A touch of whimsy or an over-the-top accessory?

In between the multitude of sale flyers tucked into the papers this past weekend, I came across news (albeit a few weeks late) of the reopening of the grand Fontainbleau hotel in Miami Beach. Originally opened in 1954, the beach-front property had been closed since 2006 while it underwent a $1-billion renovation and expansion. Given the celebrity response to its grand reopening shindig on November 14, the new, 1,504-room venue—which also now includes 11 restaurants and nightclubs, a 40,000-sq.-ft. space and two new towers to house the new amenities—may continue to live up to its star-studded past, filled with the likes of Elvis, Sinatra and the Rat Pack, and even James Bond.

While new guests may be drawn by the flat-screen TVs and Apple computer in each room or the elaborate chandeliers now in the hallways which are a product of Ai Weiwei, a consultant for Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium, past guests loved architect Morris Lapidus's famed "Staircase to Nowhere," a two-story staircase that led to nothing but a small coat room above the lobby. It's purpose, after all, wasn't for climbing, but rather opposite: Guests would take an elevator up, check their coats, and descend down the staircase and make a grand entrance. While the coat check is no longer there, the staircase remains.

Which raises a question: Are design elements like this a unique touch of whimsy that draws visitors and sets a scene, or are they over-the-top accessories?

Photo: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

"The most beautiful homeless shelter in the world"

Who says only the wealthy and well-off should have access to a touch of thoughtful design? Not Miriam Kilali, a Berlin-based artists behind Reichtum 2, a homeless hostel in Germany that just reopened. Brought to our attention in an article in Spiegel Online (via ArchNewsNow), the shelter is the second venture for Kilali, who first opened an extravagant homeless hostel in Moscow.

The design of the shelter, whose name means "wealth" in German, is meant to inspire. The space, a former hotel, became a hostel eight years ago for men ages 40-68. Seeing an opportunity following the success of her Moscow project, Kilali raised €130,000 to cover the renovation of the existing hostel, telling Spiegel Online: "I knew from experience that beautiful buildings give strength, especially after gruelling times. People living on the street need that, twice over."

The result? Interiors now include chandeliers, wooden floorboards, gold borders on the walls, and designer furniture. Linoleum flooring was replaced by terracotta floor tiles, and bright wallpaper went up over sterile tiles.

Next on Kilali's list: New York, where she is working on Reichtum 3.

Photo from www.miriamkilali.com

Just do it?

More news on the sustainability front: Last week, five major U.S. companies—Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Sun Microsystems, and Timberland—launched a new business coalition called Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). In association with Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest groups interested in sustainability, BICEP issued a challenge to U.S. lawmakers: create strong U.S. climate and energy legislation in 2009 with the goal of stimulating renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency and green jobs, requiring 100 percent auction of carbon allowances, and limiting new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions.

The coalition wants legislation consistent with eight core principles:

• Set greenhouse gas reduction targets to at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.  
• Establish an economy-wide GHG cap-and-trade system that auctions 100 percent of carbon pollution allowances, promotes energy efficiency and accelerates clean energy technologies.
• Establish aggressive energy efficiency policies to achieve at least a doubling of our historic rate of energy efficiency improvement.
• Encourage transportation for a clean energy economy by promoting fuel-efficient vehicles, plug-in electric hybrids, low-carbon fuels, and transit-oriented development.
• Increase investment in energy efficiency, renewables and carbon capture and storage technologies while eliminating subsidies for fossil-fuel industries.
• Stimulate job growth through investment in climate-based solutions, especially “green-collar” jobs in low-income communities and others vulnerable to climate change’s economic impact.
• Adopt a national renewable portfolio standard requiring 20 percent of electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020, and 30 percent by 2030.
• Limit construction of new coal-fired power plants to those that capture and store carbon emissions, create incentives for carbon capture technology on new and existing plants, and phase out existing coal-based power plants that do not capture and store carbon by 2030.

In issuing this challenge, BICEP members hope climate change impacts will ripple across various business sectors. The question is: will these marquee names bring additional action? 

The green scene hits NYC

Earlier this year, we reported on the emergence of sustainable nightclubs, bars and discos. Thumping bass, flashing strobe lights and...a dance floor that converts the kinetic energy of clubbers into electricity for the venue? Such were the goals of Enviu, an international collective of sustainability driven entrepreneurs and by the time of our report last March, Rotterdam-based architecture firm Döll—Atelier voor Bouwkunst was developing a Sustainable Dance Club (rendering above) in Rotterdam that would do just that. What's more, dancers' perspiration would be channeled into grey water circuits, biometric wall displays furniture that changes color to match clubbers' body temperature.

Now, less than nine months later, New York City is jumping into the center of the circle with the opening of Greenhouse, a downtown Manhattan club that opened last week. As reported in The New York Times, Greenhouse, whose sustainable features were crafted consulting firm National Progression is seeking LEED certification. How? The two-level, 6,000-sq.-ft. venue houses high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning, an LED lighting system, and waterless urinals and low-flow sinks in the bathrooms. All materials used to furnish it are recycled or recyclable. 

Time to scramble?

With the financial picture looking bleaker each day, the architecture industry is running for cover, or so reports Crain's New York Business.com in an article by Theresa Agovino entitled "Architects run for shelter." 

How dire it is out there?  Consider the experiences relayed to Agovino by Perkins Eastman founder Bradford Perkins. Perkins attempted to offset the impending slow down by opening a couple of international offices and hiring two renowned architects to bring in commissions. Despite these efforts, come Fall and the spectacular tanking of the American market, the firm saw 20 projects, nearly 10 percent of its total New York workload, be suspended or canceled and had to lay off 40 workers, or about 10 percent of its staff.

Certainly Perkins Eastman isn't alone. In a recent report at Contract's annual Design Forum, our editorial director, Jennifer Busch, shared the bad news: while the hit on the housing market has sounded loud and clear, an imminent downturn is coming for non-residential construction....if it's not already here. The Architecture Billings Index, calculated by the AIA, continues to plummet each month to a new low, and in October it sunk the farthest yet, to 36.2, the lowest level since it began in 1005. (To give this some context, any number below 50 indicates a decline in billings.)  Yes, the outlook is grim for all market segments: the office market is declining, the hospitality market is down right inhospitable, and don't even get us started on retail.

While more specific data and insight on the economic landscape for the A&D community is to come in Contract's January 2009 issue, we want to know: how are you dealing with the current state of economic affairs?

Social responsibility in the spotlight

I've long been fascinated by the Sundance Channel's Iconoclasts series, which pairs creative minds together for intimate, one-on-one discussions and experiences. So it was a delight last October when the fourth season's roster was announced and the final pairing was Cameron Diaz and Cameron Sinclair.

Delight and a bit of a pat on the back as here at Contract, we'd already begin highlighting the growing importance of social responsibility and design in a number of ways....including a project with the Architecture for Humanity founder and growing media darling Sinclair.

Earlier this year, Contract launched Vis a Vis, a five-part online series in conjunction with Shaw Contract Group that, much like Iconoclasts, sought to bring together forward-thinking individuals from a variety of disciplines to discuss the intersection of design and our daily lives. The results were discussions that explored everything from regionalism and design, cross-disciplinary ventures, the influence of technology and science on design, genetics, the culture of luxury, sustainability and, yes, social responsibility. For Sinclair's segment, filmed last year in Scottsdale, Arizona during Contract's annual Design Forum, paired the globe-trotting designer with Ellen Albert, executive vice president, CORE services for Viacom/MTV Networks. 

Just one of the many discussion points raised by their conversation: While Sinclair and Albert's client bases are decidedly different, the process of design each of these visionaries uses can be surprisingly similar. How can the process of designing for a company targeting teenagers in, say, Milwaukee or Los Angeles mirror that of designing a school in the wake of Asia's devastating 2004 tsunami or rebuilding community along the Gulf Coast? Take a listen to find out....

Photo of Ellen Albert and Cameron Sinclair by Gregory Miller Photography

Change is coming to Washington

Photo by Derek Jensen, from The White House Museum (www.whitehousemuseum.org)

Yesterday, we blogged about President-elect Barack Obama's one-time architectural aspirations and it seems we weren't the only ones interested in the impact the new presidency will have on the A&D community. On the heels of that news, the Associated Press asks whether the new administration will mean a new, greener White House. 

Of course, every four to eight years, the historic interiors at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW get an overhaul of sorts as each President adds his (and perhaps one day her) own signature to the storied structure. According to the AP, for Franklin Roosevelt, it was an indoor swimming pool, while Gerald Ford built an outdoor pool. George H. Bush opted for a horseshoe pitch and Bill Clinton installed a running track (which was recently removed). Benjamin Harrison installed electric lighting. Harry Truman added a second-floor balcony over the south portico and also oversaw an extensive reconstruction in the late 1940s when the house was declared in imminent danger of collapse.

Focused on bringing change of all kinds to Washington, will Obama think of the big picture and aim to make the White House green? Congress provides $100,000 every four years to redecorate White House rooms that are used for the first family's private residence. Given the choice, what would you do with this budget?

Second life takes on a different meaning

This morning on the Today show as part of its ongoing "Green Your Routine" segment series, the focus was on New York subway cars and their afterlife. Where do those old cars go to die once they're finished riding the underground rails? It seems since 2001, NYC has been engaging in recycling of a different sort - turning old cars into new underwater neighborhoods off American shores. 

Barack Obama, architect?

Blair Kamin at the Chicago Tribune offered up a neat bit of trivia earlier this week: It seems both President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden both aspired to join the rank of architects before getting pulled into the political fray....

Says Kamin:

"Our president-elect once stated on the campaign trail that as a child he wanted to be an architect. And the Chicago Tribune questionnaire Biden filled out last year during his short-lived presidential bid included this item: "IF I WEREN'T A POLITICIAN, I WOULD BE: An architect."

Why this link between the nation's new leaders and architects? It does make the grubby business of politics sound noble, even glamorous. At their best, architects are visionaries who chart new courses. Which is why the political class can't get enough of the cliche: "He was the architect of such-and-such landmark legislation."'

Perhaps even more interesting lies in Kamen's next paragraph: Does the Obama-Biden passion for architecture mean that they're going to run the most architect-friendly administration in history?

Will the economic crisis kill the starchitect?

There's hardly a sector of the global economy that's gone untouched by the economic meltdown of the American financial system of the past few months, and certainly architecture firms are now feeling the pinch as funds and clients dry up. Also not immune: starchitects.

Consider the response Zaha Hadid received regarding her Central Park pavilion for Chanel last month from The New York Times. The architecture may be intriguing, but what many reports on the New York iteration, including the Times, ended up focusing on was not the curvilinear forms or thoughtful progression inside the space, but rather the debate as to whether it's appropriate to have such a celebration of wealth in such a cash-strapped time. Could this credit crunch be the end of the starchitect?

On a similar note, speaking with Bloomberg News Service in early November, David Chipperfield predicted the death of architecture of excess. He asked: Will "wow-factor" buildings go by the wayside? In the interview with Farah Nayeri, Chipperfield asserts that a certain sensibility will come back to architecture and his thoughts raise an interesting dilemma: On one hand, clients across the board are reigning in their budgets - will this mean a focus on function over form? On the other hand, many of these same clients are also pressing architects to develop spaces that have enough of a "wow" factor that they attract funds and visitors. What do you think - will this be the end of starchitecture?