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Due to its popularity, and because of an earlier technical error, we are re-posting a lecture by Victoria Meyers architect in 2007 at the American Institute of Architect's Spring Lecture in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The title of the lecture: "Design is a frame to Nature." Link to full slide show below.
Bob Dylan: legend of American folk music
To view the full presentation click the link below:
May 2007 presentation left: hMa's Hudson River House; right: American Folk singer Pete Seeger
left: Ojai Festival Performance shell design by hMa; right: A curved wall of hMa's Infinity Chapel, in construction. Post: Victoria Meyers architect
Continuing Victoria Meyers architect's (hMa's) discussion around ideas about Infinity and spatial design, we are presenting excerpts from Einstein’s essay, ‘Geometry and Experience’. (from Einstein's lecture at the Prussian Academy of Sciences, January 27, 1921)
‘Can we visualize a three-dimensional universe which is finite, yet unbounded?
The usual answer to this question is ‘No’, but that is not the right answer.’
We find this statement provocative and inspiring. What a sense of profound revelation, freedom, and expansion to hear that the bounded universe that we live in is, by being unbounded, infinite. Back to Einstein:
‘The purpose of the following remarks is to show that the answer should be ‘Yes’. I want to show that without any extraordinary difficulty we can illustrate the theory of a finite universe by means of a mental picture to which, with some practice, we shall soon grow accustomed.’
Victoria Meyers architect (hMa) has pursued infinity within her architecture, through architectural designs that incorporate specific mathematical paradigms. Being within spaces with these specific constructions, the mind can wander, within the paradigm of an infinite, unbounded construction. Examples within hMa’s work that display these concepts:
Ojai Festival Shell (a shell based on studies of infinite structures, including turtle shells); Infinity Chapel, based on a hyper-cube with shifting shapes related to occupancy and sound waves; and Battery Park City Community Center - DWi-P's interactive wall : a building with an edge as thin as glass, embedded with the composition WaTER, by composer Michael Schumacher. DWi-P is scheduled to receive a Platinum LEED certification.
Digital Water i-Pavilion (DWi-P), featuring a curved glass 'Interactive Wall', Post: Victoria Meyers architect
Next month, Victoria Meyers architect will be featured in an interview for Art on Air on Art International Radio (AIR) (formerly WPS1 Radio), hosted by artist William Corwin. Check back for details.
A little background on AIR from their website www.artonair.org:
AIR, Art International Radio is an Internet radio station and free online audio archive for cultural programming. AIR’s Performance Gallery hosts ten major performances annually as well as installations, cultural symposia, and workshops. The studio rooms provide production and development facilities for audio art and music, radio theatre, spoken word projects, interdisciplinary works and new media innovation.
Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion
Phase 5 : Finished Building - Timeline 2007
Victoria Meyers architect (hMa) is pleased to present the Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion. The project is depicted in various states of finish on this blog, where we posted a chronical of the construction process for the building. To see the building in progress, go to posts dated: July 20, 2009; July 10, 2009, and July 6, 2009. Pratt Pavilion opened to international acclaim and attention in the fall of 2007. Pratt Pavilion is a key part of an overall campus master plan for the Pratt Institute campus.
Prior to Pratt Pavilion opening, the 'front doors' of the two adjacent industrial loft buildings opened onto DeKalb Avenue, an adjacent street, instead of opening toward the Pratt Campus. Victoria Meyers architect (hMa) was part of a larger effort by Pratt Institute to reorient the Institute's buildings toward the Institute's central campus space. In addition to contributing to master plan efforts at Pratt Institute, hanrahan Meyers architects are just finishing their work on Battery Park City's North Neighborhood Master Plan, where hMa have been master plan architects since 1997. At Battery Park City's North Neighborhood, hMa wrote all of the design guidelines for several million square feet of sustainable construction, including the design guidelines for the world's first built LEED certified residential tower, the Solaire. To see more about Victoria Meyers architect's efforts at Pratt Institute, as well as at Battery Park City, visit hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com. To see more about Pratt Institute as well as hMa's experience designing green masterplans, go to 'projects'; educational spaces / masterplans and landscapes.
Pratt Pavilion acts as a new 'front door' to two larger loft buildings that house several of the Institute programs, including Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design and Interior Design. At the rear of the Pavilion is a new 'bridge' of sloping corridors that connect the formerly disconnected loft buildings together, so that all of the programs are now housed within a single, connected building. The second floor of the Pavilion, above the clear glass entry, houses a gallery to showcase work by Pratt students, faculty and alumni.
Victoria Meyers architect (hMa) is proud to announce the publication of Victoria Meyers' book Designing with Light in China by CEPP. The book was originally published internationally by Laurence King Publishers in London, and by Abbeville Press in the United States, in 2007. Read more and get a preview of the book at www.designingwithlight.us. To read more about Victoria Meyers architect and her researches into light, go to hMas website, www.hanrahanMeyers.com, and go to: hMa Research: light research. The book's cover, shown below, features White Space / Ash 4Ways, Victoria Meyers' project that features the firm's innovative use of light.
Victoria Meyers architect is an internationally published architect specializing in projects that feature unique applications of natural and artificial light. As part of Victoria's commitment to Green Design, hMa has developed unique solutions to bring light from natural sources into their projects. For projects without access to natural light, Victoria has developed unique resources to connect spaces to light in ways that create a sense of connection to nature through the use of materials and light.
Jet Streams (winds)
Suddenly - everywhere - architecture that is cutting edge is regional and sustainable. ‘Sustainable’ means that the architecture is related to the climate, or the weather, of the region. As weather has taken on major significance, hMa will dedicate part of their blog to 'the weather'. To commemorate the new posting, we reference writings from Vitruvius and John Cage.
Weather satellite view of the US Atlantic Coast
Vitruvius wrote the first discovered treatise on architecture: De architectura. In Book 1, on the 'siting of a City', Vitruvius takes pains to note the importance of the weather in choosing building sites: ‘The choice of a heathy site (is paramount and related to prevailing winds).’
Coastal advection fog
Updating Vitruvius, Victoria Meyers architect (hMa) references John Cage's 'Lecture on the Weather' performed in 1989: 'Twelve performers simultaneously read texts taken by chance operations from Henry David Thoreau's writings… Types of wind, rain and thunder (and lightning) are played. This … is not about the weather; it is weather.' (Perloff John Cage: Composed in America).
For more about John Cage, watch hMa's new blog, Cultural Conversations - where we will post excerpts from John Cage's Mud Book: How to Make Pies and Cakes. For more about the weather, watch Victoria Meyers architect's blog for regular 'weather' updates.
A thunderstorm above New York City
hanrahan Meyers architects are showing their Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion in construction. To see the finished building, go to hMa's post of the same project, posted on this blog on July 23, 2009. The Pavilion is designed as a new 'front door' to two existing loft buildings on the Pratt campus. Prior to constructing the Pratt Pavilion, the front doors to the two loft buildings faced out toward the adjacent street. The Pavilion reoriented the entry toward the Pratt Campus.
Pratt Pavilion is phase one of a larger master plan for the Pratt Campus to reorient all buildings from having entry doors that open to the adjacent streets, to having entry doors that open to the Pratt Campus.
To see more about Pratt Pavilion, visit hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com. hanrahan Meyers architects specialize in producing green buildings and green master plans. At this time, the firm is also finishing their work on the sustainable and green master plan for Battery Park City's North Neighborhood. To see more about hMa's Master Plan for Battery Park City, visit hMa's website, or go to their blog posting dated January 9, 2009, or go to the hMa website, and click on 'Master Plans and Landscapes'.
Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion
Phase Three: Experience - Timeline: 2005–2006
Final physical model. - Choosing Materials
The top two models are massing models of the builidng. hMa made several massing models to determing the size and shape of the pavilion.
hMa built two material models, shown below the massing model, to review the use of Cor-Ten, to match the adjacent brick buIldings, and stainless steel, to make the pavilion stand out against the adjacent buildings. The architects decided to use stainless, to make the pavilion stand out. The models are a valuable tool to study the design and make decisions that benefit the overall campus design. hMa were also the Pratt Campus Master Plan designers.
Victoria Meyers architect for hanrahan Meyers architects. Green campus Design
In 2003 hanrahan Meyers architects were hired by Pratt Institute to design the Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion. Pratt Pavilion was commisioned to create a new 'front door' for two existing Institute buildings where Pratt Institute Pratt design programs are housed: Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Graphic Design and Interior Design.
To see more about Pratt Pavilion, go to hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com.
The images above present hMa's working process for designing the building. Images 1 and 2 (starting from the top) show hMa's earlier version of the building massing model. Images 3 and 4 show the final model, where hMa chose the final materials. Images 5 and 6 show hMa's computer model of the final building massing; Images 7, 8 and 9 show hMa's perspectives of the building interiors. Images 10 and 11 show computer images of hMa's final building massing and gallery interior.
Walls are basic building blocks of architecture and architectural form. At a certain moment, every architect needs to confront the idea of ‘the wall’ – and decide how they see this basic construct philosophically.
Holley House: looking down the stone Farmer's Wall toward bedroom wing Click here to view all photos of Holley House on hanrahanMeyers.com. Post: Victoria Meyers architect.
close-up view: final approved sample wall construction. Post: Victoria Meyers architect.
At Holley House, hMa spent close to six months having stone masons construct various walls, using different stones, all of which came either from the house site, or from a local quarry. What we are showing on the blog today are a handful of the many variations that we produced in pursuit of the final wall details.
Questions arose: how to make the wall: with varying stone sizes (rejected – as this seemed to make the wall way too figural); with regularly sized stones, with varying degrees of roughened edges (selected finish for final house design); how thick to make the joint lines (we experimented with joint sizes from 1/2” to 1/8”. We settled on 1/8”.); how to detail the connection between the top of the wall (which was meant to read as an object in its own right) - we wanted to install the wall with glass @ the top surface. This approach was rejected by our client who did not want to make his ceiling height exceed 11’ in his living room areas. We settled on installing a deep ½” reglet at the top of the wall, separating the wall from the ceiling plane).
What we are presenting here is a catalogue of the various stones and stone configurations that hMa studied during that difficult period of critical design decision making.
This image (above) shows where the house design began, with the client and the architects admiring existing farmer’s walls on the site. Part of the construction process included hiring local stone masons who excelled in rebuilding these walls. The original walls were rebuilt and renovated as part of the overall design for the property. They also became the inspiration for the design for the house, which was organized around two 65-foot long walls built from stone local to the Garrison, New York area.
Stacks of the stone that the architects looked at to make the final stone wall samples. The architects looked at a variety of widths and lengths of stones prior to making a final selection. They also investigated the use of varying lengths of stones, as well as patterns that mixed varying thicknesses of stones.
the stone wall for the bedroom wing; in construction at Holley House. Post: Victoria Meyers architect.
stone wall for the pool area; in construction - Holley House by hMa Click here to view all photos of Holley House on hanrahanMeyers.com. Post: Victoria Meyers architect.
Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion: Phase Two: Form - Timeline : 2005
Victoria Meyers architect presents hMa's design study process for the Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion. The project opened to international acclaim in 2007. To see the finished building, visit hMa's post on the hMa blog dated: July 23, 2009. To read more about the Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion, visit hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com, click on 'projects' and go to 'educational spaces'.
The studies show the following, starting from the top of the post: hMa's initial water-color / massing study for the building design. This is the building's earliest study presented to the Pratt Institute Board. Next are two physical models, to study the building massing.
Below, hMa's massing study / isometric showing: the entry ramp / building ground plane; adding the stair and infrastructure; and adding the shapes of the two adjacent loft buildings. Pratt Pavilion was designed as a new 'front door' to a larger complex, the new Pratt Design Center. The Design Center connects the floors of two adjacent loft buildings, totalling 200,000 square feet. The three buildings, Stueben Hall, Pratt Studios, and the new Pratt Pavilion, will house Pratt's Design programs: industrial design, graphic design, interior design and fashion design.
Below the isometric are two early perspective studies for the Pavilion's exterior and interior finishes. This collection of images are from hMa's winning entry to the Architectural League of New York's 'Starts and Finishes'.
Pratt Pavilion is the first building built on the main Pratt Campus to address a master plan strategy to reorient the front facades and front doors of the campus buildings from neighboring streets, toward the main campus. When Pratt Institute was originally founded, the central campus did not exist and was bisected by a street with a trolley. In the one hundred years since the Institute's original founding, that street has been de-mapped and removed, and Pratt created an internal campus green fifty years ago. Recently, the Institute has embarked on a cohesive master plan strategy to complete the School's orientation toward its central campus by turning the facades of the Insitute's buildings away from the surrounding streets, and toward the campus. hMa played a key role in this planning process, developing the first building to implement the new Master Plan.
To see more about hanrahan Meyers' master planning projects, visit hMa's website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com, and go to: Projects: masterplans and landscapes.
Victoria Meyers: Designing With Light
New York Architects Victoria Meyers and Thomas Hanrahan believe that architecture is an environment, 'pure space', manifested in nature. The principals of hanrahanMeyers architects (hMa) have established themselves as unique visionaries, incorporating light and sound into their arresting designs of pure forms. Founded in 1987, the firm specializes in residences, art centers, and community spaces. They design spaces from a vision that connects visitors with the natural world.
www.designingwithlight.us
Hanrahan + Meyers Architects: The Four States of Architecture (Architectural Monographs (Paper))
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