Follow the links below to see each of the submission PDF files. All information reprinted with permission from the VA-ASLA Web site.

The Presidential Award of Excellence and the Community Service Honor Award to Siteworks for The StoryLine Project

StoryLine is an art and outreach project in Charlottesville that joins local artists and designers, historians and scientists, educators and parents, writers and politicians with young people to explore and interpret the places where they live. Created for the city of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation’s Summer Camp Excel, the project centers on a walking expedition of the city’s neighborhoods and environs, during which participants learn to use close observation and creative expression as a means of understanding urban landscapes and the stories that enrich them. This annual project culminates with the cre­ation of a collaborative chalk mural on the Community Chalkboard, a designed public landscape unique to Charlottesville that serves as a platform for communicating the work of the group to a public audience.

The Presidential Award of Excellence is the highest award given to a project that has been deemed by the jury as exceptional for its wonderful story, clients, and design excellence.

Analysis and Planning Honor Award to Oculus for their South Carlyle Master Plan

The 17.61 acre South Carlyle project site is located at the border between the Carlyle and Eisenhower neighborhoods in Alexandria and will serve as a key connection between urban developments to the north and west and parkland to the south and east. The simultaneous development of plans for a new mixed use community on the northern half of the site and an expansion of an existing municipal wastewater treatment plant onto the southern half of the site presented an opportunity to develop a master plan to increase density and create a cohesive vision, but also introduced a significant programming challenge. The landscape architect worked with a multi-disciplinary team to develop a design to transform this former rail yard, landfill, and brownfield site; combine seemingly incompatible mixed use development and wastewater treatment facilities programming; and meet the varied needs of the developer, city, and public. The resulting master plan centers on an expansive landscaped deck located over wastewater treatment tanks and above-grade parking, creating public space that establishes a vital connection in a local network of parkland and trails.

Analysis and Planning Merit Award to Nelson Byrd Woltz for their Master Plan Design of the Norfolk Botanical Garden

The Norfolk Botanical Garden is a major cultural and educational destination that receives over 300,000 visitors annually. The conceptual master plan proposes opportunities that maximize the visitor experience and bring greater awareness to the surrounding environment. Several sustainability initiatives are proposed including rain gardens, a eco- restroom and classroom, and education gardens.

General Design Honor Award to BCWH for their design of the University of Dayton: Central Mall

The University of Dayton wanted a versatile space that could comfortably accommodate large crowds just as easily as individuals and small groups. The design had to include open space for large tents, replenish a depleted tree canopy, separate pedestrian from vehicular traffic, and solve serious drainage and topographical problems. The landscape architects led a multi-disciplined team throughout the design process, solving the site’s programmatic and technical issues while creating a memorable center for the campus. The solution is both crossroads and gathering space: a 500-foot, terraced lawn bordered by trees and seat walls, with a plaza and fountain at one end, an amphitheater at the other, and an innovative bio-retention garden along one edge.

General Design Honor Award to Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects for their design of Martha Jefferson Hospital

Situated on a pastoral site above Charlottesville, Martha Jefferson Hospital’s new 80-acre campus represents the best of progressive landscape architecture. The design capitalizes on the site’s assets by reinforcing and framing distant views; abstracting local topography, geology, and hydrology; drawing on the rich palette of Virginia native plants and plant communities; and reconceiving an existing stormwater pond into a bio-diverse amenity. The landscape narrative celebrates healing and health—both physical and ecological—while maintaining contextual references to the regional landscape. The focus of the design revolves around five components of the site, all connected by a network of paths: the main entrance and the experience of arriving, the adjoining roof garden, the park and amphitheater which frames the mountain views and acts as connector to the surrounding community, the network of garden courts and outdoor rooms as immediate extensions of the hospital’s interior spaces and entry points, and the articulation of a meadow and pond environment at the site’s lower elevations.

General Design Merit Award to Siteworks for their design of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation

This new home of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation embodies the mission of nuturing scholarship and indirectly the character and legacy of the University’s founder. The Landscape at Jefferson Scholars is designed as an extension of this mission and as a contemporary expression of the iconic landscape of Jefferson’s Academical Village.

Residential Design Honor Award to Monroe and Crocker for their design of Windrush

The design purpose at Windrush was to complete a half-finished residential project, creating harmonic balance and realizing the potential of an existing house in an intimate setting, respecting both sensitive site and architectural form pushed boldly against a narrow river’s floodplain. The simple, elegant Asian teahouse, built on spec by the architect-developer, gave strong cues. The place-defining element of the river threading through a small woodland valley provided natural endowment of animation, flora, fauna, light, color, scent and musicality, from soft riffle to roaring flood.

Residential Design Merit Award to Graham Landscape Architecture for Wolf Hills Farm

The landscape architects were commissioned early in the planning stages to collaborate with the architect concerning additions to the house and the resultant landscape spaces. This project allowed the design team to demonstrate value in our work throughout the design process while integrating sustainable measures such as regional materials, local craftsmen and native plantings.

Student Design Honor Award to Dasha Lebedeva from the University of Virginia for her project Sand Flows Oyster Forms

Sited at Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Virginia the project aims to address the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality issues by catalyzing the growth of oysters and other mollusks that filter excess nutrients and suspended particles from the water, improve conditions for sea-grasses, provide a food source for marine birds and animals, and help buffer the coastline.

Student Design Merit Award to Kate Hayes and Rachel Stevens from the University of Virginia for their project Market Gradients: Green Infrastructure = Public Space

Market Gradients is a proposal for a new public space and city market in Charlottesville. The design responds to a call from the city for a permanent home for the city’s farmer’s market, a contraction of the quantity and quality of public space in Charlottesville and a growing concern for the stormwater infrastructure and water quality of the region. This project  conceives of the social and cultural space of the market as the intersection of public space and green infrastructure.

Student Design Merit Award to Danielle Alexander, Jack Cochran, Nicholas Knodt, and Clayton Williams from the University of Virginia for their Design Publication: SNACKS

SNACKS is a publication of a new and unique short-run publication venture. The publication team, led by a landscape architecture student and two architecture students, is now embarking upon its eighth issue of the yearly journal and are expanding efforts to create opportunities for students to get involved with publishing as well as learn from the exciting events going on at the school. The journal has served as an important venue of dialogue and design issues within and outside of the school community. The journal is published once a year to allow for an intensive submission and editing process. The newest endeavor is called SNACKs, which are short-run publications to be created at greater frequency throughout the year, responding to much needed coverage of the impressive array of internationally known speakers that visit and present workshops at the school.

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Artist sketch of Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Images courtesy of Cole & Denny.

Each year, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter takes in more than 5,500 companion animals and has an additional 2,000 wildlife pass through its doors. As part of its 2005 strategic plan, the shelter’s vision is to euthanize no healthy, treatable or rehabilitatable companion animal for lack of space or other resources.

Goal 3 of that strategic plan is to create and maintain an efficient, model facility that goes beyond being compliant with all state codes and meets community expectations for an animal resource center.

Canine adoption kennel with abundant natural light and outside views.

To that end, the county is renovating and expanding the Fairfax County Animal Shelter to provide state-of-the-art intake and adoption services for the animals that it cares for each year. Renovations and a new addition are proceeding on schedule.  The addition section was completed in December 2012, with an estimated completion date for the entire project set for July 2013.

Cole & Denny Incorporated of Alexandria is the architect for this multi-phase $8 million project, which is designed to increase capacity for animal shelter services, as well as provide new community meeting space and offices for Fairfax County’s Animal Control Division. Bacon Group, Inc., of Clearwater, Fla., specialists in animal care facilities, is assisting in the design. Maryland-based Keller Brothers, Inc. is the general contractor.

Climate controlled cat “condos” with individual exhaust and ventilation.

With energy saving features in mind, this animal shelter is designed for LEED-Silver certification. Energy-saving features include advanced daylighting systems that allow 75 percent of the building to benefit from natural illumination without artificial lighting; reduced-flush lavatories and flow rate adjusters for sinks, which provide water consumption savings; 26,800 sf of white PVC and metal roofing to reduce the building’s heat island effect; a dedicated 122-sf recycling room and recycling dumpster; additional space for separate animal care and pet adoption services; and five 100-percent-outside-air energy recovery units for kennels meeting ventilation requirements as prescribed by the Humane Society of the U.S.

Centralized kennel cleaning system and food preparation area.

Animal holding facilities have higher ventilation and volumetric air exchange requirements than typical commercial buildings. These air exchange systems will help control airborne viruses, which is especially important with such a large number of pets arriving with no known medical history.

This upgraded and expanded facility will double total canine capacity, triple feline capacity, and provide additional rooms to care for other small mammals, birds, and reptiles.

“Renovated space is designed to provide more natural light and more areas for specialized treatment and visitation,” says Cole & Denny Principal John Cole. “Adding a new adoption lobby is another feature designed to address the shelter’s mission of finding caring homes for as many animals as possible.”

Main lobby and adoption center.

Maintaining uninterrupted operations during these upgrades has been another goal for the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.  Cole & Denny’s four-phase development plan allows continuation of this busy facility’s existing services throughout the construction period.

“We’re renovating 11,000 sf of existing structure and adding approximately 15,000 sf of new construction,” Cole says. “Our ultimate goal is creating a new and appealing environment for staff and the animals in their care while working with the contractor to maintain a seamless flow of services as renovations proceed.”

Cole & Denny Incorporated is a full-service architectural, planning, and interior design firm with a diverse portfolio of new construction, addition, and renovation work. The firm’s clients range from state, local, and federal agencies to churches, corporations, educational institutions, and residential homeowners.  Expertise includes space planning, historic preservation, interior design, and facilities evaluation and modernization. Their design philosophy is focused on appealing solutions that are technically sound and environmentally responsible, with projects offering rich visual detail without sacrificing functional efficiency or maintainability.

Jonathan Moore is a political consultant and architectural writer based in Alexandria.

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Travel the Mid-Atlantic this spring to catch a glimpse of rarely shown French drawings, an innovative closet conversion, Minimalist and Conceptual works on paper, and a new take on an old theme.

Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
phillipscollection.org
Laib Wax Room
On Permanent View

The Phillips Collection now boasts Laib Wax Room, the first permanent installation in the U.S. by German conceptual artist Wolfgang Laib. The artist has created temporary rooms in institutions all over the world, from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to the Museum De Pont in the Netherlands. The Phillips’ site-specific work features a 6x7x10-foot chamber—formerly a museum storage closet—in which beeswax, applied like plaster, envelops the walls and ceiling. The end result is an enigmatic, atmospheric space defined by a naturalistic amber color and a single, unadorned descending lightbulb.

Photo: Wolfgang Laib, Wax Room (Where have you gone–where are you going?), 2013. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Photo by Lee Stalsworth.

Fralin Museum of Art, Charlottesville
virginia.edu/artmuseum
Corot to Cézanne: French Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
On View Through June 2

The Fralin presents an intimate viewing experience of the historically significant collection of French works amassed by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and gifted to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The paper-based drawings, rarely on view due to their sensitivity to light, span almost 150 years from the 19th to the early-20th centuries. Works by familiar, celebrated masters including Picasso, Matisse, Bonnard, and Van Gogh are highlights of this one-room exhibition.

Photo: Pablo Picasso, Jester on Horseback, 1905, Oil on composition board Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. Photo: Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C.
ncartmuseum.org
Dwelling: Interiors by Page H. Laughlin and Pamela Pecchio
On View Through July 28

Dwelling pairs two contemporary female artists—a photographer and a painter—as each examines domestic spaces and what role those spaces play in our lives. While imagery of interiors is an often-depicted theme in art, these works move beyond the aesthetic to demonstrate a worthwhile analysis, dissection, and reconsideration of interiors and the elements of everyday living. Exhibition-goers can further contemplate design through the museum’s award-winning architecture and 164 acres of sculptured grounds.

Photo: Page H. Laughlin, Untitled (Mirror, Mirror), 2000, oil on linen mounted on panel, North Carolina Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art, © 2000
Page H. Laughlin

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore
artbma.org
On Paper: Works from the Cohen Collection
On View Through August 25

For fans of minimalism and conceptualism, this exhibition is a must-see as 20 works on paper present a thought-provoking visual exploration. From floor plans to images merging text and art, the pieces question image and meaning while showcasing diverse drawing mediums. Curated from the collection of Suzanne Cohen, the works feature prominent modern and contemporary artists including Sol LeWitt, Olafur Eliasson, Bruce Nauman, Carl Andre, and Max Bochner.

Photo: Olafur Eliasson. Five green to blue negative movie. 2010. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York City

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“Principal owner Angelo Puglisi has retained Roanoke-based Woltz & Associates to market and sell the 215-foot-high bridge, the 150-room hotel, Natural Bridge Caverns and about 1,600 acres,” reports VirginiaBusiness.com. Puglisi and a group of owners, all reported to be in their 80s put the bridge on the market in the 1970s with no takers. Now they feel the market is more favorable for this property initially purchased by Thomas Jefferson from King George III in 1774. George Washington supposedly surveyed the site in 1750 and left his initials engraved into the stone at this one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

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Representing the AIA, she addressed the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce’s concerns that federal agencies are not providing small businesses sufficient opportunity to compete for federal work.

That concern, in Dreiling’s testimony, hinged mostly on the fact that design-build projects require a substantial level of design development for the d-b team to estimate costs. That burden falls predominately on the design firms but also on the contractor and subcontractors making a proposal.

Without compensation on a speculative bid, small firms can spend a quarter of their annual income on what is essentially a low-odds gamble of getting a federal-project commission, she said. The testimony was in support of HR 776 Security in Bonding Act now before the subcommittee.

The hearing was to examine barriers to the maximum practicable use of small business construction and A & E contractors. In its hearing announcement, the subcommitte noted:

Of the $516 billion spent by the federal govenment through contracts in fiscal year 2012, construction and architect and engineer (A&E) contracting accounted for about 8 percent of federal prime contract dollars, and more than 17 percent of the awards are to small businesses. However, small businesses in these industries still report that policies and procedures limit their ability to compete for federal work. The Subcommittee will receive testimony on barriers to the maximum practicable utilization of small business construction and A&E contractors. The hearing will specifically address the following areas that often limit small businesses from effectively competing on construction and A&E projects: 1) surety bond issues; 2) the use of reverse auctions for construction and construction services; 3) subcontracting credit allowance; and 4) failure to properly use a two-step procurement process for design-build contracts. In each case, the Subcommittee will discuss potential legislative solutions.

The agenda

Opening Statement:
Chairman Richard Hanna (R-NY)

Witnesses and Testimony:
Panel 1
# Mark McCallum, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Surety Bond Producers, Washington, D.C.
*     Witness Testimony
*     Witness Disclosure
# Thomas J. Kelleher, Jr. Senior Partner, Smith, Currie and Hancock, Atlanta
* Testifying on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America
* Witness Testimony
* Witness Disclosure
# Helene Combs Dreiling, First Vice President, The American Institute of Architects, Roanoke, Va.
* Testifying on behalf of the American Institute of Architects
* Witness Testimony
* Witness Disclosure
# Felicia James, President, Primestar Construction, Dallas
* Testifying on behalf of the United States Women’s Chamber of Commerce
* Witness Testimony
* Witness Disclosure

Panel 2
# James C. Dalton, Chief of the Engineering and Construction Division, Directorate of Civil Works, Headquarters, United States Army Corp of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
* Witness Testimony
# Jeanne Hulit, Associate Administrator for Capital Assess, United States Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C.
* Witness Testimony

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Communication is key to connecting with your clients and staff. The most effective methods of sharing information you need to impart to your clientele are highly dependent on an efficient means of communication employed in your office. Communications today do not need to be limited to conversation. Our communications now take place over networks with which computers communicate so that discourse can include information that computers are capable of handling. The technology that’s leading the way to enhancing your client connections is video tele-conferencing, or VTC. At its root level, VTC visually connects people together, and now that just about every mobile device and laptop produced today comes with a camera, visual communications are accessible from just about anywhere.  But apart from good network connections and sheer convenience the bottom line with any network technology is how useful it can be for you.

Mere face-to-face communications may be a novel and efficient way to connect with your clients, but effective communications are more than just talk. Much of your discourse will include graphics and text, documents with which you and your client or staff would benefit from interaction during discussions. Some forward thinking folks at InfoStrat, a company devoted to developing strategies for information technologies, are researching the methods in which VTC sessions can enable participants to interact and even be immersed within informational data and media. The research team at InfoStrat is using Microsoft’s Kinect combined with multi-touch technologies integrated with in-house developed software to explore communications using easily accessible VTC utilities like Skype and Link to share and interact with information during conversational sessions.

If you’re not aware of the Microsoft Kinect, it is a consumer grade device that allows motion interaction with Microsoft’s Xbox gaming platform. Interaction is gesture based, which means you don’t use a mouse or trackpad or other navigation device. The Kinect sensor detects your movements and translates it to the movement of an object in an Xbox game. For example, in a soccer game you would actually kick your foot in the air to hit a “ball” in the game. Or you could point in a particular direction and an object would move in that direction in the game. You don’t hold a device in your hand or touch the screen of your computer or gaming screen. You merely make gestures in the air.

This mere consumer grade gaming add-on is not only revolutionizing the way in which we can play games, but how we can work with computer graphics and data. A freely available software development kit can be downloaded with lots of examples of how Kinect can connect with your information. Kinect can recognize the human body and transfer your movements to a digital character. It can recognize facial expressions and transfer them to a virtual mask. You can wave your hand across to flip pages in a slide show. And you don’t need an Xbox to use the Kinect directly with your computer.

Combine this new way of interacting with computer information with VTC technologies, and you have a powerful platform for communications. Research into tele-immersive collaboration for InfoStrat is being championed by Josh Wall, Director of the Advanced Technology Group. This kind of collaboration allows the sharing of computer files while visually connected during a VTC session. Not only do you see and hear the person at the other end, but you can access and work with data and media together in ways that only computer interaction methods allow in what Wall refers to as a “shared glass session.” This is when you are sharing the presentation media, whether it’s on a computer monitor, projection screen, multi-touch table or other technology that is present on either end of the VTC session.

As Wall says: “We’re not talking so much about devices, we’re talking about displaying content. We’re interacting with content. We have content, we have sensors, we have services that are providing the content.” Wall’s team has been exploring different ways in which VTC communicators share and interact with data. They are taking interaction to higher levels than just merely reading a text document or looking at a static image together. Their methods allow real-time editing and manipulation of text and graphics between VTC parties.

The InfoStrat team is dedicated to finding ways to communicate more effectively while overcoming levels of abstraction inherent in VTC communications. “With traditional VTC a level of distraction has been added. Like I’m pointing at a graphic with my cursor but my head’s over here. You see me saying something but my cursor is over there. There’s a disconnect. It’s not natural, it’s not like you see me standing in front of a map and I’m pointing at something on the map. We’re really trying to get at how we can immerse somebody in that, and make it better so that video teleconferencing is better than just face to face.”

In a demonstration of their technology, InfoStrat showed how participants in a long distance VTC session were able to look at and interact with map data of a wildfire scenario. On one end of the connection, the main office for the response team is able to provide real-time locations of a wildfire outbreak to teams in the field. The manager at the office is actually immersed in the image of a map that is visible to all communications participants, and he can point directly to where teams need to react the fastest.

InfoStrat is also exploring the sharing of 3D data and looking at how communicators can become immersed in a 3D model. Wall likens this kind of 3D online experience with the 2D map example above where “you could plant someone in the 3D model and they’re pointing to something inside the 3D model.” They are also looking at real time 3D point cloud capture to automatically produce 3D models of VTC participants for even tighter integration with 3D content. Research is currently being done with InfoStrat’s Point Streamer technology, which would allow spatial data capture on the fly. Wall foresees relevant use of this technology for architects to be able to “do live walkthroughs of people interacting in a space and go back and review in multiple viewpoints.” While it is still theoretically being developed, this technology could revolutionize communications in architecture and other related fields of design and planning.

InfoStrat uses varying levels of interaction for VTC participants to collaborate on data. Granular levels of interaction vary from coarse movements using the Kinect and gesture based movements, to touch screen interfaces and stylus for more precise interaction. InfoStrat is developing a platform for handling this granularity of interaction on a number of different presentation devices they call Converge 360. This system will handle collaborative teleconferencing on all computing platforms from mobile to desktop to allow for multi-site, multiple interaction scenarios.

Wall believes that as far as business communications go, “remote can be better and more productive because the tools are more immediate.” With InfoStrat’s interactive approach to sharing media via VTC sessions, the tools on your computer are inherent in the process and more accessible when communicating through the network. As phone conversations become a thing of the past, and digital tools abound for enhancing workflow, VTC communication methods are quickly becoming the affordable, efficient way to connect.

Will Rourk currently works for the University of Virginia’s Digital Media Lab.

Photos courtesy of InfoStrat.

Connect to VTC Part I.

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But first, this from the American Red Cross:
People who wish to make a donation can support American Red Cross Disaster Relief—which helps provide food, shelter, and emotional support to those affected by disasters like the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas, as well as disasters big and small throughout the United States—by visiting redcross.org, dialing 1-800-REDCROSS or, to make a $10 donation automatically billed to your phone, texting REDCROSS to 90999.

Statement from President Jacob

On behalf of the AIA, and the AIA’s national Disaster Assistance Committee, I want to extend our concern, thoughts and prayers to people affected by the devastating storm in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

As experienced disaster responders, the AIA has already reached out to our affected AIA components to offer any support we can as our members assist clients and communities in evaluating the damage and moving forward with recovery.

Our experts passionately advocate for and educate other architects to evaluate damage to structures affected by such natural events, so that we may keep people safely away from further harm and return them to their homes as quickly as possible. More than 1,000 AIA members have received specific training to perform this work. And our AIA Oklahoma component has more than 20 trained evaluators from a session we ran last October.

For the moment, though, it is time for search and rescue. And we hope and pray those efforts are successful.

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In What Does an Architect Do? architects and educators talk very directly about the problem solving, form giving, education, registration, and collaboration that students and interns must master before becoming an architect.

This short PDF may be tuned particularly to Australia’s most populous state, nonetheless it provides some great talking points for anyone presenting to or working with local high school students with the potential to be part of the profession’s next generation.

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The latest book from proto-Deconstructivist Bernard Tschumi, FAIA—Architecture Concepts: Red Is Not a Color (2012, Rizzoli, 775 pages, $85)—is a study in contradictions and in the personal development of an icon of iconoclasm.

The four-inch-thick tome may look like a crimson Time Savers Standard on the outside, and some quirky typography and somewhat unsettling use of the second person voice throughout might intimidate some. But once one gets comfortable with flipping back and forth between theoretical essays and the well-illustrated, fun-to-follow illuminations of what an architectural concept is and isn’t in Tschumi’s mind, then the underlying approach he takes in this book becomes downright welcoming and comfortable.

As the title indicates, the concept of Red Is Not a Color is the meaning of concept. A generous selection of essays shows the evolution of defining architecture as well. Architecture is not the understanding of form, he writes, but a form of understanding, similar to the problem-solving construct of, say, a scientist or film director. And, he contends, a building can provide firmness, commodity, and delight and still fall short of being great architecture. What all great architecture does have in common is an informed and consistent concept. And that’s where the title comes in.

Photo courtesy of Bernard Tschumi Architects

One of Tschumi’s earliest well-known works, the Parc de la Villette contains 26 steel follies, each unique and yet, through materials, form, and redness, recognizably similar. Soon enough after winning the competition for the 125-acre park superimposed on the grounds of a former abattoir district of Paris, common questions to the French Swiss architect were: Why the color red? Will red be a signature color for you in the future?

These questions entirely missed the point of the design concept. Having a regular grid onto which the follies are positioned and their tint, he explains, was a conscious decision, but a decision apart from the concept of movement through the park and connection with the various amenities and spaces that directed the events that would occur there. The red follies appear only through the trees as one approaches or at a distance, depending on the season, and themselves become part of the experience. So even though it is probably the best hue for the purpose, the red is not a color but one part of a larger meaning. (Tschumi goes back and forth a bit on whether architecture concept and parti mean the same thing. Ultimately, it seems, he considers parti—like form and context—to be a necessary sub-element of concept. But I feel more comfortable leaving the parsing of this text to those more practiced at it.)

Following a user’s guide to the book and discussion of some basic principles, Tschumi begins a very introspective critique of his life’s work, beginning with his early architecture ads. (Some will remember, for instance the disconcerting b&w image of a hapless, defenestrated and still-falling man under the headline: “To really appreciate architecture, you may even need to commit a murder.”)

The thought process behind each of an extensive series of theoretical and built-design exercises is made personal for the reader by Tschumi’s use of “you” instead of “I” as he explains his unfolding and iterative realizations. “You imagine a number of these glass houses distributed among the rooftops of New York City,” he writes in Urban Glass House. “The project is also about the juxtaposition of the old and the new, a theme that you keep exploring in other projects.” Text and imagery are constantly intertwined throughout the book so that the result is sort of like touching Peter Pan’s hand and flying off into the fantastical world of another.

In the final estimation, though, this is a critical autobiographical evaluation of the work (till now, anyway) of an amazing architect (who has agreed, incidentally, to give the keynote presentation at the 2013 ArchEX symposium in Richmond November 6-8—see the ad on page 2 of this issue).

Photo by by Peter Mauss/Esto

And Tschumi, of course, is no stranger to architectural criticism. (The UIA Jean Tschumi Prize for design criticism is, after all, named in honor of Bernard’s father.) And this book gives Tschumi the opportunity to explain why he did what he did with, for instance, the New Acropolis Museum in Athens. In that particular section—“Concept, Context, Content”—the architect begins with the severe constraints of the site: physically tight, historically invaluable, and in direct view of the Parthenon. He then devotes 44 pages and 106 illustrations explaini

ng the development of the design solution. “The design process is not so much about contextualizing a concept as it is about conceptualizing a context,” he writes in a typical re-twisting of words.

No doubt there are many years left in Tschumi’s creative career. This is, then, a captivating mid-career retrospective that can be thumbed through, read, put down, and returned to over and over again. A word of warning, though: Once you think you’ve finally pinned down the true essence of this mercurial mind, you read another section, even at random, and find that you have to rethink the entire thing all over again. And, yet, you enjoy it.

—DEG

(Interior image of Acropolis Museum on the ReadInform.com home page by Christian Richters.)

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When the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) was building its Philip Merrill Center in Annapolis, Md., in 1998, it achieved LEED Platinum—the first in the world. The foundation has raised the bar even farther for the Brock Center, now under construction in Hampton Roads.

“The environmental center is to create a cutting-edge ‘green’ facility so in concert with its natural surroundings that it has no impact on the land, air, and water of the surrounding creeks, river, and Chesapeake Bay,” says Christy Everett, director of the CBF Hampton Roads office.

“What LEED Platinum was when we were designing the Merrill Center, the Living Building Challenge is now,” says Greg Mella, FAIA, of SmithGroupJJR, the architecture firm for both buildings. “The ideas we were working on 14 years ago were at the edge of what was possible, but we were still focused on doing less harm to the environment. Now we are striving to have a building that is neutral to or actually improves its environment. And the CBF is committed to the challenges that come with innovation like no other client I’ve ever worked with.”

The Living Building Challenge was conceived in 2006 and is promulgated through the International Living Future Institute. The Challenge encourages the design and planning of buildings, neighborhoods, and communities that, like a tree, are net-zero in use of energy and water and waste production; comprise nontoxic, sustainably sourced materials; and are beautiful and inspiring. The idea was to move the goal from incremental improvement to true ecological sustainability and base certification on demonstrated achievement. Living buildings improve people’s health as they take into account the upstream and downstream impacts of building materials.

Saving is earning

Given the cost of renewable energy sources—in this case a 39 kW photovoltaic array and two 10kW horizontal-axis wind turbines—the design team turned first to maximum energy savings to meet the net-zero energy objective. That included exterior sun shading, a high-performance envelope, daylighting, and natural ventilation. Active systems include 18 300-foot-deep wells to support a geothermal heat pump system.

Wind power is seldom appropriate for most of the work SmithGroupJJR does, but this is one exception because of the steady breeze coming off the bay, Mella says. And because the building is one-story, the wind turbines can operate out of the turbulence zone caused by the roof, which balances energy efficiency and site disturbance.

“The use of wind turbines in migratory-bird habitats has received a lot of attention and thought,” he adds. “CBF did extensive research and worked closely with academics and regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to  understand if the project would have a negative impact on bird populations using the site. Fortunately, due to the wind turbines’ small scale, there was no concern from the regulatory agencies and the academic community.”

Water neutrality is more of a regulatory hurdle, Mella says: “When it comes to water, it’s a state public health issue, and there are Environmental Protection Agency mandates that make sure the water we drink is safe. The state and EPA don’t differentiate between hand-washing water and potable water, though. To successfully use rainwater for hand washing we have to purify the water to drinking standards. We’re working with the State Public Health Department to try to make that happen.”

Permeable paving and collection will eliminate storm water runoff. The building will collect and store rainwater in cisterns for filtration. That treated water would go to hand washing and mop sinks. The team is also exploring the option of using collected and treated rainwater for showers and kitchen sinks. All storm water is treated on site, including through vegetated swales and rain gardens. Gray water from sinks, showers, and the drinking fountain will go into a collection tank for subsurface wetland treatment. Leachate from the composting toilets goes to a treatment plant where it is converted to a struvite-based fertilizer.

Landscape architecture and the Bay

“The Chesapeake Bay Foundation hopes to create an environmental education/community center here at Pleasure House Point that will engage, inform, and inspire the Hampton Roads community to solve the challenges facing the Bay in innovative, sustainable, and collaborative ways,” Everett says. “The environmental center will be an active demonstration site for important and relevant restoration projects, including living shoreline, oyster-bed, wetland, and other habitat restoration.”

At one point a thousand-unit housing development had been planned for a 120-acre Pleasure House Point site but fell through. Virginia Beach purchased 110 of those acres and the CBF bought the other 10 for their center. The building and access infrastructure sit lightly on one acre. William D. Almond, FASLA, with WPL Site Design, and his team are working on the landscape master plan for both the city’s parcel and the CBF site.

“The city is not looking to turn this into a recreational park,” Mella says. “It’s a preservation area. The site was heavily modified from dredging in the 1970s. The funding to restore the ecological function f the entire parcel is not going to happen overnight. But for the CBF parcel, the landscape design is part of the project. Happily, Billy is involved in both projects.”

Construction on the CBF landscape will begin in August, Almond says. Of the combined site’s mile-long frontage on Pleasure House Creek and the Lynnhaven River, he adds an additional note to the history of the deal: “Wells Fargo knew the property was valuable. They also knew the Trust for Public Land’s record of success and saw an opportunity to sell the property at a substantial discount and create a win-win solution for the bank’s shareholders and Virginia Beach. Although the shoreline is just a small piece of many millions of miles of drainage area that goes into the Chesapeake Bay, the focus here, especially for children, is on education about nature, the Bay, and everything associated with it.”

Almond, born and raised on the Virginia oceanfront adds: “I have in my lifetime witnessed a dramatic change in water quality, and I’m not that old. Look at a map and you’ll see that Virginia Beach is at the bottom of the Bay. So everything from our friends in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and on down drains out right at Cape Henry. Sediment and pollution eddy around the lighthouse and return back to shore.”

The EPA, from its creation in 1970, has worked to control point source pollution, for instance from factories and mills. And the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act of 1989 has been focused on nonpoint pollution, such as fertilizer and manure runoff. That effort across the Bay watershed includes testing to determine how much fertilizer a field actually needs as well as riparian buffers of naturalized vegetation between waterways and livestock.

“My belief is that water is the next oil,” Almond predicts. “We have limited sources of clean water and it is way more critical than petroleum to basic life. What was important in the late 1970s through ’90s has changed dramatically, and I attribute that simply to public education.”

And it is to that end that the CBF as a whole is committed. At the Hampton Roads office, specifically, “our vision for this site includes the living building, community partnership, environmental education, and restoration,” Everett says. “Based in this facility, CBF will provide office space for local conservation groups, meeting space for community organizations, and environmental education for students and teachers from across the region.”

Building renderings courtesy of SmithGroupJJR. Site plans courtesy of WPL Site Design.

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