Amplifying Creative Communities: North Brooklyn
The DESIS Lab (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) at Parsons The New School for Design presents Amplifying Creative Communities in NYC: North Brooklyn from November 7–20 at Arts@Renaissance. This exhibition and workshop series, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation’s New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, are part of a two-year, design-driven initiative aimed at helping neighborhoods and communities to support social innovations that create a more sustainable New York City. These activities range from healthy and local food initiatives, to environmental efforts, alternative modes of transportation, and sharing economies such as co-housing, food cooperatives, and bartering. For more information about this exhibition and workshop series, please visit here.
Sukkah ‘In the Field’ Installation / BanG studio
As a temporary installation at Park Slope, Brooklyn for the Jewish Sukkah holiday, the design by BanG studio for this new sukkah, titled, “In the Field” reflects both the symbolic nature of the design as a pastoral escape to a transitional and temporary space in line with the holiday’s spirit and the in situ design principal where all aspects of the specific development of the form were resolved in the actual assembly. More images and project description after the break.
Nitehawk Cinema and Apartments / Caliper Studio
Though primarily known as Wiliamsburg’s only first-run movie house, this project is in actuality an expansive 23,000 square foot mixed-use building with three floors of residential apartments above the cinemas, bar, café commercial kitchen housed in the retrofitted brick warehouse below. All of the apartments have access to outdoor space in the form of private roof decks at the penthouse level and shared courtyard access for the floors below. Caliper Studio designed all phases of the project from the earliest design studies through the construction process. More images and architects’ description after the break.
‘Breaking Borders: New Latin American Architecture’ Exhibition
Pratt Institute School of Architecture and Latin Pratt, a student research organization, will present “Breaking Borders: New Latin American Architecture,” an exhibition highlighting contemporary architecture of the past 10 years from 45 firms representing more than 10 countries in Latin America from September 8 through November 30, 2011, at the Hazel and Robert H. Siegel Gallery at 61 Saint James Place in Brooklyn.
The exhibition and opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on September 8 are free and open to the public. It is curated by Ivan Rumenov Shumkov, Ph.D., adjunct associate professor of undergraduate architecture, and Andres Chavez and Julio Martinez, both students in Pratt’s undergraduate architecture program and founders of Latin Pratt. More information on the event after the break.
Portaali / Gia Wolff
Gia Wolff’s latest architectural installation features a 25 ft diameter portal suspended above 2 Avenue between 36 and 35 Street in Industry City, Brooklyn. As part of Superfront Public Summer, the site specific piece is a reaction to the existing typological conditions and explores potential scenarios for the future of Industry City. Finnish for ‘portal’, Portaali refers to the Scandinavian dock workers who used to occupy the buildings in the late 1900s.
More about the installation, including a video, after the break.
Video: New York City Visualized Through Smart Shoes
Brooklyn based interaction designer Cooper Smith has created an amazing series of videos documenting pedestrian travel within Manhattan. By tracking the paths of 1000 Nike Plus (Nike’s new smart running shoe) runs, he was able to produce and distill a wide variety of data. The results are quite elegant in terms of graphics, and offer insight into the patterns of urban travel. For more videos visit Cooper’s website.
Video: +FARM
This summer design/build program for architecture students aims to get their hands dirty with both design and construction experience. Relocating from their Brooklyn studio home at Direct Design Institute students and professorers participated in a one week building work shop at the Five Sisters Farm in Perrysville, New York. Funded by Kickstarter (today is the last day to donate!) +FARM provides students with the opportunity to learn about “direct design” by observation and the physical act of making a movable Chicken Coop and restoring an old farm house to be later used as an artist colony and hunter’s house.
reOrder / Situ Studio
On display until January 2012 in the Brooklyn Museum is reOrder, an architectural installation by Situ Studio of Brooklyn. reOrder is located in the Great Hall of the McKim, Mead & White designed museum. The stately historical building served as both inspiration and site for Situ Studio’s imaginative spatial transformation.
In Progress: New Greenpoint EMS Station / Michielli + Wyetzner Architects
Construction is underway for the Greenpoint Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Station, designed by Michielli + Wyetzner Architects for Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The two-story, 12,400-square-foot contemporary design accommodates the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) ambulance crews and vehicles, and occupies a prominent site on Metropolitan Avenue near Bedford Street in the rapidly developing neighborhood. The station is part of FDNY’s plan to improve response time to medical emergencies throughout the city by increasing the number of stations and thereby reducing the distance and time ambulances travel to those in need. Completion is expected for June 2012.
Veronica People’s Club / Fabrica 718
Architects: Fabrica 718
Location: Brooklyn, New York City, NY, USA
Architect of Record: Melissa Cicetti, AIA
Project Team (Fabrica718): Julie Torres Moskovitz (principal), Minyoung Song, Kim Letven, Michael Brehmer, Michael Vanreusel, Omar Toro-Vaca, Natalya Egon, Viviana Wang, and Corey Yurkovich.
Structural Engineer: Anastos Engineering
Expediter: Schnall Consulting
Contractor: Dave Ramirez, Metal Fabricator: Daniel Bailey/Hard Decor
Project area: 2,300 sqf
Project year: 2010
Photographs: William Mebane, Sean Hemmerle
Twin Condominiums / LOCAL
Located only one block apart in a historical neighborhood in Brooklyn made up of mostly brownstones and brick row houses, the design of this two ground-up condominium buildings called for façades that would relate to each other while referencing their context, and while embracing the modern living standards of its future residents.
Architect: LOCAL
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: A-Frame Studio
28 Old Fulton Street / Nandinee Phookan Architects
Architects: Nandinee Phookan Architects
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
General Contractor: Giovannitti, LLC
Structural Engineer: Pennmax Engineering
MEP Engineer: Clifford Dias Engineering
Stair Manufacturer: Product and design metalwork
Project area: 3,700 sq. ft.
Project year: 2008 – 2010
Photographs: Tom Judge Photography
In Progress: Red Hook Green / Garrison Architects
Garrison Architects are completing designs for Red Hook Green, New York’s first sustainable zero-energy, live/work building. A completion date projected is summer 2011. This unique structure is expected to become one of the most distinctive architectural additions to up-and-coming Red Hook section of Brooklyn.
Architect: Garrison Architects
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Project Area: 4,000 sqf
Renderings: Courtesy of Garrison Architects
80 Dekalb / Della Valle + Bernheimer
Located on the third floor of a residential tower, this amenity space combines a fitness center with a diverse entertainment program including screening room, gaming area, and demonstration kitchen. The boundary between these two programs is defined by a folded metal structure. This luminous patterned surface intersects the residential corridor to form the entrance.
Architect: Della Valle + Bernheimer
Location: 80 Dekalb, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Project Area: 2,600 sqf
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Courtesy of Della Valle + Bernheimer
Myrtle Hall / Wasa/Studio A
Architects: Wasa/Studio A
Location: Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, USA
Partner in Charge: Jack Esterson, AIA
Project area: 120,000 sq. ft.
Photographs: Alexander Severin RAZUMMEDIA, Wasa/Studio A
Commonthread: Hyperlocal Community for Global Applications / HTDSTUDIO
This community prototype, designed by HTDSTUDIO, calls for a targeted approach to true sustainability and a cost effective model as key residential, commercial, cultural and institutional components reside on the same one block site. It is a de-facto return to the true, urban planning model (at least from a practical standpoint) that came to prominence in the 19th and 20th Centuries. This model proved most sensible where most goods and services were locally provided to the neighborhood. The advantage is that residents would have essential elements of their neighborhood within walking distance of less than one city block; in this case the study is in the Gowanus – Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In Progress: Sunset Park Materials Recycling Facility / Selldorf Architects
Situated near the entrance to the Gowanus Canal, formerly the site of a police impound lot, the 11-acre pier will house a new 125,500 sqf facility for recycling and education. Designed by Selldorf Architects, the Sunset Park Materials Recycling Facility was not just conceived as a facility for recycling, but also as an active classroom. The approximate 2.5 acres of green space, complete with grazing goats, 50,000 sqf of photovoltaic cells and hopeful wind turbine, will offer an observation corridor and educational classrooms for students. The site is currently being raised four feet by construction crews and a completion date of December 2011 is anticipated.
Architects: Selldorf Architects
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Client: Sims Municipal Recycling
Project Area: 125,000 sqf
Renderings: Courtesy of Selldorf Architects
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce 11th Annual Building Brooklyn Awards
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce holds the annual Building Brooklyn Awards. Currently accepting nominations for the 11th Annual Buidling Brooklyn Awards, the event is a signature real estate industry event that recognizes recently completed new, and renovation construction projects, that have a positive impact on the borough’s economy and quality of life.
The event honors individuals who have made significant contributions toward enhancing the business conditions and economic climate of Brooklyn. This year’s awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, July 14, 2011, at the Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
More information and images from last year’s winners after the break.
Frank Gehry to Speak at Pratt Institute on Architecture and Beauty
Renowned architect Frank Gehry will speak as part of the Pratt Institute School of Architecture’s fall 2010 lecture and events series at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, in Memorial Hall Auditorium on Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. The event is free and open to the public. Seating priority will be given to Pratt students and faculty members with valid ID at 2:30 p.m. Members of the public will be admitted at 2:50 p.m. should seating be available.
Read on for more information after the break.
Sephardic Community Center / BKSK
The 100,000 square foot new Sephardic Community Center on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, NY is a transformative expansion of its 30-year old original building. It is symbolic of the central role it now plays in the surrounding neighborhood as an inter-generational facility. It expands upon the first Center’s stated mission to preserve and nurture the rich history and culture of the Sephardic Community, it offers coherence to the Center’s ever-widening program of educational, athletic and social services, and above all it extends a legible, clear invitation to all for participation in community events.
More photographs after the break.
Architects: BKSK Architects
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Partner-in-Charge: Joan Krevlin, FAIA, LEED AP
Project Architect: Julia Nelson, AIA, LEED AP
Project Managers: David Kubik, AIA, LEED AP, Harpreet Dhaliwal, AIA, LEED AP
Interior Designer: Stacey Jattuso
Contractor: E.W. Howell
Structural Engineer: Weidlinger Associates Inc.
MEP Engineer: Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer: Michael Wein Civil Engineer
Landscape Architect: H.M. White Site Architects
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Jonathan Wallen, Jeffrey Totaro
The New Domino / Rafael Viñoly Architects
Earlier last week, the City Council of New York City decided to move forward with Rafael Viñoly Architects’ master plan for the New Domino in Brooklyn. While the historic sugar refinery complex, with its familiar yellow signage, has achieved landmark status and will be preserved, the 11.2 acre-site will be outfitted with 2,200 new apartments – 660 of which are affordable housing – and four acres of public park space including a riverfront esplanade along the East River in Brooklyn.
More about the master plan after the break.
