Raze or Retrofit? Midtown Enters New Green Era
By Bill Millard

A view of One Bryant Park from the Empire State Building illuminates the challenge of greening Midtown Manhattan.
dbox for Cook + Fox Architects

Event: "Greening the Glass Box: Saving Modernism in Midtown"
Presenters: Moderator Nina Rappaport, Docomomo International; John An, Atelier Ten; Kyle Normandin, Wiss Janney Elsner; Colin Cathcart, AIA, Kiss + Cathcart Organizers: The Skyscraper Museum (Green Teams series; Carol Willis, founder/director/curator)
Where: NYPL Donnell Library Auditorium, 5.17.06

"Demolish it," a remark that Richard Rogers once made to Nina Rappaport about adapting Midtown to the green-design era, hung like a shadow over the final Green Teams talk. The glass curtain walls and aging mechanical systems of Modernist classics like Lever House and the UN headquarters were not designed for energy efficiency nor resource conservation, yet the panelists are taking on formidable challenges—upgrading the lighting at Chicago's Crown Hall, the crumbling travertine surfaces of Lincoln Center, the aging granite and corroded steel of the Whitney Museum—and gaining in modernizing the Moderns.

Tensions and connections exist between preservation and sustainability. Considering the energy-intensive process of making new bricks, restoring existing structures may well be the most resource-wise approach, but mid-20th-century standards for air circulation and solar-radiation management are far below today's expectations. At the Whitney Museum, Wiss Janney Elsner combated galvanic corrosion in steel fixtures and restored the integrity of the stone cladding system. They also replaced selected segments of Lincoln Center buildings, such as the unique thin veneer of the Juilliard School. The aging of Chicago's Crown Hall, combined with the changing expectations and uses by larger student populations, required creative solutions by Atelier Ten from internal heat loads to mechanical systems while satisfying requirements of local landmark purists. Atelier Ten investigated multiple material options for new glass and blinds, along with external landscaping strategies, radiant floors, and diffused ventilation. They achieved a 50% reduction in energy use while drastically reducing user complaints about internal environmental comfort.

Kiss + Cathcart's expertise in the rapidly changing field of photovoltaics (PV) led to the retrofitting of upper segments of the green-but-not-visibly-green Condé Nast building, a train station, and other large-scale structures with PV panels. Challenges include the ambiguity of where PV work fits into existing trades: is it a job for glaziers or electricians? The field is developing rapidly enough to be "a moving target," so that clients may need persuading to adopt today's PV technology rather than wait for tomorrow's.

Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Oculus, Icon, Content, and other publications.

The New and Old Clash as China Grows
By Daniel Hui

Urban expansion traps small farming villages in Shenzen.
Yushi Uehara

Event: 3x3: A Perspective on China—Formal/Informal
Speaker: Yushi Uehara, ZeroDegree, Japan; Randall Crane, director, Institute of Transportation Studies, Department of Urban Planning, UCLA; Moderator Bert De Muynck, architect, writer, researcher, Amsterdam
Organizers: AIA NY, People's Architecture
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.16.06

The speed and intensity of urbanization in China in the coming decades pose new challenges to the urban form. Both Yushi Uehara and Randall Crane warn of the impending crisis as 400 new cities of one million residents or more are planned in China over the next two decades. However, existing top-down planning, and market-driven approaches to China's urban evolution pose challenges of their own.

Uehara described an example of a market-driven urbanization process in Shenzen where the encroaching city has enveloped several farming villages. The resulting "Village in a City" will eventually be redeveloped with higher density, though often displacing the original village population. This "floating population" has few political rights and no economic power to affect urban change. Uehara proposes an urban model for densifying "Villages in a City" to enable the cohabitation of different classes.

In contrast, Crane warns of the potential effects of top-down planning in China's urbanization. As Chinese cities spread outward, and as the automobile grows in popularity, many in the nation are looking to the United States and the concept of "Smart Growth" as a solution to China's impending sprawl. Crane warns that wholesale adoption of "Smart Growth" without accommodating Chinese conditions would be a potentially dangerous quick fix.

Daniel Hui is a recent Dartmouth College graduate, and will begin work towards a MArch1 at Harvard Graduate School of Design in the fall.

NY Harbor Rhapsodizes in Blue and Green
By Bill Millard

Metropolitan Waterfront Map
Courtesy Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

Event: 2006 Waterfront Conference: Economy + Environment = Community
Speakers: Carter Craft, Director, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance; Emlyn Koster, Liberty Science Center; Marc Ricks, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding; several dozen others
Organizers: Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Location: Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, U.S. Customs House, 05.23.06

New York City in recent decades has left its water resources and waterfronts underdeveloped, and in many places horrendously befouled. Amid a series of talks about ways New York can better protect and employ its aquatic resources, audience members like Eugenia Flatow (co-chair, Coalition for the Bight) recalled an age when the city's rivers were thick with ferries and boats. Looking forward, speakers Kate Ascher (executive vice president for infrastructure, NYC Economic Development Corporation) and Jameel Ahmad (civil engineer, Cooper Union and Verdant Power) envisioned a "blue and green" city looking to water to augment clean, low-impact transportation and energy systems. Cultivating a region-wide, multi-waterfront "Harbor District" may solve frustrations of a fossil-fuel-dependent era.

The fourth biennial Waterfront Conference brought together regional and international environmental, governmental, business, and community groups. Presentations placed NYC's challenges in a global context by focusing on comparable redevelopment efforts in Sydney, Gdansk, the Ruhr Valley, and San Francisco. For example, German landscape planner Michael Schwarze-Rodrian incorporated adaptive-reuse strategies to convert landmarks once scarred by mining and scorched by blast furnaces into a cultural and recreational center along the Emscher River.

Continues…

Where Will You Be When Disaster Strikes?
By Timothy Wilson

Do you have an emergency plan for impending doom?
Jessica Sheridan

Event: Disaster Preparedness: Planning for Safe Havens
Speakers: Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs and Planning students - David Aigner, Jessica Gable, Janet Hines, Timothy Wilson; Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation students - Heather Roiter, Deepa Mehta, Virginia Cava, Angie Huh, Richard Barone, Tariria Chivore, Robert Cunningham, Peri Plantanias, Matthew Leavell, William Gallin
Organizers: Hunter College, AIA NY Disaster Preparedness Task Force
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.04.06

In the event of a manmade or natural disaster, New York City needs a plan to accommodate people trying to find shelter or evacuate. Local and regional transportation linkages need to be improved and communication systems need to be established. According to Hunter College and Columbia University planning students, urban design is key to improving disaster preparedness response and quality of life issues both immediately and in the long term.

As part of an integrated emergency plan, New York City should establish a network of safe havens to accommodate a mass influx of people migrating from stricken areas. Each safe haven should contain a minimum of a hospital, large school for shelter, fire station, and transfer points among mass transit systems. Highways and arterials provide mass-evacuation or inflow routes; multilingual, easy-to-read signage at street intersections guide people to the nearest safe haven.

Buildings should be prepared for all types of disasters as well. Whether inhabitants need to move to the lowest level (in a radiological event), or ascend to the highest floors (in the event of a chemical cloud release), Hunter College students recommend that all dwellings keep a Shelter-In-Place Kit—or Sip Kit—stored for use in emergencies. These kits should include: plastic sheeting, duct tape, towels, and scissors for sealing doors and windows; light sources independent from the electrical grid; battery or crank generator-powered radio; a corded telephone; sufficient water, nonperishable food, and a can opener; medical supplies; hygiene supplies; and baby diapers.

Timothy Wilson is a Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs and Planning graduate student.

Designers Cut New Yorkers' Waistlines
By Elizabeth Case

Dr. Richard Jackson delivers the keynote address at the Fit-City symposium.
Annie Kurtin

Event: Fit-City: Promoting Physical Activity through Design
Speakers: Commissioner Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, NYC DoHMH; Panelists: Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP, NYC DoHMH Assistant Commissioner; Hillary Brown, AIA, principal, New Civic Works; Mindy Fullilove, MD, psychiatrist, Columbia University; Linda Pollak, AIA, ASLA, Marpillero Pollak Architects; Ronnette Riley, FAIA, Ronnette Riley Architect; Robert Lane, Director, Design Program at Regional Plan Association; Menaka Mohan, Sustainable South Bronx; Andrew Rundle, Dr PH, Epidemiologist, Columbia University; Candace Rutt, PhD, Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Matthew Urbanski, principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates; Keynote: Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, former Director of Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Summation: Rick Bell, FAIA, Executive Director, AIA NY Chapter
Organizers: AIANY; New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Sponsors: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.18.06

Increasing obesity rates in America are caused by obstacles within the physical environment, according to New York City Health Department Commissioner Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, contradicting the common belief that an abundance unhealthy food is the only thing to blame. "How can we build and organize the city to decrease the rate of obesity and diabetes and to facilitate physical activity?" Dr. Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DoHMH) Assistant Commissioner, posed. Public health professionals, architects, landscape architects, and urban planners conferred to address increasing physical activity at a building, site, and neighborhood scale during a public conference held at the Center for Architecture hosted by the AIA New York Chapter in partnership with the NYC DoHMH, May 18.

Charged with this question, Linda Pollak, AIA, ASLA, commented on the significance of the "intersections" among architecture, landscape, and urban design to connect the social and natural aspects of the built environment. Research conducted by Dr. Candace Rutt, Center for Disease Control (CDC), has proven that the "Stairway Initiative" at the CDC—hanging artwork and playing music in the stairways—raises stair use by almost 60%. Ronnette Riley, FAIA, presented her past interior design projects highlighting the use of indoor stairways to encourage movement within buildings. All speakers stressed the negative impact technology has on society's health, inducing laziness and, as Hillary Brown, AIA, mentioned, "an atrophy of the kinetic senses."

According to the 2003 US Surgeon General Report, more than 300,000 Americans die every year from obesity-related illness. Combining residential and commercial buildings can help lower the Body Mass Index of Americans, according to epidemiologist Dr. Andrew Rundle, echoing the late Jane Jacobs's mixed-use theory. The physical environment can facilitate a more healthy and active lifestyle at both a street and community scale.

For a full transcription from this event, click here. (260K pdf)

An Urban Studies major at Barnard College, Elizabeth Case was drawn to the Fit-City project because of her interests in both architecture and medicine. She plans to continue her studies in architecture, American history, and dance.

Public Spaces Blur Art and Architecture
By Jessica Sheridan, Assoc. AIA

The Coast Park Forum 2004 in Barcelona. Collaborating with artists, such as Albert Oehlen who designed the fish pattern on the boardwalk, Herreros and Muntadas work to rejuvenated public spaces.
Courtesy Abalos & Herreros

Event: Antoni Muntadas + Juan Herreros Collaboration: A Speculation
Speakers: Antoni Muntadas, artist, Barcelona; Juan Herreros, principal, Abalos & Herreros and Head Professor, Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid
Organizers: Center for Architecture
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.12.06

On Translation is a series of projects that create social and political awareness through collaborations between architects and artists. Inhabiting public spaces internationally, artist Muntadas and architect Herreros, among others, energize public space with multi-media installations. Tren Urbano, a station for the first subway in Puerto Rico, displayed a series of illuminated photographs on advertisement spaces. The photographs depict Puerto Rico in the 1940s and 1980s, juxtaposing the different eras and celebrating Puerto Rican culture from an historical perspective. Comemorações Urbanas distributed 11 plaques throughout the city of Sao Paolo, bringing attention to "urban disasters of planning." In specific abandoned and barren public spaces, plaques include the names of the spaces, the inauguration dates, and the mayor and governor at the time, bringing attention to those responsible for unsuccessful urban areas.

Collaborations between artists and architects have traditionally been unsuccessful, according to Muntadas and Herreros, but when open space is in question, collaboration can enable public interaction.

Lighting Illuminates Architectural Icons
By Aaron Slodounik

The new Times Tower brings light into the center of the building.
Courtesy FXFOWLE Architects

The Seagram Building projects light outward onto the street.
Ezra Stoller, Esto

Event: Towers Then and Now: Seagram vs. the new Times Tower
Speakers: Elizabeth Donoff, senior editor, Architectural Lighting; Arvid Klein, Pasanella + Klein Stolzman + Berg Architects; Daniel Kaplan, AIA, FXFOWLE Architects; Jean Sundin, principal, Office for Visual Interaction; Susan Brady, SBLD Studio; Rocco Gianetti, Gensler
Organizers: Center for Architecture; IESNY
Sponsors: exhibition underwriter: IESNY; lead sponsor: Enterprise Lighting; additional sponsors: Nulux, Edison Price Lighting, Fisher Marantz Stone; with support from: Esto, Lutron Electronics, Nihon Project Service, Parsons The New School for Design, Osram Sylvania
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.17.06

At night, light from the Seagram Building emanates from a Cartesian grid of windows; the lighting scheme was designed by Richard Kelly in collaboration with Mies van der Rohe. Kelly was a pioneer of architectural lighting design and is renowned for a new lighting vocabulary introduced in response to the challenges of modern architecture. The Seagram Building exemplifies his accomplishments as the first Post-War building in New York to have a nighttime presence. The interior light emphasizes the load bearing structure behind the tinted floor-to-ceiling windows bound by a bronze-toned, steel façade. Kelly brightly lit the walls of the elevator core, which were clad with a reflective warm white stone to emphasize height and make the lobby visible from the street.

Whereas the Seagram Building is a dark monolithic structure lit from within, the New York Times Building, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFOWLE Architects, is a highly transparent glass tower with exposed structural steel and a "veil" of glazed ceramic tubes. When construction is complete, these tubes will reflect and absorb light during the day. Lit externally by night, the veil will function like a theatrical scrim. Natural light will dominate, controlled by motorized shades and supplemented by artificial lighting.

From showcasing a 20th century structure to efficiently illuminating a 21st century edifice, the way lighting design is integrated with architecture speaks to the era in which a building was designed. To experience the work of Richard Kelly, the exhibition "Light | Energy | Impact: The Legacy of Richard Kelly" is on view at the Center for Architecture through July 12.

Aaron Slodounik is a freelance art and architectural writer and an executive assistant at FXFOWLE Architects, PC.

Analysis and Fabrication Are New Faces of Architecture
By Pollyanna Rhee

The Living's Better, Cheaper, Faster developed a prototype for a flexible, easy-to-assemble system.
Courtesy The Living


For the Pentagon Memorial, KBAS designed 184 unique, illuminated units organized in a timeline according to victims' ages.
Courtesy KBAS

Event: Young Architects Forum: Instability
Speakers: Julie Beckman, Keith Kaseman, KBAS, Alexandria, Virginia; David Benjamin, Soo-in Yang, The Living, New York City
Organizers: The Architectural League of New York
Location: Urban Center, 05.11.06

Concepts and practicality explored through research and computer-based fabrication techniques link the work of KBAS and The Living. Instead of presenting a design for the Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial in Nacogdoches, TX, KBAS provided "imagination, space, and respect." Beckman and Kaseman will design the memorial after a process of exploration and collaboration integrating advanced materials from NASA.

The Living has established a system, called Flash Research, to generate small projects. Each project develops according to three parameters: the budget must remain under $1,000, the duration of the project must be less than three months, and the initial concept must come to fruition in a full-scale, functioning prototype. Starting with the question, "What if good architecture and bottom-line development were the same thing?" Better, Cheaper, Faster is an example of this process that tries to link architects with developers through CNC milling fabrication techniques. Benjamin and Yang built a full-scale prototype system of a flexible, lightweight, collapsible framing system that can, with a few tools, be assembled in an hour.

Pollyanna Rhee has done graduate work in education and is a member of the steering committee for Architecture for Humanity New York.

Terminal Ferries Cross-Hudson Commuters

Port Imperial Ferry Terminal
Courtesy Gruzen Samton Now serving the Left Coast of the Hudson River is the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal near Weehawken. The 33,000-square-foot inter-modal ferry terminal will serve as the prime hub for New York Waterway's ferry system to Manhattan, and interconnect with New Jersey Transit's Hudson-Bergen light rail line. The contemporary, streamlined building, designed by Gruzen Samton, features a grand double-height glass-enclosed waiting room overlooking the Manhattan skyline with adjacent ticketing counters, offices, information centers, café, and retail spaces. Tensile fabric canopy structures covering the waterside entries add to the nautical milieu.

Gilded Age Returns to West Virginia

West Virginia State Capitol
Courtesy Swanke Hayden Connell Architects Restoration of the historic dome atop the West Virginia State Capitol in Charlestown has been completed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA). Designed by Cass Gilbert, the dome is patterned after the 17th century Hotel des Invalides in Paris. Originally only decorative elements of the dome were gilded, leaving the background panels' lead-coated copper exposed to accentuate the gold leaf. After five unsuccessful attempts to restore the dome by other firms, SHCA succeeded in returning the dome to its original appearance with a durable coating system. In addition, the firm made repairs to the dome's underlying architectural and structural deficiencies, including mechanical failure of sheet metal cladding and corrosion of structural steel. The cost of the restoration was $4.5 million.

A Cut Above
Richard Meier, FAIA, and chef Wolfgang Puck have collaborated on a new steakhouse and ultra-lounge, called CUT and sidebar, respectively, in the ultra-chic Regent Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, on Rodeo Drive. CUT and sidebar are linked by a custom-designed linear light canopy than runs through both spaces and across the hotel lobby. The focal point of CUT is a dramatic linear skylight at the center of the bi-level dining room, and is configured to allow views of the kitchens. Sidebar features a curvilinear-shaped white oak bar. The L.A. office of Richard Meier and Partners also designed the furniture and flatware.

Helena Takes Gold

The Helena
Courtesy FXFOWLE Architects The Helena, the first voluntarily sustainable high-rise residential building in New York City, has been awarded a LEED Gold rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 37-story, 580-unit rental building, designed by FXFOWLE Architects for the Durst Organization, offers residents high performance green technologies. Studios, one-, and two-bedroom apartments incorporate recycled and rapidly renewable materials, water conserving fixtures, EnergyStar^TM appliances, and efficient lighting sensors and controls. The building contains intensive and extensive green roofs, a blackwater treatment plant, energy production by micro-turbine co-generation, and photovoltaic panels. FXFOWLE Architects is currently working with the Durst Organization on a new green residential tower for an adjacent site.

Step-by-Step Guide to Landmarking
The Historic Districts Council (HDC) has published "Creating an Historic District: A Guide for Neighborhoods," a practical guide to the City's Landmarks Law and the process of designation. The guide contains case studies from recent successful preservation efforts, such as Tribeca and the Gansevoort Market, and advises on the realities of legal and political processes. Sample forms from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, a full list of architectural and preservation resources, and the entire New York City Landmarks Law are included. The guide is $29.99 and can be purchased at the HDC website.

NY Programs Blueprint America
As part of the AIA's "Blueprint for America: A Gift to the Nation" agenda, AIA New York Chapter has received a $10,000 grant in support of New Housing New York (NHNY) Legacy Project, a program that stresses innovation, affordability, and sustainability in providing new housing prototypes for New York City. The Public Information Exchange (PIE) was also designated as an AIA150 program.

The NHNY Legacy Project is a collaboration among the NHNY Steering Committee, AIANY, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). In a two-stage design competition, the HPD has designated a vacant 40,000 square-foot site in the South Bronx as the future location for the NHNY mixed-income housing development.

Blueprint for America is the primary program of AIA150, a year-long observance in 2007 that will mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the AIA. "We applaud AIA New York Chapter for seizing this opportunity to demonstrate how good design makes a difference," said national AIA President Kate Schwennsen, FAIA. The Blueprint program was created to offer citizens in communities across America an opportunity to celebrate their heritage, address emerging architectural challenges and trends, and find their voices to help make their vision real for beautiful, safe, and livable communities.

NY Flair to Invade LA
A number of AIA New York Chapter members will bring some New York flavor to Los Angeles, acting as speakers at the AIA National Convention, June 7–10.

AIANY Chapter President Mark Strauss, FAIA, AICP, (FXFOWLE Architects) will moderate a New Practices Roundtable featuring Martin Finio, AIA, (Christoff:Finio Architecture) and William Menking (The Architect's Newspaper). Immediate Past President AIANY Chapter Susan Chin, FAIA, (NYC Department of Cultural Affairs) will moderate a discussion on the International Building Code and its adoption in New York City with speakers Carl Galioto, FAIA, (Skidmore Owings & Merrill), Patricia J. Lancaster, FAIA, (NYC Department of Buildings), and William Stein, AIA, (Dattner Architects). Chin will also lead a panel, which will include AIANY Chapter Executive Director Ric Bell, FAIA, about cultural facilities planned for the World Trade Center site.

Other local AIA members participating as speakers and moderators at the convention include Porie Saikia-Eapen, AIA, (New York Transit Authority), Norbert W. Young Jr., FAIA, (McGraw-Hill Construction), Frances Halsband, FAIA, (R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects), L. Bradford Perkins, FAIA, (Perkins Eastman Architects), Stephen A. Kliment, FAIA, Alexandros Washburn, AIA, (W Architecture), Frank J. Greene, AIA, (RicciGreene Associates), and George Miller, FAIA, (Pei Cobb Freed).

For more information about these programs and others, check out the convention schedule by clicking here. Also, check out Record Reveals: Los Angeles, a site developed by Architectural Record as an informal guide to LA architects complete with podcasts, interviews, and news about what's current in the LA architectural scene.

Help Open Doors During OHNY
openhousenewyork (OHNY) is asking New York City's architectural and design firms to help welcome over 75,000 visitors to the city's intriguing places and spaces. The 4th annual OHNY will be held this year on October 7 and 8, informing both visitors and native New Yorkers about the city's architecture, history, and cultural heritage during a weekend-long program of public access to sites of architectural interest—free of charge.

Firms interested in participating should be willing to highlight their work, using their staff as docents and lecturers. OHNY's press coverage reached an audience of more than 10 million in 2005. For more information contact Jessica Mak at jessica@ohny.org or call at 917.626.6869.

Kids Power Up Lighting Design
By Bonny Ann Whitehouse

Students show off their nightlight designs.
Erin McCluskey

With a kit containing a few simple items, kids designed freestanding light screens, space-inspired lights, and sculptural lighting, which cast shadows and created shapes on the walls, in celebration of the exhibition, "Light | Energy | Impact: The Legacy of Richard Kelly" (See On View). The Illuminating Engineering Society New York Section (IESNY) and the Center for Architecture Foundation presented FamilyDay@theCenter with a program entitled "Turn on Your Nightlight: Explore Lights Inside and Out." The night light-making workshop, created by Erin McCluskey, Program Manager of the Center for Architecture Foundation, was a hands-on introduction to the world of lighting design.

Curator Elizabeth Donoff, Senior Editor of Architectural Lighting magazine, gave a tour of the exhibition, providing insight into design aspects of Kelly's work—such as the baffle and jar of "baby light bulbs" used in many of Kelly's designs. On hand to assist the future lighting designers with their night lights were designer Selina Kwan (Arquitectonica), IESNY Vice President Bonny Ann Whitehouse, Frank Conti (Enterprise Lighting Sales), Joanne Conti (Benfield Lighting), and Scott Thurm (Bartco Lighting).

Bonny Ann Whitehouse is a principal at Whitehouse Lighting Design and current IESNY Vice President.

Passings
Lewis Davis, FAIA, co-founder of Davis Brody Bond, passed away May 21. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, June 20, 6:00pm in the Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library. To read the New York Times obituary, click here.

Rolf Myller, a member of the New York architecture community, died on March 23 of Parkinson's disease. Myller was a founding member of the Round Table Committee in 1996, and worked into his last years as a docent at the Museum of the City of New York and the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum. His wide range of creative pursuits included numerous literary accomplishments and museum publications, ranging from popular children's books to a guide to Chinese food. A memorial was held April 26 at the Museum of the City of New York.

Through 06.10.06
The Last Show 1912–2006

This exhibition revisits work completed by Cooper Union alumni including Eva Hesse, Tom Wesselmann, Milton Glaser, Julian LaVerdiere, and Mike Essl. Representing a cross-section of different generations, styles, and movements, the show celebrates the school's Hewitt building, before it is demolished to make way for a new academic structure.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art; Hewitt Building, Classrooms 208 and 211

Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, OH, 1997–2003
Courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects; photograph by Hélène Binet

06.03.06–10.25.06
Zaha Hadid

Providing an in-depth examination of the work of the first female Pritzker Prize winner, this exhibition will explore Hadid's interdisciplinary approach to architecture. A wide range of media will be on display, including paintings, drawings, large-scale urban plans, and documentation of current projects.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; 1071 Fifth Avenue

Stadt Antwerp/Eugeen Van Mieghem Foundation/South Street Seaport Museum

Through 10.31.06
Antwerp=America, Eugeen Van Mieghem and the Emigrants of the Red Star Line

Interwoven with the drawings and paintings of Antwerp artist Eugeen Van Mieghem, this exhibition is intended to evoke the atmosphere of Antwerp, one of the most important embarkation points for immigrants traveling to America between 1870 and 1935. The exhibition and musical, Portrait of a Stolen Spring, to be presented in early fall, are meant to raise awareness about the Red Star Line, three buildings currently being renovated and converted to a place for reflection and remembrance by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners.

South Street Seaport Museum Schermerhorn Row Galleries; 12 Fulton Street