In this issue:

· 9/11 Casualty Breaks Ground in Lower Manhattan
· New Window to Complete Eldridge Street Synagogue’s Restoration
· Harlem Goes Green and Affordable for Retro-Fit
· NY Architects Redefine Las Vegas Strip
· New Super-Tall Responds to Sun in Seoul

9/11 Casualty Breaks Ground in Lower Manhattan

Fiterman Hall.

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects

Ground was broken on the new Fiterman Hall for the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Located adjacent to the World Trade Center site, the building suffered structural damage and contamination during 9/11 and had been covered in black netting for years. The facility, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, will be a 15-story vertical campus that weaves together public spaces and educational facilities. In addition to 96 classrooms, computer labs, a library, and assembly rooms, the facility will contain community gathering areas, a small conference center, two gallery spaces, and a café. It also features a large, multistory circulation atrium with circular stairs to alleviate elevator loads during class changes, and a planted roof. The total cost of the project is $325 million, which includes $66 million for the deconstruction and decontamination of the old building. $139 million is being provided by the city, with the balance coming from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2012.

New Window to Complete Eldridge Street Synagogue’s Restoration

Before: Temporary window to be replaced by the Kiki Smith-Deborah Gans commission.

Kate Milford

Marking the final significant component of the 20-year restoration of the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, a NYC Landmark and a National Historic Landmark on the Lower East Side, the Museum at Eldridge Street has commissioned artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans, AIA, to create a new east window. The window will parallel the original in its stained-glass medium, replacing a clear tablet-shaped glass-block design that was introduced in 1944-45 after the original window was damaged and removed. Sixteen feet in diameter, the window is the focal point of the sanctuary and occupies nearly the entire top half of the building’s eastern wall. The design, a galaxy of stars against a blue firmament, recreates in stained-glass the blue and gold star pattern painted on the walls immediately surrounding the new window. Using flash glass technology, it will be possible to etch yellow stars into a blue field without any outline or leading so that they will appear as more intense sources of light within the glow of the window. The new window is expected to be installed in spring 2010.

Harlem Goes Green and Affordable for Retro-Fit

West Harlem retrofit apartment buildings.

Dattner Architects

Dattner Architects is set to retrofit a row of 10 circa 1905 apartment buildings in West Harlem. The buildings, containing a total of 198 apartments, are six stories plus a cellar, and are for the most part identical in design. The firm prepared a Green Retrofit Report to identify feasible opportunities to improve the environmental performance, consistent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Green Retrofit Program and subsequently developed a scope of recommendations to address basic repairs and make sustainable improvements. Key green features include: the upgrade of energy systems; installation of a photovoltaic array; new street trees; thermally improved windows and doors; water conserving plumbing fixtures; energy-efficient lighting with motion detector controls; and sustainable materials and finishes in public spaces. This affordable and sustainable housing project is being developed by Jonathan Rose Companies.

NY Architects Redefine Las Vegas Strip

CityCenter.

RV Architecture

The $8.5 billion CityCenter complex on the Strip in Las Vegas began opening its new buildings with Vdara Hotel & The Hotel and Spa, a non-gaming, 1,495-suite, 57-story building designed by RV Architecture, under the leadership of Rafael Viñoly, FAIA. The hotel’s crescent-shaped tower is distinguished by three parallel, offset arcs rising to varying heights. The second to open is Crystals, with 500,000 square feet of high-end retail and restaurants. Studio Daniel Libeskind designed the multi-faceted building and The Rockwell Group designed the interiors. Rising from Crystals is Veer Towers, twin glass 37-story towers that lean towards each other and contain loft-like residences.

The third to open this month is the 47-story the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, design by Kohn Pederson Fox, also a non-gaming hotel with 392 rooms and 225 branded condominium residences. The building draws inspiration from traditional Chinese motifs and features vertical panels of aluminum and glass that interlock with horizontal frit atop a podium made of zinc, titanium, granite and limestone. The fourth to open is the complex’s centerpiece — the 61-story ARIA Resort & Casino, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli. Set to have its grand opening on December 16, the ARIA will have over 4,000 guest rooms, 150,000 square feet of gaming, and a 1,800-seat theater that will showcase Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis.” The final element in this ensemble is the Harmon, designed by Foster + Partners, a 400-room luxury boutique hotel, slated for late 2010.

CityCenter will be one of the world’s largest green developments. ARIA and Vdara are the first Las Vegas hotels to achieve LEED Gold certification and Crystals also has received LEED Gold. The remaining venues are expected to receive a combination of LEED Gold and Silver ratings. Located on 67 acres, CityCenter is a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE and Infinity World Development, a subsidiary of Dubai World. This project to build a city within a city began in 2004 with Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn Architects’s master plan. Gensler is executive architect overseeing the work.

New Super-Tall Responds to Sun in Seoul

Digital Media City Landmark Tower.

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

The NY office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) celebrated the groundbreaking of the Digital Media City Landmark Tower. Located north of the Han River at the western edge of Seoul, the super-tall tower rises as a gateway to the city. Curved forms shape the 2,100-foot-tall building. Perimeter mega-columns reinforce the transforming mass and provide a natural break to a series of solar louvers. A pattern of both horizontal and vertical fins shield the interior from the sun, responding to the time of day. Together with a crown that collects and channels light and helps power the building through wind turbines, the architecture reinforces sustainability strategies at the core of the design. High-efficiency photovoltaic panels maximize solar energy and provide additional shade where needed. Radiant cooling through chilled beams, radiant floor heating, and drawing tempered air through green atriums add further efficiency. Additionally, atrium gardens and open-air green spaces throughout the building act as natural air filters. Upon completion in 2014, the project will be the tallest building in East Asia.