MAD

This coming Tuesday, it would bode well for New Yorkers to take a stroll past 2 Columbus Circle. At 3 p.m., the Museum of Arts & Design will be unveiling two specially commissioned black diabase (a dense, high-quality black stone) benches by Swedish artists Ulla and Gustav Kraitz. The installation is entitled "Close Contact" and a gift from the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Charitable Trust. It should prove to be a great example of MAD's mission to highlight the limitless potential of materials and techniques.

We tried to get you a sneak peek, but alas...photos will not be available until next week. Guess you'll have to settle for the real thing!

Soak Up the Sun

Looks like this year's Greenbuild will kick off with some good vibrations.

No, not the Beach Boys, but Sheryl Crow will perform at the international conference and expo's opening event at Chase Field in Phoenix, home to Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. Crow is a dedicated activist when it comes to environmental issues, and has pushed for the adoption of efficient technologies like CFLs and biofuels, and in the past has successfully rallied people from all walks of life -- the media, grassroots, Fortune 500 companies, the government -- to build support for environmental protection. Looks like she walks the walk, not just talks the talk. The USGBC couldn't have made a better choice to lead off the show.

Greenbuild will be held from Nov. 11-13 in Phoenix.

"Collaborate 'Til It Hurts"

Our July issue it out now, with this year's Guest Editor issue being helmed not by an individual, but by a bevy of talented minds at HOK across the country. It seems appropriate, then, that the theme of the issue is collaboration. Taking the advice of their guest editorial—Collaborate 'til it hurts—to heart, we packed in a lineup that includes looks at collaboration through the lenses of a new university in Saudi Arabia; AmeriCares; the prestigious commission of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC; landscape architecture; and, of course not least, Cirque du Soleil, whose well-known performers grace this month's cover.

In fact, we collaborated so much, the issue continues with a selection of extra goodies online. And so, after you've devoured the July print issue, log on to check out the following bonus features:

Resources: Building on Hope

Creatives living with HIV find meaningful employment and a supportive outlet for their talents at New York's Alpha Workshops

Green: Green Building Goes Global

As the international community embraces sustainability, a common goal has engendered an uncommon level of cooperation

Essay: On the Landscape

Artist Olafur Eliasson learns to collaborate with man and nature, as he creates his most noteworthy works

Practice: Project Management

Complexity in Simplicity

Critique: The Power of Collaborative Design

Solving today's complex problems takes a lot more than a single perspective

AIANY names its 2010 board

The AIA New York chapter has named its 2010 board of directors. The new group will be inaugurated this December and terms will officially being Jan. 1, 2010. On the board:

President: Anthony P. Schirripa, AIA, IIDA Mancini Duffy 

First Vice President / President-Elect: Margaret A. Castillo, AIA, LEED AP Helpern Architects 

Vice President for Design Excellence: Mary A. Burke, AIA IIDA Burke Design & Architecture, PLLC 

Vice President for Professional Development: Joseph J. Aliotta AIA., LEED AP Swanke Hayden Connell Architects 

Vice President for Public Outreach: Abby P. Suckle, FAIA Abby Suckle Architect, PC 

Secretary: Umberto Dindo, AIA Dindo Architect, PC 

Treasurer: Kenneth Ricci, FAIA Ricci Greene Associates 

Director for Publications: Kirsten Sibilia, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP JCJ Architecture 

Director for Educational Affairs: Jill N. Lerner, FAIA Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, PC 

Director for Programs & Strategic Planning: Lance Jay Brown, FAIA Lance Jay Brown Architecture + Urban Design 

Director for Legislative Affairs: Margery H. Perlmutter, AIA Bryan Cave 

Director for Industry Affairs: Carl Galioto, FAIA Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP 

Director for Development Affairs: Marcy Stanley, Hon. AIA Weidlinger Associates, Inc. 

Associate Director: Mark D. Behm, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP Mancini Duffy 

Public Director: Lori P. Mazor, AIA New York University Office of Strategic Assessment, Planning & Development 

Public Director for Educational Affairs: Thomas George Hanrahan Pratt Institute School of Architecture 

Public Director for Professional Affairs: Craig Schwitter, PE Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, PC 

Director for Student Affairs: Nicholas Batis 

Immediate Past President: Sherida E. Paulsen, FAIA PKSB Architects, PC 

Alternate Director for Design Excellence: Gerard (Guy) F.X. Geier, II, FAIA FXFOWLE Architects, LLP 

Alternate Director for Professional Development: Megan S. Chusid, Assoc. AIA Richter & Ratner 

Alternate Director for Public Outreach: Ernest W. Hutton, Jr., Assoc. AIA, FAICP Hutton Associates 

Executive Director: Fredric M. Bell, FAIA 

LMNOP draws a crowd at Knoll

Last night, New York-based professional development group LMNOP held its latest gathering for displaced A&D folk at Knoll's Manhattan showroom. There was a lot of energy and it was great to see so many people connecting. However, behind all the smiles remained the fact that many, if not the vast majority of the attendance, were talented-yet-unemployed creatives (or, as noted above, "displaced"). 

Nonetheless, the crowd seemed upbeat, milling among the Knoll classics on display and munching on a bevy of hors d'oeuvres. And, on the upside, I did meet a couple of folks who had recently taken on new positions and jobs - perhaps (and hopefully) a sign of bright things to come to the industry as a whole?

For those unfamiliar with LMNOP, the group was founded in February 2009 by Jennifer Graham, a director at MMoser in New York, and Stephanie Chiuminatto, an interior designer. The goal: to provide personal, professional development to members of the A&D community through training, mentoring and networking activities. It started with a small group that casually got together during one of the AIA's "Not Business As Usual" luncheons and has exploded from there. Membership, however, is limited, to allow members to connect to each other on a more in-depth level. Interested in learning more? Their calendar lists upcoming events, while their site has more info about the group as a whole. 

Design hits DC on July 24

The Cooper-Hewitt will celebrate the 10th Annual National Design Awards with a slew of free public programs on July 24 in Washington, DC. The day will kick off with a few concurrent programs at 10 am at various museums around the National Mall, and later in the day the 2009 winners will be formally recognized at a ceremony at the White House hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. While the WH event is, of course, invite only, here's the schedule of programming for the masses:

Design X Details: Materials and Their Effects

Fashion design winner Francisco Costa and interior design winners Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown of TSAO & McKOWN Architects will chat about the role of materials in their work at the Corcoran College of Art & Design (500 17th Street NW).

Design X Community: Transform Your Neighborhood

Architecture winners Christopher Sharples, Coren Sharples and Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects and landscape design winner Walter Hood will gather at The National Building Museum (401 F Street NW) and focus on how design can be used to create a sense of community.

Design X Information: Interpreting the Present and the Past

Product design winners Boym Partners and communication design winner Steve Duenes of The New York Times graphics department are convening at The Smithsonian Castle (1000 Jefferson Drive SW) to discuss the relationship between current events and their design processes.

Design X Experience: The Future of Interaction Design

Design mind winner Amory Lovine and lifetime achievement recipient Bill Moggridge will address the future of technology and sustainability at the National Museum of the American Indian (Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW)

One product award you DON'T want to win

Product designer and architect Andrej Statskij, along with design journalist Madga Braun-Sommer and product design historian Adam Hoops have launched the OOPS  Design Award. It is the first non-honorable award addressing product and furniture design, lighting, home accessories, household appliances, houseware, tableware and kitchenware design, etc.

Categories include: Ugliest Product Design of the Year; Silliest Product Design of the Year; and Most Useless Product Design. First place winners in each category will receive a yellow, engraved brick; Second prize gets an engraved white brick; and Third place garners an engraved brown brick. Why a brick? Says Statskij: Silly prizes for creators of silly product design!

Have something you'd like to nominate? Join the OOPS Design Award Foundation and send in your picks.

What a house that would be!

 

Several blogs have already picked up on this, but here's a children's book we'd love to get our hands on: The Three Little Pigs, re-envisioned as Frank Gehry, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. It's the work of Steven Guarnaccia, head of the illustration department at Parsons. And here's another for the shelf: His previous retelling of Goldilocks with a Modernist slant.

Get Wild....

Humanscale is once again calling on artists and designers to submit original artwork for its annual Faces in the Wild art auction and competition, which benefits the World Wildlife Fund. Original artwork in any tangible medium is acceptable but it must depict the face of a non-domesticated animal. All artwork will be auctioned and judged by a panel of artists and designers in Humanscale's New York showroom on Sept. 16, 2009. At stake: a $1,500 credit toward Humanscale products for each of three winning entries.

One note: space is limited, so entries are thus capped at 75. View the full entry details here and then, to participate, contact Karen Brooking at 212-353-1383 or karen [at] bdeonline.biz.

Who's leading the sustainability movement?

DesignIntelligence has just released its 2009 Sustainable Design Survey, which takes data from A&D firms in the U.S. Of note:

• Most U.S. firms claim a majority of their projects are environmentally responsible.

• The top five individuals cited as green and sustainable design role models are: Bill McDonough, Ed Mazria, Bob Berkebile, Amory Lovins, and Barack Obama.

• The top five firms cited as green and sustainable design role models are: HOK, Perkins+Will, BNIM, Kieran Timberlake and, in a three-way tie for fifth: Arup, Mithun, and William McDonough + Partners.

• The top five contractors cited as role models: Turner Construction Company, Skanska, a tie for third between Swinerton Inc. and Mortenson Construction, with Beck rounding out the five.

• The top five manufacturers cited along the same criteria as the other top fives above: Interface Inc., Herman Miller, Steelcase, Haworth, and Shaw.