Fellows in the News: Balsley, Berke, Blaik, Cooper, Dubbeldam, Dykers, Fisher, Gans, Pasquarelli, Schrag, Schmidt, Solomonoff, & Wilks

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Cleveland’s ParkWorks cut the ribbon on Perk Park, a new green space designed by Thomas Balsley; in a post reflecting on what Jeanne Gang’s recent MacArthur win means for women in architecture, Flavorpill noted the accomplishments of  Deborah Berke, Board Member Winka Dubbeldam, and Galia Solomonoff in this historically-male-dominated field; Omar Blaik has been hired by the University of Kentucky to help better integrate several universities into downtown Lexington; the New York Times interviewed David Cooper as he celebrated his 30th year with WSP Flack + Kurtz; Craig Dykers had a big November: the Wolfe Center for the Arts at Bowling Green State University became Snøhetta’s first building completed in the US, while the firm also unveiled new, detailed renderings of the SFMOMA expansion and won a competition to design the subway entrances for the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastián (pictured at left); Kenneth K. Fisher interviewed former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green for this month’s episode of Citywide; Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman’s latest column, on re-thinking housing for contemporary New York, included a nod to Deborah Gans‘ work for the Architectural League’s recent Making Room symposium; Gregg Pasquarelli’s SHoP (which was recently profiled in New York Magazine) released much-anticipated renderings of the modular residential towers planned for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards site; the Hartford Business Journal talked to Jonathan Schrag about the effectiveness of Cap & Trade programs; Paul Schmidt reaffirmed CADA’s committment to the organization’s R Street warehouse project in the Sacramento Bee; and Barbara Wilks‘ new The Edge Park along the Williamsburg’s rapidly-changing waterfront was a featured project on Landezine.

Quoth the Fellows: Sassen, Sennett, Solomonoff, & Venturi

Friday, August 26th, 2011

In a co-authored NY Times op-ed that cites cuts to government-funded social programs as an underlying cause of the recent UK riots, Board Member Saskia Sassen and Fellow Richard Sennett caution that “Americans ought to ponder this aspect of Britain’s trauma. After all, London is one of the world’s wealthiest cities, but large sections of it are impoverished. New York is not so different.” In responding to a young woman’s question about whether or not to take time to work between receiving her undergraduate degree in environmental science and returning to school to pursue a graduate degree in architecture, Galia Solomonoff noted that “One of the benefits of working in between careers is understanding the life applications of a given practice.” And while being interviewed about his role in shaping Postmodernism by filmmaker John Thornton, Patron Robert Venturi (pictured at left) advised that: “Modernism is about space. Postmodernism is about communication. You should do what turns you on.”

Fellows’ Events & Exhibitions: July 1-14, 2011

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Board Member Saskia Sassen will deliver the keynote address at Lift France 11 in Marseille on 7/7; Board Member Tami Hausman will participate in the Center for Architecture panel discussion The Pitch: A Hands-On Workshop on Attracting a Client in Two Minutes or Less on 7/11; Board Member Thom Mayne will participate in the Van Alen Institute’s Los Angeles panel [PDF] for their Life at the Speed of Rail program on 7/12; and you can see BOB, a public art installation (pictured at left) designed by a team led by Galia Solomonoff, at Columbia University in Manhattan through 7/25.

Fellows’ Events & Exhibitions: April 15-30

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Both Linda Pollak and Andy Bernheimer will serve as judges for the Architectural League’s Sketch 120: Greenpoint Edition tomorrow  afternoon (4/16); Craig Dykers and Board Member Maxine Griffith (pictured at left) will both speak at Colubmbia University’s GSAPP Alumni Weekend (4/16-17); Denise Hoffman Brandt will give a lecture on her City Sink project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on 4/18; Anthony Flint will speak at TEDxTampaBay on 4/19; Bernheimer will speak on 4/20 at Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture; Jeff Byles will participate in a panel discussion at the Ineffably Urban symposium in Buffalo on 4/30; and the newly-launched Studio-X Rio de Janeiro has opened with an exhibit featuring work by Galia Solomonoff.

2009 Kick-Off Party, New York

Sunday, February 8th, 2009
kick-off

Friends and fellows gather to toast the Institute.

Fellows, friends, and supporters of the Institute for Urban Design gathered at the New York studio of mOrphosis Architects to celebrate the new board of directors and chart an expansive next phase of critical urban engagement. Generously hosted by board member Thom Mayne, the event marked one year of transition, building upon the legacy of the Institute’s past while looking toward the future. More