THE ARCHITECTSNEWSPAPER 3.9.2004 NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN WWW.ARCHPAPER.COM $3.95 CITY COLLEGE, AIA-NY, While New York real estate has never had a SO FAR, NEW STATE LAW AIMED AT 00 AND CITY COUNCIL SPONSOR shortage of star architects designing luxury CLAMPING DOWN ON UNLICENSED 04 apartments, middle class and affordable hous• AN IDEAS COMPETITION PROFESSIONALS HAS HAD MINIMAL ALTERNATIVES ing often goes untouched by high-minded LU FOR NEW HOUSING MODELS IMPACT ON ARCHITECTS designers. The recent competition, New —I FOR NETS ARENA Housing New York, aims to address a need o for a dialogue on the very basic component o 08 NEW of residential living in New York. The compe• EMERGING tition, which recently announced its winners, WITHOUT is billed as a "design ideas" competition, VOICES, but has its basis in three real sites in Harlem, CLASS OF 2004 HOUSING Brooklyn's Park Slope Area, and the Queens waterfront. The winning proposals, selected LICENSE 14 from 160 entries from firms small and large, NEW and from as far away as Ohio and Texas, yielded A law was passed last September that prom• RIDING THE some imaginative ideas on what apartments ised to greatly enhance the state's ability to PROUVE WAVE could be like on these separate housing sites. clamp down on unlicensed architects. But YORK Prizes were awarded in first through third now, six months after Governor George E. 16 place for each site. Choi Law/A.V.K.Group Pataki signed the legislation, it remains THE STATEN Andrew Berman's Harlem project of Irving, Texas; Arte continued on page 2 largely a dead letter, with ambiguous lan• guage in the law yet to be clarified and, ISLAND SCENE importantly, with no funding available to put the whole thing into practice. 03 EAVESDROP On September 20, 2003, Pataki conferred 15 CLASSIFIEDS his approval upon a law continued on page 7 WHITNES A PREFAB PORTABLE PAVILION INVITES GRAND CENTRAL COMMUTERS TO SIT AND CHAT Inside Story A dreary passage into Grand Central Station from Lexington Lampost by Mark Handforth (2003) Avenue has been brightened by the addition of a small glowing tempo• THE 72ND WHITNEY BIENNIAL OPENS THIS WEEK and concern with the state of rary pavilion. It is not just another the world. The commentaries food stand or artistic folly but a small The 2004 Whitney Biennial, including Liz Craft, Assume are presented in as many recording studio. Architect Michael opening on March 11'", will Vivid Astro Focus, and David forms and styles as there are Shuman of MASdesign designed the present the works of 108 Altmejd. artists—painting, drawing, booth for StoryCorps.an oral history artists and collaborative Many of the works in this printmaking, sculpture, project created by Sound Portraits groups. Several generations year's Biennial refer to past art installation, video, filmmaking, Productions, continued on page 7 Story time in Grand Central of artists are featured in the trends, such as the pop and photography, performance exhibition, from the accom• politically engaged work of and digital art; ethereal, fan• plished (David Hockney, the 1960s and the '70s, tastic, narrative, political, Marina Abramovic, Paul replete with psychedelic, organic, figurative, abstract. McCarthy) to the mid-career gothic, and apocalyptic results. Expect to see several works and emerging. Perhaps the The works offer a welcome that reflect on space or envi• most exciting recent addition reflection of the country's ronments, consistent with to the Biennial is the use of current political climate, which artists' continuing interest in Central Park. The outdoor echoes the unpleasant examining human experience installations are the works episodes of recent American in a changing world. Andrea of six artists who will also history. Many of the works Zittel merges practical and have works in the museum. clearly convey uneasiness existential continued on page 4 00 (\J 3 O LU THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER MARCH 9. 2004 NEW HOUSING NEW YORK continued from PUBLISHER CO On The Charlie Rose Show on February 23"', Steven Brill of the front page Architects of New York; and Diana Darling a: Brill Report asserted that Larry Silverstein has no chance of win• Blostein/Overly of Columbus, Ohio were EDITORS o awarded first places for the Manhattan, William Menking ning his suit against the Swiss Reinsurance Co. and other insurers M Queens, and Brooklyn sites, respectively. Cathy Lang Ho of the World Trade Center, and of collecting two insurance Even though the winners were mostly LU payments of $3.55 billion each rather than one. Brill says that comprised of younger architects, estab• Martin Perrin Silverstein himself wrote the policy to say that one incident is any lished firms like Deborah Berke and Mitchell Gurgiola also finished with hon• EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS number of events that take place within a 72-hour period. Brill Deborah Grossberg orable citations. James Way went on to say that the public is focused on the designs to rebuild Though jointly sponsored by CUNY, the New York Chapter of the AIA, and the ADVERTISING SALES the WTC site when, in fact, there is no money to build a new commercial tower on the site. Further, an article in the Wall Street City Council of New York, the competition Jonathan Chaffin is more concerned with sparking a public Journal on February 25"^ stated that $ 1.3 billion of the insurance dialogue on the state of affordable housing, and less concerned with commissioning Tamalyn Miller money has already been spent—far before reconstruction has new structures on these sites (though the INTERN begun—with the main beneficiaries being lawyers, lenders, and Christina Ficicchia prospect of winning proposals coming to TECHNICAL CONSULTANT real estate developers. fruition is not out of the question). "We Keith James Brill speculates that Silverstein will simply walk away from the wanted to do this thing quickly," said Carmi project (with tidy $800 million payday). But does this mean that Bee, a juror and one of the members of the steering committee. "We didn't want the the competition (and the complex public proceedings) that contestants to be bridled with too many real-world constrictions even though we CONTRIBUTORS ultimately produced David Childs' Freedom Tower design has PHILIPPE BARRIERE/ARIC CHEN/ been a charade? Will city officials try to fmd another developer gave them a lot of restrictions. But where MURRAY FRASER/RICHARD INGERSOLL/ appropriate, we told them to break them. JOE KERR/LIANE LEFAIVRE/ or attempt—as Robert Moses surely would if he were still alive— Maybe this will tell us something about the JAMES PETO/LUIGI PRESTINENZA PUGLISI/ to do it themselves? restrictions." Bee is a principal of Rothzeid KESTER RATTENBURY/D.GRAHAME SHANE/ Kaiserman Thomson and Bee architects. ANDREW YANG/PETER ZELLNER New York City is a place where most development has been led "We were looking for design with a by real estate developers. But the land under the WTC is owned by capital D," said Bee, who juried the com• EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD PAOLA ANTONELLI/RAUL A. BARRENECHE/ a public entity, the Port Authority, and many hoped that this would petition with architects Greg Pasquarelli, M. CHRISTINE BOYER/PETER COOK/ prompt a different process of planning, designing, and building Hugh Hardy, as well as Metropolis editor WHITNEY COX/ODILE DECO/TOM HANRAHAN/ Susan Szenasy, among others. "Housing SARAH HERDA/CRAIG KONYK/JAYNE MERKEL/ on the site. Early on, in fact, many challenged Silverstein's right to in New York is looked at as a commodity. LISA NAFTOLIN/HANS ULRICH OBRIST/ determine what would be rebuilt at all, given that he was only a KYONG PARK/ANNE RIESELBACH/ By and large, if you compare it to some TERENCE RILEY/KEN SAYLOR/MICHAEL SORKIN leaseholder (and a fresh one at that—he signed the lease just prior of the things done in San Francisco and to the 9/11 attacks). Will everything that has led to this moment— particularly Holland, they really fall short GENERAL INFORMATION: INFOf»ARCHPAPER.COM on the design." EDITORIAL: EDITOR(®ARCHPAPER.COM the public outcry, the dramatic architectural showdowns, the Many of the winning entries provided ADVERTISING: SALESiaARCHPAPER.COM SUBSCRIPTION: SUBSCRIBE'5'ARCHPAPER.COM high-profile coming-out of the Freedom Tower—come to naught? housing solutions that were economical Further, how will the Port Authority react if Silverstein does walk in both the financial and ecological sense. THE VIEWS OF OUR REVIEWERS AND COLUMNISTS DO NOT Green solutions were rather representative NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF THE STAFF OR ADVISORS OF away from the project, as he is allowed to do? Would it mean THE ARCHITECTS NEWSPAPER, of the final building proposals. The Queens that Daniel Libeskind would become, again, a leading figure in waterfront site, located on a peninsula VOLUME 02 ISSUE 04, MARCH 9. 2004 THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER IS PUBLISHED 20 TIMES » YEAR. BY the design of the site (with Childs following his client to another off of the East River, just below the THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER, LLC, P.O. BOX 937, NEW YORK. NY 10013, PRESORT-STANDARD POSTAGE PAID IN NEW YORK. NY. POSTMASTER; Triborough Bridge, required designers to SEND ADDRESS CHANCES TO: THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER, CIRCULATION project)? How the WTC drama plays out tells much about the DEPARTMENT. P,0. BOX 937, NEW YORK. NY 10013. FOR SUBSCRIBER be more active about the planning of the SERVICE: CALL 212-966-0630. FAX 212-966-0633. 53.95 A COPY. ongoing struggle to balance the roles that the private and public S39.00 ONE YEAR. INTERNATIONAL SI60.00 ONE YEAR. INSTITUTIONAL site. The first place winners. Arte Architects, SI49.0O ONE YEAR. 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