and all the people of the city. Among other things, he included text from a letter from a resident to Theodore Roosevelt, historic street cars from Market Street, even the space shuttle's trip through Inglewood. He also talks about how he fabricated the piece.
Richard Amromin, artistic director of New Town, talks about "City Speaks," a public art piece that incorporates sound. The sound pieces from "City Speaks II," a public art project in Los Angeles, are heard in this podcast.
The artist June Edmonds recounts the narrative as told to her by storyteller Michael D. McCarty that was the inspiration for her piece, which is named after an African proverb.
June Edmunds discusses the process behind how she won a proposal to do a mosaic for the Long Beach MTA. She designed a Venetian glass project with mosaicist Monica Scharf that celebrates the different cultures of the area. She also explains the process and people influential in the project's completion.
Winner of an invited competition to transform an existing office that Google bought in Mountain View into their corporate headquarters, Clive Wilkinson shares the experience of designing the workplace. He talks about many of the issues that impacted the project: the corporate culture, sustainability, and the constraints of time and the existing building. It was originally intended to be a temporary facility; it is still in operation and has won several major design awards.
One of the first Venetian Glass mosaics that June Edmonds worked on was with the Inglewood Cultural Arts to produce a mural. She talks about working with the disadvantaged youth, how the mural was made and then finally installed a decade later in the Library.
Jane Weinzapfel talks about the Paul S. Russell Museum of Medical History's building. The museum is free and open to the public, so the design of the building needed to be welcoming.
Andrea Leers discusses the design elements behind the Library Services Building at Harvard. Even though the building is not open to the public, the glass walls allow the public to view into the workings of the library.
Andrea Leers discusses the design behind the Harvard University Library Services Building's architecture.
As the fastest growing, privately owned Media Company in the country, Horizon Media’s growth is reflected in the on-going development of their workplace. A+I first designed parts of three floors at 75 Varick for Horizon Media, with the goal of fostering connectivity between the newly co-located staff. After the recent completion of the fourth —the build-out of the full 15th and 16th floors—A+I is now working on the fifth expansion, adding 125,000SF across the 11th and 12th floors. The offices at Horizon Media have inspired an impressive change in their culture, and has become an engine for transformation of workplace behavior. The design promotes new and different modes of collaboration with enough variety to increase the volume of time spent collaborating. Employees are afforded the luxury of flexible, elastic work spaces which benefit from the light, airy quality of the space. The workplace manifests Horizon’s commitment to the wellbeing of their team and to fostering collaboration between them.
Tiago Correia talks about 520 West 28th which will introduce an iconic new landmark to New York City. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid and developed by Related, one of the nation’s preeminent developers of luxury residential properties, this boutique condominium building will offer 39 exclusive two- to five-bedroom residences by the renowned Iraqi-British architect and artist. Hadid, whose globally significant body of work is defined by organic forms and graceful curves inspired by nature, will bring this unique sensibility to 520 West 28th – her only contribution to the Manhattan skyline.
Located directly on the High Line in the heart of West Chelsea, New York City’s premier arts and cultural district, this exceptional offering will set a new standard for residential architecture, with striking curves, highly curated amenities, and a distinctive chevron façade that embraces the property’s interlaced levels. At 520 West 28th, Hadid has created a seamless and optimistic vision of the future, manifest by remarkably custom interior details, thoughtful integration of indoor and outdoor space, and technological innovation.
Miriam Kelly, Restoration Architect with Beyer Blinder Belle talks about the restoration process involved in the design of Met Breuer. Marcel Breuer's iconic 1966 building –originally designed for the Whitney Museum –has been restored and transformed into a new home for The Metropolitan Museum of Art's modern and contemporary art program. Breuer was at the height of his career when he designed what was his first museum and was the recognized master of using what he called “close to Earth materials,” particularly stone and concrete. The building is bold and intimate at the same time, with an integrity, beauty, and honesty of design, materials, and execution that places it among the most distinguished mid-century modern buildings in New York.
Located in the heart of the Meatpacking district in NYC, Samsung 837 combines art, fashion, technology, and sport in unprecedented ways. It’s not a store, but a new kind of place filled with ideas, experiences, and Samsung’s cutting edge devices.
The building’s physical form integrated with the city grid informed the interior design as well as the materials palette. Expansive and inspiring views contributed to a visual theme and were maximized with long site lines, opening up dynamic spatial opportunities. The concept of the palette honors the industrial background of New York’s gritty beginnings.
Sandra Bloodworth, director of Arts for Transit, discusses the work Times Square Mural, by Roy Lichtenstein, located in the Times Square Station, 42nd Street.
Sandra Bloodworth, director of Arts for Transit, discusses the work Times Square: 35 Times, by Toby Buonagurio, located in the Times Square Station, 42nd Street.
Judge Douglas Woodlock Chair of the Building Committee for the Boston Courthouse talks about the design of the Courtroom itself as the place where a high governmental official can listen to any individual who has a problem that they’ve brought to the courts.
It’s a place where an individual can speak to that public official and take as much of his time as is necessary to resolve the problem. Unlike much of government which is wholesale, it’s retail.
The courtroom has to be a place of dignity and a place of humanity and that was the core of the building.
The Artist, discusses the commission for the pool house and her collaboration with the architect
Michael Lehrer talks about growing up in the Hollywood Hills and the "Cosmic Trifecta" of Modern Architecture set up by the Lovell House, Ennis House and the Schindler House during the 1920's. As Lehrer suggests, these houses might have set up a precedent for Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water House and his residential concrete architecture.
Historically, the Boston Court had been known as the Admiralty Court as it began by resolving Maritime matters. The Judge who served as Chair of the Building Committee talks about how they chose Fan Pier for the Site for the New Building and how they selected the architect to design it announcing both on the same day.
Calvin Tsao, partner of TsAO & McKOWN Architects, discusses his firm's work on one of the Sagaponac Houses, houses meant to integrate homes into the natural landscape of Sagaponack NY.
The artist, Hiromi Moneyhun, talks about her inspiration: the story of survival of the Menorcans who were brought to Florida to be indentured servants and became an integral part of the community and about the location of the obelisk at the Oldest Wooden School House.
Rafael Pelli describes the Theodore Roosevelt Courthouse. This building was added to the existing Brooklyn Courthouse. Traditionally the Courthouses were entered through grand steps from the public plazas which created a sense of public place; here the civic place occurs inside in the Atrium which combines the main public functions of the building. Some of the other concerns that impacted the design were to incorporate natural light into the courtrooms and to blend in with the existing limestone civic complex.
Nader Tehrani discusses the process of rethinking the branding of British Petroleum through architecture. The project is a way of reconceptualizing the idea of a gas station in a moment of time when we realize there are alternative sources of energy.
Enrique Norten discusses the challenge in designing the Mercedes House in that the footprint was nearly an entire Manhattan city block. Due to its location being close to the Hudson River, and the fact that the majority of the building is residential, the architects took advantage of the views of the river and of the city skyline.
Jennifer Sage talks about the Ocean Breeze Track & Fieldhouse, which was built as part of New York City’s Design Excellence Program. The Ocean Breeze Indoor Athletic Facility sits within a new 110-acre park being developed as a part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, whose primary goal was to bring large scale regional parks to every borough. Located on Staten Island’s Eastern Shore, the building overlooks the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, lower Manhattan, and the Freedom Tower.
In the final stage of construction, Ocean Breeze has been open for track events since November 2015. Raised above one of the few remaining areas of native upland coastal grasslands on the island, Ocean Breeze’s minimal interior footprint – largely comprised of an open-air parking area – enhances both views and the potential for natural ventilation, while protecting the building from storm surges and rising tides.
Chuck Redmon discusses the San Antonio Museum of Art building. It was once an old brewery; the architects used the old design of the brewery and transformed it into a space that held art. In the early 1970s, the growth of the Association’s fine art collections led the Trustees to consider securing new space for the art collection. Plans were initiated to purchase the historic Lone Star Brewery complex for conversion into the San Antonio Museum of Art. The buildings were acquired in the 1970s. Following a $7.2 million renovation, the Museum of Art was opened to the public in March of 1981. Funding for the renovation was secured through grants from the Economic Development Administration, the City of San Antonio and a number of private individuals and foundations. A National Endowment for the Arts challenge grant helped establish the operating endowment.
At its outset, the Museum of Art emphasized the art of the Americas including pre-Columbian, Spanish Colonial and Latin American folk art. Included as well were eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century American and European paintings, photography, sculpture and decorative arts. In 1985, the Museum received the unparalleled collections of Latin American Folk Art formed by former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller and Robert K. Winn, establishing it at the forefront of American institutions collecting in this area.
In May of 2009, the Museum Reach extension of San Antonio's famed Riverwalk was opened. To accommodate the Museum's new riverfront access, SAMA built the Glora Galt River Landing, a shaded pavilion, esplanade and terrace along the Museum's north side. Architectural Record described Cambridge Seven's conversion of the old Lone Star brewery to a new art museum as work "of great distinction." The article praised the architects for executing "a technically demanding task without letting the effort show," referring in part to the inserting of new electrical and mechanical systems throughout the building so as to allow the original industrial interiors to take on a new-found elegance as reticent galleries for an art collection. A subdued palette of suites, grays, and light colors articulate details of ceiling vaults, cast iron columns, exposed steel beams, and lighting tracks. Changes of floor materials reinforce the individual identity and exhibit content of the galleries.
A public circulation loop organizes the museum visit. Glass elevators, artwork in themselves, provide a kinetic experience within the stacked gallery spaces. A glass enclosed bridge connects the two gallery towers at the top, recalling the original bridge of the brewery, which was used for moving hops. Exterior brick elements, such as arched windows and playful parapet forms, were restored and complemented by the addition of color accents. New architectural elements, such as the glass bridge, skylights over the lobby, and a rooftop pavilion, were developed in a crisp vocabulary of dark glass and steel, both to celebrate the original building and to signal its new use, through contrast.
Michael Lehrer talks about the Water + Life Museums in Hemet, the first LEED Platinum museums in the world. He describes the ideology behind the buildings, which is evident both in their museum content and their architectural design. The Water and Life Museums are born of the construction of Diamond Valley Lake (DVL), the largest man-made water storage lake in North America.
Set in the semi-arid Southern California desert near Hemet, DVL is an integral part of the state's water infrastructure. The lake provides a 6-month emergency supply of water for all of Southern California. Diamond Valley existed between 2 mountain ranges. Diamond Valley Lake was created by damming the Valley's open ends with two 300' high dams. The East Dam is 2.5 miles long. The Dam, is made from rock mined from these mountains. The Museums sit near the base of the East Dam of DVL. The construction of these dams is the largest earthwork project in American history.
Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works talks about the firm's first museum commission- the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. The Contemporary is a non-collecting exhibition, educational and event space in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The site is located in the Grand Center District, adjacent to the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Together, the institutions are a focal point for the arts community in St. Louis and a catalyst for the redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood. The Contemporary’s mission is not to preserve, but to provoke: presenting work from noted artists such as Maya Lin, Bruce Nauman and Cindy Sherman, as well as emerging contemporary artists.
The two-story, 27,000 sf museum provides open, flexible space for exhibitions and programs while emphasizing transparency at ground level. The building is formed by two intersecting ribbons of concrete and stainless steel mesh that weave and overlap to define the principal volumes. The lower walls bound the museum and create a series of large interconnecting galleries. The walls alternately delineate the site boundaries and fold inwards, inviting the public to enter and providing views through the building from the neighboring streets. The upper walls span above the galleries, providing spaces for administration and education. Between these walls, ceiling planes are held at varying heights to create variations in scale, proportion and enclosure, providing a diversity of day lighting conditions and curatorial opportunities.
This building is a simultaneous act of enclosure and invitation, allowing the landscape to flow through the entire site, while tenuously capturing and containing rooms for art. The museum is not a privileged domain, but an open field that concentrates the forces of the city in preparation for later occupation by the artists.
Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art at Gardner Museum, talks about the living room. The new wing of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum designed by Renzo Piano provides a bustling complement to the serenity of the historic palace. The form of the expansion features four volumes that seem to levitate above the transparent first floor. Characteristic of Piano's work, glass facades and skylights abound, creating a light and functional space that contrasts with the heaviness of the original museum building. The design privileged sustainability features, such as a geothermal well system, daylight harvesting, water efficient landscaping techniques, and the use of local and regional materials.
Hagy Belzberg talks about the design concept of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. The new building for the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (LAMH) is located within a public park, adjacent to the existing Los Angeles Holocaust Memorial. Paramount to the design strategy is the integration of the building into the surrounding open, park landscape. The museum is submerged into the ground allowing the park’s landscape to continue over the roof of the structure. Existing park pathways are used as connective elements to integrate the pedestrian flow of the park with the new circulation for museum visitors. The pathways are morphed onto the building and appropriated as surface patterning. The patterning continues above the museum’s galleries, further connecting the park’s landscape and pedestrian paths. By maintaining the material pallet of the park and extending it onto the museum, the hues and textures of concrete and vegetation blend with the existing material palette of Pan Pacific Park. These simple moves create a distinctive façade for the museum while maintaining the parks topography and landscape. The museum emerges from the landscape as a single, curving concrete wall that splits and carves into the ground to form the entry. Designed and constructed with sustainable systems and materials, the LAMOTH building is on track to receive a LEED Gold Certification from the US Green Building Council.
The Associate Curator for Architecture & Urbanism at the Guggenheim Museum, Maria Nicanor, shares the story behind the commission of the Guggenheim Museum and talks about the iconic design by Frank Lloyd Wright. In June 1943, Frank Lloyd Wright received a letter from Hilla Rebay, the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim, asking the architect to design a new building to house Guggenheim's four-year-old Museum of Non-Objective Painting. The project evolved into a complex struggle pitting the architect against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim and Wright would die before the building's 1959 completion. The resultant achievement, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, testifies not only to Wright's architectural genius, but to the adventurous spirit that characterized its founders. Wright made no secret of his disenchantment with Guggenheim's choice of New York for his museum: "I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum," Wright wrote in 1949 to Arthur Holden, "but we will have to try New York." To Wright, the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit.
Simeon Bruner talks about the building of the Mass MoCA Museum by transforming the old mill buildings. Mass MoCA is the largest center for contemporary art in the United States. It opened to national acclaim in 1999. Twelve years of master planning and design went into the museum’s creation; its changing exhibits continue to attract over 125,000 visitors per year. A young museum, with no permanent collection and no endowment, commercial rental space is its de facto endowment. Reshaping an old industrial complex and former brownfield site, the museum is central to the economic revival of North Adams MA.
Hudson River Museum Amphitheater is constructed on a half acre site in Trevor Park in the City of Yonkers connected to the Westchester RiverWalk, a planned 51.5-mile richly programmed esplanade paralleling the Hudson River in Westchester. When completed, village centers, historic sites, parks and river access points will be connected by a network of trails, esplanades and boardwalks. Hudson River Museum Amphitheater is the focal RiverWalk project constructed for Yonkers.
Next to the Hudson River Museum originally constructed in 1967, and integrated into the existing slope, the Amphitheater provides stepped outdoor concrete seating for 465 people, an outdoor concrete stage with associated low energy LED and plasma stage lighting, audio visual equipment, and light towers. The context of the museum’s 1960s brutalist ribbed concrete design inspired the Amphitheater’s concrete material and form.
Hudson River Museum Amphitheater will provide a multipurpose resource for the diverse needs of its community. It has been designed to present programming of special events like African American Heritage Day, Walks for Cure, and Hispanic cultural events. Yonkers is home to a vibrant independent music scene, with many small musical groups performing zydeco, jazz, latin, salsa, and rock. The amphitheater will support Hudson River Museum's Film Programs; performance, recitals, puppetry, pageants, and one act plays; school events, picnics, and graduations; and astronomical viewing associated with the Museum’s Planetarium programming.
Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Collector of the Textiles Department, discusses the renovation of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. The impetus for the renovation was to create more exhibition space.
Donald Albrecht, Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of New York speaks about the Museum.
Aaron Dorf, Project Director of Snøhetta talks about the Museum and some of the design issues involved in creating it. Snøhetta was commissioned to design the only building that actually sits on the memorial grounds and is slated to contain cultural activities. The idea of placing a cultural building on the actual memorial site is rare and it has been expected to garner considerable scrutiny. During the four years of working with the project, the program has changed several times, however it has remained a cultural facility that is dedicated to visitor comfort and orientation. The design for the building embodies a careful reaction to the horizontal character of the memorial design while also providing the area with a lively organic form that allows the visitor to imagine the site and city in a broader sense.
David Marwell, the Director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, talks about the completion of the museum's expansion, which was shortly after September 11, 2001. Located five blocks south of the 9/11 attacks, the museum was the closest cultural institution to the Trade Towers site, thus impact on the neighborhood was profound. The expansion opened on the second anniversary of 9/11.
Signe Nielsen, New York based landscape architect, talks about the challenge of navigating the design of the historic preservation of the park and the West Village and Soho users to have a design that was edgier.
Carol Berens, Architect and VP of the Empire State Development Corporation, details the tumultuous, decades-long creation of Hudson River Park.
Amy Stein Milford, Deputy Director of the Museum at Eldridge Street, discusses the Eldridge Street Synagogue.
Rafael Pelli discusses the design of the Visionaire and its approach to sustainability.
Xocolatti is a tiny store in New York City's Soho district. Tom Shea and Farnaz Mansuri of De-Spec share the challenges behind its design.
Andrea Leers discusses the Harvard Science Center; it was built as a modern landmark when it was first built. Leers helped with the Center's addition.
Harvard's Blackstone Offices is the first LEED Platinum Building at Harvard. The Architect shares the experience of designing the building.
Andrea Leers, architect and former professor, discusses the building of Harvard University's Library Services Building in context to its surroundings on campus.
Michael Kubo, a PhD student at Harvard University, tells the story behind Harvard Graduate Center.
Jay Wickersham tells the story of Tontine Crescent, the building that brought financial disaster to Charles Bulfinch. The design of the residential complex included a series of town houses that were tied together in a crescent shape with a great archway in the middle of it.
Light artist John Powell talks about his light projection on the facade of the Innovation Lab at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
Jay Wickersham tells the narrative of the Ames Building, Boston's first skyscraper. The building signifies one of the first architect-client relationship. Jay touches upon the history of the Ames family and their significance in the city building.
Jay Wickersham tells the story of Cambridge School for Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The school originated as a response to Harvard's refusal to admit women to the program. The school was amongst the most innovative model of education where the earliest seeds of Modern Architecture in Cambridge were planted.
Jay Wickersham describes Ralph Adams Cram's Building in downtown Boston. The building is the subject of a poem by David McCord.
Jay Wickersham tells the story of the first planned residential development in America: Beacon Hill. The podcast includes the history of local families (Hancock and Copley) and takes you on a journey of design (State House by Charles Bulfinch) and real estate development.
Jen Mecca, Jame Deutsch and Rebecca Dwyer talk about the history of artists in Fort Point District as well as the Made in Fort Points Gallery Space.
Rebecca Dwyer tells the history of Artists Cooperatives in Fort Point District. A prominent example is 249 A Street Artist Cooperative which is a component of Fort Point Arts Community. The building was originally the Regal Lithograph Company. It had a freight elevator, weight-bearing floors, high ceilings and wonderful light - perfect for artists' studios. The building contains approximately 70,000 square feet and was available for purchase for under one million dollars. There were 36 Fort Point artists who signed on to participate.
Jen Mecca talks about Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC) and its role for artists in Fort Point District.
Rebecca Dwyer tells about past industries (wool industry, can industry and printing industry) that defined old Fort Point District as an industrial neighborhood.
Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, talks about the new gallery space.
Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, talks about the living room.
Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, talks about the facade gallery.
John Herzog is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Museum of American Finance and Chairman Emeritus of Spink/Smythe, an auction house specializing in antique stocks and bonds, bank notes, coins, autographs and photographs. In this podcast, he tells the story of how the idea for the Museum of American Finance was conceived and how the first artefacts were collected for the nation’s only independent museum dedicated to finance and financial history. The aim of the Museum is to educate the public through exhibits, financial literacy programs and public events.
Architect Daniel Raih, project principal, shares the history of Memorial Hall located on Quincy St in the Harvard University campus, and how the process of the renovation took shape. Memorial Hall was conceived by Harvard alumni in memory of Harvard affiliates who fell during the Civil War.
The architects were invited in 1865. In 1870, the building was named Memorial Hall and the cornerstone was laid. The building went into use in 1874, and the tower was finally completed in 1877. There are many stained-glass windows inside the Memorial Hall complex, including four by John La Farge. The windows were installed between 1879 and 1902.
Today, Memorial Hall is used for large lecture classes, performances for the Harvard community and beyond, and as the Freshman dining hall. Visitors cannot enter the dining hall. In the basement is the Queenshead Pub, Harvard's student pub.
Harvard professor Alex Krieger talks about the Boston City Hall. Boston City Hall was a part of a major urban redesign effort in downtown Boston during the 1960's, a project which replaced Scollay Square with Government Center, which included City Hall and the City Hall Plaza. One of the most famous examples of so-called brutalist architecture, the design by Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles was the unanimous winner in an international design competition.
The building is famously polarizing and remains controversial to this day. Praised by many working within architecture and related professions for its vision, it has equally been criticized by workers, neighbors and other Bostonians as an unfriendly eyesore. There have recently been proposals both to demolish the building and to declare it a landmark.
Harvard professor Alex Krieger discusses the architecture of the plaza for Boston City Hall.
Harvard professor Alex Krieger discusses the landscape of Boston when it was originally inhabited almost four centuries ago.
Harvard professor Alex Krieger delves into the history of Boston, speaking about how Boston was originally an island, and only came to its present state due to large amount of land filling in the wetland.
Anne Beha from Ann Beha Architects talks about Fenway Cultural District. Fenway Cultural District contains 22 cultural and educational institutions within an area of two squared acres.
Ann Beha from Ann Beha Architects talks about the Christian Science Center. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States is the Mother Church and administrative headquarters of the Christian Science Church, and is located in the Christian Science Plaza in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.
Ann Beha from Ann Beha Architects talks about her project. The Library gives the public access to the original materials of Mary Baker, who was an American author, teacher and religious leader.
Ann Beha from Ann Beha Architects talks about Symphony Hall. Boston's Symphony Hall, built in 1900, is rated one of the three great music halls in the world from the point of view of acoustics.
Ann Beha talks about the architecture of the New England Conservatory, and her firm's additions to the area. The New England Conservatory of Music is the oldest independent school of music in the United States. Located in Boston’s Fenway district, NEC’s campus occupies 2.5 acres and includes the internationally-known Jordan Hall.
Ann Beha Architects has completed conceptual design for two new buildings, a Student Life / Performance Center and an Academic Center. The project accommodates 200,000 sf of program, including student housing, dining and social spaces, the NEC library, practice and performance facilities, an opera workshop, and extensive campus landscape upgrades.
Ann Beha from Ann Beha Architects talks about the Gardner Museum. Built by Isabella Stewart Gardner and opened to the public in 1903 this Venetian inspired palace houses a large collection of art objects. Additionally there is a wonderful open courtyard that contains seasonal flowers. This museum is famous for a high-profile burglary in 1990, when thieves dressed as police officers stole 13 paintings including: Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633), A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633) and a Self-Portrait (1634); Vermeer's The Concert (1658-1660); Govaert Flinck's Landscape with an Obelisk (1638); five drawings by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas; and Edouard Manet's Chez Tortoni (1878-1880). The works were never recovered, and the $5 million dollar reward remains unclaimed.
Jonathan Levi describes the project as a process of careful detailing that would rethink the ways residential housing is thought of and built.
Jonathan Levi describes the project as a Z-shaped school that contains two parts with individual entrances that break the scale of the institution to a personalized learning environment.
Jonathan Levi talks about the Charlestown Holocaust Memorial as an experiment of an urban void and sculpture that define a space of memory.
Jonathan Levi tells how his studio approached the design of a Harvard Graduate House where students and faculty would come to interact and socialize.
David Fixler contextualizes and responds to the usual criticisms the City Hall Plaza by describing it as a public park space plaza, a paved urban space intentionally conveying certain grandeur. He also points out the changes that Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles made to the original IM Pei design to better connect the space to the city.
David Fixler discusses the end of Modernism, which occurred around the late 1960s early 1970s. The energy crisis occurs, which puts a hiatus in construction. Fixler talks about how architects today still use Modernism as a model for contemporary construction.
David Fixler talks about Le Corbusier's Carpenter Center, which was designed under the umbrella of Jose Luis Sert's office in 1960. Being the only Le Corbusier building in the United States, the building offers a unique response to the context of Cambridge, in David Fixler's words, "a pavilion" that gestures out to different parts of the city, while clearly signing the project with his architectural language.
David Fixler discusses the John Hancock Tower built in the 1940s, designed by Harry Cobb. His solution to build a high rise next to historic buildings in Boston was traumatizing to build, but successful in its outcome.
David Fixler talks about the original project of the Government Center Building by Paul Rudolph which included a tower - and the resulting Brutalist, "amphipomorphic", ribbed-corduroy concrete, sculptural tour-de-force mental health building.
David Fixler talks about Paul Rudolph's Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building, its precast panels and the scaling of the windows as a way of contextualizing the building.
David Fixler talks about the City Hall's history beginning with the competition held in 1961, which Kallmann McKinnell & Wood won, and about the origins of Brutalism and its crude, unapologetic architectural language.
Architect David Fixler discusses Alvar Aalto's Baker House, which he designed for MIT. Aalto's agenda for Baker House was peculiar and site responsive, in that it mirrored the Charles River and the industrial buildings across the river.
Architect David Fixler discusses the upswing of designing Modern Houses during the middle of the 19th century outside of Boston.
Architect David Fixler discusses Walter Gropius's design influence on Harvard's campus.
Architect David Fixler discusses Six Moon Hill. Six Moon Hill is a residential community dwelling that was designed by The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) and is located in Lexington, Massachusetts. With a focus on collaboration rather than individualism, the TAC approach was applied to all aspects of the community: design, development, construction, and operation.
David Fixler discusses the beginning of Modernism, which arrived in Boston in the 1930s.
David Fixler talks about the Baker House and his trip to Finland in 1996 where he discovered pieces of Alvar Aalto's design that were never implemented and that informed the subsequent renovation and preservation of the building.
David Fixler on Baker House's history, starting with the appointment of Alvar Aalto as the Design Architect in 1946, the housing policies that were developed, the design process, and the contribution of his wife. He also points out some of the main changes and ideas behind the preservation and renovation project carried out by EYP.
David Fixler talks about the influence of Walter Gropius, who was important in raising the profile of Modernism in Boston and the United States which he developed at the Bauhaus in Germany.
David Fixler discusses Walter Gropius's house that he constructed. The irony is that Gropius wanted to throw out histories in schools, but now his house and designs are fully integrated as part of the cannon of architectural history.
Over the past several months with Kate McLean’s guidance, East Village residents and stakeholders explored their surrounding environment strictly through their sense of smell by smell catching, smell hunting and free smelling. The aggregated data has been visualized as a colorful Smellmap of Astor Place on view during event hours. Join McLean for a smellwalk at 9 am and 11 am each day.
At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park is almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. It also has a significant history as the site of the former Fresh Kills Landfill, which was the largest landfill in the world before closing in 2001. Since then, the landscape has been engineered with layers of soil and infrastructure, and the area has become a place for wildlife, recreation, science, education, and art. As the park is built in phases, free tours and events provide early access for learning and exploration opportunities.
The George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is located on both sides of Broadway in the Washington Heights community, opened on January 17, 1963. It was designed by Dr. Pier Luigi Nervi, the noted Italian engineer-architect of the 1960 Olympic Stadium in Rome and other world-renowned structures.
The GWBBS Redevelopment is a $183.2 million public-private partnership between the Port Authority and a private developer, the GWBBS Development Venture (DV), which resulted from an agency-wide evaluation of PA properties that could provide retail revenue. It provides for both transportation improvements and destination retail in the resurging neighborhood. The architectural design team was an innovative collaboration between Port Authority Staff, for the bus facility, and STV, as retail architect and program architect/ architect-of record.
Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm's second location, installed in 2012, is located atop Building no. 3 at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. A massive 65,000 sq ft roof towering twelve stories over the East River, the farm overlooks sweeping views of the dock, downtown Manhattan, and the Williamsburg Bridge. Brooklyn Grange launched their business to connect and engage the community with food, agriculture, and nature, and improve the local urban ecosystem. Their green roof farms reduce the heating and cooling use of the underlying building's upper floors, alleviate urban heat island effect, and mitigate combined sewage overflow by managing almost 2 million gallons of stormwater per year. The farm hosts events, yoga classes, tours, and children's groups via their educational non-profit sister organization, City Growers; designs, builds, and maintains green spaces for clients all over the five boroughs, and consults on urban agriculture projects worldwide. Brooklyn Grange believes that social enterprise is a powerful driver of positive change, and that businesses should be a nourishing part of their community.
The Adaptive Reuse of this abandoned 1903 public school saved it from the wrecking ball, and transformed it into a vibrant new Boys & Girls Club and affordable housing. Once again the pride of the community, as a result of Dattner Architects’ thoughtful renovation which including recreating original building details from photographs and retaining the original character of the school as a backdrop to the new uses, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Architect describes the design of the Art Museum and shares some of the features of the building.
The Architect talks about the decision to site the building on the formerly industrial waterfront, the integration of the roof into the landscape, the program and the collaboration with the Norwegian artists to integrate their works into the building.
In 1989 the city of Alexandria held an international architectural competition to design a new library in the spirit of its richest legacy the library destroyed over a thousand years ago. Snohetta won the competition and went on to construct the building which opened in 2002. The Architect talks about the new library and it's significance.
Donald Lipski describes the inspiration for his sculpture of FISH on the San Antonio Riverwalk.
The artist, Donald Lipski, shares with us the story of how he acquired the cowboy hats from the Texans which comprised his sculpture and how he named the piece.
Donald Lipski shares the inspiration and challenges he faced in creating his mobile "Five Easy Pieces" for the Washington Convention Center
Donald Lipski explains his paired sculptures of Arthur (bicycle handlebars) and Sylvia (hosery) in a Chicago Municipal Building, the Former Goldblatt's Department Store.
Donald Lipski shares the story behind the siting and design of The Tent. The sculptor was chosen by the 500 Festival’s 50th Anniversary Artist Selection Committee, which was organized by the 500 Festival, with support from the Arts Council of Indianapolis and is comprised of representatives from the 500 Festival, the 500 Festival Foundation as well as representatives from the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Herron School of Art and Design, Expo Design and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Tent is a four story structure, two torqued panels of stainless steel tubing, holding nearly 500 panels, painted many colors on the outside and polished to a mirror finish on the inside. The flaps move in the slightest breeze.
Tubaloon was designed as a temporary pavilion for the annual two week jazz festival at Konzberg. The architect talks about the design of the fabric structure, its acoustics and how it is dissembled and then reassembled annually.
Sculptor Donald Lipski describes the genesis of his work "Nails' Tails", an obelisk of footballs outside of the University of Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium.
Donald Lipski shares his thoughts about his work Leaves of Grass in the Levine Children's Hospital.
Donald Lipski tells the story behind two works of art - "The Yearling", originally commissioned for a high school in Upper Manhattan and finally installed in Denver, and "La Guardia Suite" created for the High School for Music and Art.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge discusses the legacy of the Boston Art Club. The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the consolidation of efforts between local artists, including Benjamin Champney, Alfred Ordway, Samuel Lancaster Gerry and Walter Brackett. Their desire was to form a democratic organization where the European tradition of independent, master-artists would be replaced with cooperation in the promotion, sale and education of art.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge talks about the King's Chapel in Boston. It was one of the first major buildings in America to be made by cut stone. Boston citizens were unwilling to sell the Royal Governor land for a non-Puritan church, and so he chose to build King's Chapel on the town burying ground in 1688. By 1749, the building required expansion, and the congregation turned to America's first architect, Peter Harrison, to produce a church "that would be the equal of any in England."
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge discusses the Old North Church. Built in 1723, it is the oldest church built in Boston. Old North – or Christ Church in the City of Boston, to give it its official name – is the oldest church building in Boston. It was designed by William Price, who probably copied its architecture from depictions of London churches by Sir Christopher Wren. The church’s first service was held in 1723. The belfry steeple didn’t arrive until 1740, and the bells – they are still there – were installed in 1745, after being shipped from England. A 15-year old Paul Revere signed on as one of the original seven bell ringers. Thirty years later, Revere arranged the famous lantern signal from the steeple that warned of the British and kicked off the American Revolution – “One if by land, and two if by sea,” in the words of the poem by Longfellow.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge talks about the urban context of the Boston Art Club. The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the consolidation of efforts between local artists, including Benjamin Champney, Alfred Ordway, Samuel Lancaster Gerry and Walter Brackett. Their desire was to form a democratic organization where the European tradition of independent, master-artists would be replaced with cooperation in the promotion, sale and education of art.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge talks about the architecture of the Boston Art Club: the Queen Anne Style. The Boston Art Club was first conceived in Boston in 1854 with the consolidation of efforts between local artists, including Benjamin Champney, Alfred Ordway, Samuel Lancaster Gerry and Walter Brackett. Their desire was to form a democratic organization where the European tradition of independent, master-artists would be replaced with cooperation in the promotion, sale and education of art.
Sheila Kenney discusses some of the firsts seen in the design of the 34th Street Ferry Terminal. At the time of construction, the nature of infrastructure was shifting. The architects atomized parts of the building into microservices to form a much more efficient and real-time responsive terminal.
Sheila Kennedy discusses the environmental sensing system built into the East 34th Street Ferry Terminal.
Frano Violich and Sheila Kennedy discuss the public life of urban infrastructure. They talk about light and shadow, ebb and flow, and how the design visually reflects the poetry of the space.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge talks about the history of Quincy Market, and how and when it was constructed. Quincy Market has always been used as a marketplace in Boston and it remains one today, though more like a tourist mall and less like a food market. When it was originally built, it sat on the harbor's edge in Boston. As the harbor was filled in with landfill, a community grew around the marketplace.
Preservation Planner Lynn Smiledge discusses the history of Paul Revere and the Old North Church. The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. The Church was built in 1723 and is the oldest standing church in Boston. It is part of the Freedom Trail. www.oldnorth.com
Sheila Kennedy talks about how the 34th Street Ferry Terminal is an example of soft infrastructure. The Ferry Project is a demonstration of the next generation of urban infrastructure that also provides public identity and public space.
Sheila Kennedy reveals the secrets of the 34th Street Ferry Terminal. She describes how to see optical vibration (the moiré effect) that occurs between the two layers of aluminum. Another secret for a sunny day: the ceiling reflects the light bouncing from the water to the canopy.
Richard Haas, New York based artist, discusses one of his works on the White Street Detention Center Bridge, depicting the biblical Judgment of Solomon, a tale existing in similar ways in both Jewish and Chinese culture: the Judgment of Solomon and the Judgment of Pao Kung. Both are tales in which someone of authority uses a strategy to discover who is a liar and who is telling the truth.
New York based artist Richard Haas's mural Glockenspiel was designed in 2005 to beautify a heavily-graffitied building across from a new housing development in Yorkville. The glockenspiel refers to the area's historically large German population.
Richard Haas, New York based artist, discusses his mural on the façade of 426 West Broadway.
Richard Haas, New York based artist, discusses his work on the façade of 112 Prince Street, notable for the painting of a cat in the upper window.
Richard Haas, NYC muralist, discusses one of his projects on the White Street Detention Center, depicting the history of immigration on the Lower East Side.
On Richard Haas's mural Eight Manhattan Views, completed in 1979. It can be found at the New York University Center for Continuing Education at 11 W 42nd St.
Douglas G. Bucher, building conservator and restoration specialist at John G. Waite Associates Architects, discusses the process of restoring Hamilton Grange National Monument, New York. Historic Preservation firm John G. Waite Associates, Architects spent three years investigating the original building fabric, searching for clues of its original appearance and ensuring that the move, new systems, and accessibility features would cause minimal damage to the house. In this podcast, he talks about the stairway in the building.
Douglas G. Bucher, building conservator and restoration specialist at John G. Waite Associates Architects, discusses the process of restoring Hamilton Grange National Monument, New York. Historic Preservation firm John G. Waite Associates, Architects spent three years investigating the original building fabric, searching for clues of its original appearance and ensuring that the move, new systems, and accessibility features would cause minimal damage to the house. In this podcast, he talks about the Green Room in the Grange.
Douglas G. Bucher, building conservator and restoration specialist at John G. Waite Associates Architects, discusses the process of restoring Hamilton Grange National Monument, New York. Historic Preservation firm John G. Waite Associates, Architects spent three years investigating the original building fabric, searching for clues of its original appearance and ensuring that the move, new systems, and accessibility features would cause minimal damage to the house. In this podcast, he talks about the mirrored doors in the building.
Douglas G. Bucher, building conservator and restoration specialist at John G. Waite Associates Architects, discusses the process of restoring Hamilton Grange National Monument, New York. Historic Preservation firm John G. Waite Associates, Architects spent three years investigating the original building fabric, searching for clues of its original appearance and ensuring that the move, new systems, and accessibility features would cause minimal damage to the house. JGWA designed the move and oversaw the construction of a new cellar and basement for mechanical systems and exhibits. In 2008 the Grange was finally lifted over the adjacent church and then moved – no ordinary technical feat.
Jean Parker Phifer, New York-based architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection on the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States and is one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and liberty. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886 and was designated a National Monument on October 15, 1924. It became a World Heritage Site in 1984. The island was extensively restored and reopened on July 4, 1986, shortly before the Statue's centennial in October 1986. The island is open to the public.
Jean Parker Phifer describes the Richard Morris Hunt Memorial. This striking, curved monument on the Park's eastern perimeter honors Richard Morris Hunt, the first American to study at Paris' ecole des Beaux-Arts. He returned to New York and went on to become the city's most prominent architect of his time. His work includes the columned facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just 12 blocks north of his memorial. Unveiled in 1898, the piece was created by Daniel Chester French, the same sculptor behind the massive monument to Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In Central Park, the Hunt monument is approached by three steps and features a central bust of the architect. A semicircular portico and curved bench support decorative columns and a cornice. At each end stands a female figure, allegorical statues of Architecture, and Painting, and Sculpture. Inscriptions on the structure name the organizations for which Hunt either founded or made significant contributions.
Jean Parker Phifer describes the Portals at St Bartholomew's Church, New York. This Byzantine-style church incorporates a 1903 French Romanesque portal from its previous Madison Ave. location. Designed by Stanford White and funded as a memorial for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the portal features Renaissance-inspired sculpture and ornate brass doors. There are stained glass windows by Hildreth Meire and the city's largest pipe organ. The community house was constructed later by Goodhue's firm after he had died.
Jean Parker Phifer, New York based architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection on Times Square, at the crossroads of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Times Square is named after the Old New York Times Building, which was built in the square in 1904.
Jean Parker Phifer describes the sculptures of Venus & Manhattan created by Wheeler Williams. The artist depicted two allegorical figures - Manhattan and Venus - on the side of the Parke-Bernet Galleries. Venus awakens Manhattan, who opens his eyes to the culture and arts around him.
Jean Parker Phifer, New York based architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about the statue of Gertrude Stein, designed by Jo Davidson and located in Bryant Park.
Jean Parker Phifer, New York based architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about the New York Times Capsule, designed by Santiago Calatrava. This capsule is made of welded stainless steel, and is described by the artist as resembling a flower. It contains diverse artifacts of the late 20th century and will be permanently on display atop a polished black granite base until the year 3000, at which time the capsule will be opened. Derived from a sculpture series that explores the formal properties of folded spherical frames, the form of the capsule has been sliced through horizontally, forming two halves. The four top segments are hinged to the bottom four. The cavities of the segments are hollow and together contain about 50 cubic feet of storage space, allowing four tall containers to be housed inside. The items were selected from suggestions by visitors to the Museum of Natural History and the New York Times web site. They were treated with preservative, surrounded with a layer of Nanopore insulation, packed in special steel containers, and sealed.
Jean Parker Phifer, New York based architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection about The Battery, located in downtown Manhattan. Located at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, The Battery is one of New York City's oldest public open spaces. It is where Dutch settlers landed in 1623, and where the first "battery" of cannons was erected to defend New Amsterdam. Encompassing 23 acres of waterfront parkland, The Battery is the largest public open space downtown. Over 350,000 people work within walking distance of The Battery, and over 20,000 residents live in the surrounding area.
Fred Schwartz, head of Frederic Schwartz Architects, discusses his work on the Staten Island Ferry terminal, the largest ferry terminal in the United States.
Calvin Tsao, partner of TsAO & McKOWN Architects, discusses the firm's work on five public elementary school libraries in conjunction with the Robin Hood Foundation.
Calvin Tsao, partner of TsAO & McKOWN Architects, discusses his firm's work on William Beaver House, a residential building in Lower Manhattan.
Jean Parker Phifer, NYC architect and author of Public Art New York, reads a selection on Charging Bull, located to the north of Bowling Green
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she provides an overview of the design process undertaken by the firm.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she provides an overview of the design and construction of the historic site.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she talks about the late discovery and subsequent restoration of the metal corrugated roof.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the major changes made to the building through the 20th century.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the materiality of the courtrooms in the building.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the restoration of the iconic stone staircase.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the process of restoring the octagonal central rotunda.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the process of restoring the stone facade.
Nancy A. Rankin AIA LEED AP, Principal at John G. Waite Associates Architects, describes the process of restoring, preserving and reusing the historic Tweed Courthouse at Chambers Street, New York City. In this podcast, she describes the process of restoring the stone facade.
At the turn of the 18th Century, Jews were typically pro-Democrat. The Bank of Manhattan was founded by Aaron Burr, a leader of the Democratic party. It was built to rival the Bank of New York, which exercised a monopoly of banking in the US.
The Jewish Arrival tour ends at the Shearith Israel Graveyard. While some Jewish communities in New York considered America their new religious home, others wanted to form a Jewish base in Israel. James Kaplan discusses the founding the State of Israel and its roots with the first Jewish immigrants to New York City.
Calvin Tsao, partner of TSAO & McKOWN Architects, discusses his firm's work on the interior of Cipriani Wall Street at 55 Wall Street, New York.
Ken Smith discusses the design of the two level park. The East River Waterfront Esplanade sought to improve access to the waterfront, enhance pedestrian connectivity, and create waterfront amenities for public use and enjoyment. The existing esplanade was enhanced, new sections were be created, and several piers were be renovated and redeveloped. This bold and ambitious plan was to revitalize the Lower Manhattan waterfront that suffered from weak connections, a lack of amenities, and underutilization. The project aimed to improve the quality of life for local residents, workers, and visitors alike.
Ken Smith, a New York City-based landscape architect, discusses his collaboration with Frederic Schwartz and Mary Miss to create a park on an derelict railroad yard in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Ken Smith, a New York City and Southern California-based landscape architect, describes the process involved in converting a decommissioned military base, the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, into California's newest urban park.
Ken Smith talks about the collaboration in designing the Upper Plaza at 55 Water Street, NY, and the light beacon.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses the Arab immigrant neighborhood Little Syria, which existed from the 1880s through the 1950s near the site of the World Trade Center.
Historian Barry Moreno describes the history of vaudeville in New York City vis a vis the Palace Theatre, one of the most elite vaudeville theaters.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses the Roman Catholic Church Our Lady of the Rosary's involvement with immigration in New York City, particularly with young women immigrating to the city.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses Tin Pan Alley, the moniker for 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, where many of the nation's music publishers were headquartered between the 1880s and WWII.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses the historic immigrant neighborhood of Little Spain, which surrounded 14th Street between Sixth and Tenth Avenues. Remnants of the old neighborhood remain, including La Nacional, a restaurant that is nearly 150 years old.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses Italian immigrants' early neighborhoods in New York City, as well as their migrations within New York City.
Historian Barry Moreno details the history of Lady Liberty, from her construction in France to her thousands of tours daily. Located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States and is one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and liberty. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886 and was designated a National Monument on October 15, 1924. It became a World Heritage Site in 1984. The island was extensively restored and reopened on July 4, 1986, shortly before the Statue's centennial in October 1986.
Historian Barry Moreno discusses Castle Clinton's varied history, from its years as an immigration station to its decades as a performance space. He describes its brief version as an aquarium, and its near destruction to make room for the Battery Tunnel.
Originally erected in 1808-1811 as the Southwest Battery for the War of 1812, Castle Clinton was part of the NY Harbor Coastal Fortification system. It was originally located 300 feet offshore and connected to Manhattan via a bridge. In 1817 it was renamed Castle Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the mayor of New York City, and served as a reception hall for important visitors.
It was one of the city's most popular attractions until it closed in 1941, when a vindictive Robert Moses (who had recently been prevented him building the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge), tried to demolish it. Thanks to supporters in the City and Federal Government, the fort became part of the National Park System in 1946 and was saved. The National Park Service restored it in 1986 as the original Castle Clinton.
Historian Barry Moreno explains Ellis Island's history as an immigration station and eventually a deportation center. He speaks in detail about the immigrants' experience within the building as they were processed through the center, in addition to speaking about how United States immigration laws shaped Ellis Island's role as an immigration station.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the Manhattan Municipal Building. Home to thirteen of NYC’s municipal agencies, the Municipal Building is one of the city’s most imposing presences, with an influence on civic architecture that reached as far as Stalinist Russia. Its tower is topped by Adolph Weinman’s statue “Civic Fame” and its grandly proportioned arch frames a tunnel once traversed by Chambers Street traffic.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Foley Square. One of the last buildings by the elder Cass Gilbert, this courthouse combines a monumental portico with a tower topped by terra cotta and gold leaf, recalling the designs of Gilbert’s nearby Woolworth and New York Life buildings.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of Foley Square and the African Burial Ground. The current site of the African Burial Ground consists of the outdoor monument, adjacent to the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway, which holds an interpretive center on the first floor for the burial ground. The center features 5 public artworks commissioned and funded by the General Services Administration. "Unearthed" by Frank Bender, sculptor and forensic artist, is a bronze sculpture inspired by three of the individuals removed from the burial ground. "America Song" by Clyde Lynds is a sculpture composed of granite, concrete and fiber optics, and features an Indian headdress and feathers. At night, the sculpture is illuminated by the fiber optics.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the Surrogate's Courthouse on Chambers Street. Exemplifying the ideals of the “City Beautiful” movement, this opulent Parisian courthouse was originally built as a storage facility for the city’s records. Statues on the exterior, by Philip Martiny and Henry Kirk Bush-Brown, depict various allegorical figures such as Law and Philosophy, as well as prominent features of New York history.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the Tweed Courthouse, including the exploits of William M. "Boss" Tweed and Tammany Hall. The Old New York County Courthouse, better known as Tweed Courthouse, is the legacy of Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, who controlled the initial construction. Built over a period of twenty years, between 1861 and 1881, it is the product of two of New York’s most prominent nineteenth-century architects, John Kellum and Leopold Eidlitz. Grandly scaled and richly decorated, the courthouse retains its original spatial arrangement, including thirty monumental courtrooms and a five-story central rotunda.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the history of the New York State Supreme Courthouse in Foley Square. Originally the New York County Court, which moved from the Tweed Courthouse in 1927, this classical Roman hexagonal courthouse is fronted by a massive Corinthian colonnade supporting an elaborately decorated pediment.
Architectural historian Gail Cornell talks about the adjoined Court of International Trade and Jacob K. Javits Federal Building. Home to federal agencies such as the NYC branch of the FBI and GSA, this granite and glass checkerboard was once the backdrop to the highly controversial Richard Serra sculpture Tilted Arc and now boasts a new plaza redesign by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The original landscape architect was Martha Schwartz.
Gregg LeFevre discusses his work of bronze panels that commemorate the importance of The Architect's building which once stood at this address on Park Avenue. He also gives an illustrious history of the Chrysler building and the race to create the tallest building in the world.
Michele Cohen describes the statue of Horace Greeley, longtime editor of the Tribune. The pedestal upon which the statue rests was designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Greeley established the New York Tribune in efforts to promote the Whig and Republican parties as well as opposition to slavery. In the 1872 presidential election, he was the candidate for the Liberal Republican party.
Michele Cohen describes the statue of Civic Fame. As the largest statue in Manhattan, at 2,800 square feet and set on top of the forty-story Municipal Building, Civic Fame is supported by an interior skeleton of steel and copper branches meant to withstand wind and storm. The figure was assembled, similarly to the Statue of Liberty, in many separate sheets of copper and then fused together to create a smooth, seamless surface.
Michele Cohen describes the sculpture of Nathan Hale, who was hung by the British in 1776 after being convicted of being a spy. Before he was hung, he uttered the words, "I only regret I have but one life to give for my country." This sculpture was erected in 1890 in City Hall Park, New York; it stands near where the actual Nathan Hale was thought to have been executed.
Michele Cohen describes the NY County Courthouse Pedimental Sculpture. Frederick Warren Allen was the winner of the competition to sculpt the pediment for the New York County Courthouse. Because pediment sculpting was challenging due to the triangular shape of the space, Allen was chosen for his ability to sculpt full-sized figures in the cramped corners. Allen's classical, yet contemporary depiction of the figures mirror the inscription written on the building below: "The true administration of justice is the finest pillar of good government."
Renowned German artist Ewerdt Hilgemann incorporates natural powers and physics to obtain an artistic result that refers to contemporary life, to innovations, as well as to the unpredictability of nature. His creative method concentrates on imploding geographical volumes; mass and empty space molded under the influence of forces from outside. To him, implosion represents the inward spiral energy to reach the core and mystery of matter, the ultimate beauty of creation.
Architectural historian Carol Krinsky explains how zoning laws shaped the development of Midtown Manhattan in the mid-twentieth century.
Architectural historian Carol Krinsky talks about Grand Central Terminal and the development of Midtown. Responding to the changing nature of the Terminal's transportation role, the Master Place, completed in 1990, was based upon a blending of historic preservation and modern needs to build on the strengths of the Terminal's original 1913 architecture.
A number of individual projects in the building were undertaken to show the public how great a restored Grand Central could be, such as the removal of the Kodak sign from the east balcony and the cleaning of a test patch of the sky ceiling. The primary goal of the revitalization project was to create a train station for the twenty-first century. Engineering systems were restored or replaced and the building was air conditioned for the first time in its history. The famous sky ceiling was cleaned and newly illuminated using fiber optic lights. A new stair was created on the east side of the Main Concourse, following the designs of the original architect, Whitney Warren. A new entrance on the east side, at 43rd Street and Lexington Avenue, connects to the Main Concourse through a passageway which resembles a European marketplace.
Architectural historian Carol Krinsky talks about the Seagram Building. The Seagram Building is recognized as one of the world's great architectural masterpieces. The distinctive landmark building was commissioned in 1958 by the Seagram Company and designed by the legendary Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. With the lobby and interiors designed by the equally renowned Philip Johnson, New York's favorite skyscraper is celebrated as a culmination of sophistication and refinement. The building's elegant simplicity juxtaposed against its constructional rigor embodies Mies van der Rohe's famed dictum "less is more" and personifies modern architecture. The New York Times heralded the Seagram Building as "the millennium's most important building."
Architectural historian Carol Krinsky speaks about the Helmsley Building, the electrification of the railroad, and the creation of Park Avenue. Located to the north of Grand Central Terminal, this building was the center of a series of hotels and office buildings sponsored by the New York Central Railroad. Once visible for miles away along Park Avenue, this building served as a powerful reminder of the dominance of railroads in the era.
Architectural historian Carol Krinsky speaks about the history of Lever House. Midtown Manhattan's Lever House marked a watershed in American architecture when completed in 1952. Located on the west side of Park Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets, the corporate headquarters—with its façade of blue-green glass and stainless steel mullions—was one of the first glass-walled International Style office buildings in the U.S. Three of the most notable people involved with the project include Gordon Bunshaft, the design Principal at SOM, Natalie de Blois who assisted him as the Project Designer, and Charles Luckman who was President of Lever Brothers and went on to practice architecture in New York and later LA.
The building was allowed to be a rectangular tower as the zoning requirements permitted it not to be stepped if it occupied less than 25% of its site. This was the first time anyone had done this. The renovation begun in 1998 added the Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden which had been planned but never installed.
Welcome to HarlemNOW's Harlem: The Capital of Black America tour. This is a recording of a walking tour given by attorney and historian James Kaplan and Olivia Kaplan in October, 2009. The tour visited various places of historical significance in central Harlem.
This section of the tour discusses the growth of Harlem from the draft riots of the Civil War to the Great Depression. First considered a German and then a Jewish neighborhood, Harlem began to see significant numbers of Black residents by the turn of the century. Instrumental to this growth were the Black churches and Black-owned realty companies battling against exclusionary housing practices in central Harlem. This new Black "Capital" was to become the home of many organizations devoted to racial justice, such as the NAACP.
This section of the tour describes how Harlem came to be the destination for many people escaping the increasingly violent racism of the turn-of-the-century South, eventually earning the status of The Capital of Black America.
World War One was an important event for Harlem, which saw many residents sent to France to fight on the front lines. Earning the nickname 'The Hellfighters' and decorated with one of France's highest honors, these soldiers returned to Harlem as heroes. But despite their sacrifices, race relations in the United States did not see any of the hoped for improvement - the post-war period in saw several vicious race riots throughout the country.
In the post-war years, Harlem became a cultural center, where important Black artists lived and worked. This period became known as the 'Harlem Renaissance'.
This section of the tour begins with the life of writer Langston Hughes. A mosaic in the Schomburg celebrates Hughes's poem 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers'.
Marcus Garvey was a Harlem resident and Black nationalist speaker. His organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, his ideas of Pan-Africanism, and the travels of his vessel The Yarmouth were important forerunners to future African independence movements.
The tour ends with a discussion of the role of Adam Clayton Powell and his Abyssynian Baptist Church on the economic desegregation of Harlem.
William Pedersen, founding design partner of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, talks about designing what was the tallest building in the world for a few years. The client was Japanese; the site was in China and he shares the real and perceived symbolism in the shape of the skyscraper and its top.
William Pedersen, founding design partner of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, talks about some of the design impacts in the conceptualization of One Jackson Square. The fact that it sits on top of the subway only became viable when the real estate market changed. He also describes the zoning envelope and the desire to allow as much light in to the apartments as possible.
William Pedersen, founding design partner of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, talks about how his competition winning scheme integrated the original buildings with the new design and draws from the existing building. This allowed the Headquarters building to be completed sooner.
The fifth stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is on Mill Lane This one block-long street is the oldest in New York City. The Dutch built a mill here, which they used to grind the bark that was used to tan beaver skins. In 1628, the first organized religious service was held on this street, and the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to the British here 1664.
The Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District ends on Wall Street in front of the Trump Building, formerly the Bank of Manhattan building. Richard describes the turbulent ownership histories of many of the buildings on Wall Street and the difficulties associated with owning and leasing a skyscraper. James relates anecdotes about the Trump Building, where he personally worked for 15 years.
The ninth stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is at the epicenter of American finance - the intersection of Broad Street and Wall Street. At 23 Wall Street is "The Corner," the original home of JP Morgan Bank. In 1920, a carriage loaded with explosives was detonated in front of the building in an act of domestic terrorism. The pock marks from the explosion are still visible in the marble facade.
The eighth stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is in front of the Charging Bull. In an act of guerrilla art, the Bull was installed on December 15, 1989, in front of the New York Stock Exchange. However, the Bull was not commissioned by the New York City Government and it was promptly impounded.
The seventh stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is in front of 60 Broad Street, the former home of the now defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert. When this tour first started more than 20 years ago, Drexel Burnham Lambert was one of the most important firms on Wall Street, but several illegal trading convictions in the late 1980s led the firm to its collapse in 1990.
The sixth stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is in front of the former Goldman-Sachs building and near Millennium High School. Millennium High School was the first high school built south of Fulton Street in decades, and its presence reflects the neighborhood's evolution from strictly business to more residential. At this stop, the tour guides delve into the question "Why does the market crash always seem to happen in the Fall?"
The fourth stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is in front of the former headquarters of both the Seligman Brothers and the Lehman Brothers financial companies. Interestingly, while the Seligman Brothers were financial backers of the Union Army in the Civil War, the Lehman Brothers backed the Confederate Army because much of the money came from cotton plantations in the South.
The second stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is the British Memorial Garden, which was dedicated to the United Kingdom after in memory of the 67 British subjects killed in the September 11 attacks. At this location once stood a statue of Colonial Mayor Abraham De Peyster, which now sits in a Parks Department warehouse.
The third stop on the Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District is in front of 55 Water Street. The building was once the largest private office building in New York City. It is now home to the India House, which houses a large collection of maritime objects.
The Great Crash of 1929: Tour of the Financial District begins inside the Museum of American Finance, which was once the main banking hall of the the Bank of New York. This unique walking tour delves into the political, financial, real estate and architectural history of Wall Street and New York City.
The tour shows that despite such adversities as the Great Fires of 1776 and 1835, financial panics of the 19th century, the 1920 Wall Street explosion, the Crash of 1929, the stock market collapse of 1987, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and the financial crisis of 2008, New York and Wall Street have always recovered their position as the world's financial capital.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan details the history of the now defunct Lehman Brothers financial firm. The Lehman Brothers made their fortune in cotton trading and, as such, were heavily invested on the Confederates' side of the Civil War. The Lehman Brothers purchased 1 William Street from the J & W Seligman & Company in 1928 and headquartered themselves there until 1980.
At the Statue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park, historian and lawyer James Kaplan discusses Hale's life and significance, and the history of City Hall. Hale was hung by the British in 1776 after being convicted of being a spy. Before he was hung, he uttered the words, "I only regret I have but one life to give for my country." This sculpture was erected in 1890 in City Hall Park, New York, at the site where Hale is believed to have been executed.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan discusses the controversial life of Thomas Paine: his early life, the publishing of Common Sense and The Crisis, the Silas Deane Affair, his involvement in the French Revolution, and finally, Paine's downfall and death in 1809.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan retraces the footsteps of the first Jewish immigrants to arrive in the United States, 23 Portuguese Jews whose ships landed at Bowling Green in 1654.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan discusses the history and significance of St. Paul's Church, the oldest private building in NYC, from Benedict Arnold to 9/11. The Church is believed to be the oldest building in Manhattan. Inside the Church, the first rendition in oil paint of the Great Seal of the United States can be found.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan explains the Jewish-founded financial group Goldman Sachs's contributions to the US government. The US Secretary of the Treasury for President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush were both former Chairmen of Goldman Sachs.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan asks listeners to use their imaginations as he describes the site of Shearith Israel Synagogue that once stood near 22 William Street. The first synagogue in North America, it was built in 1730. As the surrounding neighborhood - which would become the Financial District - became more industrial, congregants left the site to build synagogues in Greenwich Village and Upper West Side.
Historian and lawyer James Kaplan discusses the history of Fraunces Tavern, the former headquarters of the United States government. Now a museum, Fraunces Tavern was once the De Lancey House. Oliver De Lancey, a loyalist in the American Revolution, eloped with Phila Franks, daughter of Jacob Franks and Abigail Levy, who were leaders in the Shearith Israel Congregation.
Jonathan Kuhn, the Director of Art and Antiquities for NYC Parks, discusses the sculpture of Giovanni Da Verrazzano in Battery Park. Giovanni Da Verrazzano was one of the first European explorers in New York Bay. After the rise of Italian immigration in the early 20th century, the Italian community decided to raise this sculpture in Battery Park.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses the Gay Liberation Monument in Christopher Street Park, commemorating the Stonewall Riots of 1969.
The monument Triumph of the Human Spirit is one of the world's largest site-specific installations, venerating the experience of African American enslavement. Towering at over fifty feet and weighing more than three hundred tons, the massive black granite sculpture was built on a rediscovered African burial ground. The sculpture depicts an abstract female antelope form, mounted on a boat shaped base. According to the artist, the piece is inspired by "Chi Wara" an antelope effigy from West Africa that symbolizes a responsibility for continuing the next generation and for celebrating a successful harvest. Triumph of the Human Spirit serves as a monument to honor all Africans brought to America but is also dedicated to all ancestors as well as the future generations to come.
Jonathan Kuhn, director of Arts & Antiquities for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, discusses 'Dawn of Glory', a memorial to community lives lost in WWI. This memorial, with its larger than life half-clothed allegorical male figure, was dedicated in 1928. The statue was made by Italian-American sculptor Pietro Montana. For the creation of this Highland Park memorial, local prominent citizens and veterans groups enlisted Montana in 1919. It is the physical embodiment of the spirit of those who served, and the glory in the hereafter. The sculpture's actual unveiling was witnessed by a reported 10,000 people, with a salute from the 106th Infantry.
Keith Morgan, Professor of History of Architecture, discusses I. M. Pei's twin Harbor Towers in Boston.
Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA talks about the intellectual origins of the museum building and the development of the sculpture garden.
Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA talks about the issue of rising currents and its impact on the architecture and the urban environment.
Architect Toshiko Mori describes the design of the Sean Kelly Gallery. Pioneering a new area of New York City, the 22,000 square foot exhibition space is one of the first in the rapidly developing neighborhood adjacent to Hudson Yards and the third extension of the Highline. The gallery spans the ground and basement levels of a historic 1914 building on the corner of 36th Street and 10th Avenue, its design skillfully negotiating between respectful deference to its rich urban context and a new material sensibility. The project includes a centralized library, two distinct gallery spaces, and a black box theater that can also double as a third exhibition space. This configuration allows for maximum flexibility, accommodating the broad range of work produced by the gallery’s artists.
Charles Platt talks about his design for the New 42nd Street Studios, which can be seen as a collage or an abstracted version of a traditional graphic approach inspired by the city. Instead of conforming to the stylistic signage canon of 42nd Street, the architects decided to turn the whole building into a luminescent sign.
Barry Bergdoll, Phillip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA speaks on how the interaction between the Seagram Building, Lever House, and Tennis and Racquet Club activates the urban environment at the corner of 53rd Street and Park Avenue.
Architect Moshe Safdie discusses the design of the Peabody Essex Museum. Constructed in several phases over the past 200 years, it is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States. The objectives of Safdie's architectural expansion and re-organisation were to create a dramatic addition emblematic of the institution’s new identity as a center of art and culture; to unify a disparate group of buildings and join them with newly doubled gallery space; and to present the museum to visitors as a coherent, welcoming whole.
Architect Moshe Safdie describes the process of conceptualizing and designing the new Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum includes a new visitors’ center (Mevoah), a new history museum replacing the existing museum constructed in 1953, a Hall of Names, a synagogue, galleries for Holocaust art, an exhibitions pavilion and a learning and visual center. In addition, new underground parking and facilities for tour buses are located adjacent to a new entrance piazza. The overall program quadruples the permanent exhibition space.
Donald Fram, Chief Architect of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, discusses the historic renovation of Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at New York City's JFK Airport.
Architect Moshe Safdie describes the Crystal Bridges project, which is both a museum and a cultural center. The project is located in a ravine with a creek fed by Crystal Springs. Two suspended-cable-and-wood buildings span the ravine, creating two ponds. These structures serve as dams as well as bridges. The design aims to protect the natural beauty of the site while emphasizing a strong sense of place, and certain materials – wood, fieldstone and limestone aggregate – are drawn from the region. Building walls are architectural concrete with wood inlays, and the roofs are composed of a system of laminated wood beams. The liberal use of glass throughout the complex provides great transparency and enhances views of the site.
Joan Blumenfeld, Design Principal at Perkins+Will, discusses the land on which the Police Acadmey was built. The site was previously a brownfield and flood zone, thus the architects had challenges with creating the infrastructure since everything had to be built above ground.
Joan Blumenfeld, Design Principal at Perkins+Will, discusses the concept behind the New York City Police Academy. The architects had to contend with creating something for both the mind and body of the police recruits. The Academy is designed to consolidate an administrative and training campus for the New York Police Department and is the largest and most technologically advanced in the world. All spaces are designed to link together with enclosed walkways and stairs in what is essentially a "horizontal skyscraper."
Architect Joan Blumenfeld, Partner at Perkins+Will, was part of a team that renovated the NYU Stern School of Business in a building designed by Philip Johnson. Many buildings were located underground, which allowed for no natural light. They wanted to create a more transparent space in the community, and to have the building reflect its urban roots.
Alice Aycock discusses her "twisted bridges" sculpture on the waterfront in Nashville. The sculpture, located on the banks of the river in Nashville, was designed to look like two parts of a bridge that had been playfully flung into the air. The giant sculpture survived the floods of 2010, despite being submerged in high water.
Alice Aycock discusses her large-scale "wormhole" in a parking lot of the Kansas City Airport. The artwork ties themes of human flight, astrophysics and, some might say, extra-terrestials. Shaped like two giant trumpet bells facing away from each other and attached in the middle like a double-sided cornucopia, the artwork is fabricated like an airplane - an armature wrapped in an aluminum skin. The sculpture evokes the spaces created by wind tunnels, which are used to test the aerodynamics of airplane designs. It also suggests future travel through wormholes or time machines as imagined in science fiction. The neon antennae are designed as vertical counterpoints to the curvature of the tunnel. They also suggest that energy is radiating out into and down through the sculpture.
The sculptor, Tony Rosenthal, discusses the idea behind his popular rotatable sculpture, Alamo, located in Astor Place at E 8th Street. The Alamo, a 15-foot tall cube, is more commonly referred to as the "Astor Place Cube." It was installed as part of Doris C. Freedman's "Sculpture in Environment" project, and was the first permanent contemporary outdoor art sculpture installed in New York City. According to scholars Edward Ablee and Sam Hunter, employing the outdoor cube established Rosenthal as a "master of monumental public sculpture." The cube is poised on its tip, and can be physically rotated by passers-by.
Renowned artist Alice Aycock discusses Whirls & Twirls on a Vortex of Water - her sculpture of metal, steel, concrete and acrylic that hovers above water in an elliptical-shaped pool. This artwork is designed to generate a realm of wonder and curiosity; to be theatrical, poetic, delightful and magical. Integrating science, art and technology, its conception refers to the tumultuous weather patterns in South Florida. The artist describes the challenges of creating sculptures that appeal to the eyes of passers-by.
Alice Aycock describes the inspiration for her large-scale sculpture, an aluminium helix, placed atop the defunct Department of Sanitation Waste Transfer Station as part of a project to transform the building into a public plaza. The shape was inspired by Fred Astaire's dancing, and responds to the vast visual environment around the Queensborough Bridge.
Alice Aycock describes the design of the staircase she created inside a San Francisco library. She wanted the piece to seem as if a tornado had hurled it into a corner. This functional staircase connects the 5th and 6th floors of the library. The stairs wrap around a two-story sculptural cone and appear to unravel themselves as fragments of imaginary stairs peel off. Cyclone Fragment is a purely abstract sculpture that appears as a ghost projection of the spiral stair.
Renowned artist Alice Aycock describes the inspiration for her piece, the Star Sifter, which was commissioned to act as a barrier between JFK Airport security lines and the open atrium above. Airport security had been positioned underneath the atrium, making it possible to for contraband items to be smuggled past security. Star Sifter is conceptualized as a giant net and cone to catch falling items from making their way past security.
Architect Shauna Gillies-Smith discusses the materials and constructions of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Residence Hall, and the landscape that surrounds it.
Architect Shauna Gillies-Smith discusses the process of designing the landscape surrounding the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Residence Hall. Students at MassArt led the design process, collaborating to create a landscape that sought to exemplify the values of their school.
César Pelli talks about the design for San Bernardino's City Hall, completed in 1969. The City Hall has been named as one of the nation’s outstanding city halls by the American Institute of Architects and Library of Congress, and was the recipient of an honor award for design excellence by the American Institute of Architects.
César Pelli talks about one of his earliest works, a public housing project in Hawaii. Kukui Gardens has long provided affordable housing in Honolulu, one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation.
César Pelli talks about one of his first projects, the Worldway Postal Center, a mail transfer center near Los Angeles International Airport, which he worked on in 1966. The Worldway Postal Center won an Honor Award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1969.
Cesar Pelli describes the process of designing the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. The Petronas Towers, the central element of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre development, are a modern expression of Malaysia’s culture, history, and climate, and symbols of its economic growth and hopes for the future. The twin towers rise from a mixed-use base of cultural, commercial, and public spaces set in a large park in the center of the city. Until 2004, they were the world’s tallest buildings.
César Pelli talks about the Laboratories Building he designed in 1967 for COMSAT, a satellite manufacturing company, in Clarksburg, Maryland.
César Pelli describes his work on the Fox Hills Mall Shopping Center, which he was involved with during his time at Gruen Associates. Situated on a 50-acre site, the Mall was originally anchored by three department stores, more than 132 specialty shops and a four-level, car-parking with direct access. Notable elements of its original design were a glass-and-steel "theme" staircase in the center of the mall, as well as angled bridges which connected multiple levels. The project received a Los Angeles Chapter AIA Citation for Design Excellence.
César Pelli talks about the design of the United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. He describes how reinforced concrete was made to look paper-thin in its application. This project, completed in 1976, is composed of a long, 12-story office tower and a parallel three-story office wing separated by a central court containing an auditorium, terraces and gardens.
César Pelli talks about the BOK Center in Tulsa, which hosts a range of events and performances, including sports, music, and circus performances. The Center is an 18,000-seat sports and entertainment venue that gives Tulsa its desired architectural icon. The design is contemporary while alluding to local culture, creating a world-class design that is truly Oklahoman. As a central element of Tulsa’s regional development plan, the arena draws people to the city’s revitalized downtown.
César Pelli addresses how library design must take into account the changing ways that libraries are used. He describes here how his design for the Minneapolis Public Library is flexible and accommodates library evolution. The Minneapolis Central Library is a vital civic and cultural center for downtown Minneapolis. The highly sustainable design — the result of a collaborative, public process — reinvigorates the idea of the grand urban library, making it accessible and appealing to new generations.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the design of the Fountain at Battery Bosque. The idea of a public park that is able to support thousands of flowering plants was bolstered by an emphasis on occupying the new park with hundreds of linear feet of seating and new activities including an exquisite water feature and dining facilities.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the award-winning design of the Bronx Charter School for the Arts, that reflects the school's founding principle that arts education is critical to human development and learning. Color, space, and natural light create a direct physical connection with the content and aims of the curriculum. The budget restrictions and use of a former factory require a simple but innovative approach to achieve a healthy environment that enhances the learning spaces. A community driven design process resulted in a unique, light-filled space. Through its adaptive re-use of the building, the school plays a role in the transformation of the Hunts Point neighborhood. The decision to reuse the facade structure with a new insulated brick layer for the exterior wall added energy savings. Filtered fresh air and north facing skylights supply the building with an ethereal aesthetic while meeting health goals. North-facing insulated clerestories reduce heat gain, bring natural light into the deep interior spaces throughout the day, and allow the school to save money on heating and cooling. Many of the materials used are a minimum 60% recycled content. The LEED checklist was used as a guide throughout.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the NYC Information Center, that was a commission that prompted a new way to look at tourist information. It transforms a storefront into an 'information space', seamlessly integrating media design and architecture to meet visitors at any level of engagement. All levels of physical and digital design are customized to extend and anticipate the contents of the new NYC-Go web site and create an object-based live experience for users. The view from the street pull the visitor into the information architecture. The universal symbol of information, the single "i", enlarged and extruded through the space, accommodates the Center's interactive 'Smart Tables'. These 6'x 4' multi-touch screens with a sophisticated mapping capability enable visitors to create their custom NYC guidebook. Graphic banding of floor and walls organizes the interior into coordinates creating a "mapped" foreshortened space. This project, a collaboration between WXY and Local Projects, exemplifies the cross disciplinary nature of WXY's work in both analog and digital enhanced spaces and has become a prototype for the clients approach to tourist information.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the NYC Information Center, that was a commission that prompted a new way to look at tourist information. It transforms a storefront into an 'information space', seamlessly integrating media design and architecture to meet visitors at any level of engagement. All levels of physical and digital design are customized to extend and anticipate the contents of the new NYC-Go web site and create an object-based live experience for users. The view from the street pull the visitor into the information architecture. The universal symbol of information, the single "i", enlarged and extruded through the space, accommodates the Center's interactive 'Smart Tables'. These 6'x 4' multi-touch screens with a sophisticated mapping capability enable visitors to create their custom NYC guidebook. Graphic banding of floor and walls organizes the interior into coordinates creating a "mapped" foreshortened space. This project, a collaboration between WXY and Local Projects, exemplifies the cross disciplinary nature of WXY's work in both analog and digital enhanced spaces and has become a prototype for the clients approach to tourist information.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, describes the process of designing the Activity Buildings at Hudson River Park, Piers 25 and 26. As families move into buildings along former industrial areas, the need for leisure activities arises. Four buildings were required to support dozens of planned activities. WXY's group of hybrid buildings articulates the new uses of this segment of the Park: miniature golf and snack bar with Dock Master's office, utility and maintenance, a boathouse and restaurant with a floating deck, and a skateboarding facility combined with comfort station. The architectural vocabulary draws on the history of robust marine structures and garages. WXY reinterprets the pragmatic nature of utility building with sculptural gestures using scale shifts and a sense of playfulness. Angling rooflines and three-dimensional signs animate the compositions. The set of buildings share a material palette that shifts in color and shape. They are all single story with the walls and roof zinc clad and equipped with broad overhangs for shade and shelter from the elements.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the security kiosks at 11 MetroTech. The new parallelogram-shaped security kiosks create a slimmer profile and changeable views from every approach. It was important to challenge the notion that security enhancements automatically result in an aesthetic of unattractive, industrial materials and forms by providing a design solution that gave even greater interior view angles to the security personnel while being a positive addition to its environment. The sculptural quality of this unusual booth enhances and softens its presence in the street. Its cladding, made from multilayered glass panels, produces an ever-changing combination of shadows and reflections within its layers.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture, discusses the design plan for the Battery Bosque. Once a two-acre area of asphalt, the Bosque now fulfills the historic Battery Park's potential as a destination. Full of natural abundance, with spaces to sit, eat, and play, it is a lushly planted porch in the vast acreage of New York's Inner Harbor. Key to this transformation was the synergy between the concept of a garden on the waterfront and the design of new park elements that could enrich the atmosphere.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture + Urban Design, speaks about the process of designing Kowsky Plaza.
Claire Weisz discusses the Zipper Bench designed by WXY Architects. The Zipper conceptually strives to positively encourage social interaction with any different number of people gathering, relaxing and engaging. The bespoke elements of the bench design facilitate a multiplicity of options in their arrangement. These components act as parts within the urban whole.
Claire Weisz, Principal at WXY Architecture + Urban Design describes the process of designing the Drawing Center.
Hugh Hardy of H3 Collaboration Architecture discusses the history of the New Victory Theater in Times Square. Built in 1900 by Oscar Hammerstein, the New Victory is New York's oldest surviving theater. Restoration and rehabilitation of this historic theater was the first significant step in the renaissance of popular entertainment in the landmark 42nd Street District. Due to the intricacy of interior detail and numerous modifications over time, H3's staff began the project with an existing conditions report in order to create a master plan for restoration and rehabilitation. The program included expansion of the lobby and basement, creation of an upper lobby, and restoration of the facade and all interior elements, including detailed plaster and wood work.
Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses his work on the transformation of 42nd Street from a seedy area to a family friendly environment.
Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses his firm's work on the renovation of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Guido Hartray, of Rogers-Marvel, discusses the MTA Flood Mitigation Streetscape Design.
Jonathan Marvel describes the design of St. Ann’s Warehouse, which built its new home in the 1860 Tobacco Warehouse along Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO. Within this much beloved ruin-like brick building, the design celebrates contradiction with discrete yet unexpected materials of glass bricks, black steel and plywood. An overall discrete volume is inserted snugly into the walls on three sides, allowing the historic arched doors and varied windows to remain untouched. The fourth side is occupied by support spaces and community amenities which open onto an intimate triangular park within the warehouse’s walls.
Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses the history of Radio City Music Hall and its influence on the architecture of New York City. One of the nation's most famous theaters, Radio City Music Hall houses New York's most awe-inspiring spaces. When the hall opened in 1932, it was the world's largest theater with 6,200 seats. H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture conducted a major restoration and renewal of the hall. The carpeting, wall coverings and upholstery fabrics were restored to their early bold patterns and textures, and the murals to their full brilliance. Original Donald Deskey furniture and light fixtures were refurbished and restored. Many exterior design elements were also brought back, heightening the building's nighttime drama. Marquee lighting was restored to red-and-blue neon piping and gold lettering, not seen since the 1930s.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses the Triple Bridges at 9th Avenue near 40th Street, leading into the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In 1995, the Port Authority contacted Manhattan Community Board 4 to ascertain the concerns and desires of the local community. Subsequently Leni Schwendinger Light Projects and PKSB Architects proposed a luminous and colorful architectural design solution for pedestrian and vehicular street traffic, winning the commission. The design choices - from lighting to color pattern - were selected to emphasize the I-beam engineered structure of the bridges. Metal mesh is illuminated by standard lighting fixtures utilized in innovative ways. Reflective panels produce a carpet of light onto the roadbed in the midst of this urban node.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses The Wall, an installation in the Soho area located at Broadway and East Houston Street, by Frosty Myers. A blue installation alongside the building at 599 Broadway; taken down in 2002 for causing damage, yet with a push from the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission was re-installed in 2007.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses the renovation of Asphalt Green, from a concrete production plant, to a recreational facility.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses their renovation of the Arnold Constable Department Store. Originally a department store, this building was built in the 1850s. It was renovated and converted into a residential space.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses the Manhattan Valley Viaduct, a landmark located at W 125th Street and Broadway. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
Sherida Paulsen, principal of PKSB Architects, discusses the renovation of Father Duffy Square, that successfully changed the landscape and atmosphere of Times Square.
Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture discusses his work on the renovation of Bryant Park, from a drug-infested area to a clean and safe community area. The rehabilitation of the park recaptured a derelict public space by introducing amenities, careful interventions in the landscape and proper maintenance. To draw pedestrian traffic, hedges were removed and openings made in the central lawn's balustrade. New entrances and ramps to the north and south were added, and access points were altered to encourage easy visitation.
Stephen Cassell, principal architect at Architecture Research Office, discusses ARO's renovation of the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Times Square. The current building, which was constructed in 1999, resembles a three-dimensional U.S. flag.
Stephen Cassell, principal architect at Architecture Research Office, explains how ARO, in partnership with Della Valle Bernheimer, designed and built an energy efficient, sustainable house for a low-income neighborhood in Syracuse, NY. The R-House project was designed to create an affordable, innovative paradigm for minimal energy consumption embodied in architecture that nurtures the spirit and engages the community. Its compact exterior belies expansive and luminous spaces within. The design meets the German Passivhaus standard, requiring only the equivalent energy of a hair dryer for heating. Designed for high economic and practical performance, R-House strengthens the physical and social structure of Syracuse’s Near Westside neighborhood. The project was awarded the 2010 R+D Award from Architect Magazine and the 2010 AIA Merit Award from AIA New York City.
Stephen Cassell, principal architect at Architecture Research Office, discusses his firm's proposal to reshape the New York City harbor in response to global warming and rising water lines. ARO's proposal consists of two basic components that form an interconnected system: porous green streets and a graduated edge. Their new conception of what a “street” is will not only provide productive park space within the city, it creates a network of absorptive green surfaces. On the edge of the island, three interrelated high-performance systems are constructed to block higher sea levels and mitigate storm surge force and flooding: a productive park network, freshwater wetlands, and tidal salt marshes. The above- and below-ground performance of the city can be supported by a newly integrated and mutually beneficial infrastructure.
Stephen Cassell, principal architect at Architecture Research Office, discusses ARO's ongoing renovation of the north section of Union Square. Renovations include rehabilitating a former music pavilion and adding a much needed public bathroom. Through improvements to its architecture and landscape, ARO will be adding a new Comfort Station, a seasonal café within the historic Pavilion, and an operations office. The design weaves the park's familiar existing elements with new construction that will expand the ways in which New Yorkers can make use of the park. ARO's renovations have been awarded the 2010 Norman Buchbinder Award for Community Service, Union Square Partnership.
Wendy Evans Joseph talks about the renovated central entry space of the Museum of the City of New York. The proposal included three main elements: a seating area, a temporary café on the 2nd floor and a light installation. Starlight replaces a 19th century chandelier, with the intention of not just providing light, but as part of a greater ideal of making the entry lobby the core experience for public gathering and to encourage visitors to use the monumental circular stair as primary circulation instead of elevators. But beyond these practical notions, the light sculpture symbolizes the museum’s engagement with modern life in the city. It links its great historic tradition with current technology and thinking.
John Woelfling, of Dattner Architects, discusses the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. He explains how the ship was removed from the ocean, what they envisioned and what was accomplished when opening the ship to the public. The USS Intrepid (CV11) aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1943 for service in World War II, served during the Vietnam conflict, and went on to serve as a primary recovery vessel for NASA. In 1976, this ship was decommissioned and was set to be scrapped until real estate developer Zachary Fisher and the Intrepid Museum Foundation saved the boat and founded the museum. One of New York City's most visited attractions, the USS Intrepid Museum aims to "honor our heroes, educate the public, and inspire our young people."
William Stein, of Dattner Architects, discusses the Bronx Library Center, which replaced the former Fordham Branch Library. The facility provides expanded circulation and reference collections, cutting-edge information technology, a full range of education, business and technology training for all ages, literacy classes, and English language proficiency programs. The BLC also houses the Latino and Puerto Rican Cultural Center, with extensive bilingual collections, educational and cultural programs, and multi-media exhibits. The project received LEED Silver Certification from the United States Green Building Council. It is the first publicly funded building in New York City and the first library in The New York Public Library system to receive LEED certification.
William Stein of Dattner Architects and Robert Garneau of Grimshaw Architects discuss the unique design elements of Via Verde. The award-winning design is inspired by the integration of nature and city. At the heart of the project is a dynamic garden and series of green roofs that serve as the organizing architectural element and identity for the community.
Joseph Coppola of Dattner Architects discusses the renovations to the Schomberg Library in Harlem, preserving its historic octagonal shape while incorporating light and sound dampening into the gallery and research library. The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the history and experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The renovation of the Schomburg Center includes the creation of a new Center for Scholars, as well as the renovation of several key public spaces.
Joseph Coppola, of Dattner Architects, discusses the renovation of Wave Hill, which was built in 1843 by William Lewis Morris. Famous residents include Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and Arturo Toscanini. The estate was deeded to the City of New York in 1960 and Wave Hill, Inc., was formed in 1965 as a non-profit corporation. Wave Hill House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Dattner Architects was retained by Wave Hill to update their Master Plan and to design renovations to the House, funded through the NYC Department of Design and Construction. Designs were approved by the New York City Landmark Commission.
WIlliam Stein, a partner at Dattner Architects, discusses the new canopy that covers the station at Bowling Green. Sited between the landmarked Customs House and historic Bowling Green Park, the new station canopy is a dramatic, transparent, curved steel and glass structure sensitive to its historic surroundings. The project involved close coordination with multiple public agencies and community organizations.
Jeffrey Dugan, a partner at Dattner Architects, discusses the renovations done to the 59th Street/Columbus Circle Station. Dugan illuminates on the importance of bridging historical perspective and renovations. The Columbus Circle Station project organizes, rehabilitates and restores this sprawling station complex at the intersection of the original Broadway Line and the more recent IND subway, underneath the newly renovated Columbus monument and fountain.
William Stein and Jeffrey Dugan, of Dattner Architects, discuss the renovations to the Myrtle Wyckoff Station Complex and the empowering sense renovations can have on a neighborhood. This was a pilot project for MTA's Design for the Environment Program. Sustainable design features include daylighting and natural ventilation in the control house rotunda, lighting controls and energy-saving mechanical systems.
Richard Dattner of Dattner Architects discusses the renovations to the Coney Island Boardwalk. He argues the importance of sanitary comfort station, and how through these renovations he moved these stations from under the boardwalk to a more suitable location. Located along a two mile stretch of the historic Coney Island boardwalk, improvements include new comfort stations, a lifeguard station and shade pavilions. These provide vital public amenities for the millions of visitors to the famous boardwalk, ocean, beach and amusement park.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, discusses the design tactics behind creating a learning environment for children at P.S. 234. At the time of its construction, P.S. 234 was the first new school built by the New York City Board of Education in almost 15 years, and the first public school in TriBeCa. It accommodates 700 children from Kindergarten through 5th Grade.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, discusses the design behind the Con Edison Service Center on East 16th Street. Designed to utilize and demonstrate contemporary strategies for energy conservation and sustainability, the building houses technicians and equipment for servicing Con Ed's steam, gas and electric distribution systems throughout Manhattan. The sophisticated curved curtain wall offers views of the East River, maximizing daylight while limiting direct sunlight into the facility. The central skylight on the third level brings additional daylight deep into the building.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, shares his vision for Riverbank State Park, the roof of the sewage treatment plant on the Hudson River was developed as an urban park. The roof of the sewage treatment plant on the Hudson River was developed as an urban park. Two bridges provide access to this year-round recreation facility containing an indoor and outdoor swimming pool complex, multi-purpose structures for athletic and cultural activities, playing fields, court games and a running track, picnic areas and a riverfront promenade, amphitheater, two playgrounds and a restaurant with views up the river.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, discusses the Lawrence A. Wien Stadium and its' responsiveness to community concerns. The Lawrence A. Wien Stadium replaces the legendary 50,000-seat wooden stadium which served Columbia University since 1927. Built on Columbia's 27-acre Baker Field in upper Manhattan, and overlooking the Harlem River and New Jersey Palisades, the new facility is responsive to community concerns. It allows off-hour community use of the running track. In order to minimize the stadium's visual impact on the surrounding residential community, the home stand structure is partially on-grade - taking advantage of a natural slope and lowering the profile of the stadium complex.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, shares his ideas about bridging the new and the old. This rehabilitation project included the renovation of the existing historic station house. The rehabilitation of one of Manhattan's busiest and most congested transit stations provides straphangers a much-improved travel experience. The site includes three landmarked elements - the existing station house, the track walls within the station, and the adjoining Verdi Park.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, shares his ideas behind the refurbishing of the Asphalt Green AquaCenter, which houses New York City's premier 50-meter competition swimming pool.
Richard Dattner, of Dattner Architects, discusses renovation of the marine transfer station on West 59th. Originally constructed in the 1930s and re-designed in 1984, this Marine Transfer Station replaced a 19th-century MTS whose historic facade was reconstructed as the entrance gateway to the new facility.
Architect Adam Yarinsky, from the Architecture Research Office, talks about the Addition that re-centers the Princeton School of Architecture. Enclosed in glass and steel, the Addition links the School’s two-story south wing, where its administrative offices and library are located, to the three-story north wing’s studios and classrooms. Princeton students have nicknamed the building the “Hyphen”. The Addition contains a new lobby, student lounge, elevator, and cantilevered steel stair. Plan and section take their dimensions from the existing 1963 building: the Addition aligns with the existing floor levels and, on the exterior, translates the rhythm of the existing building’s window bays. Large glass panels, with varying ceramic frit patterns overlaid like folds in a curtain, comprise the Addition’s envelope. The frit pattern affirms formal characteristics seen in the building, uniting the glass and steel Addition with the existing building, while also providing solar shading for the third floor lounge. The elevator shaft, painted shades of blue, forms the background against which the stair and the frit pattern are seen. The project scope also included renovations throughout the existing building to update the School of Architecture with a new model shop and facilities for a three-dimensional printer.
Architect Adam Yarinsky, from the Architecture Research Office, talks about the restoration of 101 Spring Street, the nineteenth-century cast-iron warehouse in which the artist Donald Judd lived and worked from 1974 until his death in 1994. The building is notable for both its elegant, extensively glazed exterior and for the significant transformations that Judd implemented to the interior. The project includes the repair and preservation of the historic exterior fabric, together with extensive life safety, fire suppression and climate control improvements to enable the building to function as a museum and offices of the Judd Foundation.