CONTEXT - Connecting Continents

context | FA2013 | 1

connecting continentsFALL 2013

Painting, Landscape, and Roberto Burle Marx

Planning for sustainability and the Rio olympics

Brutalism and indeterminacy in the são Paulo school

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contents

Painting, Landscape, and Roberto Burle Marxconrad Hamerman and oLin Partner Dennis Mcglade discuss Roberto Burle Marx, who defined a unique and personal south American identity in the fields of landscape architecture, urbanism, art and horticulture. By AMy MAGIDA

Planning for Sustainability and the Rio OlympicsAecoM’s plan for the 2016 olympics seeks to leave Rio de Janeiro more sustainable while tackling the city’s extensive aspirations for the games, embracing its inherent potentials, and resolving its complexities By PETAR VRCIBRADIC

Brutalism and Indeterminacy in the São Paulo SchoolWith its bold structural forms and rough reinforced concrete, the são Paulo school makes strong connections between Modernism and continental occupation. By GuILHERME WISNIK

8

12

18

in this issue of CONTEXT,

we expand the concept of

American design by exploring

South America, where immense

initiatives such as the 2016

Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

provide thematic corollaries that

resonate throughout the entire

“fourth continent.”

EL EDITOR’S LETTER

UC uP CLOSE

EX EXPRESSION

DP DESIGN PROFILES

NB NOTEBOOK 5

6

22

26

36

connecting continents

COVER PHOTO: LEONARDO FILOTTI

ON THE COVER são Paulo’s Praça das Artes, designed by Brasil Arquitetos. For more on the são Paulo school, see page 18.


From the President

in mid-october, AiA Phila-

delphia celebrated the best in

design by handing out 22 de-

sign awards – including the cov-

eted gold medal – among 15 different

Member Firms. A fantastic evening,

the annual Awards for Design excel-

lence also joined a slate of workshops,

lectures, exhibitions, and talks as part

of DesignPhiladelphia, now a signature event of AiA Philadelphia’s sis-

ter organization, the center for Architecture.

in addition to the many Design Awards, the chapter also recognized

Denise thompson, AiA, and Brian szymanik, AiA, as the newest win-

ners of the Young Architect Award, presented annually by the Fellows

committee. Denise and Brian join a list of previous winners who have

had a tremendous impact on our design community. the chair of the

Fellows committee, Mary Werner Denadai, FAiA, was also honored for

her longtime contributions to the profession with the John Harbeson

Award for service.

the chapter’s leadership wished to celebrate members of our com-

munity who, while not architects, have had an impact on the excellence

of greater Philadelphia’s built environment. to recognize those efforts,

the Board of Directors created the Paul Philippe cret Award. i’m happy

to report that Aileen Roberts, a member of the Barnes Foundation’s

Board of trustees who led the museum’s building committee in select-

ing tod Williams and Billie tsien and help shepherd its execution result-

ing in the stunning new home on the Parkway.

through a grant from William Penn Foundation, the chapter was

able to continue - for a second year – the affiliated fellowship at the

American Academy in Rome. Members were invited to submit a one-

page proposal for a six-week fellowship at the academy. We are cer-

tain that Associate Member Hillary nicholson will benefit greatly from

this experience and share that with the AiA community. it is a desire

that the chapter can continue to offer this incredible opportunity to

its Members.

the Design Awards are our yearly reminder of the significant achieve-

ments made by AiA Philadelphia’s member firms. the winning projects

always include a diverse range of projects that remind us of the great

strides our members are making in creating more valuable, healthy, and

sustainable communities, both at home and across the world.

Robert Hsu, AIA

2013 AIA Philadelphia President

conteXt the Journal of AiA Philadelphia

conteXt staff

Managing EditorDominic Mercier

Circulationgary Yetter

Art DirectorDominic Mercier

Layout and DesignDominic Mercier

PublisherAiA Philadelphia

conteXt editorial Board

Harris M. steinberg, FAiA – chairPenn Praxis

todd Woodward, AiA - chairsMP Architects

David Brownlee, Ph.D.University of Pennsylvania

steven conn, Ph.D.ohio state University

susan Miller Davis, AiA

sally Harrison, AiAtemple University

timothy Kerner, AiA terra studio

stephen P. Mullineconsult corporation

Rashida ng temple University

Rachel simmons schade, AiADrexel University

Anthony P. sorrentinoUniversity of Pennsylvania

David Zaiser, AiAKss Architects

AiA Philadelphia Board of Directors

Robert Hsu, AiAPresident

Antonio Fiol-silva, FAiAPresident-elect

Jim Rowe, AiAtreasurer

Keith c. H. Mock, AiAPast President

nancy Bastian, AiADirector

nicole Morris Dress, AiA Director

Robert J. Hotes, AiADirector

carol A. Hermann, AiADirector

James scott o’Barr, AiADirector

Francesca oliveira, AiADirector

Denise e. thompson, AiADirector

todd K. Woodward, AiA Director

Jules Dingle, AiAAiA Pennsylvania Director

Robert c. Kelly, AiAAiA Pennsylvania Director

elizabeth c. Masters, AiAAiA Pennsylvania Director

Michael skolnick, AiAAiA Pennsylvania Director

erike De Veyra, Assoc. AiAAssociate Director

Alan UrekPublic Member

John claypool, FAiAexecutive Director

the opinions expressed in this- or the representationsmade by advertisers, includingcopyrights and warranties, arenot those of the editorial staff,publisher, AiA Philadelphia, or AiA Philadelphia’s Board of Directors.

copyright 2013 AiA Philadelphia.All rights are reserved. Reproduc-tion in part or whole withoutwritten permission is strictlyprohibited.

Postmaster: send change of ad-dress to AiA Philadelphia, 1218Arch street, Philadelphia, PA19107.


It Is A CoMMon MIstAkE to LIMIt tHE tERM AMERICAn ARCHItECtuRE to tHAt wHICH

oCCuRs wItHIn tHE bounDARIEs of tHE unItED stAtEs. But if we are concerned with

creating architecture that is appropriate to its place, we must recognize the meaning of the terms

we use. And since 1507, when the name was first inscribed upon a map of the world, America

has referred to the entirety of what the european explorers had come to realize was a “fourth

continent.”

in broadening our understanding of the term, we can expand the area of inspiration and discovery

of what it means to build in our part of the globe. And despite the many cultural differences that can

be found across the Americas, there are profound thematic commonalities that connect all forms of

construction upon these lands.

the concept of the expansion of “civilization” into the open frontier has strongly influenced the

history of both north and south America. the themes and challenges entwined with this concept -

the relation between humans and nature, experimentation with forms of settlement, the interactions

of diverse cultures, as well as the exploitation of both resources and peoples - connect the various

acts of occupation within the American landscape and differentiate it from other parts of the world.

the three feature articles within this issue of conteXt relate three different stories of cross-

continent connection. the first focuses on a personal connection with the extraordinary landscape

architect, Roberto Burle Marx; the second article describes AecoM’s efforts to plan the 2016 olympics

and contribute to a more sustainable Rio de Janeiro; and the third explores the theoretical connections

between modernism and continental occupation embodied within the work of Pritzker Prize winner

Paulo Mendes de Rocha along with several key architecture firms in south America’s largest city.

We hope this issue contributes to a broader understanding of what it means to design

in America.

timothy kerner, AIA

Guest Editor

Rethinking American Design

editor’s letterEL

From the President

in mid-october, AiA Phila-

delphia celebrated the best in

design by handing out 22 de-

sign awards – including the cov-

eted gold medal – among 15 different

Member Firms. A fantastic evening,

the annual Awards for Design excel-

lence also joined a slate of workshops,

lectures, exhibitions, and talks as part

of DesignPhiladelphia, now a signature event of AiA Philadelphia’s sis-

ter organization, the center for Architecture.

in addition to the many Design Awards, the chapter also recognized

Denise thompson, AiA, and Brian szymanik, AiA, as the newest win-

ners of the Young Architect Award, presented annually by the Fellows

committee. Denise and Brian join a list of previous winners who have

had a tremendous impact on our design community. the chair of the

Fellows committee, Mary Werner Denadai, FAiA, was also honored for

her longtime contributions to the profession with the John Harbeson

Award for service.

the chapter’s leadership wished to celebrate members of our com-

munity who, while not architects, have had an impact on the excellence

of greater Philadelphia’s built environment. to recognize those efforts,

the Board of Directors created the Paul Philippe cret Award. i’m happy

to report that Aileen Roberts, a member of the Barnes Foundation’s

Board of trustees who led the museum’s building committee in select-

ing tod Williams and Billie tsien and help shepherd its execution result-

ing in the stunning new home on the Parkway.

through a grant from William Penn Foundation, the chapter was

able to continue - for a second year – the affiliated fellowship at the

American Academy in Rome. Members were invited to submit a one-

page proposal for a six-week fellowship at the academy. We are cer-

tain that Associate Member Hillary nicholson will benefit greatly from

this experience and share that with the AiA community. it is a desire

that the chapter can continue to offer this incredible opportunity to

its Members.

the Design Awards are our yearly reminder of the significant achieve-

ments made by AiA Philadelphia’s member firms. the winning projects

always include a diverse range of projects that remind us of the great

strides our members are making in creating more valuable, healthy, and

sustainable communities, both at home and across the world.

Robert Hsu, AIA

2013 AIA Philadelphia President

Eduardo GlandttHe DeAn oF Penn’s scHooL oF engineeRing

sHoULD HAVe Been An ARcHitect. insteAD,

He’s BecoMe A gooD cLient

by JoAnn Greco

“i’m an architect manque,” happily de-clares eduardo glandt, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s school of engineering and Applied science (seAs). “i’m someone who should’ve been an architect - but instead i’ve become a very good client.”

if Penn has made a priority of pursuing new architecture as a legacy - partly in ac-knowledgement of past mistakes, partly as a promise to continue commissioning sig-nature buildings like those from Kahn and Furness - then glandt, 68, is singlehandedly helping the university achieve its goal. Un-der his watch, in just the last decade, three very striking, and very different, buildings have been dedicated. the latest, the Weiss/Manfredi-designed Krishna B. singh center for nanotechnology, unveiled in February, sports the largest pricetag ($92 million) and the most ambitious brief yet: to house the vibration-free, state-of-the-art labs and cut-ting-edge microscopes used in researching nanotech.

But for glandt, the functionality of this much-needed space, which will be shared with the school of Arts and science, is only the first consideration.

PHOTO: DOMINIC MERCIER


up closeUC

“there’s also what i call the ‘spillage’ to the rest of the school, what it offers the entire campus and how it connects to it,” he says. “And the third factor is external - its access from the street, the com-munity, and the city.” the scientists who will use the building may weigh in on the first consideration, and there’s an entire consortium of university personnel who have in-put on the second. “But, the overall messaging of the building - that i own,” he says.

not bad for an Argentine-born chemical engineer whose only pre-vious experience with architecture was to discover, as a teenager, that it was the field that most suited him.

“i took a bunch of tests in high school to determine my ‘vocational orientation,’” he says, already beginning to laugh. “And architecture kept coming up! But my dad was a pharmacist and my brother and i always had chemistry kits at home. so, we both ended up being chemical engineers. there was pressure from home! i was never ex-posed to architecture, and i went with the familiar thing.”

slim, with clipped gray hair and a dashing wisp of a mustache, glandt appears relaxed, sitting at a marble-top table in his spacious office and surrounded by the ephemera of academia - degrees, awards, books. A model of the escher-like staircase of the tod Wil-liams Billie tsien skirkanich Hall holds pride of place and photos of Kierantimberlake’s Melvin J. and claire Levine Hall adorn the walls. His crammed bookshelves are accented with toy robots - created by seAs students - and a handful of some of the 18,000 vacuum tubes that once comprised eniAc, the world’s first electronic computer, constructed at Penn in 1946.

He considers his career path. “chemical engineering has certainly been very good to me,” he says, reflecting on his 40 years at Penn and a progression from grad student to associate professor to depart-ment chair. “But when i became dean in 1999, i saw that i could be-come an ‘architect,’ after all,” he chuckles. “it was a very dangerous thing.” He had much to learn, though.

“i was mentored by the school of Design deans,” he recalls. “First, gary Hack and then Marilyn Jordan taylor. they taught me what i call the ‘three dogmas’ for working with architects.” He enumerates them: Do your research. once you pick one, charge her with every-thing you can think of. then, shut up. “i have had such luck with each of our choices, that it hasn’t been a sacrifice to shut up,” he laughs.

in all three cases, he emphasizes, he had a strong preference among the rival architects.

“even though there were many amazing presentations, i’ve found

that i really like the notion of an architect being your soulmate,” he says. “You can usually spot the right one pretty quickly.” When Wil-liams and tsien gave him a tour of their American Folk Art Museum in new York, for example, he was “blown away,” especially when they

showed him a granite wall that looked like it was embedded with the signatures of the top donors. it turned out to be the names of every-one who had worked on the building. “ i loved them instantly for that grace and ethos,” he enthuses.

“the thing for me is, always, the element of surprise,” he con-tinues, citing as an example the time James timberlake brought him to italy to visit a glass manufacturer who had designed an energy ef-ficient curtain wall that had not yet been used anywhere in America. “We’re probably the only guys who went to Venice to buy Venetian blinds,” the dean jokes. “But i loved that about Kierantimberlake, they’re so techy and original.”

For the latest building, glandt traveled around the world - to tokyo to talk with toyo ito, to Basel to meet with Herzog & DeMeuron - but ended up with another new York-based team, Marion Weiss, who is a professor at Penn, and her husband, Michael Manfredi. they won him over by “very thoroughly doing their homework” in mapping out the technical requirements of the complex project.

But this effort also had a different kind of surprise in store: a strik-ingly cantilevered auditorium that’s destined to become its signature feature.

“the university named the forum after me!” glandt says. “they did it behind my back because i was supposed to be retiring.”

the powers that be wound up asking him to stick around until 2015, but the honor is still there - for all to see and enjoy. As the dean enters the glass cube of the glandt Forum, a lone student sits amidst the sea of white Vitra chairs, reading James gleick’s “chaos: Making a new science.”

the student looks up and smiles. “it’s perfect,” he says of the room. “this the most beautiful building i’ve ever been in.”

JoAnn Greco is a regular contributor to PlanPhilly.com. Her writ-ing on the built environment has also appeared in the Washington Post, Planning, Metropolis, the Atlantic cities, ArchitectureBoston, and Urban Land.

“I’ve found that I really like the notion of an architect being your soulmate.”


For 70 years Roberto Burle Marx defined a unique and personal South

American identity in the fields of landscape architecture, urbanism, art

and horticulture. His position in the societal and cultural elite of Brazil

provided a degree of freedom to express his abstract forms and build a

signature tropic landscape and garden style of the modernist movement.

The following dialogue brings Dennis McGlade, partner at OLIN, and Con-

rad Hamerman, an associate and friend of Roberto Burle Marx, together

to discuss the nuts and bolts of working with Marx, the imagery that drew

them to his work, as well as observations about Marx’s working methods

versus contemporary practices.

We begin in the early 1940s. conrad was sketching in nova Friburgo, a swiss summer resort when he had a chance encounter with a friend of Roberto Burle Marx who arranged for them to meet in Rio de Janerio.

IntRoDuCtIonsCH: He lived at one end of copacabana

beach and i lived right on the other end. it was hot and i walked down that sidewalk. it was a big, old Brazilian house with a walled garden. i found the door, it was half open and the shutters were all kind of closed be-cause it was noon time. When Roberto (Burle Marx) came he was so informal, he showed

me all his paintings, and i was amazed that this guy was taking his time to do all this. Later, i was working in new York and got a call- it was MoMA. they said, “We have this guy from Brazil coming. We know he arrived here but we don’t know where he is. can you find him?” i found out where he was and from that time on anything to do with Burle Marx went through my office. it was never an official thing it just grew.

DM: Well, i would have been a sopho-

more in college. i was debating going into either ornamental horticulture or art.... i had this job working for what was called a cutting bureau and i saw Landscape Architecture, Ar-chitecture and Art in America magazines… Landscape Architecture Magazine in the early 60’s, was a lot different from now…it was kind of removed and scholarly and above it all. one cover had a picture of Burle (Marx)’s checker board lots and i had never seen any-thing like that before. i opened the magazine and there were all black and white photos. He was working in a tropical landscape, but the power of that imagery in black and white…(i) said, “that’s what i want to do. i want to design checker board lawns with big, full foliage.” While all his books now are in color and the color… i wouldn’t say dimin-ishes it, but for me, personally, i’m so glad i saw them in black and white. i keep thinking about oLin’s old work. i think we should be taking a look at some of our old work and we should be putting some of that work into black and white for the right client and the right presentation. it really would be power-ful.

CH: this was the Kronsfoth Residence in teresopolis. it was a private garden and he used it sometimes. the whole place is in a beautiful setting, it’s in the valley. His gardens are really for reflection and relaxation. His ur-ban work is simply mosaic, you simply just walk over it.

DM: the copacabana pavements are very active with people. When you see his gardens

though, there are no walls. they’re bounded in by topography or horizons. He didn’t ap-pear to use walls to enclose things, he’s much more expansive.

CH: the walls would be for cities…Rio was, in a sense, more advanced than Amer-ica. corbusier had gone to Rio and he had a great influence. When i came from são Paolo to Rio i was amazed with this modern busi-ness like the Ministry of education. they had a bunch of excellent architects.

oPPosItE PAGE: from left, Walter Burle Marx, Roberto Burle Marx, and conrad Ham-merman at the garden for the Brazilian Festi-val of Arts, 1964.

Edited by Amy Magida


PRoCEss AnD PAIntInGDM: He designed on the land like a painting or a drawing but it became three

dimensional with plants and ground cover beds. it was also animated because the plants were alive. there was a dynamism that a painting can’t have… When people talk about his gardens they don’t talk about necessarily things of function-ality like how he screened the parking.

CH: i don’t work the way he does. i go out on site and the first thing i say, “oK, this tree here is shading and blocking out the neighbor, let’s leave it there – or add a few more to this to make the group.” that’s the way i do (it), but Roberto doesn’t. it all sort of comes from inside out… He has (a) fantastic memory and he puts it on paper. i remember seeing him starting a design. i’d watch an assistant put tracing paper over a survey and he’d call Roberto, “Roberto, we’re ready for you here!” And Roberto came to the table and he started designing... it was very intuitive… When you approach an empty canvas... he does the same thing when he approaches a project. there is no hesitation; he just goes right through it.

DM: i think Roberto’s earliest gardens were almost curvi-linear, later he started superimposing the curvi-linear with the geometric. sort of like tommy church in california, at a similar period they were thinking about the same thing. His were special curves. they weren’t sinuous like the 19th century england romantics; they were kind of kinky and quirky. the other thing is the juxtaposition of the curves with the orthogonal, almost collage like, and collage is more like modernism…this idea of a collage of geometry… He spent a lot of time in germany at a very inter-esting time, in touch with modern art which was all planar- Picasso, Matisse…

CH: it was a short time in germany, maybe two years, but he really soaked it up. it was tremendously important for him…

AboVE: a view of the copacabana promenade and park areas designed by Ro-berto Burle Marx. LEft: the Marx-designed cascade garden at Kennet square’s Longwood gardens.


“He didn’t suffer so much as we do trying to get the right composition. It came so easy. A lot of it was in his mind as he drew.”

HoRtICuLtuREDM: the plants he would use seemed to be integral with the de-

sign, it seemed like the perfect place for that plant… When he was working on a plan was he thinking about the horticultural dimensions of the line he was making or did he come back to it later with regards to what types of plants he would use?

CH: i think he did it while he was drawing. He knew what plant was going to be used where…Despite the fact that he kept lecturing about using more plants he had a very few number of plants, usu-ally similar plants. He would know as he made the drawing, as if the whole thing came from inside out. He didn’t suffer so much as we do trying to get the right composition- it came so easy. i remember in school i had to do a lot of sketches and i would do this, and i see this should be a little larger, this a little smaller. But it was from doing and redoing. A lot of it was in his mind as he drew.

DM: i think it’s interesting that while Roberto was so interested in plants he disciplined himself… i like lots of plants too, but most places don’t need one of everything. in spite of the fact that his gar-dens may look extravagant… he used remarkable restraint. He was contemporary, spontaneous, he was always thinking in the third and fourth dimension with these things growing.

CH: He was an avid plant collector. He wouldn’t use plants unless they fit the composition and gave the color he wanted. so when he was a landscape architect he was much more of a painter than he was a collector. He was a champion of native plants but he was doing an artistic composition… i never thought about it but there is a huge difference between his designing and his collecting plants.

CoLLAboRAtIon and PRACtICECH: the first time Marx and i collaborated was when i moved to

Philadelphia in 1964. it was for the commercial Museum at 34th and south streets. it doesn’t exist anymore. they had a celebration for Brazil and asked Marx to make an interior garden. it was built and kept much longer than the exhibit because they liked it so much. We worked on that together and i started working on my own.

DM: You worked on the Longwood gardens and the green-house?

CH: i was fighting very hard for him to get the new greenhouse. i saw that this was something he should be doing and they finally agreed to interview him. He didn’t get that but as a consolation prize when they cleaned out the cactus garden they asked him to design the cascade garden. i was sure he would say no, but he said yes and i knew that i was going to do that because he had other things to do. He was getting huge projects all over. Roberto drew the planting plan, but it was really crazy, the number of plants was crazy. the guy down at Longwood was working very hard to get all the plants and he was so anxious to do the right thing. Roberto came up for three days

and he picked up the little plants laid out in the parking lot and he said “this, this, this, and this.”

DM: in our practice, we have to be much more reason driven or logical about doing things. We just can’t put a line down and say it should be this way since we’re caught with all different kinds of constraints. i think peo-ple now expect more of an explanation for why you’re doing things, par-ticularly when working in the public realm or for a real estate developer. it’s more bottom line driven, function driven, sociologi-cally driven- maintenance driven for sure. certainly for public clients they de-mand a different kind of rigor. though i can’t be-lieve Roberto didn’t have issues with clients saying he’s taking too much money or taking too long.

CH: i only think of one or two. it is amazing. Roberto didn’t really provide working drawings. All those architects or engineers did.

DM: that wasn’t all that uncommon in the middle of the 19th and early 20th century. People delegated a lot more because you had craftsman in the field. People like Jens Jenson and Frederick Law ol-msted, they didn’t do a lot of detailing, they sort of had people who knew their craft and they had big long lists. things have gotten more detailed as time goes on.

CH: in Brazil, they’re all much more personal... You don’t have to do all these working drawings, you do it right there.

interview has been condensed and edited.

Amy Magida is a landscape architect at oLin in Philadelphia. she holds a master of landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of architecture from Pratt institute. Her interests lie in researching urban environments and the social aspect of public spaces and art.

AboVE: Marx’s Garden Design for Beach House for Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, project, Santa Barbara, Cali-fornia, Site Plan.


In very simple terms, the process of planning and delivering the Olympic & Paralympic

Games needs to respond to demands that are, in essence, either intensive or extensive.

by Petar Vrcibradic

ALL RENDERINGS COuRTESy AECOM

PLAnnInG foR sustAInAbILItY AnD tHE RIo oLYMPICs


by Petar Vrcibradic

PLAnnInG foR sustAInAbILItY AnD tHE RIo oLYMPICsthe intensive character of the games stems from the concentrat-

ed nature of the event: its size and sheer quantity of athletic events in contrast with its short duration; the vast media coverage; and the substantial front-end investments made by the host city and other stakeholders. Respectively, the assessments of its successes and failures - from a strict sporting event point of view - are made while the competition is underway and concluded soon after. Regardless

of the perceived degree of success, the games grow in size and popularity with every olympiad.

the full planning cycle takes about seven years, beginning with the selection of the host city and ending with the games’ closing ceremony. the focus then shifts to the next city, which by that time, will be into its third year of preparations. the realization of the olympic games follows a complex set of requirements established

A nighttime view of AecoM’s plan for Rio de Janeiro’s olympic Park. the full planning cycle - from host city selection to the closing ceremonies - takes roughly seven years.


by a variety of organizations, including the international olym-pic committee, the international sports federations, the olympic Broadcasting services and so on. However, fulfilling these intensive demands is just part of the host city’s mission.

At the other end of the spectrum are the extensive aspirations of a given society, with its inherent potentials, challenges, and com-plexities. one of the recurring major ideas behind the games is to take advantage of the momentum brought on by an event of this scale and extend it to long-term gains for the citizens and taxpayers. From an urban planning perspective, this requires both knowledge of the unique characteristics of a given city and a deep understand-ing of the games’ technical requirements.

the key to a successful planning process is to work carefully with the decision makers and stakeholders to achieve a degree of synergy between the intensive and extensive demands. in doing so, it is pos-sible to shape investments and initiatives to serve a broader urban strategy specific to the host city. some infrastructural and develop-ment investments may only reach a measurable degree of complete-ness decades after the games.

AecoM´s involvement with the Rio 2016 olympic & Paralympic

games resulted from a winning submission to the international com-petition for the design of the olympic Park held by the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2011. the competition required each team to provide three versions of the site master plan: a games’ master plan; a tran-sition plan timed for three to five years after the event; and a fully consolidated legacy plan to be developed over a period of 30 years. the aspects which proved essential to winning the project included the strategies for access and circulation, the plan for the olympic training center, the landscaping ideas as well as the specifics of the legacy plan.

the approach to resolving the access and circulation in Rio was quite different from what was used in the olympic site in London, which was also planned by AecoM. the Park in stratford was located in an urban area with points of connection to transport and urban infrastructure at all sides. in contrast, the site in Rio is a trian-gular shaped peninsula that projects into the Lagoa de Jacarepaguá with only one road access along the northern edge. the peninsula is an artificially formed landfill that was used as a racetrack since the 1970s. the site is located in Rio´s rapidly developing suburb of Barra da tijuca on the southwest side of the city, which is separated from


the center of Rio by a mountain and a national park. the primary internal circulation solution is a central north/south

public promenade which defines the front-of-house and spectator realm. the access for athletes, staff, and other special admissions is distributed along a loop road which connects to the back-of-house areas of each venue. the clear separation between front-of-house and back-of-house is a key element of the scheme.

Another important aspect of the master plan was the approach to the otc (olympic training center) halls - a set of four permanent venues which will host a variety of competitions during the games. these include judo, basketball, wrestling, fencing and tae-kwon-do, among others. the otc is a key piece of Brazil’s legacy strategy to developing its sports capabilities. the venues will be converted into top training facilities for athletes from all over the country. With a few upgrades after the games, such as lodging, a sports medicine center and track and field facilities, it will become the country’s main reference for high-performance training.

the project team’s design intent was to make the otc as com-pact, efficient, and cost-effective to operate as possible. We man-aged to design a suitable training complex which covered about 25 percent of the site, as opposed to the 40 percent estimated in the competition brief. the remaining 15 percent of the land can now be used for other public facilities or negotiated into added value as future real estate development. All permanent venues in the park are being targeted for LeeD gold accreditation while the temporary facilities will incorporate sustainable strategies such as rainwater reuse and energy co-generation.

the landscape concept and the design of the public realm take

inspiration from the way the inhabitants of Rio (known as cariocas) embrace its nature and street life. the year-round sunshine affords a compelling mix of outdoor activities ranging from jogging around the central Lagoa, to beach futvolley and mingling along the crowd-ed streets of Lapa. the carioca enjoys being outside like few others and this joyous and gregarious lifestyle was beautifully captured in Burle Marx’s iconic landscape designs for the beaches of Rio.

the sinuous shape of the olympic Way pays homage to the Bra-zilian master landscape architect to create an olympic promenade unlike any other. the “swiggle,” as it became known within the design team, defines a series of negative spaces that are designed as thematic green areas, each with its own set of plant species char-acteristic of Brazil’s seven biomes. the landscaping includes the use of species adapted to the high salinity environment of the Rio coast. the edges of the park facing the lagoon will be regenerated to their original state of indigenous mangroves.

Lastly, the legacy plan developed for the competition proposes a configuration with focus on a pedestrian friendly district with local-ized mixed-use development. this was presented as a more sustain-able alternative to the low-density suburban model still prevalent in the west side of Rio.

subsequent to the competition, the park master plan and the schematic designs of some of its venues (velodrome, tennis center,

AboVE: a rendering provides a common view of the olympic Park. RIGHt: the “swiggle” shape of the olympic Way pays homage to Brazilian landscape architect Burle Marx and his designs for Rio’s beaches. oPPosItE PAGE: the legacy plan, to be developed over 30 years, for the olympic Park. the site is located in Rio’s rapidly develop-ing suburb of Barra da tijuca, separated from the city’s center by a mountain and national park.

“The long-term influence of the 2016 games on Rio should be understood against a criteria

and a timeline of its own: one that relates more intimately to the long process of building an

infrastructure which reflects Brazil’s growing economic status and one that recognizes the

less-assisted members of the population as integral parts of society.”

AboVE: a map of Rio shows the four areas where the games will take place and the proposed connecting transit lines. the olympic Park planned by AecoM is in the Barra area. the map was produced by the committee for the Rio 16 candidacy as part the pro-posal to the international olympic committee.


aquatic center, iBc, and otc Halls) were developed over the course of one year. the effort involved a 100-member team of architects, engineers, landscape architects, cost analysts, crowd modeling spe-cialists, urban planners and project controllers split between London and Rio. After the schematic phase, a public tendering process took place to commission the detailed design for the park infrastructure, landscape and individual venues. AecoM continues to be involved in the design and development process as a strategic advisor to the city of Rio.

During the planning process, a number of useful experiences were drawn from AecoM’s involvement with the London olympics. one such aspect relates to the dimensioning of the infrastructure and holding areas required to operate the event at its peak level, when over 150,000 people are expected in the park. the team also drew on their experience in London when it came to the subject of temporary versus permanent venues. As in London, venues which do not have the potential for legacy use will be approached as tempo-rary structures. the cost benefits of not needing to maintain and operate under-utilized facilities largely offsets the relatively high cost of building and disassembling temporary stadia. the aquatic center, handball stadium and two of the main tennis courts will be tempo-rary venues.

AecoM has been assisting the city of Rio and Brazil’s Ministry of sports in taking the approach to temporary structures one step fur-ther. some of these venues will be designed in such a way that their components can be re-assembled in a different location and put to a community-oriented use. this concept of ‘nomadic architecture’ is well advanced for the handball stadium whose components will be reused in the construction of four public schools in various locations in the city.

Although the olympic Park in Barra da tijuca will be the largest and busiest of the olympic sites, and AecoM’s direct involvement in the games is contained within its boundaries, it is pertinent to high-light how this particular site relates to the city’s larger urban ambi-tions. the network of olympic sites will include the area of Deodoro, engenhão stadium, Maracanã stadium, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, Praia de copacabana, Marina da glória, Rio centro and itanhangá. the success of the games will depend on a well-managed transpor-tation network that links these various sites.

Access to the olympic Park will be facilitated through the exten-sion of the city’s main subway line and a new rapid bus system simi-

lar to the one successfully implemented in curitiba in the 1970s. the circuit to be implemented in Rio will have three main distribution rapid bus lines known as transcarioca, transolímpica and transoeste. Besides connecting the olympic sites, these lines are also part of Rio’s larger transportation masterplan, which includes improvements to both the transit lines and the expressways, with the intention of reducing commuting times by up to 50 percent.

Another relevant aspect of Rio’s olympic planning is the city’s de-clared commitment to improve, in a sustained way, the quality of life of the inhabitants of the favelas. Approximately 1.4 million people, or 22 percent of the total population, live in the slums of Rio today. the long term issues such as lack of basic sanitation, deficient public services and criminality associated with drug trafficking in these areas have only recently started to be dealt with in a systematic way. the general plan contains a strategy to free these communities from organized crime, to build basic urban infrastructure and provide social services, such as day care units and community clinics.

it may take a few generations until all of Rio’s informal settle-ments are fully regularized and become safe places to live; or until the city’s exuberant geography no longer poses a challenge to an efficient and affordable commute. nevertheless, the unfolding of a strategic plan for the city, of which the olympics & Paralympic games are one part, signals a shift to a type of planning that is more connected with long term solutions and more engaged with the citizens of the city.

the Beijing games in 2008 successfully represented china as a dynamic and contemporary economic power, while London 2012 served to jumpstart a wholesale urban regeneration plan destined to revitalize a dilapidated area of the city. the long-term influence of the 2016 games on Rio, on the other hand, should be understood against a criteria and a timeline of its own: one that relates more intimately to the long process of building an infrastructure which reflects Brazil’s growing economic status and one that recognizes the less-assisted members of the population as integral parts of society.

Petar Vrcibradic is the coordinator of architecture in AecoM’s Rio de Janeiro office. He has been working on the olympic Park project since its competition stage and is now involved in the coor-dination and advisory of the project’s implementation. He has also worked for gehry Partners and Morphosis Architects, both in Los Angeles, and at chango-Jo Architects in seoul.


The São Paulo School, or Paulista Brutalism, are two

terms that have been used to describe the work of

a group of architects based in São Paulo, under the

leadership of Vilanova Artigas and Paulo Mendes da

Rocha (2006 Pritzker Prize winner), from the end of

1950s through the next two decades, and now continu-

ing, in modified form, with the contemporary work of a

younger generation.

the primary characteristics are the use of bold structural forms, roughly formed reinforced concrete, compact volumes illuminated from above, the obstruction of direct connections between the in-terior and the exterior, and an emphasis on creating a continuous internal spatiality. Plazas, gardens, and open spaces located within the building emphasize this spatiality and transfer a sense of exterior “landscape” to the interior.

the most influential example of this movement is the building for the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) at the University of são Paulo (UsP), designed by Artigas in 1961. the building not only expresses a particular view of architecture, it also promotes a con-ception of the architectural education as an interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge. Having been a founder of FAU-UsP in 1948, Artigas divided his time between his professional practice and university life, and was intensely concerned with issues related to the architectural curriculum.


by Guilherme wisniktranslation by timothy kerner, AIA

the são Paulo school developed in a city devoid of obvious natural beauty, which grew extremely rapidly under the force of twentieth-century predatory speculation. the buildings designed in accordance with this movement turn inward from the surround-ings in the attempt to create internal spaces that support a new sociability, both more collectivist and more austere. the city is a laboratory for these architects and a primary mission is the search for a new urbanity, in radical opposition to the production of value-less architectural “ornaments” for bourgeois culture. it is worth noting that Artigas was one of the most prominent members of the communist Party of Brazil in são Paulo.

consistent with these intentions is the forced material roughness of these build-ings - purposely detached from fine artisan craft - as well as the use of homogeneous forms. Dwellings, schools, recreation clubs and transport stations are all treated as ma-jor public facilities: with large span struc-tural systems, generic ramps as opposed to decorative stairways, internal walls held back from the ceiling - to avoid dividing rooms into separate environments - and, in many cases, the absence of windows into the dorms and classrooms.

When considering the obvious contrast between these buildings and the airy light-ness of earlier modern work originating from Rio de Janeiro (most notably, the designs of oscar niemeyer) it is impossible not to note a shift in the country’s architecture from the turn of the 1950s to the 60s. the background to this transformation includes the construc-tion and inauguration of Brasília (1957-60), and the profound change in the work of Le

corbusier during the post-war period towards what has become known as Brutalism.

However, a large part of the explanation for the origins of Paulista Brutalism lies with the specific history and geographic charac-teristics of the city itself. never having been the capital of the colony or the Brazilian empire, são Paulo developed independently from major european political and cultural influences. situated on a high plateau that extends from the mountains lining the At-lantic coast, the city is crossed by the tietê River, which, unlike most rivers, runs inland towards the interior, facilitating the explora-tion and conquest of the lands within. Hav-ing grown very rapidly from the early 20th century, through the cultivation of coffee and industrial development, the state of são Pau-lo built the railway network that connected to the interior, supporting an awareness of the vastness of the continent and the role of large-scale construction to transform nature through technology.

the architectural ideas of Paulo Mendes da Rocha are strongly aligned with this vision of the extensive Brazilian territories and the creative potential of technological transfor-mation. Born in the city of Vitória, then mov-ing south to Rio de Janeiro and finally settling

AboVE: Museum of Brazilian sculpture, são Paulo, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 1988. oP-PosItE PAGE: Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of são Paulo, Vilanova Artigas, 1969.


further south in são Paulo, he developed an understanding of cities as places that can allow us to experience an “active life”, rather than bind us with a fixed notion of origin or identity. Describing his child-hood and youth lived between the open lands of the interior, the cocoa farms and heavy engineering works at sea, he has stated: “i became used to relying on the processing power of technical transfor-mation, and, through planning and vision, useful and desirable strate-gies that could realize hopes and promises, despite the misery of my country.” that is to say that the technical, or “técnica,” for him, is the engine of a world in constant transformation, which subsumes nature as an integral part of the ongoing construction projects.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha works with a phenomenological sense of nature, as opposed to a bucolic view of the natural world. to him, nature is a phenomenon, and architecture is a thing, in a similar way that language is a thing. And rather than just building isolated objects, the architect should focus on the design of works that consolidate the aspects of a place: territorial works that contrast with nature, and, by doing so, strengthen it. this stance resonates with the “geographical view” that Le corbusier advocated in his 1929 series of lectures Pré-cisions on the Present State of Architecture and City Planning after his first encounter with the landscape of south America.

the construction of “artificial ground” in the projects of Paulo Mendes da Rocha, gains significance in relation to the elevated struc-tures of Le corbusier. it engenders a critical review - under the light of the science and technology available today - of the historical wrongs of colonialism, and the question arises if an alternate occupation of American territory could have been possible. could this occupation be reconceived in an absolutely artificial manner, with structures that minimally touch the ground allowing the field to remain intact and natural, without the need for cutting, dredging, retaining walls, etc.? or, a corollary question, what society would we have today if we had

kept the rivers clean, and built cities linked by fluvial travel to the continent within? these architectural questions are equivalent to the cultural/historical question: how would America be today if we had not massacred the indigenous populations and enslaved the people brought from Africa? Questions aimed, ultimately, at prospective in-vestigations into what other America could still be possible in the future.

in the case of the são Paulo school, architectural scale is not de-signed quantitatively with the intention of generating monumental-ity. Rather, it originates from a rationale that denies the exaggerated partitioning of the program, and advocates the concentration of core areas so as not to interrupt the continuity of space, and to avoid con-fining environments. this approach seeks to express not only the ele-ments of construction (materials and systems) but also the apparent measurement of indivisible space: the unobstructed extension from façade to façade with a clearly expressed structure. in this manner, the building becomes a measuring instrument, reading perceptual space, and on a larger scale, the landscape. this gives rise to the re-currence of such expressions as “ruler” or “urban marker” in many of the descriptions of recent projects in são Paulo. these characteristics can be experienced at the Praça das Artes, a recently completed mu-sic and dance practice and performance facility in the center of são Paulo by Brasil Arquitetos.

it is not necessary here to refer to the relationship between these principles of spatial continuity and the principles of the Miesian plan, nor to insist on the survival of the modern legacy in contemporary Brazilian architecture. However, we can move forward in this discus-sion of measurement as we expand the range of observation to the urban scale, the designs of the são Paulo school are linked to the city’s infrastructure and impose a discipline on the urban networks (rivers, transport routes, public spaces) revealing the architectural po-

AboVE: intermodal station in coimbra, Portu-gal, MMBB, 2003. RIGHt: Praça das Artes, são Paulo, Brasil Arquitetos, 2012.


“These architectural questions are equivalent to the cultural/historical question: how would America be today if we had not massacred the indigenous populations and

enslaved the people brought from Africa? ”

tential of these systems.With this position - which has been renewed by the younger gen-

eration - it is possible to recognize a parallel with the Rem Koolhaas’s acceptance of the impossibility of exercising absolute determination on the design of the city. i refer, for example, to his project for the city of Melun-sénart (1987), in France, whose parti is defined by “sys-tematic eliminations”, with a priority given to the “construction” of somewhat arbitrary open spaces articulated with public areas and structured pathways. equally, when referring to “programmatic ar-rangements” or “spatial dispositions” rather than seeking to specifi-cally configure “urban form,” recent projects in são Paulo illustrate a systemic vision of urbanism as strategic actions, which sustain inde-terminacy, or, in accordance with the expression of Paulo Mendes da Rocha, support the “unpredictability of life.”

this logic, more of an operative manner than an architectural lan-guage, can be recognized in a recent series of urban interventions made by são Paulo architects. A clear example is the design of an intermodal station in coimbra, Portugal, made by the MMBB office for a seminar organized by the local University. it is a building that articulates the entire system of urban movement (surface metro, bus, road and pedestrian crossings of the Mondego River), stimulating, because of its location, the development of a new area of the city: the west bank of the river in front of the historic core.

taking as a premise the analysis of urban morphology, the archi-tects created their own site by proposing a bridge over the river as “ground” for the station, linking the two sides of the city. With this solution, what could have just been a shipment terminal at the north-ern limit of coimbra, became a device of urban integration as well as a gateway. the design of the station reveals unforeseen scales and spatiality, such as the width of the river in relation to the horizontal

extension of the train platform - a technical convention that informs the habitual use of space: the convenience of crossing the river by foot.

the architects of the Paulista school focus on the design of public infrastructure (roads, public parks, canals, bridges, walkways, water treatment plants, etc.), refusing rigid models to determine the portion of the city intended for private occupancy, in other words, the real estate market. Distant from both the nostalgic revival of historicist models as well as universal and abstract modern urbanism, this strat-egy of “realism” is what guided the work of UnA Arquitetos in their 2006 study for the redevelopment of the Mooca-ipiranga neighbor-hood. contracted by the city administration as part of a moderniza-tion plan for the transportation system, the project operates on a truly metropolitan scale. it reconsiders the locations of the regional train and subway stations and their connections to a new bus corridor, along with the fate of a considerable stock of abandoned industrial warehouses that line the railway line, and reintegrates the adjacent neighborhoods historically separated by transportation barriers.

Reasoning analogously to Koolhaas and Mendes da Rocha, and assuming guidelines established by the city Master Plan, the architects provide a pivotal role to empty land, turning abandonment into an urban “recovery machine.”

the resulting linear park weaves the two districts together, and mediates between the railway line and the elevated roadway of the Avenida do estado. overcoming the transit obstacles, the crossings are linked to the adjacent buildings in a manner that improves these typically sterile locations. the project includes the creation of an ar-tificial waterway – by bringing groundwater to the surface – which works as an open retention basin, serving as both landscape and in-frastructure.

through this innovative approach to bringing the abandoned lands and industrial warehouses into use while preserving the visual reading of the floodplain and the surrounding hills, the project allows for a greater experience than is possible from primarily functionally driven plan.

the scheme manages to reveal the formative processes of the city itself, in which history and geography earn central roles, providing resistance to the productive efficiency with which architecture tends to convert empty spaces into buildings. Acting directly on the struc-turing elements that effectively build the city – its water networks, roadways, transport and public spaces – the project’s revealing of ur-ban permanency and voids contributes towards the “dis-alienation” of the area’s inhabitants and stimulates a greater awareness of the significance of urban space.

Guilherme wisnik is a professor at the school of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of são Paulo and author of mono-graphs on the work of Lucio costa and Paulo Mendes de Rocha and Estado Crítico: À Deriva nas Cidades (Critical State: Adrift in the Cities). He is currently curating the 2013 biennale of Architecture in são Paulo.

AboVE: Mooca-ipiranga Rehabilitation Project, são Paulo, UnA Ar-quitetos, 2006.


expressionEX

AboVE: Jodius Hondius. “America.” Gerardi Mercatoris Atlas. Amsterdam, 1606. oPPosItE PAGE, toP: sebastian Münster. “Die nüw Welt.” Cosmographia. Basel, 1540. oPPosItE PAGE, bottoM: Abraham ortelius. “Americae sive novi orbis, nova Descriptio.” Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Antwerp, 1575.

the survey of the American lands by italian, Portuguese, spanish, French, english and (eventually) Ameri-can explorers and the subsequent documentation was an extraordinarily complex and costly undertaking that took well over three hundred years to complete. the adjacent series of maps illustrates the progression of geographic knowledge which began with columbus’s accidental landing on the islands of the “West in-dies” and was followed by explorations of the east coast of south America, the southern and eastern coast of north America, the west coast of south America, and, eventually, the west coast of north America.

What is perhaps more interesting than the evolving accuracy of the maps are the elements of inaccuracy that were slowly abandoned by the map makers. For instance, the inscription “Regio gigantum” (Region of giants) on the 1540 map in south America did not stand up to further scrutiny, however, the illustration of “canibali” on the same map was likely based on observation of the practice. Also of interest on this map is the location of Japan (Zipangri) – just a short ride from future Mexico.

The New Worldby timothy kerner, AIA


the enormity of the hypothetical continent known as “terra Australis” depicted along the southern edge of the 1575 and 1606 maps was based on “scientific” theory rather than ob-servation. the idea, consistently documented by cartographers, was that an enormously large land mass at the bottom of the world was necessary to balance out the predominance of land on the upper half. For this reason, when the north coast of new guinea was first explored, it was determined - and documented in the 1575 map – to be a northern extension of this great, unexplored land area.

cartographic accuracy did not consistently progress with the passage of time. the Baja california Peninsula seemed to be a well-established entity up until the mid-1600s when the entire area of california broke away from the mainland, as can be seen in both the 1717 and the 1730 maps. this historic episode demonstrates the extremely political nature of map making. the spanish monarchy was intent on maintaining california as an island because it strengthened their claim for the land. However, the island status was eventually disproved by further exploration and, until today, california remains connected to the mainland.

sources:Martin W. Lewis and Karen e. Wigen. The Myth of Continents, A Critique of Meta-

geography. Berkeley, University of california Press, 1997.Paulo Micelli. O Tesouro dos Mapas. são Paulo: instituto cultural Banco santos, 2002.Hans Wolff. America - Early Maps of the New World. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1992.


oPPosItE PAGE: Joan Blaeu. “Americae nova ta-bula.” Atlas Novus. Amsterdam, 1642. AboVE: nicolas de Fer. “L’Amerique Meridionale et septen-trionale.” Introduction à la Géographie. Paris, 1717. LEft: george Mattäus seutter. “novus orbis sive America Meridionalis et tentrionalis.” Augs-burg, 1730.

DIGSAU: Sister Cities Park

Sister Cities Park: DIGSAU

designprofileDP


the re-development of sister cities Park, led by the center city District (ccD), was part of a larger civic effort to fulfill the original promise of that vision by transforming the Parkway into an animated, pedestrian-friendly cultural campus

in 2008, the ccD first commissioned studio Bryan Hanes and Dig-sAU to collaborate in the rehabilitation of the underutilized two acre plot of land on the east side of Logan circle across 18th street from the Basilica of sts. Peter and Paul. Deep shade and underutilization contributed to a sense of isolation that obscured the potential of the site. the goal was to revitalize a prominent landscape while attracting a diversity of users including visitors, business people, and a growing

population of center city families. the ccD programmed the land in an effort to increase the func-

tionality and perception of this important public space. the design evolved into three primary programmatic elements: the southern end is developed as the more “civic” zone, containing a new fountain dedicated to the Philadelphia’s ten “sister cities”; the northern end is anchored by a protected “children’s Discovery garden” which pro-vides a naturalistic setting for children’s free play; and the center is occupied by the pavilion which provides a café and visitor center with indoor and outdoor seating areas.

the pavilion draws literally from the landscape and historic struc-tures of the Fairmount Park while navigating the transition from the urban context surrounding it. the substantial cantilever of the Pavil-ion’s vegetated roof abstracts the rock outcroppings found through-out the Wissahickon. the varying height of the roof plane transitions from the monumental vertical scale of the city on one side of the park down to the naturalistic landscape and intimate scale of the children’s garden on the other side of the park. the Pavilion’s transparent struc-tural glass fins promote a panoramic view that frames the connec-tion between Philadelphia’s urban core and the cultural institutions

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway was conceived

during the City Beautiful movement as a ceremonial

boulevard that would extend Fairmount Park, one of

the country’s largest urban parks, into the heart of

Center City.


“The pavilion draws literally from the landscape and historic structures of Fairmount Park while navigating the transition from the urban context surrounding it.”


that line the Parkway and eventually form the gateway to Fairmount Park beyond.

Borrowing from the material palette of Fairmount Park’s historic park pavilions, the pavilion incorporates natural materials that evoke the geology of the Wissahickon Valley and compliment the brownstone exterior of the Basilica. the wood ceiling and exposed aggregate concrete floor extend outward from the building’s interior into the plaza be-yond. the massive green roof is punctured to bring direct sunlight onto the covered plaza and into the cafe.

As an interesting historical element that adds to the layered history of the site, archae-ologists uncovered approximately 60 rem-nants of graves while preparing for the reno-vation of the park. the graves are thought to be from the early 19th century when the area was known as “northwest square” and served as a potter’s field and graveyard.

studio Bryan Hanes led the site planning and design and was responsible for the el-

egant detailing of the fountains, hardscape and comprehensive planting scheme. the Discovery garden engages children in a natu-ral play environment inspired by the Wissa-hickon Valley ecosystem. thickets of trees, a stream, boulders and “fallen” tree trunks line an ascending path to a hilltop overlooking the boat pond, pavilion, and the city beyond. As described by the ccD, sister cities fountain is “a unique representation of the world with Philadelphia at its center. Jets of water play-fully leap from 10 spouts, representing our 10 sister cities, globally positioned in relation to their distance from Philadelphia.”

Funding for the project was provided by the Pew charitable trusts; William Penn Foundation; John s. and James L. Knight Foundation; Pennsylvania Department of community and economic Development; Pennsylvania Department of conservation and natural Resources; state Redevelopment Assistance capital Program; and Pennsylva-nia Department of transportation.

LoCAtIon: Philadelphia, PA

CLIEnt: Center City District

PARk MAnAGEMEnt AnD

MAIntEnAnCE: Center City District

ARCHItECtuRE: DIGSAU

LAnDsCAPE ARCHItECt: Studio Bryan

Hanes

CIVIL EnGInEER: Pennoni Associates

MEP EnGInEER: BHG Consulting

stRuCtuRAL EnGInEER: CVM

GEnERAL ContRACtoR: Bittenbender

Construction

MECHAnICAL ContRACtoR: Devine

Brothers

ELECtRICAL ContRACtoR: Hyde

Electric Corp.

PLuMbInG AnD sItEwoRk

ContRACtoR: Servalli, Inc.

sItEwoRk ContRACtoR: Ramos &

Associates

PHotoGRAPHY: Todd Mason, Halkin

Mason Photography


Moorhead Environmental Complex:M2 Architecture

designprofileDP

Stroud Water Research Center is world-renowned for groundbreaking research into freshwater

streams and rivers in Pennsylvania and around the globe.

When they needed to expand their facili-ties, they looked for a design team to provide them with the world-class building that re-flects their mission and stature. M2 Architec-ture led the integrated design team for this new 13,000-square-foot education center, that received LeeD Platinum certification in 2013.

stroud, a nonprofit research organization, initially had little experience or knowledge of green design, but knew that their scien-tific mission - to understand the ecology of streams, rivers, and their watersheds – re-quired them to demonstrate environmentally sensitive development at their headquarters.

Achieving Platinum certification does not necessarily indicate an exemplary project, however, there are only a handful of Platinum LeeD new construction projects in the Phila-delphia area. What makes this one exemplary is how it integrates the building and site de-sign together to achieve the client’s goals.

the project’s innovative features mostly deal with water, since this is stroud’s focus. During the preliminary design charrette, the phrase “getting the water right” became one of the key guiding principles for the project.

significantly, the site design encompass-es more than just the area around the new structure. the existing site had significant rainwater runoff issues that needed repair. therefore, the landscape program was to re-store the hydrological balance on the entire property to pre-development conditions. this was achieved through careful site interven-tions including rain gardens, green roofs, infiltration beds, and other similar strategies. native plantings will also help restore the site to a more natural state. note that many of these water-related site design strategies also allowed the project to achieve a high score in LeeD’s sustainable sites category. the team also addressed bicycle accomodations, park-ing for hybrid vehicles, heat island effect, and light pollution reduction.

Water efficiency is achieved by rainwater collection for research and non-potable uses, composting toilets, and low-flow plumb-ing fixtures. Wastewater is treated using an innovative constructed wetlands system prominently located in the courtyard. one of the first such systems in Pennsylvania, it was awarded a substantial growing greener

grant from the commonwealth to provide ongoing performance testing. stroud scien-tists will be documenting the water quality of the treated wastwater – combining their research mission with their facility manage-ment. it should be noted that due to these strategies, the project achieved 100 percent of the water efficiency points, plus two addi-


Moorhead Environmental Complex:M2 Architecture

tional innovation and design process points.energy efficiency was also an important

goal for this non-profit organization that re-lies on grant funding and philanthropy to run its 90-person operation. the new building expanded the ground-source heat pump sys-tem by adding additional wells and rework-ing the plumbing to allow the entire complex to work more efficiently. the design team spent a lot of time exploring sunshading and daylighting for the new spaces, to help keep the energy costs low. Finally, the project was able to negotiate a favorable price for high-performance, triple-glazed windows that will also save energy.

the design team was able to locate sev-eral major building materials from the region, including natural stone for building veneer, site walls and pavers; salvaged furniture; landscaping materials; and miscellaneous finishes. More than 75 percent of demoli-tion debris was diverted from landfills by the waste hauler. to help insure good indoor air quality, low-emitting indoor finishes were selected, and design and construction team members worked together to achieve 12 in-door environmental quality points.

While a lot of effort was undertaken to achieve a Platinum LeeD certification, much more effort went into making the building a

great place to work. clear connections to the outdoors through views and doors were very important to the stroud staff. colorful paint accents and room on the walls for the art collection were stated criteria. the building’s roof and downspouts were also designed to make it clear where and how the water was flowing. steel and wood sunshades on the ex-terior windows provide shading as needed to the offices, meeting rooms and classrooms.

LoCAtIon: Avondale, PA

CLIEnt: Stroudt Water Research

Center

ARCHItECtuRE: M2 Architecture

stoRMwAtER EnGInEER: Meliora

Environmental Design

LAnDsCAPE ARCHItECt: Andropogon

MEP EnGInEER: Bruce E. Brooks

& Associates

stRuCtuRAL EnGInEER: Ann

Rothman Structural Engineering

wAstE wAtER wEtLAnD DEsIGn:

Biohabits, Inc./Natural Systems

International

LIGHtInG DEsIGn: David Nelson &

Associates

GEnERAL ContRACtoR: Nason

Construction

ownER’s REPREsEntAtIVE:

Consillience, LLC

PHotoGRAPHY: Halkin Mason

Photography


Urban Garden: Otto Architects

designprofileDP


After completing an office interior for his internationally-renowned branding agency, 1 trick Pony, Keith Pizer turned again to otto Architects to breathe life into the drab yard of his new construction townhouse. Pre-sented with a dirt ground plane enclosed by pressure-treated plywood fencing, the design team set out to create an urban oasis, serving as a respite to the grittiness of the surround-ing northern Liberties neighborhood.

Layers of fine detail and material interest were deployed throughout the garden. Par-tially hidden by native and drought tolerant plantings, they are noticed while guests relax within the space. Rich materials were used throughout, creating visual texture and inter-est. A low bench installed along two sides of the garden is covered with graffiti-tagged cedar cladding, reclaimed from a dismantled Philadelphia water tower. to screen an exist-ing mechanical unit, an angled bar was in-

stalled with a custom metal top. Fabricated of salvaged pieces of central-Pennsylvania farm machinery, it offers a colorful counter-point to the greenery, while matching the vi-brant orange blossoms of the trumpet creep-er vines that cover the walls.

compensating for the lack of an outdoor water connection, a 75-gallon stainless steel rainwater collection tank was installed to ir-rigate the plantings. these are contained within built-in laser cut, stainless steel plant-ers. each is etched with a quote or saying meaningful to the client. the first that a visi-tor encounters upon entry is an appropriate reflection on the relaxed design, “i’LL get tHeRe WHen i get tHeRe”.

Designed for maximum impact on a small budget, the urban garden includes a carefully designed take on many strategies that a typi-cal Philadelphia townhouse owner can em-ploy to create their own outdoor refuge.

After completing an office interior for his internationally-renowned

branding agency, 1 Trick Pony, Keith Pizer turned again to Otto Architects

to breathe life into the drab yard of his new construction townhouse.

LoCAtIon: Philadelphia

CLIEnt: Keith Pizer

ARCHItECtuRE: Otto Architects

GEnERAL ContRACtoR: Buckminster

Green

fAbRICAtIon: Shift_Design

MEtALwoRk: Gatski Metal

PHotoGRAPHY: Sam Oberter


LourdesCare: Environetics

designprofileDP

Environetics completed a 55,000-

square-foot state-of-the-art am-

bulatory care center for one of

Southern New Jersey’s leading

healthcare providers, Lourdes

Health System.

the adaptive reuse of a vacant supermar-ket to Lourdescare was completed in March 2013 after a rapid design/build exercise that took a remarkable 11 months from the start of design through completion of construc-tion. the facility is located in the heart of Lourdes’ service area at one Brace Road in cherry Hill, n.J.

environetics provided architecture, interior design, structural engineering, and mechani-cal, electrical and plumbing engineering ser-vices to the project. the outpatient care cen-ter was designed to support Lourdes Health system in achieving its overarching goals of improving patients’ access to health servic-

es, reducing the cost of care and delivering seamless and integrated healthcare.

“Lourdescare gives patients access to a broad spectrum of healthcare services in a comfortable and convenient setting,” said Alexander J. Hatala, President and ceo at Lourdes Health system. “the building was designed with the knowledge that patients may require treatment from multiple special-ties in order to manage their health and well-ness. Additionally, treatment that is able to be provided in an outpatient setting is ultimately less expensive and allows us to achieve our affordability goals.”

the facility is home to Lourdes cardiology


services and other nationally recognized phy-sician specialists, including: cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, orthopedic surgeons, bariat-ric surgeons, physical medicine rehabilita-tion specialists, podiatrists, rheumatologists, sports medicine specialists and vascular sur-geons. other services include cardiac testing, cardiac rehabilitation, heart failure care, lab services, physical therapy, wellness services and general radiology.

“Healthcare environments designed to-day must be able to evolve with the changes in healthcare delivery and be able to facili-tate the management of patients’ wellness through coordinated continuum of care,” said Fletcher H. Macneill, AiA, principal in the healthcare practice at environetics. “the Lourdescare facility is a model of efficient, convenient one-stop shopping for healthcare services, and we expect this type of health-care facility to become increasingly more ef-fective as healthcare reform takes shape.”

the total cost of the project was $14 mil-lion. the project was financed and led by Rosewood Real estate enterprises and com-pleted with a design-build approach with ser-vices from environetics, consulting architects Alberto & Associates and contractors the norwood company.

the design/build model allowed for an effi-

cient and effective cost management process that involved daily collaboration between en-vironetics, Alberto & Associates and the nor-wood company from the start of planning through the completion of construction.

“this public-private project allowed Lourdes Health system to focus on what we do best – healing patients,” said Hatala. “By leveraging a developer’s expertise in man-aging project costs and building design, we were able to complete the project in the most efficient manner.”

LoCAtIon: Cherry Hill, NJ

CLIEnt: Lourdes Health Care

ARCHItECtuRE: Environetics

IntERIoR DEsIGn: Environetics

stRuCtuRAL EnGInEER: Environetics

MEP EnGInEER: Environetics

DEVELoPER: Rosewood Real Estate

Properties

DIAGnostIC sPACE DEsIGn: Alberto

& Associates

GEnERAL ContRACtoR: Norwood

Company

PHotoGRAPHY: Steve Wolfe


MEMBER NEws

Archer & buchanan Architecture, Ltd. announced that its natural Lands trust conservation center has been honored by the society of American Registered Archi-tects, Pennsylvania council. Located within the chesLen Preserve of chester county, Pennsylvania, the new Lenfest center is a base of operations for natural Lands trust’s management of the preserve and a com-fortable public space for visitors.

Jeff DiRomaldo, AiA, cgP, has been promoted to senior Project Manager at bartonPartners. in his new role, Jeff is involved in the management and coordina-tion of projects with clients, consultants and office-staff alike. Jeff has been with BartonPartners since 2004 and brings a variety of project experience and talents to his new position, including: mid-rise and high-rise apartments, adaptive reuse, his-toric redevelopment, and infill, mixed-use development. Lauren santee, in addition to her role as a Landscape Designer and Plan-ner, is now also a Project coordinator. As a Project coordinator, Lauren assists project managers and facilitates communication between clients, consultants, and in-office team members. Lauren joined BartonPart-ners in 2011 and has experience in the planning of multi-building, multi-family projects, as well as landscape architecture design and documentation.

blackney Hayes Architects’ design of AiM Academy in conshohocken was featured in school Business Affairs, the official journal of the Association of school Business officials international. “Blending Arts and Academics with a community spirit” by Jennifer crawford, AiA, principal at Blackney Hayes, and Patricia Roberts, ex-ecutive director of AiM Academy, explores the universal and unique aspects of design-ing a school for students with learning differences.

bLt Architects announced the hiring of four design staff members and an adminis-trative assistant: Lois s.K. suh, Ryan sison, Andrea Polaski, Fay Leff, and Ann Margaret Durfee.

in June, the opening of the st. John neu-mann catholic church Parish Life center was celebrated with a dedication, including prayer and scripture in the church and a processional and blessings in the Life cen-ter. Casaccio Yu Architects designed the $4.4 million expansion on Highland Lane in Bryn Mawr. the 21,000-square-foot Parish Life center includes a combination social center, athletic facility, school addition, and new preschool. the comprehensive design project also included site improvements and expansion and modifications to the church.

EwingCole, in association with FsA inc. + J. Kokolakis contracting, inc. Joint Ven-ture one, LLc, have been engaged by the United states Military Academy to renovate and modernize scott Barracks on the West Point campus. commenced in July 2013, the $53.8 million fast-track Design Build project is expected to be completed in August 2014. Built in 1938, the 147,755 square foot monumental barracks houses 477 cadets. scott is one of nine existing cadet barracks at the Us Military Academy, and was last renovated in 1988. the new renovation will be in accordance with the national Historic Preservation Act, since the West Point campus is designated a national Historic Landmark District.

the PA/nJ/De chapter of the international interior Design Association presented francis Cauffman with its exemplary element Award of 2013 for the new north American facility of global pharmaceuticals company glaxosmithKline. the project is located at 5 crescent Drive at the Philadel-phia navy Yard. this is the third consecutive year that iiDA has recognized the firm.

JkR Partners’ latest design involvement with the Diagnostic imaging suite entailed completely reconfiguring the reception area and nurse station. A new Pet/ct scanning suite and Women’s imaging suite were added. to make way for the new programs, JKR Partners also assisted in designing the new Patient testing Lab, relocated to its new location.

Preservation Design Partnership, LLC, received two individual awards for the preparation of the Design guidelines for the city of Fort Lauderdale. the Design guidelines were prepared for the city of Fort Lauderdale Historic Preservation Board and the Department of sustainable Devel-opment. the Florida trust for Historic Pres-ervation presented a Preservation Award in the education/Media category to Manag-ing Principal Dominique M. Hawkins, AiA, ncARB at the Annual conference in st. Augustine on May 17, 2013.

schradergroup Architecture welcomed Kelly Ryan to its team as Project Designer. A recent graduate of Pennsylvania state University, she comes to schradergroup with multiple years of internship experience working primarily with institutional project types.

the Philadelphia opened KidZooU: Ham-ilton Family children’s Zoo & Faris Fam-ily education center, designed by sMP Architects this spring. the zoo’s largest construction project to date, KidZooU is a year-round destination with a multitude of indoor and outdoor experiences for animals and guests alike. Designed to LeeD silver standards and scheduled to complete certification this year, it occupies a 2.5-acre site and repurposes the former Pachyderm House with interactive exhibits, conserva-tion stations and robust programming aimed at teaching toddlers to tweens how to become stewards of wildlife and the environment.

uCI Architects announced that the new Philadelphia Juvenile Justice services center has earned LeeD silver certification. the PJJsc is a short-term residential detention center for youth ages 13 -19 located in West Philadelphia with social and educa-tional programs that aim to assist pre-adjudicated youth in custody. A secure, ef-

DESIGN ON THE DELAWARE Oct. 29

AIA PA DESIGN AWARDS: Nov. 14

CHAPTER HOLIDAy PARTy Dec. 5

PROCRASTINATOR’S PRO CON Dec. 12

INDuCTION Jan. 16

calendar

notebookNB


ficient, modern facility for the adjudication of youth and for those city employees who work within the juvenile justice system, the two-story, 160,000 square-foot, multi-func-tion facility is located at 48th st. and Haver-ford Ave. Although clad in Pennsylvania brick reminiscent of homes in the neighbor-hood, the vaulted roofs, metallic accents, color concrete block and horizontal stripes suggest a dynamic modern structure.

uJMn Architects + Designers announced that it is joining strada, a multi-disciplinary architecture firm based in Pittsburgh, over the summer. the alliance of strada and UJMn forges a dynamic design firm with expanded resources and visionary leader-ship to assist a wide array of clients, from universities and cultural institutions to commercial developers, and everything in between.

Dominic Lacivita an intern architect at Voith & Mactavish Architects was named one of two national recipients of the 2013 AiA corporate Architects and Facility Man-agement scholarship Award.

AFFILIATE NEws

Acentech Inc. announced that Michelle Westgate joined the corporate marketing team based in the firm’s trevose office. in her new role, Michelle will be tasked with expanding the firm’s business contacts while fostering valuable client relationships in the greater Philadelphia area.

baker, Ingram & Associates played a part in the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of gettysburg. Built in 1832 for the Lutheran theological seminary in gettysburg, schmucker Hall was the main campus building for much of the 19th century. the firm provided a structural assessment of the building to identify areas of distress and structural elements in need of repair and/or replacement. the building was reopened during commemoration ceremonies for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of gettys-burg in July.

the eastern Pennsylvania chapter of As-sociated Builders & contractors recognized E. Allen Reeves, Inc. for results in their safety training and evaluation Process Pro-gram by awarding the firm with a Diamond

Level steP Award. these annual awards, which acknowledge those companies whose safety programs surpass industry standards, are multi-tiered, with Diamond being the highest achievable ranking.

Hugh Lofting timber framing, Inc. was recognized by the Passive House institute Us as a PHiUs certified Builder, and has a passive house under construction in West chester. the PHiUs designation means the company understands passive house principles, has mastered craftsmanship techniques specific to passive houses, and can meet challenges specific to the north American climate.

Building Design + construction Magazine recognized IMC Construction and the project team of L2 Partridge and trammell crow company for the recently completed the endo Health solutions Headquarters with the gold 2013 Building team Award. now in its 16th year, the Building team Awards program honors commercial building projects that set the standard of excellence in design and construction, while meeting the needs of the owner, the occupant, and the community.

the Philadelphia office of keast & Hood Co. opened on the 12th floor of the con-tinental Building at 400 Market street in september. the move comes as part of the firm’s 60th anniversary year.

the Lighting Practice congratulated Jered e. Widmer on his acceptance as a Profes-sional Member of the international Associa-tion of Lighting Designers.

McDonald building Company was selected as construction manager for a complete renovation of the 88,000-square-foot existing Health center at Pine Run Retirement community. construction ex-pected to begin late 2013 and is scheduled to open 2015.

the norwood Company commenced construction on a 677,000-square-foot warehouse distribution center in Lehigh Valley industrial Park Vii, a 40-acre site that was previously part of Bethlehem steel-s main manufacturing plant. serving as construction Manager, norwood is work-ing collaboratively with developer trammell crow company, investor clarion Partners

and designer Kss Architects.

in response to the rise of activity in the con-struction sector, o’Donnell & naccarato welcomed six new staff members, includ-ing Joe Anastasi, Alison DeBourke, Becky sell, Vanessa Hejnas, gregory Yanosh, and Kristin Wyka.

Pennoni Associates announced that craig Barbieri joined the firm as the design technology manager in the information technology division. Barbieri has more than 13 years of experience in the design technology field.

urban Engineers announced that the United states green Building council has recognized the firm’s Philadelphia Head-quarters as LeeD silver under the 2009 commercial interiors rating system. the LeeD silver certification resulted from the collaborative efforts of Urban’s designers, architects from Meyer Design, commercial construction, inc., and MBP.

wohlsen Construction Company an-nounced that carl V. Marenco joined the firm as Project executive in Wohlsen’s Delaware office. Marenco has over 30 years of experience in construction, and brings a track record of success in managing large commercial construction projects. He has provided executive oversight for many award-winning projects for clients in the healthcare, higher education, and corpo-rate markets.

w.s. Cumby is constructing the final phase of restoration, revitalization and re-imag-ining of Bryn Mawr’s historic 1926 seville theater. the project will include a new, two-theater, 300-seat expansion which will double the programming opportunities and viewing choices for the Bryn Mawr Film institute’s audiences. the existing theaters will also be upgraded as part of the project.

wu & Associates, Inc. was recently honored with an excellence in construc-tion Award from the Associated Builders & contractors - new Jersey chapter. this inaugural award was the first ever held by the new Jersey chapter, and is the begin-ning of a long-standing tradition in the construction industry.

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CONTEXT - Connecting Continents

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