OMA to build its first residential high-rise in New York City

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas was in New York today to unveil his design for 23 East 22nd Street, a new luxury high rise in the Flatiron district that will rise immediately adjacent to the recently completed One Madison Park tower by Cetra-Ruddy architects with which it will share a lobby and building amenities.

The 24-storey building will include 18 residences, a Creative Artists Agency (CAA) screening room, pool and gym. The building will be distinguished in the skyline by its dramatic cantilevered floors. “Mirroring the traditional New York setback, the building’s form is at once familiar and distinctive,” said OMA founder Rem Koolhaas. “The form provides a number of unexpected moments that appear at each step- balconies at the upper part of the building and floor windows at the lower part- providing a variety of unit types and features throughout the building.”

The building is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) | www.oma.eu

Work Begins On Paris Twin Towers

The first tall buildings built or years outside of the Commune of Paris and La Defense are now beginning construction.

The scheme is being funded by Saudi investment fund MBI to the tune of 500 million euros and is located in the commune, or district if you don’t speak French, of Levallois-Perret, one of the most densely populated areas of Paris.

Called the Levallois Twins, the design by architects Sylvain Glaiman and Pierre Epstein stars two curving 38 storey 164 metre tall towers set above a circular podium with their concaved fronts looking into the centre of the plot. Sterile white lines and contrasting glazing add to the cleanness of the look which is more corporate America than French chic.

It is being built speculatively with the main thrust of the project being some 82,000 square metres of office space. Also included is a new 400 bedroom four star hotel and least 40 new retail outlets in a 3 storey shopping mall. There will be parking for 1,600 cars will be in the basement.

For years the city had rejected building skyscrapers outside of the core area of La Defense but the construction of the Levallois Twins is one of the proposals that is seeing this policy come to an end. Whether this sees construction in La Defense which has had a virtual monopoly on skyscrapers fall or a wider building boom across Paris remains to be seen.

The scheduled completion date of the project will be sometime in 2011.

New York • ICFF

Typically following Milan’s supersize furniture fair, the launches at N.Y.C.’s smaller International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) can echo the Italians. This year’s more eclectic mix of furnishings and materials, however, was more likely to be touted as green.  - David Sokol

The style council
The San Francisco–based Council, launched in 2007 invites various talents to submit designs for consideration and chooses its collection from the resulting entries. For its second year, Council plucked concepts from Cédric Ragot, whose Stabil nesting tables feature a powder-coated-steel tabletop cantilevered seemingly precariously from a string-thin, asymmetrical base. The One & Co–designed Periodic Table, a block of reclaimed fir beams sprayed in pure silver, is a first-ever technique that required a year of research to produce. Council, San Francisco. www.councildesign.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #220]

Wily wires
Marking a push into the residential market, Herman Miller unveiled its Lifework Portfolio of furniture designed for home offices. The introduction includes Airia, by Rhode Island–based designers Ayako Takase and Cutter Hutton of Kaiju Studio.

The mixed-material desk features insightful details, such as a walnut lip that is curved where the forearms rest on the tabletop, and three covelike channels — as sensual as they are inconspicuous — for wire management. Herman Miller, Zeeland, Mich. www.hermanmiller.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #221]

Tree people
Wallpaper manufacturer Graham & Brown invited students from London’s Central St. Martins to contribute designs for a new series printed in water-based ink on paper from managed timber sources, and shipped in compostable corn-based packaging. Of 22 proposals, the company chose to produce five Eco-Wallpaper designs, featuring patterns of birds, futuristic cars, tropical flora, concentric circles, and birdcages. Graham & Brown, Blackburn, United Kingdom. www.grahambrown.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #222]

Ready for takeoff
The wavy steel modules of Ondine, designed by Michaël Bihain and architect Cédric Callewaert, appear like abstracted birds on the verge of flight. Connect three of these components instead to produce a circular bench whose undulations support sitters of different heights. Michaël Bihain, Brussels. www.bihain.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #226]

Wet-suited
The layered, looping forms of Son of a Bench impart this sturdy perch with a fast, Blade Runner look. Clad in rubber, the futuristic style is multifunctional, too. Besides using the bench in outdoor settings or in lobbies regularly exposed to the elements, Son’s multiple slots are perfectly sized for standing up wet umbrellas. Blu Dot, Minneapolis. www.bludot.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #227]

Crystal drawers
When the push-touch doors of Brave Space Design’s Planar Storage pieces are closed, they resemble walls of crystalline facets — although the series is fabricated of bamboo, recycled MDF, and FSC-certified maple. Brave Space Design, Brooklyn. www.bravespacedesign.com

[Reader Service: September 2008 #228]

Drafty delicacy
By cutting and folding nonwoven cellulose into a variety of delicately geometric shapes, husband-and-wife designers Nir and Ada Simhon transform a two-dimensional sheet into a dynamic three-dimensional animated surface that wafts in the wake of passersby or shimmers in the breeze. ONON Surface, Guivataim, Israel. www.ononsurface.com

Second skin
Pritzker Prize–winning architect Jean Nouvel is the brains behind Skin, a seating collection named for its construction of star-incised leather suspended from a metal frame. The design is inspired by Nouvel’s Museè du Quay Branly in Paris. Molteni & C, Giussano, Italy. www.molteni.it

History al fresco
Richard Schultz Design strips bare the traditional wingback chair, and transforms it into the backyard-ready Wing Chair. The seat references its predecessor’s shape in perforated and folded aluminum. And with their broad backs placed into a circular or rectangular grouping, Wing Chairs provide users with a sense of enclosure. Richard Schultz, Palm, Penn. www.richardschultz.com

Made in the shade
The plastic laminate strips that comprise the canopy of the Ensombra umbrella rotate around a central axis, allowing patio dwellers to move the slats to control the amount of incoming sunshine. Gandia Blasco, Valencia, Spain. www.gandiablasco.com

Students Master the Art of Building

When Hurricane Hugo ravaged Charleston, South Carolina, in 1989, more than 4,000 historical buildings were severely damaged. Due to a dearth of traditionally trained workers in the United States, European craftsmen were brought in to restore the structures, many of which dated back to the early 1800s.

Importing these types of experts may no longer be necessary. After getting licensed in 2004, the American College of Building Arts (ACBA), in Charleston, will graduate its first class next May. John Paul Huguley, a preservationist and structural engineer, founded the college, formerly the School of the Building Arts in Charleston, in 1998.Inspired by European restoration specialists, who are formally trained and supported by guilds, he modeled it after schools in France operated by Les Compagnons du Devoir, a 600-year-old organization for craftspeople.

The ACBA is not merely a trade school. It is the only four-year university in the U.S. that offers associates and bachelors degrees in the building arts. Students major in architecture or historic preservation and pick one of six concentrations: architectural metal, plaster working, masonry, carpentry, architectural stone, and timber framing. The students spend three days a week in the classroom, and two in the workshop. There are no electives, and each summer students must complete an eight-week internship in their concentration. “Every class is geared to fulfill a liberal arts curriculum, but in a very specific, integrated way,” explains Deborah Bowman, director of enrollment and student services. “Instead of biology, we have material science. Instead of the history of Charleston, we have the history of architecture.”

The college has an eclectic mix of scholars ranging in age from 17 to 30. Some are teenagers fresh out of high school, while others already have bachelor degrees. When classes got under way on August 13 for the fall semester, the campus welcomed a total of 60 students, one third of them female. Enrollment is increasing: there are 25 freshmen this year, a 60 percent increase from 2005. The annual tuition is $20,000.

When evaluating candidates, the selection committee considers standard criteria like high school transcripts and SAT scores. Applicants must also submit a portfolio showing their work, but special emphasis is placed on the interview. The program is rigorous, much like architecture school, and Bowman says they want to ensure students are passionate and mature enough to handle the demanding course load.

The school has two campuses: a former naval base houses the workshops, and the historic Old City Jail in downtown Charleston contains classrooms and administrative offices. In the future, the ACBA plans to expand to the McLeod Plantation, a 17th-century, 40-acre estate. This year, the senior class will assist with restoration work at the site.

Students say the program offers them a unique opportunity to get a bachelors degree while studying a trade. Isaiah Shaw, 24, became interested in timber framing while living in upstate New York, where old barns abound. He knew he wanted to pursue this line of work full-time, but he didn’t know how to go about it until he found the ACBA on the Internet. “It was my only option,” he says. “Smaller schools offered a week or three-month course, but nothing combined a liberal arts degree with the trade.” While Shaw is only a junior this year, his summer internships in New Hampshire and Rhode Island have already led to job offers.

In May, the college won an Arthur Ross award from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America. Paul Gunther, the organization’s president, says the ACBA fills an important niche. “We are definitely seeing more of a need for these kinds of artisans,” he says, “not only in classical design but all kinds of construction.”

By Alanna Malone / ArchRecord