Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels At It Again

Summer is upon us and the heat is heavy as Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels once again battle it out, practically begging to gain the commission for the 52 acre Miami Convention Center redevelopment. Miami's vibrant cultural roots run deep mixing the modern lifestyle with a hint of art deco creating a unique inertia that continually captures the attention of the most prominent artists and architects; and, now is the chance for one of these big name architects to blatantly leave a lasting finger print within the urban fabric of one of the youngest cities in America, but nonetheless one of the most international. 

BIG recognizes the limitless potential of Miami as it superimposes energized urban experiences with historical anchors, and the irresistible Atlantic coast. Ingels has already channeled his focus to south Florida and has recently landed two big commissions in the area: Coconut Grove and the Marina Lofts. The Miami Convention Center would be his opportunity to truly root his practice in the continental U.S. and more so in South Florida. If BIG were to out power his mentor, Koolhass, this go-around, he might just need to set up shop in Miami. When Ingels initially stepped foot onto American soil, his efforts were invested in the BIG Apple, but it now seems that Miami has been more promising, as BIG has more commissions there than any other city in the U.S. It may just be that time for BIG to return the generosity that Miami has shown him by establishing a satellite office there - which would create more creative jobs within the design industry for the eager, local citizens.  

Here is what the developers have to say about the project:

“We have devised a strategy that combines urban planning and landscape design to create a neighborhood characterized by human scale, pedestrian connections, shaded spaces with public oriented programs lining the streets and squares. A neighborhood that, depending on the season, the weekday, or even the time of day can be perceived as a lively downtown neighborhood or an inviting public park.” Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director BIG

“Rather than scattering all the program across the 52 acre site we have decided to concentrate it around the center piece of our public realm - Miami Beach Square bringing focus to the renovated Jackie Gleason Theater, the entrance of the convention center and for the first time ever creating a worthy civic presence to Miami Beach City Hall.” Jamie Maslyn Larsen, West 8, Creator of Soundscape Park

“Realizing that a challenge that seemed to be driven by two incompatible agendas was actually the opportunity – to create a convention center district that is not only for convention-goers but, more importantly, for residents.” Jack Portman, Portman Holdings and JPA

Check out the renderings and plans by BIG:

Koolhaas in Miami (Miami Herald)

BIG in Miami (Miami Herald)

BIG may have great graphics and diagrams to explain their designs, but when it comes down to it they struggle to deliver. This is where OMA has my vote. Koolhaas has the experience to transform and revitalize cities like none other. Miami needs a lasting effect, not a waning fad. Miami needs Koolhaas. His elegant proposal will prove more flexible and timeless than BIG, albeit a dynamic and engaging design. Check out the proposal with Koolhaas. It will be a tough choice for the City of Miami. 

South Beach ACE

 

 

 

2013 AIA Architectural Photography Competition

WINNING! AGAIN!! AGAIN!!!

2012 (oops) 2013 AIA Architectural Photography Competition

Sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the AIA

After winning the top Judges Special Commendation Award for the 2012 competition, I have now been awarded third place for the 2013 competition as well!

My winning image will be on display in a special exhibit with the other 13 winning images at the AIA National Convention in Denver, CO come June. Images from the 2013 competition will not be published in the Rizzoli Architecture Engagement Calendar like previous years. The AIA is currently seeking other avenues to give these stunning images the attention they deserve.

The awarded image was taken while on the Argentina Exchange Program sponsored by the CA+P and the University of Utah where I spent 10 weeks studying at the Universidad Nacional Litoral in Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Argentina. While on a weekend trip to Buenos Aires, my classmates and we stopped by La Boca, Buenos Aires, which as vibrant and interesting as it was simply turned out to be another tourist trap. After leaving La Boca we made our way towards the culturally rich San Telmo area by foot simply exploring the city as it came at us. An apartment complex in the distance caught my eye just by its mere size. The more I stared at it ignorant and curious, the more I was intrigued by its massive presence. To get a better view, I climbed on to the bed of a semi-truck and snapped a few shots; and, as I digested the architecture through my lens, I realized that the sublime message was “Community”. And so I named the image.

The Undeniable Urgency for Housing in Latin America

Prioritizing Quality and Quantity

The following article has been translated from Spanish from Arquine:  La vivienda en Latinoamérica. The sad reality of the underdeveloped countries throughout Latin America is much worse than most institutions, organizations, and agencies would like to admit. It would be to undertake an epidemic for which the cure requires more human and economic resources than we are currently capable. But as any other global crisis it starts with an activist approach to exposure and education - a so called cry for help, an informal call for entries to something bigger than us all. While I do firmly believe that good architecture can facilitate a lasting change in the world, it is only on component of something larger. But where else should we start if not with the basic necessity of a quality roof over one's head. 

For this reason, among many others, I have decided to focus my architectural and urban career toward the quality development of the entire American Continent, especially Latin America. 

Beginning of article:

According to the census of 19 countries, in the early nineties, the region had 93 million private homes. According to 2009 data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 33% of American households are in poverty, 13% in extreme poverty and 37% of the houses are unsuitable for use. Of these, only 21% can be made habitable by certain renovations ^[1].

Whereas quantitative and qualitative aspects, the current deficit affects about 59 million people ^[2]. This figure increases by more than two million homes annually by way of formation of new households. The pace of construction required to prevent an increase in accumulated deficit exceeds the efforts so far made by the housing policies in the region. Of the 93 million homes in the region, 17 million (18%) are the quantitative deficit, and 21 million (22%) the qualitative deficit hovering a total of 38 million units.

To give an idea of ​​the magnitude of the problem, in 2007, "Industrialization American housing possible"^[3] pointed out that it would be necessary to build about 24 million homes per year to address this critical situation. Or capturing it in terms of investment that would be necessary speaks investments of around 180 billion dollars a year to fix the problem in ten years. This amount is 36 times the national budgets of the six Central American countries in 1995. The vast majority of countries cannot even build enough housing for households that are annually, so its shortcomings continue to increase from year to year. Moreover, the rate of obsolescence of the housing stock remains high because of inadequate maintenance programs and housing recovery, which in turn contributes to the worsening of the deficit by forcing consideration high replacement rates.

To better illustrate by way of example, has questioned Julian Salas preparing urban land would be sufficient to meet current needs on a global level. And the answer is to provide new developed as much land as existing today in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

It is important to understand that the profusion of statistics at the end you can also generate a degree of depersonalization problem with names and faces. Vital realities difficult to perceive from the comprehensive reports and databases of international organizations. Without neglecting this observation, we continue to share data that helps to form a general framework of a major challenge still facing societies in Latin American cities.

[1] Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean. ECLAC [Check made on January 24, 2013]

[2] A space for development: housing markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. Inter-American Development Bank. 2012

[3] Chambers, Julian (2000), "Industrialization American housing possible." P. 26

Source graphics IDB. 2012

The Adobe Corporation Expands its Headquarters

The New Adobe Campus in Lehi, Utah

Adobe’s continued success has led to expansive worldwide growth acquiring the Utah-based company Omniture and adding a new campus in Lehi, Utah – just 25 minutes south of Salt Lake City. It is home to nearly 1000 employees who work at the newly built state-of-the-art campus designed by the San Francisco based firm WRNS Studio.

From the start, Adobe sought to find a different kind of environment for this campus. Its location capitalizes on the long, narrow 38-acre site’s breath-taking views: to the east the Wasatch mountains, to the south Utah Lake, and to the north the Oquirrh mountains. The architects’ concept revolved around three lines in the landscape – three lines that literally bridge the bisecting public roadway through the site and simultaneously celebrate the drama of the majestic mountains and flowing traffic of I-15. The completed complex is only phase one of three.

Through the local AIA Utah Chapter I toured the facility during construction in August 2012 and was initially impressed by the architectural gesture in the landscape and what it means to architectural progress in Utah, but it was incomparable to the recent visit I made with the AIAS student group touring the finished facility that was recently completed in November 2012. By unforeseen luck, founding principal of WRNS, Bryan Shiles, was in the building visiting with a crew photographing the building. After the tour with the facility manager, we sat down with Bryan and had an informal Q&A.

In our intimate discussion he reiterated the exuberance and awesomeness that Adobe wanted to capture in their new campus – ideas that began as concepts but solidified as dramatic gestures. With a streamlined schedule, Oakland Construction was pressed to complete the unruly project in extreme constraint forcing crews to work 24 hours on several occasions. In the end Adobe paid a high price for a fast-tracked, high design product – a product worth every penny. Adobe did not sacrifice or hold back anything, proving to be a uniquely fun client any architects could dream for. However, only few men like Bryan know how to capture the aspirations into the built environment – ideas like spanning a four-lane road or cantilevering the basketball court more than 25 feet toward the interstate with the largest beam in the state weighing in at 600 lbs. per linear foot.

Architectural influence in the greater Salt Lake area is still in its adolescence but on the brink of full maturity. High architectural design portrayed by WRNS is exactly what Utah needs to fully develop its already budding voice within the design community. 

Taliesin West

On our recent trip to Phoenix as a studio, we also toured Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona - the school of architecture the Frank Lloyd Wright established as a sister campus to Taliesin in Wisconsin. After a brief introduction to the school from Victor Sidy, the dean, our tour guide Pablo Moncayo showed us around the complex. We were fortunate not only to have an experienced student tour guide showing us the complex, but also had the opportunity to tour the unique student residences that they design, build, and live in themselves in the adjacent desert while attending the school.