Parking structure, Roosevelt Island, New York

Do you ever wonder how another person does what you love doing? As a photographer, trained in architecture, I do. So when I get a chance to talk to a person who’s as turned on by cities, structures, and details, I grab the first chance I get a conversation going.  Meeting fellow photographer Heike Buelau, known for expressing herself through capturing the poetic aspect of our constructed environment, was like meeting a kindred spirit. As I was to find out, we share some aesthetic sensibilities, but how she arrives at her vision is completely her own.

Jean Nouvel, Chelsea condo tower, New York

With training in classical operatic singing, the German born Heike brings a sound/musical sensibility to her photography, framing every shot she takes, brining to the appreciation of the city and buildings a special flair. Used to the language of rhythmic tempo, the pauses, the piano forte, the crescendos, Buelau visually re-interprets the city as if composing a piece for chamber music: gentle, subtle, every note essential, regardless of how simple.

In a temporary hiatus from the U.S., with her a new show opening in Torino, Italy—as she was preparing the imagery she created while exploring new horizons, sights, cityscapes in the Far East, from Dubai to Abu Dabi and Kuwait—I caught up with Heike and asked her to elaborate on her views on architecture, art, and the Dubai urbanscape.

Smith Gill Architects, Burj Khalifa Tower, Dubai

Paul Clemence: What catches your eyes as you navigate the city?

Heike Buelau: Detail, small, hidden, largely undetected detail.

PC: You talk about silence a lot, how you value it….Amidst the urban chaos, how do you find it?

HB: This question ties beautifully into the first. To me a moment of silence is a moment in which I get to experience a pause from the constant influx of imagery and information in daily life, which generally sets off a never ending and unwanted noise in my mind. I have come to find that pause, that silence more and more in the detail of things and structures. The more I close in on the finest feature of a particular building, for example, the more I get drawn into its absolute beauty. Subsequently this results in that magical moment of silence. A moment of having discovered something in which all else gets shut out. All that exists to me at that point is the creative genius of the architect and my very own response to it.

Asymptote ,  project, Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi

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When I asked philanthropist Eli Broad what he was looking for amidst the many competition entries for the new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, his answer was clear. He wanted the most iconic design, one that could make a statement about the institution’s ambition. And what was that ambition? to make a difference in the community.

Eli Broad knows a thing or two about architecture and community, having been a cultural benefactor and funder of buildings by Frank Gehry, Diller Scofidio Renfro, and Renzo Piano. He’s also a creative and financial force behind countless educational programs around the U.S.

The chosen entry was by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), known for their radical and cutting edge design, in line with Broad’s and the university’s desire to shake things up in East Lansing.

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Paula Scher is principal at the well-regarded New York City design practice, Pentagram. She’s held that august position since 1991, and during her busy tenure she even found time to redesign Metropolis magazine when we went from a large, tabloid size to a smaller format with the November 1999 issue. Paula has continuously given her special brand of identity design to such New York institutions as the Public Theater (a spectacular poster campaign that caught my attention when we were looking to redesign Metropolis), Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the New York Botanical Garden, among many others. Her knowledge of the city, form the inside out, also landed her on the Open House New York 10th anniversary advisory council. On the eve of OHNY celebrating its first decade of programs (October 6th and 7th), I asked Scher to talk about her favorite city, including the often overlooked graphic element, signage.

Susan S. Szenasy: If there is one thing you could tell a friend from abroad about New York City, as it relates to the design you encounter here every day, what would that be? Please explain.

Paula Scher: For me, the most exciting thing about New York City is the distinct personality of its ever-changing neighborhoods, especially the ones I know best in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This is a result of ethnic groups banding together, artists and other trail blazers continually hunting for cheap space, real estate developers taking some risks, all under the seemingly invisible hand of City Planning, the Economic Development Corporation, the Parks Department, the Department of Transportation, and the Business Improvement Districts.

SSS: What is unique about the planning and design of the city that makes it work for you?

PS: New York has such a big vocabulary in such a small space. I never cease to be surprised by a changing block, a crazy store or restaurant popping up in an unexpected place. I also love the expansion of parks that has occurred under mayor Bloomberg and parks commissioner Benepe, they have changed and revitalized neighborhoods all over the city.

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As a “trigger happy” photographer, aided by the convenience of the digital camera revolution, selecting images from my extensive archives for an exhibit is a challenge. Most recently this challenge came when I was offered a show at a prestigious design showroom in Sao Paulo as part of the BoomSPdesign/DesignWeekend. I began the assignment by gathering clues, first from the event itself.

BoomSPdesign, now in its fifth year, has become known as a gathering of high profile designers and architects. So I decided to pay homage to the event by selecting images from my files that document the work of five well-known architects known around the globe for shaping contemporary architecture.

Basel Messe New Hall, by Herzog & de Meuron. Photo by Paul Clemence.

I found the second clue in the space itself. The showroom, Creative Original Design (C.O.D.), is in a landmark building by Brazil’s Pritzker Prize winner Paulo Mendes da Rocha. It’s a most unusual and inspired space. So I thought I would do something to create a dialogue with the building’s rigid geometry and stark concrete.

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What is good design? It achieves function in an efficient and inspired way. While this formula usually makes for some unique creations it can also reduce design to something that’s “cool”. But fulfilling a function also implies that design is a service. Designers meet the needs that feed the demands of the market (or the client); a new building, a teapot, a raincoat are just some examples of market-driven design.

This month in Sao Paulo, Brazil BoomSPdesign will focus on the issues of good design, including its often ignored and less glamorous sides. The global forum opens on August 22nd and runs through the 24th. Perhaps the conference’s theme is best illustrated by the story of “Pipoca do Valdir” (Valdir’s Popcorn).

Valdir’s push cart, photo courtesy of BoomSPdesign.

Valdir Novaki was a Brazilian redneck from rural Parana who dreamed of going to the big city and making a name for himself. After years of waiting for a license to operate a popcorn pushcart in Curitiba, he got his wish. He quickly realized the need to differentiate himself from the other street vendors. From the immaculately clean cart, to a variety of flavors and original spices, nothing was ordinary in Valdir’s new business.

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Addition with original palace in the background

The Isabella Gardner Museum started as a “collection museum” by an ambitious, sensitive philanthropist who made her home into a palazzo for the arts. Now, over 100 years later, its founder long gone, the museum has been brought into the 21st century, to better serve the mission she envisioned. Is it possible to improve on such personal, delicate design and keep its unique spirit present? The answer, in short, is “Yes”.

After a long research for the appropriate designer, the museum’s board settled on Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW). Their expertise in programmatic and technological solutions was, without a doubt, a plus. But more than that, it was their refined aesthetic sensibility that makes buildings of a subtle yet lasting beauty; this made them the perfect candidate to tackle the project respectfully.

Glass tunnel leading into the palace

“Renzo listens,” says Anne Hawley, the museum’s director. “We would have marathon full-day’s meetings and no detail would escape him. Months later he would recall what was said and discussed. And he was able to see things as an architect, a builder and, very important to us, as an artist.”

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In 1883, architect Frank Furness, whose busy office once nurtured a young Louis Sullivan, had just completed the Undine Barge Club, the finest rowing clubhouse on Boathouse Row, a winding pearl string of boathouses along the Schuylkill River of Philadelphia. His precisely crafted stone building exhibited the crisp shadow definition, color, pattern, texture and bold ornament of his best work.

Ever the outdoorsman, Furness, fishing buddy of Teddy Roosevelt, was a natural choice for a rowing club design commission. Undine stands there now, sited just upriver from neighboring PennAC, the club of fabled rowers Jack Kelly, Sr. and Joe Burke.

Famously irascible, swearing a blue streak while drawing like an angel, Frank Furness once expressed a desire to gather all his clients from across his long-spanning, successful career in one room…and shoot ‘em!

Frank Furness, Architect

Did I mention that the guy was a colorful character? It’s hard to separate Furness, the sword wielding, horse riding Civil War Medal of Honor vet with his muttonchops and intentionally loud plaid suits from the distinctly animated, richly patterned buildings he produced. And why should we?

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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) continues to sprawl. This week America’s most eclectic and oddest collection of art museum buildings opened a rather elegant new pavilion. The Italian architect Renzo Piano designed it and it holds about an acre of art. LACMA asked Piano to give its campus a more unified sense of place, but when his first work opened on the grounds, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum opened in 2008, many people were less than thrilled.  This new, large, one-story, $54 million dollar Lynda and Stewart Resnick Pavilion, complements BCAM; its angled white fins on the roof diffuse sunlight and direct it through skylights into the spacious pavilion, to wash over a grey concrete floor. Renzo Piano spoke (on several occasions) with Edward Lifson; the following is edited from those conversations.

Edward Lifson: Michael Govan, the Director and CEO of LACMA, says there’s something “emotionally charged” about one-room buildings: when we walk into them, we feel oriented and we feel the great breadth of their space. He mentions the Pantheon, the Hagia Sophia, and Ronchamp—and says that’s what he wanted here. Do you see it like that? Why are you laughing, Renzo?

Renzo Piano: Oh, Michael! I like him because he is a visionary person. Yes, he wanted the purity of no stairs, no escalator, just space and light for art. I think that this building in reality is, well, it’s what he wanted: a tool, a tool to show art. Mainly visual art, but it’s a flexible space with a capacity to transform. You can play music in here, you can have dance or theater, or film. It’s what he needed in LACMA—this flexibility. To be able to show the treasures of the collection, but at the same time to explore other worlds. For example, before this officially opened, they placed a Walter De Maria in here, by itself (“The 2000 Sculpture,” 1992). It is so large, it’s rarely shown, because it’s difficult to find a place for it. I must say, it looked beautiful. Read more…

In the June issue of the magazine, David Sokol writes briefly about the lighting manufacturer iGuzzini’s new U.S. showroom. Below is an expanded version of Sokol’s text, with more details on the company’s history and products.

Even if you’re not yet familiar with the iGuzzini name, you know its work. The Italian lighting brand manufactures Piero Castiglioni and Gae Aulenti’s 1993 Cestello design, which company president Adolfo Guzzini says is “the most copied light fixture ever, for sure!” iGuzzini also partners with that other great Italian architect, Renzo Piano, notably on the California Academy of Sciences.

Guzzini partly credits celebrity collaborators like Piano for his own company’s success. “Architects and designers are always on the move, they ‘pollinate’ different continents,” he says. Not only have global nomads taken iGuzzini products along for the ride, but also they have inspired specifiers in those places to emulate the visiting design dignitary, spelling far-flung orders.

When iGuzzini launched in 1958 as Harvey Creazioni, architectural and decorative lighting was but an afterthought. Quickly the company redirected its efforts, from copper objects and lighting parts to luminaires. A willingness to experiment has defined iGuzzini ever since. Much of the company’s stock was originally conceived as one-offs for architects. Work with Piano yielded the products Lingotto and Le Perroquet, for instance. Moreover, iGuzzini places importance on the science of lighting: “Some of our research activities have led to specific products, such as SIVRA, the first biodynamic light system,” Guzzini says. “Another important issue is the effect of artificial light in museum lighting—on color perception or the shape of the exhibits. Read more…

SFMOMA announced today its short list for the museum’s highly anticipated expansion. The four finalists are Adjaye Associates, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Foster + Partners, and Snøhetta. An impressive list, but architectural issues are famously fraught in San Francisco. So I emailed a friend in the Bay Area and asked him to do a little Oscar handicapping for me. Here’s his early line on the impending selection:
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I have not studied Adjaye’s work. And I am not sure he has enough of a track record for the board to be comfortable, but he is hot and new. Diller Scofidio now have some big, well-received buildings under their belt. I think they are a favorite. Norman Foster is a fine architect, but not exactly edgy. This will appeal to the trustees, but not to the advisers. Snøhetta is a kind of a dark horse: not so well-known but a great portfolio. However, most of their buildings have space around them. This is a tight urban condition. I would have thought that the board would favor someone who could sell and that certainly is Renzo Piano. He was the safe choice. But his absence suggests that for the time being the architectural advisers/advocates are leading the charge. Despite the city’s left-wing political reputation, it remains conservative in terms of design. We have the DeYoung because no city money went into it and that board (surprisingly) was more daring. The Thom Mayne building was commissioned by GSA and they didn’t have to really deal with the city. The SFMOMA Board, however, has Republicans like Charles Schwab, Art Gensler, and the late Don Fisher. The existing Botta building is understood to be a mediocre solution. I would bet the trustees would go for Foster. The design types for Diller Scofidio or Adjaye…and Snohetta might be a kind of compromise?

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Photo: Richard Barnes/courtesy SFMOMA