Half Dose #107: New England Conservatory

[All images (c) Ann Beha Architects / Gensler]

Boston's Ann Beha is an architect versed in historic restoration and contemporary architecture, a rare breed. Many people see these as polar concerns without common ground, but Beha's work acknowledges old buildings without letting them determine a recipe for new additions. Or to put it another way, she neither mimics nor overpowers existing buildings, instead finding qualities that should be extended in a new intervention, such as scale, texture, and materiality. The New England Conservatory's first building in over 60 years is a good example of her contemporary contextualism.

Per the architect's statement, the New England Conservatory "occupies 2.5 acres and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, a continuing education program, and a preparatory program for students ages 3-18." Beha is no stranger to the music institution, having restored Jordan Hall, the core of the campus in Boston's East Fenway district. The two-phase, new-construction project will demolish two existing buildings and be located adjacent to Jordan Hall, the building at right in the above photo and sketch. Beha's proposal aligns her design with this landmark building, both in terms of scale and alignment, but the top watercolor shows that the new building opens itself up where the old one is primarily closed off from the street.

As mentioned, the project is comprised of two phases. The taller piece in the model, and the low front engaging it, are phase one: the Student Life and Performance Center (student residences, dining hall, library, practice and performance faciliities). Groundbreaking on this part is planned for next year. Phase two is the smaller portion at left, an Academic Center with offices, practice rooms, and a black box theater. The watercolor sketch below offers a similar angle to the model above.

One thing striking about the design is the means of presentation. Watercolors are not a fairly common medium anymore, given the ease with which architects can produce realistic computer renderings. Of course, the latter run the risk of draining the unexpected from the design process, meaning that watercolors offer the potential for change, or at least room for development as a building moves toward reality. I wouldn't be surprised if computer renderings follow later this year or next year, though, as they are effective tools for fundraising, an extremely important concern with institutions these days.

Watercolors also allow modern/contemporary designs to go down a little easier, if you will. Boston is a city proud of its historic buildings, so new insertions like this one by Beha with associate architect Gensler are ripe for opposition. Renderings that are softer than computer-generated ones, and which exhibit the delineator's hand rather than the architect's ability to manipulate layers in Photoshop, help to convince people that forward-thinking designs have a place in the contemporary city, even when sitting by historic landmarks.

Taking Pride in Madison Square Garden

I must admit I was baffled upon seeing this ad for Zurich Service Corporation on the back page of The Atlantic.

After all, Madison Square Garden is the increasingly unloved replacement for the much loved (often nostalgically) Penn Station, which was demolished in the mid-1960s to make way for the circular sports arena. Recently even, New York Times critic Michael Kimmelman has called for moving the Garden, saying that the "present arena is a flimsy, aging eyesore." For his predecessor, Nicolai Ouroussoff, it was tops on a 2008 list of candidates for demolition in which he called the Garden "cramped and decrepit."

Most people hate the Garden for what it did to the remains of Penn Station underneath it -- "one of the city’s most dehumanizing spaces: a warren of cramped corridors and waiting areas buried under the monstrous drum of the Garden", again Ouroussoff. The Garden may be an eyesore, but remove if from atop one of the busiest transit hubs in the world (Penn Station is home to Amtrak, Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit and two MTA subway lines) and its negative qualities drop significantly.

Nevertheless I'm still baffled that an "insurance-based financial services provider" would take pride in the construction of Madison Square Garden at time when people seem to loathe it more than ever. Perhaps being located in Europe they have a hard time seeing the building for what it means to many people in New York City and the United States.

Via Verde Slideshow

As promised last week, here are more photos (39, to be exact) from my tour of Via Verde in the Bronx.

Rice Skyspace Opens

Back in April I posted about James Turrell's Skyspace at Rice University, which is ~~officially described as~~ a flat-topped, 72-foot-square pyramid housing a seating area for viewers. The Skyspace opened on June 14, and Rice has posted a video with commentary from some of the people involved (unfortunately not Turrell) and some students impressions of the new addition to the campus's public art.

(Video via Rice University News and Media)

Monday, Monday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:

This week's dose features RE:ACTIONS in Brussels, Belgium by Alive Architecture:

The featured past dose is the Red Light Platform in Rotterdam, Netherlands by Jasper Jägers Architecture:

This week's book review is a+t 38: Strategies and Tactics in Public Space edited by Aurora Fernández Per, Javier Mozas (L):

(R): The featured past book review is Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Architecture by Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till.

World-Architects.com U.S. Building of the Week:

NaCl House in Bethesda, Maryland by David Jameson Architect:

Unrelated links are now found in the left sidebar and on My Diigo Bookmarks page.

Today's archidose #595

Here are some photos of the Schaulager Satellite in Basel, Switzerland by Herzog & de Meuron (2012). The temporary pavilion was built for Art Basel, June 4-17. Photographs are by Trevor Patt.

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

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

Via Verde in Context

On Tuesday I attended a press tour of the Via Verde development in the Bronx, designed by Grimshaw and Dattner Architects. The project is getting plenty of coverage, and I will feature the building on my weekly page soon, but in the meantime I wanted to post some of my photos showing the building in its physical context, since most of the professional photography on the project (such as this Domus review) isolates the building from its surroundings. I'll be adding more photos to my flickr set from the visit soon.

For reference the building is located at 700 Brook Avenue, just north of the baseball diamond visible in this aerial.

[The approach from the south along Bergen Avenue - Street View]

[Looking north from the corner of East 153rd Street and 53rd Avenue - Street View]

[Looking east from East 155th Street and Elton Avenue - Street View]

[Looking south from East 156th Street across the parking lot serving the neighboring NYCHA development - Street View]

Today's archidose #594

Here are some photos of the Almedina Bookstore at Arrábida Mall in Gaia, Portugal by Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus (2002). Photographs are by Paulo Tavares Pereira.

WELCOME TO THE BLACK & WHITE BOOKSHOP #4[Ciências exactas]

WELCOME TO THE BLACK & WHITE BOOKSHOP #2

WELCOME TO THE BLACK & WHITE BOOKSHOP #1[Ciências sociais e humanas]

To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

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

Books with Holes

Think of books with holes cut through the pages -- not children's books, mind you -- and probably nothing comes to mind. But I couldn't help trying to recall other books with holes after seeing Columbia GSAPP's Abstract 2010-11. While I'm boggled by the potato gracing the cover, it's clear that three differently sized circles are cut through the entire book, cover to cover.

[Abstract 2010-11 | image source]

The first book that came to mind, one I actually used to own, is Chora L Works, which documents Peter Eisenman and Jacques Derrida's competition entry for Parc de la Villette in Paris. Square holes are cut through the book until it's midway point, where full pages create color backdrops for the cutouts. The diagonal grid of red squares are those cutouts. It's a frustrating book, since the cutouts don't relate to the page layout (minus some of the drawings), so words are missing from the already difficult text. No wonder I got rid of it, and no wonder the average Amazon rating is 1.5 stars.

[Chora L Works | image source]

Another title that comes to mind is a forthcoming book by ORO Editions that I saw a mock-up of at the AIA Convention in May: Hour 25: HKU Architecture Papers. The book is quite a bit more complex in how it cuts through the book's pages. Two semi-circles are cut into each page about a thickened line that is rotated a few degrees relative to the previous and succeeding page. The cover below makes it clear how this line then rotates clockwise a full 360 degrees from front to back. But the sample pages to the right indicate that the semi-circles were taken into account in the page layout; on pages with text the paragraphs actually follow the circles' arcs.

[Hour 25: HKU Architecture Papers | image source]

Thanks to an anonymous comment, another book with holes is Koolhaas Houselife, which is actually a DVD and companion book. (My previous blog post on the film by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine) Both are about OMA's House in Bordeaux, which features, among other things, circular windows; the cover sees the house's caretaker cranking open one of these oculi. The circular cut through some of the book's pages enable the dvd to be nested within the book.

[Koolhaas Houselife | image source]

Per Trevor's comment, here is a look at Jonathn Safran Foer's Tree of Codes. The publisher's descriptions says the book has "a different die-cut on every page ... Initially deemed impossible to make, the book is a first — as much a sculptural object as it is a work of masterful storytelling. ... Inspired to exhume a new story from an existing text, Jonathan Safran Foer has taken his "favorite" book, The Street of Crocodiles by Polish-Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, and used it as a canvas, cutting into and out of the pages, to arrive at an original new story ..."

[Tree of Codes | image source]

If you can think of other architecture-related "books with holes" please comment. I'd love to add more to this post.

"I Love Architecture" Auction Picks

Architecture for Humanity's "I Love Architecture" Charity Auction on ebay collects some pretty big names, including Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, Renzo Piano, Richard Meier, Bjarke Ingels, and Daniel Libeskind. Most of the pieces -- 100% of the proceeds benefit Architecture for Humanity -- are reproductions of older sketches and other drawings, though some of the (mainly) architects did special drawings for the occasion. If you're interested in donating money to AFH, and getting a fine artifact in the process, all of the pieces are worth browsing (be sure to scroll past the thumbnails on the main auction page for the full list). Below are close-ups from a few of my favorites from the roughly 70 pieces up for auction from June 19-29.

[Richard Rogers | The Centre Pompidou Signed screenprint on archival paper 24x36]

[Olav Lunde Arneberg Astrid Rohde Wang Pick Up Chicks w/ Blocks & Bricks Painting]

[Eskew+Dumez+Ripple Estuarine Habitats & Fisheries Center | Lafayette Watercolor]

Screenplay

Friday, June 22 to Sunday, June 24 is Dwell on Design at the LA Convention Center. One part of the fair is Screenplay, an installation by longtime favorites Oyler Wu Collaborative. While the installation won't be unveiled until Friday at 7pm, below is a preview.

Monday, Monday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:

This week's dose features Hansha Reflection House in Nagoya, Japan by Studio SKLIM:

The featured past dose is the House in Showa-cho, Osaka, Japan by FujiwaraMuro Architects:

This week's book review is Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel by Jimenez Lai (L):

(R): The featured past book review is Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware.

World-Architects.com U.S. Building of the Week:

Edge House in Warren, Connecticut by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson:

Unrelated links are now found in the left sidebar and on My Diigo Bookmarks page.

Circling Manhattan

Last week I voyaged on the Around Manhattan Official NYC Architectural Boat Tour with featured guide Meta Brunzema, an architect, urban designer, Pratt University professor, and founding director of Friends of Hudson River Park. The weekly tours that are run by AIANY with Classic Harbor Lines include a few guest guides this year, Brunzema the most recent and yours truly the last, in September. Brunzema's narration, which was accompanied by regular guide Arthur Platt, focused on waterfront infrastructure (piers, landfill, etc.) and new developments along New York City's waterways. Below are some highlights from Brunzema's tour -- most of the facts new to me and gleaned from her descriptions -- along with some of my photos.

Pulling out of the slip at Chelsea Piers, the starchitecture draws one's attention to the skyline, but there's just as much interesting stuff happening over the water, such as the various states and construction of the piers along the Hudson River. Many piers, both old and new, are built on wood piles, meaning that a good deal of the 50-odd piers that used to line the river are ruins. So why aren't they removed? Primarily because the piers are considered ecological habitats for water creatures, so they are protected. And what of the piers that are not constructed from wood piles? Pier 57, which will be converted to commercial and cultural venue by LOT-EK, is the rare example where concrete caissons are the structure for the pier. Three huge concrete boxes, to be exact. And per this article, each is approximately 360' long by 85' wide by 30' tall; no wonder the pier is positioned to be renovated! Further south, Pier 54 is sinking, but is set to be rehabbed as part of Hudson River Park.

Continuing south down the Hudson River towards Battery Park City, Brunzema clarified one of the most prevalent misconceptions about the community built on landfill: A small portion of the area (about 25%) is built on landfill from the construction of the World Trade Center; much is sand from under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

After taking in the Statue of Liberty and some great views of the changing Lower Manhattan skyline, more tales of landfill came in the form of Governors Island, a fort, army post, and now public space open on weekends May to September. The southern half of the island was created from the dirt excavated for the construction of the Lexington Avenue Subway (4,5,6), though I've heard elsewhere that it came from the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. This southern half will be transformed as a park, but its originally flat profile made it an ideal landing spot for a Wright Brothers (or just Wilbur) flight.

Moving up into the East River, Brunzema pointed out some old warehouses that will be demolished to create a beach for East River State Park. The park's Pier 42 will become a floating pool, which allows swimmers to dip safely into river water. Brunzema has designed the pool, one of which was built in the Hudson Valley. Since the East River is contaminated due to combined sewer overflow (CSO), the water will be filtered by mussels.

Of course, the East River technically is not a river; it's a tidal strait, connecting Long Island Sound on the north with Upper New York Bay on the south. Fast-moving currents led Verdant Power to test tidal energy near Roosevelt Island in 2003. According to Brunzema, the water was so strong that it broke the equipment. Nevertheless, tidal power is being pursued for the Cornell Tech Campus planned for the southern portion of Roosevelt Island. At this tip is the FDR Four Freedoms Park nearing completion:

After a slow cruise up the Harlem River and around Spuyten Duyvil, the boat traveled down the Hudson again. Passing the row of prewar buildings overlooking Riverside Park in the 80s and 90s (streets), Brunzema recounted a talk where Saskia Sassen described how the park was a dangerous place in the 1980s. People with dogs walked their dogs in the park, naturally, yet over time they took back the park as more people got dogs and walked them in the park together. Today those problems are a thing of the past, because of a bottom-up strategy, planned or not.

Before pulling back into the slip at Chelsea Piers, we got a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Enterprise on the deck of the Intrepid. Its prominent location on the ship's prow is temporary, though, as a permanent home is planned on land near the Intrepid. Seeing the shuttle made the eight-year-old boy-in-me's day, especially since I probably won't see it again...at least until September.