Shortly after finishing up her duties the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, architect Susan Chin started in her new position as Executive Director at the Design Trust for Public Space, a switch she says, was both “exhilarating and exhausting, like running at 100 miles per hour”.

“As I was going through my DCA files, I felt so fortunate to have played a leadership role in NYC government during a time of Design Excellence, green buildings and infrastructure, an upswing in public sector and private support for great architecture, program, and civic involvement.” After the transition, when as she “finally bobbed to the surface,” she tackled the questions I sent her upon hearing of the move she was about to make.

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We at Metropolis have a great fondness for Pliny Fisk III. When we first visited him at his nascent experimental compound on the outskirts of Austin, TX there was no USGBC, no LEED, no Energy Star, and only a few of us talked about environmental sustainability and the necessity for great and far-reaching innovation in everything from building materials to super intelligent software. Now as Pliny’s Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) celebrates its 35th anniversary, we caught up with him and his brilliant partner, Gail Vittori, to talk about their new book, some highlights of their many activities in green building systems, and the generations of creative people they attract to their unique encampment.

Susan S. Szenasy: Let’s start with the book: Its subtitle, 35 years of Serious Commotion, is fabulous. Rather than me explaining it, can you both pipe in about how you interpret this statement?
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Norman McGrath at the exhibition of his work. Photo: Magda Biernat.

On June 2, “An Eye on Architecture,” a show of Norman McGrath’s photographs opens at the New York’s Center for Architecture where it will run until June 25th. Responsible for taking some of the most memorable images of the built environment, the veteran photographer is often mentioned in the same breath as Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman. Fellow photographers like to talk about how he “gets the essence of a building,” his proficiency in “capturing the texture of a structure,” as well as his knack for “making very small interiors spatially interesting.” Norman is known for mentoring young photographers, for his selfless sharing of information and techniques. As Stan Ries says of his oldest friend and mentor, “I am honored to be able to help curate his work so that it becomes well known to a younger generation of photographers and architects.” On the occasion of the opening and to mark Norman’s 80th birthday, I put some questions to him about his work in observing and recording architecture, changes in technology and approach, and memorable imagery.

Susan S. Szenasy: Some of your most memorable images of architecture, for me, come from you film phase, especially the black and white prints. What is it about black and white photography that is so eternally appealing?

Norman McGrath: When I was originally drawn to the field of architectural photography it was for the most part a black and white medium. Color was something of a novelty. Large format photography in color was largely confined to the advertising arena and much of it accomplished in studios. The best quality of color film was Kodachrome but that was confined to 35 mm cameras, less well suited to the documentation of architecture. 4 in. by 5 in. view cameras were considered the ideal tool. This type of camera offered the most control over the image of this essentially static subject. Read more…

To get a behind-the-scenes view of how the Metropolis Booth came together for this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair, I went to the people in charge of making it happen. The interdisciplinary group in David Stark’s class at Parsons was a handful of students, both grad and undergrad. As a group they took on the assignment of conceiving, designing, making, installing, and recycling our booth—working on it from the beginning to the end of the spring semester, on a very tight budget!

Photo: Magda Biernat

Early on, three design proposals were presented. One was chosen to go forward. Amy Johnson, who just received her MArch, was on the team whose proposal was picked. As she explains, she “started out with an understanding that we had a strong idea, and pushed my group to represent our thoughts as clearly as possible. After the Metropolis meeting, I led the effort to successfully integrate parts of all three schemes, as requested. Throughout the second half of the semester, I found myself co-managing a number of different tasks with Lauren Zailyk—millwork, lighting, signage, electrical, transportation of materials, and the breakdown – as well as picking up loose ends. I also saw myself in a leadership role with the undergrads and, having real world experience, I hoped to push them to think about this is a ‘real’ project; i.e., to see through tasks from beginning to end.”

Lauren Zailyk, second year Master of Architecture student who just graduated, speaking for the group, recalls:  “During the schematic design and design development phases we worked closely together to develop the overall design, construction details, explore materiality, put together a comprehensive presentation of materials, and insured that all programmatic requirements were met in the design brief.”  Typically, she added, “I fielded questions from undergraduates in terms of representation methods and interior construction issues like ADA requirements. In addition to our detailed design and construction duties, Amy Johnson and I organized the final breakdown at Javits.”

While working with the group, Patrick McNaughton [MFA Interior Design and among the first to graduate from that new program this spring], acted as project manager. “This mostly meant maintaining communication with Metropolis and Javits, and ensuring that all project deadlines were met,” he said. Metropolis was the client, with me giving the overall charge to the class; Dungjai Pungauthaikan and Ashley Stevens of our Art Department providing the design critique; Carri Winters of our Marketing Department worked with the team on a daily basis. Here the students talk about their hands-on experiences of designing and building a booth that needed to represent the magazine—and celebrate our 30th anniversary—at the trade show.

Susan S. Szenasy: When you signed up for the course, what did you think you were about to get into?

Lauren Zailyk: After attending several ICFF shows, my admiration for the Metropolis booth design—its ability to interact with my aesthetic sense year after year—has continued to grow. When I saw the opportunity to participate in this group design-build I jumped at it. I expected to have the opportunity to take something graphic [the magazine] and make it experiential as well as gain hands-on experience with crafting functional furniture.

Amy Johnson: I was seeing this as a design-build opportunity. I feel that you cannot discount what you learn from physically making what you have designed, drawn, specified, etc.  What’s amazing about this project is that young designers usually do not have the budget to build what they are dreaming up.

Patrick McNaughton: I was really excited about the opportunity to work with David Stark and explore the more decorative side of design. I had previously worked on a couple of design-build projects through Parsons (Aftertaste 2010 Dinner and Parsons 2010 Fashion Benefit), so I was generally familiar with the process, which requires a lot of teamwork and, therefore, an extremely competent team. I was hopeful that we would have a fun experience, but also that the rest of the students would actively engage themselves enough to keep the workload evenly distributed.

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“I worry about students who might feel that the power of sophisticated computer equipment has somehow rendered the humble pencil if not obsolete, then certainly second rate. The pencil and computer are very similar in that they are only as good as the person driving them.” This quote, attributed to Norman Foster, the architect known for his technically-sophisticated buildings, gives voice to the growing apprehension that the new generation of architects and designers are too enamored with technology, paying little heed to the slower, more deliberate and tactile forms of creative thinking. To combat the relentless move toward electronic technologies, many schools are integrating such analog technologies as pencils, pens, water colors, pastels, in addition to teaching the manipulation of the latest computer software. The Foster quote appears in Architects’ Sketchbooks, a new Metropolis Books release, edited by Will Jones. Being one of those who worry about the loss of some part of us as we hurtle into the 21st century, I put these questions to Will, mostly to set my mind at ease.

Susan S. Szenasy: As our obsession with technology in design grows, many of us worry about what gets lost when we work our brain to its limits at the expense of neglecting our physical, tactile being. Firstly, do you agree with this statement, if yes why? If you see our relationship with technology in another way, how do you see it?

Will Jones: I think we imagine that we all use brain power to the detriment of physical exertion much more than is actually true. In the 1950s it was predicted that we’d have robotic slaves, totally automated homes, jet packs, etc. by the 21st Century. It hasn’t happened. And, while we do rely more on technology today than we did in the 50s, the vast majority of us have adapted our lives accordingly to maintain and even nurture our physical being. Case in point, I moved to Canada recently and now I chop logs in winter (you’ve all seen Rocky, right!). Read more…

When I heard that Rosalyn Cama, principal of the New Haven firm, CAMA, Inc., was about to speak at Lightfair (Philadelphia, May 17-19) I jumped at the chance to engage her in conversation about the relationship of light and health.  My motivation was strictly personal. I’ve spent enough time in hospitals, both as a patient and frequent visitor, to know the dismal conditions in these sealed, dank, germ-ridden buildings where you go to get cured of what ails you, and can come away with some bug or another. And as someone who spends too much time staring at computer screens in darkened rooms and whose every cell is screaming for sunlight and fresh air, I, personally wanted to take advantage of Ros’ special learning as an interior designer, researcher, and consultant in the healthcare field (she is the author of Evidence-Based Healthcare Design, John Wiley & Sons, 2009).  Hospitals, as I see them, are the extreme environments of our times. If we solve some of our health, safety, and welfare problems in these places we can begin to understand what it takes to design all kinds of healthy interiors. Here Ros talks about why lighting design is key to human health.

The lobby of the Dublin Methodist Hospital project (Karlsberger/CAMA).

Susan S. Szenasy:  I’m happy to hear that you, a specialist in healthcare design and healing environments, will be speaking at Lightfair on May 18th. Firstly, as a long-time advocate of Evidence Based Design, can you explain what that term means to you?

Rosalyn Cama: Evidence-Based Design (EBD) is the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes.  This process gathers intelligence from a variety of sources, maps a project’s vision, hypothesizes optimal outcomes, and measures results.  It keeps the design team on track for the best solution derived from baseline data and easily opens possibilities for innovative next solutions. Read more…

How do you give the familiar and frankly, outdated, design competition new life? We went for answers to Core 77, the popular website that takes a critical, yet supportive, approach to design reporting. Their competition, about to close for entry submissions on May 3, relies on fresh, exciting, new approaches to a long-outdated way of judging design. The competition organizers had thought hard about such things as how designers work today, the use of rapid electronic communication vs flying juries around the world, the rewards of discovering new talent pools in regions that have been left out of the design dialogue until now, new and evolving areas of engagement with design, among other things. We caught up with the intrepid Allan Chochinov, editor in chief of Core 77, as he was returning from London. Eager to peek behind the curtain to find out more about the design competition that’s much more exciting than your father’s (or, for that matter, your mother’s) ever was, we put the following questions to Allan.

Susan S. Szenasy: With the deadline for submissions to the Core77 Design Awards looming on May 3, I wanted to ask you about the intent and hopes for the award. To begin with, tell me Allan, what makes this award unique in the sea of existing award programs?

Allan Chochinov: Well, Core77’s been around for 16 years now, and we’ve been debating an awards program for probably the last 10 of them. Our mission has always been to serve the global design community, but we’re keenly aware of the shortcomings of typical design awards programs, so we’ve waited a long time. After great consideration though, we now feel that we’ve come up with a recipe that addresses the challenges with awards programs in general, and at the same time leverages the Internet and the unique platform that Core77 offers the industry. Specifically, there are 5 principal innovations to the program that make it unique: Read more…

Grace Designs: Memphis showroom designed by Sottsass Associati. World Trade Center, Dallas, TX, 1984.

Rumor has it that the short-lived design movement, Memphis, got its name as group of designers sat around late one evening in Milan with their leader, Ettore Sottsass Jr., while American music played on the radio. The story goes that Bob Dylan was singing “Oh, Mama, can this really be the end /To be stuck inside of Mobile/ With the Memphis blues again.”  With its pop-culture roots, it’s not surprising that some of Memphis’s most memorable products, plastic laminates, have become the favorite surfacing material of “fast food restaurants and cheesy nightclubs,” as Belinda Lanks writes in our March 2011 issue.

Abet Laminati’s Memphis tabletops in Big Daddy’s, New York. Read more here.

Knowing that Lorry Dudley, who now runs the U.S. warehouse and distribution center for such great European brands as Moroso, Kasthall, and Droog while consulting with international manufacturers and museums, was personally involved in spreading the word about Memphis in the U.S.A., I could not resist asking her remember the time when the colorful furnishings with their wild shapes first appeared in North America. Here are some of her recollections of a transformative time, nearly three decades ago. Read more…

“We are nature.” So goes the new mantra in some design circles. And the word “biomimicry” comes up with increasing frequency. When we heard that Jane Fulton Suri, a partner and creative director at IDEO and author Thoughtless Acts? Observations on Intuitive Design, is working to reconcile nature with design, we couldn’t resist asking her a few questions.  She comes to design from psychology and architecture, as a pioneer in empathic observation and human-centered design she encourages us to be curious about everyday human behavior. At a time when designers are starting to tackle complex and systemic challenges, Jane is looking beyond human behavior, exploring how the exquisite patterns in nature and sustainable living systems might inform and inspire us to create more elegant and less harmful solutions.

Susan S. Szenasy: The refrain we hear often today goes like this: “We are nature.” Architects say it, designers say it, so do biologists, and others. How can we begin to understand this belonging, when our species has spent a century separating ourselves from nature? Can you give us some practical advice, something hopeful about how we reconnect in this age of electronic overkill?

Jane Fulton Suri: I wonder if the refrain “we are nature” is really all that common among architects and designers today. Read more…

When news of an ideas competition, focused on designing a neighborhood based on the principles of Universal Design and sustainability, arrived recently I was jazzed. Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed by Congress two decades ago, we’ve seen a lot well meaning or uninformed attempts  and some really annoying remedies (like the Braille on hotel room doors: how does a sight-impaired person find this little protrusion?), and some worthwhile things like elegantly pitched curb cuts and architecturally appealing ramps. But there’s so much left of be done! And so I was happy to see that competition organizers and advisors—Brad Benjamin, chair of the AIA’s 2011 Committee on Design (COD), Anne Schopf, partner and director of design at Mahlum, and Josh Safdie, director of the IHCDStudio (Institute for Human Centered Design)—decided to tackle the problem of creating neighborhoods where people of every size and age, every ability and disability can call home, a truly supportive and humane home. So I asked Josh Safdie to tell me more about the big idea behind the completion, the organizers’ hopes for improving the cityscape, and the practice of architecture.  

 Susan S. Szenasy: The 2011 Ideas AIA/YAF/COD Ideas Competition is centered on the principles of Universal Design, in the larger context of environmental and social sustainability. I say it’s about time! Tell us why you’re focusing on the 2020 Games’ Olympic Village in Tokyo? Read more…