American pharmaceutical group Merck (known as MSD in Europe) has announced that it intends to build a new UK headquarters across from the King’s Cross station in collaboration with Precis Advisory, Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, and AKT II engineering consultancy. GSD community-members are represented across the project at all three collaborative partners, most prominently Faaiza Lalji MDes ’13 who is the Planning and Development Director of Precis Advisory.
The project would put special focus on creating a structure that acknowledges and complements the history of the area while also sitting at the forefront of sustainability. A press release from Precis Advisory shares the following details of the project: “The proposed building, ten stories on Euston Road and four stories (with a fifth story set back) on Argyle Square, will deliver c 180,000 sq ft of net lettable space for MSD, would use sustainable materials and has been designed to reduce carbon emissions generated through construction, operation and future fit-out refurbishment. An innovative double-skin façade would reduce solar gain and the energy required to cool the office spaces, and includes a biophilic zone which gives visibility of plants from every workspace and from outside the building.”
An article in the Financial Times notes that “Merck’s UK hub will be its first set of labs outside the US that carry out early-stage research to discover new medicines.”
The project has not yet been finalized and is still subject to planning permission and approval.
Among this year’s recipients of the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2020 Architecture Awards, the practices of three GSD Alumni were honored.
Nader Tehrani MAUD ’91 was awarded the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for his significant contribution to architecture as an art. Nader is principal of the firm NADAAA in Boston and dean of Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. The Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize began in 1955 as the first architecture award given by the American Academy of Awards and Letters.
Bade Stageberg Cox, a firm co-founded by Jane Stageberg MArch ’89, and the individual practice of Jonathan Tate MDes ’08 were both honored with an Arts and Letters Award in Architecture for their works, which are “characterized by a strong personal direction.”
A full press release for the American Academy of Arts and Letters 2020 Architecture Awards is available on their website.
AGi Architects, the firm of Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea MArch ’02 and Nasser B. Abulhasan MArch ’02, DDes ’07, was recently awarded second prize in a public competition to restore and expand the Railway Museum in the former Madrid-Delicias Station.
Their project, “Machine Gallery,” envisions a space that goes beyond history by acting as a center of discussion, participation, and social communication. The project is available to view on the AGi website.
As of May 2020, Derek Ham MArch ’03, PhD has been appointed as the Head of the Department of Art + Design at North Carolina State University’s College of Design.
In an article announcing the appointment, dean of the college Michael Hoversten said, “I am thrilled to announce that Derek Ham has been chosen as our next Art + Design Department Head. Derek’s background and approach to multi- and inter-disciplinary work makes him a strong candidate in an already competitive candidate pool. I am excited to see the direction he brings to the Art + Design program moving forward.”
In addition to his appointment, Derek has also been selected as a 2020 University Fauculty Scholar and serves as the principal investigator of the MX Reality Lab.
A full press release on Derek’s appointment is available on the NCU College of Design website.
David Rubin MLA ’90, founding principal of the design studio Land Collective, has been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects as a Featured Diverse Practitioner.
In the announcement, the ASLA highlights that “David’s visionary contribution to the field in ’empathy-driven design’ is a hallmark of the studio, earning increasing renown for fusing issues of social justice in cities with excellence in the design of public spaces. His work has received awards and honors from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects.”
David was also interviewed during the ASLA’s first LGBTQIA Pride Happy Hour by Landscape Architecture Magazine editor Brad McKee.
Land Collective team members shared statements about their experiences and work in an article on the studio’s website.
On Saturday, June 27, 2020, Jennifer Carroll Wilson MLA ’99 passed away at the age of 51. Jennifer headed her own landscape design practice in the San Francisco Bay area and served as a board member for Ethical Metalsmiths in 2016 and 2017.
Her family shared a message of remembrance in the Los Angeles Times:
Our beautiful Jennifer left us way too soon. She was a vibrant, radiant being with an unparalleled zest for life. Her dazzling smile lit up a room. Jennifer grew up in Los Angeles. She attended The Westlake School for Girls and Colorado College, where she majored in English. Colorado opened her eyes to nature, which became her passion. In her young adventures, she climbed Mt. Kenya hiked the Masai Mara and spent a summer releasing endangered peregrine falcons into the wild. She began her professional career in the environmental field in San Francisco, working at Esprit and the Resource Renewal Institute. These experiences led her to the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, where she taught children about sustainable agriculture. The next step was the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and there she earned a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture. She met her future husband, Marcel, at Harvard. After Cambridge, they moved to San Francisco, where their daughters Lena and Zoe were born. Jennifer was still most at home in nature which inspired her many artistic endeavors, including the sculptural jewelry she created and sold. She loved the mountains where she skied, hiked, bicycled, and camped, and passed those passions along to her children. Every year she looked forward to spending time with her family at Lake Almanor, California. In recent years, her focus returned to designing gardens and she opened her own residential landscape design practice. She had recently completed a new studio office in her garden, giving her the opportunity to do what she loved – create, design, draw, and cultivate. It was her happy place. Jennifer passed away suddenly from natural causes. Her large family is devastated. She leaves husband Marcel, daughters Lena and Zoe, mother Judy Carroll, sisters Carey and Abbe, brothers Tom and John, and countless nieces, nephews, in-laws, and close friends who will cherish the precious memories she left us. Jennifer was predeceased by her father, Dick Carroll. She was our perennial ray of sunshine.
Below is an excerpt from Portman Architects’ website.
Son of famed Atlanta architect John Calvin Portman Jr. and Jan Portman, John C. “Jack” Portman III MArch ’73 was born November 3, 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia. Jack graduated from The Lovett School in Atlanta, then earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He began practicing architecture in 1973 at John Portman & Associates, rising from an Apprentice Architect to become Chairman of the firm, now known as Portman Architects.
Jack took over leadership of Portman Architects following the death of his father, John C. Portman Jr., in 2017. While exceedingly successful as a real estate developer, Jack was passionate about being an architect, particularly the creation of meaningful architecture with a focus on culturally sensitive design. He once said, “The challenge of the architect is to do something that seems to belong where it is situated.” Throughout his nearly 50-year career with the Portman Companies, Jack pioneered their international expansion, helping to transform the enterprises into the globe-spanning real estate design and development firms that they are today.
Link to the full text.
Katharine V. Martin MLA ’95 has been elevated by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) as a fellow for her exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their works, leadership/management, knowledge, and service.
ASLA Fellows will be elevated during a special Investiture Ceremony later this year. Additional information about the 2020 Class of Fellows, as well as previous ASLA Fellows, is available on the ASLA Council of Fellows webpage.
Congratulations to Katharine. For the full list of 2020 Fellows, click here.
A team including five GSD alumni have been selected as finalists in a competition held by the New York City Council and the Van Alen Institute to reimagine New York’s Brooklyn Bridge as a friendlier experience for cyclists and pedestrians. The design team includes Wendy Wang MLA ’14, Cy Zhang MLA/MLAUD ’20, Vita Wang MArch ’19, Jeremy Pi MUP ’19, and Minzi Long MAUD/MDes ’20 along with designers Shannon Hasenfratz and Andrew Nash.
The team’s proposal, “Bridge X,” reimagines the upper and lower decks for greater pedestrian and cyclist access, to make room for vendors and small businesses, and to offer new modes of engagement with the bridge. The proposal uses digital tools and design interventions that enable visitors to engage with the bridge in new ways, while the bridge itself evolves in response to public feedback and adapts over time. The team submitted their proposal via Wang’s ScenesLab, which she founded as a platform for experimentation and research.
More information about the competition and the “Bridge X” proposal are available in an article on the GSD website.
Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA MArch ’78 has been awarded the highest honor of the AIALA, the Gold Medal Presidential Honor.
2020 AIALA President Gerg Verabian, AIA, stated that, “To Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA, the practice of architecture includes the rigorous investigation of strategies that deliver the benefits of design excellence to some of the region’s most vulnerable: individuals with mental illness, and those with little financial means to access housing. His devotion to fellow humans is matched by his mastery of craft.”
The announcement of the award further acknowledged Mr. Lehrer’s accomplishment with the following: “Lehrer embodies the high level of achievement loosely covering four areas that characterize this year’s AIALA Presidential Honorees class: design excellence, service to the region and country, the fostering of next generation designers, and support of the field. The twelve recipients were chosen by the Chapter’s Board of Directors in its entirety, with the president selecting the Gold Medal recipient.”
The full press release is available on the AIALA website.
John C. Haro MArch ’55 has passed away at the age of 91. John was elected FAIA and the former Senior Vice President and Director of Design and Planning for Albert Kahn Associates. Before his time at the Harvard GSD, he studied under Walter Saunders at the University of Michigan.
The Albert Kahn Associates firm shared the following announcement:
John Calvin Haro, FAIA, a Detroit architect who designed multiple buildings for the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor as well as many corporate headquarters projects, died April 9 in Phoenix, Arizona, at age 91.
Mr. Haro spent most of his career with Albert Kahn Associates in Detroit, where he was a Senior Vice President, Corporate Director, Stockholder, and Director of Design and Planning.
Among his many projects, he oversaw while with the Kahn firm were several for the University of Michigan, including UM’s Physics and Astronomy Building, the Modern Languages Building, the Adult General Hospital, the Graduate Library addition, and the Duderstadt Center North Campus Information Technology Center and Library.
Mr. Haro also oversaw the creation of the National Bank of Detroit headquarters in downtown Detroit, the Avon corporate headquarters, Eli Lilly’s Engineering Technology Center, and the Washington Post headquarters.
“John was a valued and willing mentor to many architects around the country, and in his own firm. He led an incredible list of Kahn projects for a diverse collection of appreciative clients,” said Alan H. Cobb, FAIA, President & CEO of the Kahn firm.
Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in the Baraga, Michigan area, the son of John H. and Lydia Haro, he was a longtime resident of Birmingham and Houghton, Michigan and Scottsdale, Arizona. John was a graduate of L’Anse High School, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Michigan. After serving in the U.S. Navy as an Ensign on the U.S Tawasa AFT92 during the Korean War, he went on to earn a Master of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Mr. Haro began work as an architect in the Detroit area with Yamasaki & Associates and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls before moving to Albert Kahn Associates. He was awarded a Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship by Harvard University and was a Fellow with the American Institute of Architects. He also received the Gold Medal from the Detroit Chapter of the AIA and Michigan Society of Architects for design and urban planning.
Mr. Haro was preceded in death by his loving wife of 65 years, Elizabeth, (Betty Smith), Haro. He is survived by his children; John S., Alex, and Alison; and five grandchildren.
After his retirement, John designed private homes, churches, and additions to schools in the Houghton and Hancock area of Michigan. In later years John and Betty lived in Houghton, Michigan, and Scottsdale, Arizona, where John continued his architectural work but also producing many original paintings and drawings. He also was fluent in the Finnish language, having learned it as a child, and enjoyed researching his heritage and visiting with relatives in Finland.
On May 29, in Stamford, Connecticut, Nancy Ai-Tseng Miao Twitchell MArch ’60 passed away at the age of 92. Nancy was one of the first women architects to be elected FAIA by the American Institute of Architects. She held a Professorship at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture for 30 years and was a Partner at two of her own firms, Architects Design Group and Twitchell & Miao, Architects, which she founded with her husband, Terry Twitchell.
Please find an obituary published in the New York Times below:
Nancy Ai-Tseng Miao Twitchell, FAIA, Architect and Professor, passed away peacefully in Stamford, Connecticut on May 29, 2020 at age 92.
Nancy was born on March 13, 1928, the daughter of Miao Chien-Chou and Zhou Chi-Fung. As a child in China, her family was forced to move frequently due to her father’s political career during the tumultuous period before and during World War II. She lived in Beijing, Tianjin and Hong Kong before attending Nankai High School in Chongqing as a boarding student. Following the Second World War, the family moved to Tokyo, where her father held a diplomatic position for Chiang Kai-Shek’s government.
Soon after, Nancy came to the U.S. as a student in Boston, earning a BA from Tufts in 1951, an MS from Boston University in 1953, and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1960. She achieved early success as an architectural designer, serving on the design staff of Hugh Stubbins & Associates, The Architects Collaborative (TAC), Edward Larabee Barnes Associates, and Mitchell Giurgola. Nancy went on to be a Partner of two firms based in New York City along with her Architect husband, Terry Twitchell, whom she married in 1966 – Architects Design Group and Twitchell & Miao, Architects.
She was a prolific designer with a tremendously varied portfolio of work. Nancy designed residential skyscrapers including Carnegie Hill Tower in Manhattan; multi-block urban college campuses like Manhattan Community College in New York City; large suburban healthcare campuses notably Broome Developmental Center in Binghamton, New York; private residences that won “Architectural Record House” awards, including the New York home of the former Corning CEO; and laboratory buildings such as the Coykendall Science Building at SUNY New Paltz.
The American Institute of Architects recognized her professional achievements by electing her to the College of Fellows and awarding the FAIA title, a distinction that only 3% of AIA members have received and even fewer women architects. Nancy was also a Professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute School of Architecture for thirty years.
Nancy and Terry retired in 1999 and moved to Boston, where they enjoyed reconnecting with old friends from their Cambridge days. They spent many summers at their Chilmark home on Martha’s Vineyard, and recently moved to Darien, Connecticut to be closer to family.
Nancy was predeceased by her brother, Dazue, who died at age 4, and her parents, who passed away in Taiwan. She is survived by her husband Terry Twitchell, her son Daryl Twitchell and his wife Peggy Bell Twitchell, and her two grandchildren Emily and Brian, as well as countless generations of architecture students who studied with her in the U.S. and Taiwan.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her memory to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, or The Glass House of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in New Canaan, Connecticut. A private burial will be held at a later date in Chilmark, Massachusetts.
Rituparna Simlai MLA ’15 was honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects Florida Chapter as the 2020 recipient of the Exceptional Emerging Professional Award.
She was recognized for the breadth of her work as the founding principal of Studio Arth. In their announcement, the ASLA Florida Chapter noted how, “within two years of inception, under her direction, the portfolio of the studio extends beyond landscape design for high-end residences…to working on research and analysis for ecologically restorative and social-justice projects in geographically diverse regions like Vietnam, China, Nepal and Timor-Leste.”
A forthcoming book by Sara Hendren MDes ’13 questions the ways we interact with the things and spaces around us and asks us to rethink what we live with. What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World is set to be published by Penguin & Random House on August 18, 2020.
From the publisher:
“A fascinating and provocative new way of looking at the things we use and the spaces we inhabit, and a call to imagine a better-designed world for us all.
Furniture and tools, kitchens and campuses and city streets—nearly everything human beings make and use is assistive technology, meant to bridge the gap between body and world. Yet unless, or until, a misfit between our own body and the world is acute enough to be considered disability, we may never stop to consider—or reconsider—the hidden assumptions on which our everyday environment is built.
In a series of vivid stories drawn from the lived experience of disability and the ideas and innovations that have emerged from it—from cyborg arms to customizable cardboard chairs to deaf architecture —Sara Hendren invites us to rethink the things and settings we live with. What might assistance based on the body’s stunning capacity for adaptation—rather than a rigid insistence on “normalcy”—look like? Can we foster interdependent, not just independent, living? How do we creatively engineer public spaces that allow us all to navigate our common terrain? By rendering familiar objects and environments newly strange and wondrous, What Can a Body Do? helps us imagine a future that will better meet the extraordinary range of our collective needs and desires.”
N H D M Architects has been recognized by Architectural Record as a 2020 Design Vanguard. Partners Nahyun Hwang MArch ’01 and David Moon MArch ’01 were featured for the depth and diversity of the firm’s work. Architectural Record‘s exclusive celebrates how, “for them, the realities of contemporary cities serve not only as subjects of investigation, but as inspiration and a fertile testing ground for experimentation and transformation.”
The Design Vanguard honor, started in 2000, “spotlights architects doing some of the most innovative work in the field and will lead the profession in the future. They are the firms at the forefront of design and the architects are the ones to watch.”
Learn more.
An exhibition by Hayoun Won MDes ’13 is currently on view online at Blank Space, a gallery space based in New York city “with a focus on experimental and mixed media techniques by artists from across the globe.”
According to Blank Space, the exhibition includes “a variety of works that range from spatial installation to hand drawn design diagrams that respond directly to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Among them is Won’s Moments of Silence which “is comprised of a media projection and four digital artworks which seeks to create a monument and memorial for those lost to the current tragedy. Also included in the exhibition are series from her past projects which think about the way in which design can impact and affect change on a social level and even react to the present circumstances; a future design without boundaries.”
Print Magazine highlighted the exhibition on their site, where more photos of Won’s work are available.
The exhibition will run through July 5, 2020.
Jeff B. Speck MArch ’93 has been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners for the Class of 2020. Induction to the AICP College of Fellows is the highest honor the American Institute of Certified Planners bestows upon a member. Election to the AICP College of Fellows based on outstanding contributions as a professional planner and individual efforts to improve both the field of planning and community.
As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, Speck presided over the Mayors’ Institute on City Design and created the Governors’ Institute on Community Design. Prior to his federal appointment, Mr. Speck spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at DPZ & Co., the principal firm behind the New Urbanism movement. Since 2007, he has led Speck & Associates, an award-winning design consultancy serving public officials and the real estate industry.
With Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Mr. Speck is the co-author of Suburban Nation, which the Wall Street Journal calls “the urbanist’s bible.” His 2012 book, Walkable City–which the Christian Science Monitor calls “timely and important, a delightful, insightful, irreverent work”–was the best selling city-planning book of the past decade. Its sequel, Walkable City Rules, was named to Planetizen’s “Top Ten” of 2018.
According to AICP “Fellows of AICP are nominated and selected by their peers to recognize and honor their outstanding contributions as a professional planner. The outcomes of their individual efforts left demonstrably significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they served. All Fellows are long-time members of AICP and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, and community service and leadership.” In lieu of the FAICP induction ceremony and reception at NPC20, other ways to celebrate the 2020 College of Fellows inductees are being considered.
Anne Valentino and George Ranalli MArch ’74 of George Ranalli Architect are featured in: Architecture Here and There by David Brussat. The publication includes photography and aims to “promote a revival of classical and traditional architecture in Providence, R.I., and around the world by suggesting that lovable buildings needn’t be old but can be made new today, if only modern architecture can be somehow convinced, or shamed, or forced, into permitting an even playing field for major commissions in architecture.”
Through an integration of mechanical, structural, and material conditions, Ranalli introduced a modern design for a new theater, harmonious to both street and district in the municipality of a historic Pennsylvania district. The project called for a proposal for a new 4,000 square ft. non-profit community theater featuring a masonry façade attuned to its setting.
For more about the project click here
Zeerak Ahmed MDE ’18 runs Matnsaz, an initiative to better represent Urdu in technology. Growing on his master’s thesis work of building breakthrough Urdu keyboards for modern smartphones, Zeerak now runs a collaboration across continents and disciplines to build infrastructure for software developers across the world that want to support Urdu and other languages in the Arabic script.
In late 2019, they released Makhzan, an Urdu text corpus. A corpus of text is the fundamental building block used to train artificial intelligence upon which language processing capabilities are built. From autocorrect, to search, and to linguistic analysis, Makhzan will support a diverse set of use cases with a high-quality and free-to-use data source.
With the help of learnings from Makhzan, Zeerak is inching closer to a public beta of his Urdu keyboard. Recent articles in MIT Technology Review Pakistan, and Princeton Alumni Weekly go deeper into the technological and cultural implications of this new technology.
Credit: Michael Raspuzzi
Amanda L. Miller MDes ’17, AIA has been promoted to Project Architect, in recognition of her increased responsibilities and professional experience at Hoffmann Architects. As the press release states, “She joined Hoffmann Architects in 2017 as Staff Architect and earned a promotion in 2018 to Senior Staff Architect. Her experience includes comprehensive design development and implementation for a variety of projects, including accessibility and hardscape rehabilitation at Columbia University and facade rehabilitation for Open Society Foundations at the Argonaut Building, a LEED Gold historic landmark built in 1909. While at Harvard, she co-organized Black in Design, a conference that recognizes the contributions of the African diaspora in the design fields.”
“In 2018, Miller was selected as one of ten emerging architectural professionals for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Civic Leadership Program, a mentorship training initiative focused on engagement in the civic process. As part of a grassroots network of urbanists and designers, she co-organized the Spaces and Places gathering in Oakland, California in 2019 and is currently planning the 2020 gathering in Houston, Texas. She is also the incoming co-chair of AIA New York’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Miller’s publication credits include the Hoffmann Architects JOURNAL article, “Plaza Design for Longevity and Maintainability,” and articles in Facility Executive and forthcoming in Facility Management Journal. She lives in Astoria, New York.”
To read the full press release click here.
Seventeen GSD alumni have been elevated by the 2020 Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to its prestigious College of Fellows. The honor recognizes architects who have “achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level.”
The GSD congratulates:
- Alexandra A. Barker, FAIA, AB ’93, MArch ’98
- Andrew Vernooy, FAIA, MDes ’91
- Ellis (Lanny) McIntosh, FAIA, AMDP ’14
- Eric Haas, FAIA, MArch ’93
- Javier Arizmendi, FAIA, MArch ’91
- Jay Valgora, FAIA, MArch ’88
- Katherine W. Faulkner, FAIA, MArch ’93
- Kenneth J. Jandura, FAIA, MAUD ’78
- Michael E. Tingley, FAIA, MArch ’89
- Neal J.Z. Schwartz, FAIA, MArch ’92, MPP ’92
- Philip B. Chen, FAIA, MArch ’96
- Roger Sherman, FAIA, MArch ’85
- Scott K. Henson, FAIA, MArch ’98
- Susannah C. Drake, FAIA, MArch ’95, MLA ’95
- Tom Sungjin Chung, FAIA, MArch ’99
- Warren A. Techentin, FAIA, MArch ’95, MAUD ’95
- Yanel E. De Angel Salas, FAIA, MDes ’06
For the full list of 2020 Fellows, visit the AIA website.
John Werner LF ’09 and a team of MIT researchers have launched a mobile app called Private Kit: Safe Paths, to track COVID-19 patients via their phones by sharing information about their movements in a privacy-preserving way—and could let health officials tackle coronavirus hot spots. This could potentially be the first large-scale project in the U.S. to trace their movement and that of those with whom they interact. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, “the project requires both people who have the illness caused by the novel coronavirus and those who don’t to voluntarily download an app to their phones. Researchers have said that the collected data is scrambled so that individuals can’t be identified and such measures are aimed at alleviating the privacy concerns that in the U.S. have surrounded the prospect of this type of surveillance.” Researchers said they are in negotiations for backing from the World Health Organization about how the technology should be deployed. They also are working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and have had several conversations with the White House, according to people familiar with the matter.
The MIT project’s success is dependent on amassing a large number of participants, and whether that is attainable in the U.S. isn’t yet clear. The MIT effort comes as a host of startups and researchers are racing to develop new technology to fight various aspects of the novel coronavirus. The MIT research group says it is also joining with big tech companies and large health-care systems, such as the Mayo Clinic and the Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young, to aggregate as much data as possible through the app, called Private Kit. Several Facebook Inc. engineers are donating their time to the project, which is led by Ramesh Raskar, a former Facebook executive who also worked at Alphabet Inc.’s Google X unit.
To find out more about this project, click here.
Ming Thompson MArch ’10 was recently honored with a 2020 AIA Young Architects Award. Each year, the Young Architects Award is given to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career. “As the leader of an innovative multidisciplinary firm, Ming Thompson, AIA, has proposed a new paradigm for architecture and challenged the rigid definition of practice. Her prominent voice has driven the conversation on equity in architecture, and her efforts and stamina have led to positive change and increased longevity for the profession.”
As the article states, “after years of working for firms, from traditional studios to community development corporations around the world, Thompson founded Atelier Cho Thompson with partner Christina Cho Yoo in 2014. In her work, Thompson leans on the rich diversity of her personal history and has shaped her practice around a more humane vision of architecture built around the human body.”
To read more about her achievements click here
An interactive map visualized by Yijia Chen MLA ’17, with contributions from Yujia Wang MLA ’17 and Qi Ou (University of Oxford), depicts COVID-19 cases in the United States at the county level. By hovering over an area, the viewer sees confirmed and newly added patient cases, population, and hospital location and capacity. The map was inspired by an earlier effort with Zhuoming Info Aid to document China’s COVID-19 county level situation in January.
Chen currently works as a landscape Architect with DumontJanks. Wang is an assistant professor of practice in the landscape architecture program at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
IwamotoScott Architecture, the San Francisco-based architecture and design firm founded by Lisa Iwamoto MArch ’93 and Craig Scott MArch ’94, has been selected as the winner of a competitive invited RFP process to design the new 80,000 sq foot main campus building for Ivy Tech in Columbus, Indiana. The College anticipates breaking ground in 2020 and taking occupancy in 2022. “It is a true honor to be able to add to Columbus’ modern architectural heritage,” Iwamoto and Scott said. “The team from IwamotoScott showed true vision for what the future of Ivy Tech in Columbus could look like,” said Ivy Tech Columbus Chancellor Steven Combs. “Their concepts of how to use available space for a modern and advanced campus were well received by our community and employees.”
The project is supported by The Cummins Foundation and aims to continue the design excellence and modern architectural legacy they’ve established in Columbus. Other finalists in the process included SO-IL, Marlon Blackwell, nArchitects, and Snow Kreilich.
To read more about the announcement, click here.
Surfacedesign, Inc. and its principals–James A. Lord MLA ’96, Roderick Wyllie MLA ’98, and Geoff di Girolamo have recently released the firms first monograph, Surfacedesign: Material Landscapes, published by The Monacelli Press. The book chronicles stunning parks, plazas, waterfronts, civic landscapes, and private gardens designed by the firm.
Fair warning to future Surfacedesign clients and design collaborators: Surfacedesign is going to push you,” writes Alan Maskin, a principal of Olson Kundig Architects, in the foreword to Surfacedesign: Material Landscapes (The Monacelli Press). “But their ideas, enthusiasm, humor, and interests have never limited them to working within the boundaries of their specific discipline.” The first book on this award-winning landscape architecture and urban design firm reveals thoughtful parks, plazas, waterfronts, civic landscapes, and private gardens that convey beauty, authenticity, and inventiveness. An interview by landscape theorist, author, and teacher Anita Berrizbeitia with founding partners James A. Lord, FASLA, and Roderick Wyllie, ASLA, investigates the roots of the firm’s design ethos stemming from deep beliefs in the power of narrative to imbue landscape with meaning, to express the history of place, and, most important, to connect people to the places they live, work, travel, and play.
The Monacelli Press (2019)
208 pages; flexibound; $50
ISBN: 978-1-58093-552-4
Image credits
Material Landscapes, by Surfacedesign, 2019. Image courtesy of The Monacelli Press.
For the full press release click here
The Kabul Urban Design Framework Plan has been recognized with a 2020 AIA Award in Regional and Urban Design. Dennis Pieprz MAUD ’85 served as principal in charge of the Sasaki project. “The Kabul Urban Design Framework is amazingly ambitious (the shaping of a city of 4 million people with an immense history) and, simultaneously, modest.” states one of the juror’s comment. “The framework manages big moves and small. The broad strokes provide connectivity to the region with a sensitivity to the ecology (aquifers), economy (agriculture) and society (public space). The details focus on weaving together existing nodes and fabrics to reinterpret the potential of Kabul as a city for its growing populations.”
The 2020 AIA Regional & Urban Design program recognizes “the best in urban design, regional and city planning, and community development. The best planning accounts for the entire built environment, local culture, and available resources—modeling architecture’s promise and true value to communities,” according to the AIA website.
Learn more.
Edmundo Colon MLA ’06 is one of six selected to receive a 2020-2021 LAF Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership. Fellows are granted $25,000 to pursue a project of their choosing over 12 weeks in the coming year. Entering its fourth year, the fellowship allows participants to engage in “a yearlong journey to develop their leadership capacity and work on ideas that have the potential to create positive and profound change in the profession, the environment, and humanity.”
Colon currently serves as Principal at ECo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His project, “El Río está vivo … y nadie lo sabe! (The River is alive… and nobody knows!): Re-envisioning Flood Control in the Urban Watershed of the Río Piedras,” will focuses on ways in which landscape architects can help create a more resilient post-hurricane Maria Puerto Rico.
José Juan Terrasa-Soler MLA ’07 is Executive Director of the non-profit Resilient Power Puerto Rico (RPPR) who have recently been awarded $194,000 to develop additional microgrids in the mountainous region of Puerto Rico. The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation recently awarded RPPR as one of their grant recipients due to their efforts of proving energy in Puerto Rican communities. RPPR has been working since Hurricane María (September 2017) to develop energy resilience across the neediest communities in Puerto Rico, by deploying solar microgrids and promoting sustainable and locally-controlled sources of energy.
Thirty-five 25-kWhr microgrids have been installed at community centers all over the Puerto Rican islands, providing critical community service centers with renewable and reliable energy. RPPR has also partnered with Rocky Mountain Institute to develop an energy toolkit to help local organizations in their transition to renewable, resilient energy sources. A recent article in Scenario Journal recounts the story. José Juan is also Director at Marvel Architects in San Juan.
An exhibition designed by and featuring work from the GSD thesis of Stanislas Chaillou MArch ’19 is set to open at Paris’ Pavillon de l’Arsenal on February 27, 2020. Entitled “AI & Architecture,” the show “takes us through the main stages of an evolution that started from the studies on Modularity, Computer-aided Design (CAD), Parametrics and, finally, Artificial Intelligence,” states the exhibition website. Bringing together research and practice, “it also explores the current scales of experimentation: plans, elevations, structures and perspectives in which AI could already make a contribution, real or speculative.” “AI & Architecture” will be on view through April 5, 2020. Learn more.
Architect Dan Brunn MArch ’05 modernist home known as the “Bridge House” is built over a little-known natural stream in Los Angeles. As reported in the LA Times: “Hidden in Mid-Wilshire is an enchanting eight-street enclave called Brookside. True to its name, the tree-lined community is set apart by the flowing water feature that runs from the Hollywood Hills through the neighborhood and out to Ballona Creek. While most of the classical homes in this neighborhood celebrate the creek with garden features and backyard bridges, architect Dan Brunn chose to do something radically different. ”
Brunn was inspired by the long motor court at Breakers, the Vanderbilt family’s waterfront home in Newport, R.I. He would honor nature by building a home that made full use of the water, the sun and the land.
Read the full article
Vibeke Lichten AMDP ’06 and her firm Atelier Vibeke Lichten have been awarded a Hive50 2019 Award in the Design category for EcoHouse. Hive50 honored the groundbreaking design “for a real-world exemplar of ecologically minded, fossil fuel–free home resilience, able to operate by securing continuous vital access to essential resources independent of the grid.” Completed in 2018, EcoHouse is located off the coast of the Peconic River near Long Island, NY. The 4,105-square-foot house is built from concrete.
Learn more.
The Ghana elementary school attended by Maclean ‘Mac’ Sarbah MDes ’19 has named a building in his honor. As reported to JoyNews: “Maclean ‘Mac’ Sarbah, who recently graduated with a Masters from Harvard University, said he was ‘surprised and emotional’ when he discovered that Yeji’s Royal Educational Complex decided to dedicate a building to him. The school, which he attended for primary and junior high school (JHS), invited him to speak to its students about the power of education, but upon arrival, administrators had an entirely different plan arranged.”
“They ended up planning a festival in front of about 2000 school children. They were really inspired. It was surreal. I’m so grateful to the school,” said Sarbah. “In many ways, this was a recognition of the hard work and support of family, friends, teachers, classmates, staff at every school and mentors. It’s a recognition of God’s grace for the unworthy. I couldn’t have done it alone. I believe it’s for a bigger purpose than for yourself”
Read the full article.
Kuth Ranieri Architects has promoted Michael McGroarty March ’01 to the position of associate principal. The news was announced by Byron Kuth, FAIA managing principal of the firm.
Michael McGroarty, LEED AP, joined Kuth Ranieri in 2013 and has more than 20 years of professional experience as an architect. For the past three years, Michael has served as the design team’s stakeholder engagement process manager for the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) Terminal 1C project, executed as a joint venture of Gensler and Kuth Ranieri. His current projects with the firm include the SFO International Building Renovation: Phase 1 and the Palcare Infant Daycare Renovation in Burlingame, California. A registered architect, McGroarty received his master of architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2001 and his bachelor of architecture from Pennsylvania State University in 1997.
Kuth Ranieri Architects was founded in 1990. The firm has produced a broad spectrum of projects, from small-scaled objects and museum installations to buildings and urban planning proposals. Recently completed projects include the Randall Museum Renovation (with Pfau Long Architecture), SFO Terminal 1 Center (with Gensler) and the Golden State Warriors Chase Center Esplanade (with Gensler). Kuth Ranieri has earned a national reputation for innovative works that integrate current cultural discourse with contemporary issues of design, technology, and the environment.
Paseo del Bajo, a system of parks and public spaces at the core of Buenos Aires city, has been inaugurated. The result of an architectural competition, the project was spearheaded by BECKER ARQUITECTOS, firm of Daniel Becker MArch ’92.
Image provided.
The design for the recently completed New York University (NYU) campus in Shanghai, led by KPF Design Director Elie Gamburg MArch ’08, has won a Society of Collegiate and University Planners (SCUP) “Excellence” award on campus design.
Gamburg also led the design of a new law school building for “The Peking School of Transnational Law,” which was completed last year and recently garnered an AIA HK design award.
Image: NYU campus in Shanghai central courtyard, courtesy of KPF.
After a dozen years of representing local government, first as Assistant General Counsel to the Portland Development Commission and then as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Portland, earlier this year, Lisa Gramp MArch ’97, MLA ’97 was appointed to the position of Senior Assistant Attorney General for the Oregon Department of Justice where she primarily represents the Department of Housing and Community Services.
Ming Thompson MArch ’10 aand Christina Cho Yoo MArch ’11 have recently won a national IIDA Visionary Award for an innovative woman-owned design firm working in interior environments. Atelier Cho Thompson is proud to announce that they have been awarded the second annual Visionary Award from the IIDA Foundation Anna Hernandez/Luna Textiles Award. This award recognizes a visionary female business owner whose firm specializes in interior design or product design. The fund was established to honor the memory of Anna Hernandez, the award-winning founder and president of Luna Textile.
The Anna Hernandez/Luna Textiles Visionary Award recognizes a female business owner whose firm specializes in interior design or product design and has been in business between three to 10 years. The fund was established to honor the memory of Anna Hernandez, the award-winning founder and president of Luna Textiles, a visionary and leader in the textiles field.
Click here to learn more.
The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies have bestowed Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA MArch ’75 and Laurinda Spear with the 2019 American Prize for Architecture, also known as The Louis H. Sullivan Award. The honor is given to an outstanding office and/or practitioner in the United States that has created a new direction in architectural design and has demonstrated consistent contributions to the built environment. Rarely does one have such an impact on the appearance of a city quite the way Arquitectonica has with the Magic City skyline. With more than 40 years of designing buildings that dot Miami’s waterfront and urban core, Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Laurinda Spear were recognized for their contribution to shaping the built environment of the city as well as cities around the world.
The firm’s designs have defined modern Miami, and their celebrated projects in cities around the world include skyscrapers, opera houses, resorts and new cities. Bernardo Fort-Brescia led the charge of expanding the firm across the country and abroad. The firm is known as one of the pioneers of globalization in the architecture profession. Arquitectonica now has projects in 58 countries around the world with offices in Miami, New York and Los Angeles, Europe, Southeast Asia and South America.
Click here for the full press release.
Alexandra Barker MArch ’98 recently participated in a panel discussion conducted by Architect Magazine and entitled “Modern Design: Planning Secure Structures. Curating Pleasant Environments.” The panel asked: How can architects navigate demands for both new school construction and renovations while designing with the right balance of comfort, daylighting, aesthetics and security?
Additionally, on January 15, 2020, Barker will take part in the panel “Residential Architecture Now: Brooklyn,” co-hosted by AIA New York and AIA Brooklyn’s Custom Residential Architects Networks (CRAN). The group will discuss the unique experiences of practitioners who live, work, and design homes in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City.
Alexandra Barker is a founding principal of BAAO Architects, a Brooklyn-based practice focusing on residential, retail, and educational projects. The work has received national and international recognition through awards and publications. She is also the Assistant Chair and Adjunct Associate Professor with part-time tenure at Pratt Institute, where she helped to inaugurate the Masters in Architecture program in 2001 and received several grants to integrate practice and education. In addition, she teaches in the Pratt Young Scholars program which educates interested disadvantaged youth in coursework in art and design.
Yujia Wang MLA ’17 has been appointed to ASLA’s Committee for two year term term through November 2021. Wang is excited to start this new role and looks forward to listen, to represent, and to promote a number of landscape education agendas on a strategic level with this honorable committee.
Kenneth Francis MLA ’05, partner of Surroundings based in Santa Fe, NM is featured on the cover of Landscape Architecture Magazine for November 2019.
The November issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine features the studio’s Luz del Dia residence! The project achieved a LEED Platinum rating partially due to our innovations with stormwater. This shot on the cover of LAM shows a heritage variety apple tree and an ephemeral pool that captures roof runoff, which slowly percolates down into a cistern for the landscape.
Check out the Instagram post here!
Check out the November issue here!
Kimbery Cinco MArch ’10 has been promoted to Associate Architect at award-winning architecture firm JENSEN Architects. Trained in architecture and philosophy, Kim Cinco brings a gift for creative inquiry grounded in analytical rigor to her role at Jensen. The discipline of her process is evident in her work, ranging from leading complex residences from design through construction to envisioning a new workspace for per-eminent design thinkers. With an eye toward both the poetic and pragmatic, Kim also leads the firm’s business development initiatives.
Kimbery Cinco earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Bates College before completing a Master of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Jeffrey Lee, FAIA, March ’79 has joined the Washington, D.C., office of Quinn Evans as a senior architect. Lee brings nearly 40 years of design experience to the firm which is one of the top architectural, planning, and preservation practices in the nation.
Recognized as a leading advocate for design excellence both regionally and nationally, Lee is a sought-after design critic and awards juror for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). For nearly 25 years, he served as a professor in the School of Architecture at North Carolina State University, and also served as the first chairman of the school’s advisory committee. He has been a guest critic at the Boston Architectural Center, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Catholic University.
Lee was elected to the AIA’s College of Fellows in 2006. He is a recipient of the Kamphoefner Prize from the North Carolina chapter of the AIA and the North Carolina Architectural Foundation. He was also awarded the Order of the Longleaf Pine by the governor of North Carolina, in recognition of his contributions to the state. Lee is highly regarded for his work in higher education, institutional, corporate, and cultural facility design, with many of his projects earning major awards for design excellence.
“We are excited to have a designer of Jeffrey’s caliber join our staff here in Washington,” says Tom Jester, FAIA, FAPT, LEED AP, principal and director of Quinn Evans’ Washington, D.C., office. “He brings a creative and discerning eye to our design studio, along with a wealth of experience in our major practice areas.”
The Harvard Real Estate Alumni Organization met for a panel discussion and networking event on Thursday, November 7th from 6:00pm – 8:30pm.
The panel is entitled “Trends and Disruption in Real Estate Tech” and features four speakers and two moderators who are at the forefront of that field. Panelists include Jake Fingert, a venture capitalist and former Obama administration official, Memme Onwudiwe, a co-founder of an artificial intelligence and data analytics start-up, Yulia Yaani, a co-founder of a software platform for commercial real estate loans, and Ryan Croft, a co-founder of Transit Screen, a mobility interface used in building lobbies. Our moderators are TJ Wilkinson, an attorney with Shulman Rogers, and Roma Patel, an investor focused on the intersection of real estate and technology.
The audience was open to alumni of any Harvard school and will include a mix of real estate and proptech professionals.
Los Angeles based architect and founder of EC3, Edwin Chan MArch ’85, will be the featured presenter at a brunch program organized by the Harvard Alumni Association Shared Interest Group Harvard Real Estate Alumni Organization (HREAO) on Saturday, November 9. Edwin will share his behind-the-scenes design process and his firm’s architectural work. Questions and discussion, and an informal networking social follows. This program was organized by Macy Leung MDes ’12
Among several projects presented by Edwin will be True North, Detroit. One of Detroit’s most talked about projects, True North bridges the gap between real estate development and community building, fueled by creativity and open-mindedness. EC3 was approached by the young New York-Detroit based developer Prince Concepts in Spring 2016 with the task of reimagining the pre-fabricated Quonset Hut structure. The site, a 0.57 acre plot located two and a half miles from downtown Detroit, is situated in a quiet, spacious neighborhood which had not seen new construction in over sixty years.
For more information click here .
Pictured is True North, Detroit.
MacLean Sarbah MDes RR ’19 has returned from his trip to Ghana, where he put in place the initial work for the vision to contribute to social impact, entrepreneurship and education in Ghana and the African continent.
He was invited by Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President of Ghana. He also met and had discussions with the former President, current Vice President, and a number of government officials. He had meetings with senior business executives, senior university executives, and spoke to a variety of audiences and students. He also had interviews with the Ghanaian media.
Mac Sarbah is the Founder of EdAcme, which helps young people achieve their education and entrepreneurship potential. He is also President of Sarbah Foundation, a newly-formed initiative to help contribute to education, entrepreneurship and social impact in Ghana and the African continent.
Watch Sarbah’s interview with Joy News, Ghana’s premier media.
Read more about his goals.
Ballinger, an award-winning architecture and engineering firm in Philadelphia, recently announced seven new Principals and shareholders of the firm, including Stephen M. Bartlett MArch ’87, AIA, LEED AP. Since joining Ballinger in 1999, Steve has served in a variety of firm leadership roles including Architectural Studio Leader and Senior Project Designer. He has worked in diverse market sectors and collaboratively led the design of some of the firm’s most prestigious commissions. He is a frequent speaker at industry forums across the country and will continue to advance the firm’s design portfolio in higher education. Steve earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation in 1983 and a Master in Architecture (MArch II) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1987.
Hong Suk Yang MDes ’19 has passed away. Hong Suk Yang was an architecturally-trained project manager, entrepreneur and aspiring real estate developer from Korea. He attended Harvard GSD’s Master’s in Real Estate and the Built Environment program, focusing his studies on Real Estate Investment and Finance. Before Harvard, Yang worked at Caesars Entertainment as a project director and spent the last summer at Trammell Crow Company as a development and investment intern. His funeral was held on October 22, 2019, in Downey, California.
Please find the statement from Hong’s family below:
Since his childhood, Hong was a healthy and cheerful child with delicate emotions and loved nature. He was very determined to make his way forward, and in doing so, he was very focused. Hong was very proud of his family and respected us all together. He protected his mother with endless love, and he was a life-long best friend to his younger sister. He was especially fond of his sister and always warmly encouraged her to do her best in her work as a violinist. And he always made me a proud father.
Hong did his best to live up to his dreams. He shared his feelings and thoughts with others completely and always cared about those who needed help.
We believe that he left us to fulfill God’s plan.
We sincerely appreciate your condolences during this difficult time.
Hong had so much goodwill to contribute to society, and we believe that he will play the same role in God’s place. He genuinely cared about the people around him and strived to cooperate and communicate with them.
Once again, on behalf of my son, I sincerely thank you for your love, care, and for the condolences that you’ve shown for Hong.
Sincerely,
Hong’s father, Jai Hyun Yang
Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech startup incubator in North America, has named Ryan Dings MDes ’11 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Dings’ experience will help Greentown Labs strengthen the core operations of its business, ensuring a strong focus on its mission to support entrepreneurs addressing the climate crisis while the organization continues its dramatic growth. In this role, Dings will serve as second-in-command to Greentown Labs’ Chief Executive Officer, Emily Reichert.
“Ryan brings valuable experience scaling clean technology companies to the team, combined with a unique understanding of our startup member community based on his role at Sunwealth and work with other Greentown Labs startups,” said Reichert. “His passion for, as well as his experience in deploying cleantech solutions will be inspiring and highly valuable to our growing member community. We’re thrilled to have him joining the team!”
For the full announcement click here.
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