In this issue:

· Lincoln Center Tops the Vivian Beaumont
· Times Square Hearts Valentines
· A New Museum Lets Kids Learn About Kids
· Curtains Up on West 52nd Street
· Just Add Water
· Sun Shines on Cochin
· School Educates Kids in Malawi about Sustainability

Lincoln Center Tops the Vivian Beaumont

Claire Tow Theater.

H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture

Lincoln Center Theater’s long held desire for a third theater will be realized on the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater with the addition of the Claire Tow Theater, designed by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. The Tow will become the home of LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater’s programming initiative dedicated to producing the work of new artists and the development of new audiences. Construction will begin this spring on the 23,000-square-foot, two-story addition. Budgeted at $41 million, the project will house a 131-seat theater, dressing rooms, rehearsal and administrative space, and an outdoor terrace surrounded by a green roof. The new building, only partially visible from below, was designed to complement Eero Saarinen’s building, which also houses the Mitzi E. Newshouse Theater. The project is intended to achieve LEED Silver and completed in early 2012.

Times Square Hearts Valentines

Ice Heart.

Moorhead & Moorhead

On the morning of 02.11.10, designers from the architecture and industrial studio Moorhead & Moorhead will lead a team of ice sculptors and engineers to create a large heart in Duffy Square. As a result of winning the second annual invited competition, the firm was commissioned by the Times Square Alliance to construct a 10-foot-tall heart made from masonry-scaled ice blocks. Kaleidoscopic in nature, “Ice Heart” will be activated by the constantly changing lights and colors of Times Square and will transform as it melts — though it will remain intact at least until Valentine’s Day. Okamoto Studio will construct the sculpture; Robert Silman Associates is the structural engineer; and Tillet Lighting Design will illuminate the public space.

A Museum Lets Kids Learn About Kids

DiMenna Children’s History Museum at the New York Historical Society.

Rendering by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture & Design Partnership

The New-York Historical Society has received a $5 million donation to create the DiMenna Children’s History Museum. Designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership, the museum-within-a-museum will be located in a vaulted space on the lower level, and feature both permanent and special exhibitions for and about children, incorporating historical artifacts and replicas, objects and illustrations, three-dimensional pavilions, and interactive elements. The creation of the museum is part of the New-York Historical Society’s renovation, designed by Platt Byard Dovell White Architects, to bring a new level of openness to the building while improving the society’s ability to serve the public and showcase its collections and exhibitions. The new space is set to open in November 2011.

Curtains Up on West 52nd Street

The 52nd Street Project.

Vanni Archives

The 52nd Street Project, a non-profit that matches kids from Hells Kitchen with professional theater artists (Cynthia Nixon, Billy Crudup, and Edie Falco to name a few) to create original works, has officially opened in its permanent home designed by BKSK Architects. After occupying various temporary spaces since it was founded 30 years ago, the group now has its own entrance and two floors in the new Archstone Clinton mixed-use development. The 17,000-square-foot space contains dressing rooms, studios, private and open offices, a workshop, and an after-school clubhouse with full kitchen, as well as tutoring and teaching spaces. At the heart of the space is a 156-seat black box theater, which also serves as a multi-purpose courtyard. A five-foot-wide catwalk with an open steel grating spans the length of the theater box and creates a shortcut between offices and a workshop and after school areas on either side. Windows in the street wall of the theater space were opened up, bringing in natural light. The project is expected to achieve LEED Gold.

Just Add Water

Concrete Cloth.

Material ConneXion

The NY office of Material ConneXion held its first annual MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year, naming UK-based company Concrete Canvas’s Concrete Cloth as the winner. Concrete Cloth’s cement-impregnated flexible fabric technology allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes. When water is added it creates safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of commercial, military, and humanitarian uses. The award recognizes materials juried into the company’s Materials Library within the past year that demonstrate outstanding technological innovation and the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of design, industry, society, and economy. The winners will be on view through 02.19.10.

Sun Shines on Cochin

Choice Marina.

CetraRuddy

Choice Marina, CetraRuddy’s first international commission, recently broke ground in Cochin, on the southwest coast of India. The 138,000-square-foot, 13-story residential resort condominium features three-bedroom homes, with two homes per floor. Rarely seen in Indian developments, the building will include private elevators and grand master bedroom suites with windowed master bathrooms, freestanding bathtubs, and dressing rooms. The design incorporates a rooftop lounge and pool, outdoor verandas, a private terraced garden that steps down to the waterfront, and two private yachts for use by the residents. Responding to the area’s tropical climate, the two towers are oriented to reduce solar heat gain and to minimize the impact of monsoons without compromising views. Each of the towers will bear an array of fixed and operable exterior screening and sun-shading devices to enhance the curtain wall performance and further improve energy efficiency. Occupancy is slated for July 2011.

School Educates Kids in Malawi about Sustainability

Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.

Adams Kara Taylor/Studio MDA

Work on the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, designed by NYC-based Studio MDA, is underway. Located on a 100-acre site on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi, the school will board 450 girls. The campus will contain a library and administration building, dining hall, gymnasium, wellness center, sports field, 30 classrooms, 12 dormitories, and 18 staff houses.

The design concept is sustainable throughout. Most construction materials are sourced locally, such as Hydraform bricks made from soil on site, avoiding the use of burned bricks that have been responsible for widespread deforestation in Malawi. A field of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the gymnasium and passive ventilation and natural light will help the school to be energy independent. Two constructed wetlands will process all the black and grey water to be used for irrigation in the playing field. Learning landscapes and educational agriculture areas will educate the students on the ecosystems in Malawi and help to develop sustainable agriculture in the country. Some of the other participants in Raising Malawi’s design team include the New York office of ARUP, Brooklyn-based landscape architects dlandstudio, London’s Adams Kara Taylor engineering, ePod Solar of British Columbia, and IM Designs of Malawi. The school, being funded by pop-star Madonna, is expected to open in 2012.