Category: ecological urbanism

Victoria Meyers architect: vM.a_Studio

April 1st, 2023

Victoria Meyers architect has conducted investigations into WaTER and how WaTER affects architecture. Projects by vM.a_Studio that reference water. Research into aesthetic interpretations of WaTER include works by artist Karen Gunderson. Gunderson is an artist who devoted her art to revealing aspects of water, sky, and the natural world through the manipulation of oil on canvas, as well as through pencil drawings on paper. I've used Gunderson's paintings as teaching tools in architectural design studios at Columbia University, Cornell University, and elsewhere.

Karen Gunderson: Studies of WaTER

Above: Karen Gunderson: Water

Above: Water on display at Battery Park City's Teardrop Park. vM.a_Studio, with hMa/ with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. vM.a_Studio, with hMa, had design oversight for Battery Park City's North Neighborhood.

Above: WaterFall table designed by Victoria Meyers for vM.a_Studio.
Hacker-Maker/ Meyers Studio student works

March 17th, 2023

Prototype: Urban Outfitters Maker space, Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.

Studio Focus:

Design the Roof /. Why the Roof? The Roof is the principal surface that determines the ability to 'Make' in the space. IE: It's very difficult to install a 15 foot high Digital Printing Machine in a space that has a ceiling lower than 20'. MaKE THE ROOF!

S

THE ROOF CAN BE ORGANIC

THE ROOF CAN BE DYNAMIC

BE PREPARED TO MAKE DYNAMIC DRAWINGS THAT MAP YOUR ROOF CONCEPT!

BE PREPARED TO MAKE DYNAMIC DRAWINGS THAT EXPAND YOUR CONEPTUAL IDEA:

WHAT ENCOMPASSES THE IDEA OF 'ROOF'?

BE PREPARED TO WORK WITH NEW TYPES OF MATERIALS WHEN YOU BUILD YOUR MODELS
hMa’s Won Dharma Center wins AIA Honor Award for 2013

April 4th, 2013

view of Meditation Hall from Administration porch : Won Dharma Center by hanrahan Meyers architects

hMa is pleased to announce that the Won
Dharma Center has won an Honor Award from the AIA NY Chapter. Won Dharma Center is a 28,000 square-foot spiritual and recreational retreat
in Claverack, New York for the Won Buddhists, a Korean
organization that emphasizes balance in one's daily life and relationship to
nature. The center is located on a 500-acre site on a gently sloping hill
with views west to the Catskill Mountains.
The buildings for the Center, including permanent and guest residences, an
administration building and a meditation hall, are sited as far as possible
from the local rural access road, and oriented west and south to maximize views
and light. The symbol of the Won organization is an open circle, suggesting
both a void without absence and infinite return. The buildings are
organized around the dual concepts of void and spiral.

view of Meditation Hall and Administration from west : Won Dharma Center by hanrahan Meyers architects

The 3,000
square-foot Meditation Hall is conceived as a simple rectangular void and a
lightweight frame to the natural surroundings. Its wooden structure is
exposed on three sides to form entrance and viewing porches, while the interior
offers expansive views of the mountains.

The
four residential buildings include the dining hall/ administrative building,
and three residential dormitories for guests and permanent residents. The
design of the residential buildings draws on the formal organization of grass-roofed
Korean farm-houses, loosely clustered and organized internally around a single
central void. The roof shapes of the 4,000 square-foot residence
buildings transform in section around a spiral organization, from a simple
slope in section to a complex triangulated geometry where the roof transforms
into an open-air entrance porch. The internal organization of the residence
buildings allows silent walking meditation from courtyard to courtyard.
The courtyards act as passive cooling systems, and when the sliding doors
facing the courtyards open, cross ventilation through the public areas and guest
rooms provides passive cooling. All of the residential buildings are wood
construction, like the Meditation Hall, and deeply shaded to the west and south
to allow natural daylighting without excessive heat gain.

view of guest residences 1 and 2 : Won Dharma Center by hanrahan Meyers architects
VIDEO: Victoria Meyers Lecture at BXMC for Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary

October 10th, 2011

Xenakis Simposium_Victoria Myers from BXMC on Vimeo. Victoria Meyers architect

Architect Victoria Meyers presents the work of hanrahan Meyers architects, and discusses the influences in the work from Iannis Xenakis. In particular, Ms. Meyers' talk focused on the firm's DWiP (Digital Water Pavilion), designed for Battery Park City's North Neighborhood, and scheduled to open in 2012. hMa is a firm that specializes in designing public buildings and masterplans for cities and campuses, incorporating state of the art green technologies, while also fostering collaborations with artists from around the world. hMa has collaborated with Michael Schumacher, David Teeple, and Jane Philbrick on various projects in the past. Jane Philbrick's latest site specific installation opened at Mass MoCA in September 2011.

About the Program: Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary explores the fundamental role of drawing in the work of avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001). One of the most important figures in twentieth-century music, Xenakis originally trained as an engineer and was also known as an architect, developing iconic designs while working with Le Corbusier in the 1950s. This North American premiere of Xenakis's visual work is comprised of samples of his pioneering graphic musings, architectural plans, compelling preparatory mathematical renderings, and pre-compositional sketches—in all, nearly 100 documents created between 1953 and 1984. The exhibition is accompanied by an exciting schedule of public programs, concerts, and symposia around New York City. Co-curated by Sharon Kanach and Carey Lovelace, the exhibition traveled to the Canadian Centre for Architecture (June 17 – October 17, 2010) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (November 7, 2010 – February 13, 2011).
Outside-In/ Inside-Out: Pratt Pavilion by hanrahan Meyers architects

September 29th, 2011

Pratt Pavilion by hanrahan Meyers architects plays a fun game of inside/ outside. Pratt Pavilion is a small pavilion with big ambitions, on the main Pratt campus in Fort Green, Brooklyn. The pavilion floats in the air, above a glass entry vestibule. The pavilion is a single room, which is used as the main teaching gallery for Pratt's Design Center, which houses all of the main design programs at Pratt Institute.

Victoria Meyers architect

The plan above shows the plan of the Pavilion, to the south of a new courtyard, to the north. The courtyard and the Pavilion Gallery were designed to occupy approximately the same area, with similar shapes: to be mirror images. 'Mirror' – meaning – that we include the distortions inherent in the reflection.

I would argue that the Courtyard could be seen as 'Inside-Out'; and that the Pratt Pavilion Gallery is 'Outside-In' – as a spatial experience.

Outside-In: hanrahan Meyers Pratt Pavilion Courtyard Victoria Meyers architect

Inside-Out: hanrahan Meyers architects: Pratt Pavilion Gallery Victoria Meyers architect

These dispositions and juxtapositions of what is normally outside, being inside, and, vice-versa, what is normally inside being outside, have a history in architectural design projects. This would include the vestibule at Michelangelo's Laurentian Library, which is very much an Inside-Out space, through its extreme height, and its details.
Natural Light in Architecture Part 1: Red Hook Center for the Arts, Holley House, Won Dharma Center, Arts International

September 1st, 2011

skylight detail: hMa's Redhook Center for the Arts in Brooklyn, NY click here to view more photos of the project on www.hanrahanMeyers.com

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) have designed most of their buildings around the use of natural light. hMa works with natural materials, light and nature using a minimal palette to achieve unique spatial experiences for clients. hMa's clients include private and public organizations who build public buildings, including monasteries, churches (Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist, NY), Community Centers (Battery Park City Community Center), institutes and universities (Pratt Institute, for whom hMa designed Pratt Pavilion), as well as private clients, who build residential projects, including Holley House, and Ash 4Ways. Redhood Center for the Arts, above is a public building where the public spaces are bathed in natural light, mediated by painted surfaces that create washes of color.

Holley House, below, uses a palette of natural materials. The various materials, including local stone, wood, and glass, create a powerful transitional sensibility through the house, and light creates the sequences from public to private spaces.

skylight detail: hMa's Holley House in Garrison, NY click here to view more photos of the project on www.hanrahanMeyers.com

skylight detail: interior view of Meditation Hall: hMa's Won Dharma Center in Claverack, NY click here to view more photos of this project on www.hanrahanMeyers.com

Won Dharma Center in Claverack, NY, is a Buddhist Retreat where hMa designed a campus including five building. Shown above is the Meditation Hall, in construction. The rear wall of the Hall has a niche topped with a skylight, to create a powerful play of light on the rear wall. Windows on this wall and the adjacent, east facing wall are low, so that they allow light into the space, but talk about the low eye level of the seated meditators. The west wall features large expanses of glass, with unobstructed views toward the Catskill Mountains.

Arts International, below, was designed as as a large interior gallery, surrounded by private offices. The office areas had large windows, and clear glass panels to the Gallery, so that even as an interior gallery, this inner space is still flooded with light.

hMa's Arts Inernational Headquarters in NY, NY click here to view more photos of the project on www.hanrahanMeyers.com

To read more about hMa and the firm's use of natural light in architecture, please visit our website, www.hanrahanMeyers.com.

hMa is a firm of five architects, as well as interns, and the practice is run as a collaborative design studio.
Water, Architecture and hanrahan Meyers architects: Water References

August 25th, 2011

hMa (hanrahan Meyers architects) is a great fan of water. Plain simple pure water.  Water symbolizes purity. The sound of water is soothing. Religious rites of purification revolve around water. The bulk of our body weight is water. Babies in the womb float in water.. Water is part of our nature.

In homage to this precious and threatened vital commodity hMa's collaboration with sound artist Michael Schumacher addresses water directly. Michael Schumacher has been commissioned to write a piece called: WaTER. WaTER is the basis for the facade of DWiP (Digital Water Pavilion), and our collaboration has been published extensively in previous postings. Visitors can check the blog history for other posts.

DWiP: Digital Water Pavilion by hanrahan Meyers architects click here to see more images of DWiP on www.hanrahanMeyers.com

We address ideas that pertain to water from other designers and thinkers in this posting,

First, we would like to commend WET Designs, who New Yorkers are probably familiar with from their design for the new fountain for New York's Lincoln Center. WET (Water Entertainment Technologies) was founded by Mark Fuller, and the company is based in Los Angeles. We are linking to an article about Mr. Fuller and his Lincoln Center fountain HERE.   Most people know Mr. Fuller from his amazing water works for Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Fountains of Bellagio by WET Design

Our other recommendation for water imagery and thoughts is Craig Childs' book: The Secret Knowledge of Water, published in March 2000. The Secret Knowledge of Water is a wonderful book and gives its readers a new respect for the qualities of water. For a preview of the book, see our exerpt below:

Cover "The Secret Knowledge of Water" by Craig Childs link to Amazon

'My mother was born beside a spring in the high desert, just north of where West Texas and Mexico meet along the Rio Grande. Born three months premature, she was kept alive in an incubator heated with household light bulbs. An eyedropper for feeding. The water from the spring bathed and filled her body, tightening each of her cells. It filled the hollow of her bones. Years later, as the water passed from mother to child, like fine hair or blue eyes, I grew up thinking that water and the desert were the same. …'

hMa pays homage to water with their collaboration with Michael Schumacher on WaTER.   WaTER will be available as an App being developed for the i-Phone as well as Android platforms.
Architectural Digest Names Pratt Institute Among Top Ten Colleges in US for the Architectural Significance of its Campus

August 15th, 2011

hanrahan Meyers architects' Juliana Curran Terian Design Center (Pratt Pavilion) opened on the Pratt Campus in 2007 click here to view more photos of the Design Center on www.hanrahanmeyers.com post Victoria Meyers architect

Here is an excerpt from the article on Archinect.com, click the link at the end for the full version:

"Pratt recently opened a 120,000-square-foot green academic and administrative building named Myrtle Hall at 536 Myrtle Avenue between Grand Avenue and Steuben Street that houses the college's Department of Digital Arts as well as several administrative offices." This building, along with hanrahan Meyers architects' Pratt Pavilion, which launched the Pratt Design Center in 2007, have reshaped the Pratt campus. Pratt Pavilion was the first project to initiate the redesign and refocusing of the Pratt campus, with buildings facing in toward the campus green, instead of facing out toward the neighboring streets.

second floor gallery interior: JCT Design Center (Pratt Pavilion) click here to view more photos of the Design Center on www.hanrahanmeyers.com Post Victoria Meyers architect

The Juliana Curran Terian Design Center, opened in 2007 was designed by hanrahan Meyers architects to bring together two older loft buildings with a contemporary bridging structure to create a 200,000-square-foot complex. The Center brings together Pratt's design disciplines — interior design, fashion design, industrial design, and communications design — under one roof that allows Pratt designers to better develop their creative processes. hMa principal Victoria Meyers was the lead designer for the project, completed in 2007.

rear courtyard: JCT Design Center (Pratt Pavilion) by hanrahan Meyers architects click here to view more photos of the Design Center on www.hanrahanmeyers.com

The Juliana Curran Terian Design Center has received numerous awards including Building Brooklyn Awards from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, which recognize construction projects that enrich Brooklyn's neighborhoods and economy.

Click here to read the article in full at www.archinect.com

To view the full list of recogized colleges, please visit Architectural Digest's online slideshow at www.archdigest.com/go/campus
Battery Park City Master Plan – North Neighborhood design by hanrahan Meyers architects – + the Visonaire win Urban Land Institute Awards : Urban Waterfront Design

September 29th, 2010

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) are proud to announce that the firm's Battery Park City Master Plan project has won a Heritage Award for Excellence from the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Since 1997 hMa have been the Master Plan Architects for Battery Park City's North Neighborhood. In that capacity, the firm has been a Leader in applying Sustainable Design practices. One of the firm's achievements includes writing the Green Guidelines for the Solaire - the world's first Green Residential high-rise Tower.

In addition to hMa's Green Master Plan winning a coveted Heritage Award, Battery Park City's Visionaire was also honored with a 2010 Award for Excellence from the Urban Land Institute. The Visionaire is a high-rise residential tower that received the top design Award from the ULI as 'America's Greenest Residential High-Rise Tower' - one of only 10 buildings in the Americas - and the only building to be recognized for Green Design in New York. The Visionaire received the US Green Building Council's highest rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED Platinum).

ULI Awards for Excellence define the standard for real estate development practice worldwide. In its 32nd year, the awards program is the centerpiece of ULI’s efforts to identify and promote best Green practices in all types of real estate development.

aerial view of North Neighborhood, Battery Park City Master Plan. Post: Victoria Meyers architect

In 1997 hMa was hired as the Master Plan Architect for Battery Park City Authority’s North Neighborhood, the most forward-thinking Green urban master plan in the United States. The North Neighborhood is the location of the first Green high-rise residential tower in the United States (Green Guidelines by hMa) and is the first Sustainably designed high-rise neighborhood in the world (Green Guidelines by hMa). When the Master Plan is complete in 2012 it will include a total of 5 million square feet of sustainable buildings, an array of new technologies and operating practices and a unique integration with the spectacular natural features of New York's waterfront.

hanrahan Meyers Architects' configuration of the North Neighborhood buildings emphasizes the area's engagement with nature by creating an interweaving grid of outdoor spaces – including 4 major parks – with 11 residential and public buildings including Stuyvesant High School. Individual buildings are designed to complete the urban blocks by aligning with lot lines up to the 11th and 14th floors, after which towers are placed up to the 25th and 32nd floors in a complex pattern of offsetting alignments to open up view corridors to the Hudson River, and bring light and air into the parks below.

Read more about the ULI Awards competition and view other award winners at http://www.uli.org. Read more about hMa and their master plan designs by visiting our website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com, and go to: 'Master Plans and Landscapes'. To see more of hMa's cutting edge Green Designs go to 'Green'.

diagram : environmental standards for BPC Master Plan (click image to enlarge)
Infinity Chapel and Won Dharma Center win Faith & Form Design Awards for 2010

July 22nd, 2010

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) are pleased to announce that two hMa projects have won awards in the 2010 Faith & Form / IFRAA International Design Awards Program for Religious Art and Architecture. Infinity Chapel has won an Honor Design Award in the Religious Architecture – Renovation category and Won Dharma Center won a Merit Design Award in the Unbuilt Work category.

These and all winning entries will be published in the Winter 2010 Awards Issue of Faith & Form magazine. Read more about the awards program, Faith and Form magazine, and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture here.

detail: Infinity Chapel by hanrahanMeyers architects click here to see more images of the Chapel at hanrahanMeyers.com. Post: Victoria Meyers architect

The Infinity Chapel for the Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist features a cubic sanctuary deformed by light. The new sanctuary is a place where the sacred geometries of squares, golden section rectangles, and ‘spheres of light’ will surround worshipers. Three curving walls – one from the south, one from the north and one from the east – suggest the large spheres. These forms evoke the shape of a ‘Klein bottle’ or moebius strip, simple figures that suggest infinity by having no beginning and no end.

view of Meditation Hall: Won Dharma Center by hanrahanMeyers architects click here to see more images of Won Dharma Center at hanrahanMeyers.com, Post: Victoria Meyers architect

hMa's latest Green project for a spiritual group is the new Won Dharma Center compound to be located in Claverack, New York. This is to be a Green community designed with sensitivity to Nature and issues of Sustainable design.

The Won Dharma Center will be a retreat in rural, upstate New York for spiritual reflection and discussion. The property gently slopes toward the west, offering views of the Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountains. The buildings for the center, which include permanent and guest residences, an administration building and a large meditation hall, are placed in the northern end of the site, set back from the highway. The buildings are all oriented towards the west and south to maximize view and light, while each building is organized around an internal courtyard.