Category: victoria meyers and Green 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
Sklar Tibbits study using paper and color parallels the universe of Hacker-Maker form

March 17th, 2023

Hack-Make: Use origami paper to study form and color.
Victoria Meyers architect: Adventures from Flatland

March 3rd, 2023

An exciting announcement!

Having moved my practice from New York City to Los Angeles, California, hMa has been dissolved as a practice. Victoria Meyers architect will practice as the design principal of v.Ma_Studio.

To reach Thomas Hanrahan you would need to contact him directly, in East Hampton, NY.

v.Ma_Studio has residential and institutional projects on the horizon. Victoria Meyers will continue research into materials, energy forms and sources, and current ideas from the fine arts.

v.Ma_Studio's newest focus? The Point/ Line/ Plane project from the original Cooper Union SOA curriculum founded by John Hejduk.

We've invited our friend and Cooper graduate, Paul Seletsky to offer words about the original Cooper curriculum which produced many of the finest American architects practicing today.

If this topic is of interest, read #Flatland. Flatland sets the stage for great investigations into SPACE.
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
Natural Light in Architecture Part 2: Red Hook Center for the Arts, Holley House, Won Dharma Center, Arts International

May 23rd, 2012

Holley House, hanrahanMeyers architects click here to view all photos of Holley House on www.hanrahanmeyers.com Victoria Meyers architect post

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. Holley House, above, 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.

Won Dharma Center by hanrahanMeyers architects click here to view all photos of Won Dharma Center on www.hanrahanmeyers.com

Won Dharma Center in Claverack, NY, is a Buddhist Retreat where hMa designed a campus including five buildings. Shown above is a view of the site looking west toward the entrance to the Permanent Residence building, with a view of the Administration Building and Meditation Hall beyond. The Won Dharma Center is the winner of two Design Awards, from the Wood Design and Building Council and from the Faith and Form/ IFRAA Design Awards competitions.

Redhook Center for the Arts, below, is a public building where the public spaces are bathed in natural light, mediated by painted surfaces that create washes of color.

window detail : Redhook Center for the Arts by hanrahanMeyers architects click here to see all photos of Redhook CFA on www.hanrahanmeyers.com Victoria Meyers architect post

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.

Arts International Headquarters by hanrahanMeyers architects click here to view all photos of Arts International on www.hanrahanmeyers.com Victoria Meyers architect post
An Ecological Urbanist approach to Designing the City of the Future: The Green Urbanist

March 27th, 2012

The conversations taking place today about new approaches to designing cities of the future center around new urban ideas, including Moshen Mostafavi's discussion from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Mr. Mostafavi's discussion of urbanism can be seen in his recently published book, Ecological Urbanism. Ecological Urbanism looks at how the world may be able cope in the future as cities become increasingly dense, using new strategies for urban and spatial design. As the need arises for sustainable dense urban development, including ecological and sustainable food sources grown locally within cities, new building types that incorporate landscape from the natural surroundings, will help mitigate the effect of millions of people living in very close and dense arrangements.

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) have been master plan architects for green city spaces since 1990, when hMa were hired as the master plan architects for Battery Park City's North Neighborhood. The BPC North Neighborhood was developed, under hMa's guidance, as the first high-rise green neighborhood in the world.

Idea Diagram : Battery Park City North Neighborhood Master Plan, Victoria Meyers architect for hanrahan Meyers architects click here to see more of this project on hanrahanMeyers.com. The Green Urbanist Victoria Meyers architect post

Teardrop Park South is an example of how even very dense urban spaces can still be experienced with natural light. The Park was laid out by hMa, and designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates using Heliostat mirrors to beam light into an otherwise dark park. The final park offers an array of natural greenery, native New York stones, and water to create a space that feels part of the original Manhattan landscape. The park exists as a tiny envelop of green tucked into a dense high-rise block.

Teardrop Park south (photo from "Teardrop Park South Unveiled" article on tribecacitizen.com – click to read more). Victoria Meyers architect for hanrahan Meyers architects. The Green Urbanist Victoria Meyers architect post

hMa has been at the forefront of designing ideas for new ways of making cities of the future since 1990. hMa's approach to urban places includes radical new approaches to creating eco-systems within places that were thought to be unnatural and unsustainable.

Battery Park City North Neighborhood Master Plan : site plan showing parks. Victoria Meyers architect for hanrahan Meyers architects. click here to see more of this project on hanrahanMeyers.com. The Green Urbanist Victoria Meyers architect post

All of the buildings and parks in Battery Park City's North Neighborhood were designed using guidelines developed by hMa, to create green, sustainable urban living.

Click here to read another article on Teardrop Park on NYCurbed Blog.
DWiP: Digital Water i-Pavilion (Battery Park City Community Center) by hanrahan Meyers architects featured in Wall Street Journal

December 1st, 2011

aerial site photo of DWi-P/ Battery Park City Community Center in construction Post Victoria Meyers architect

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Battery Park City Wraps Up Building
By: Joseph De Avila

The center marks the completion of the Battery Park City Authority's role as the lead developer for the neighborhood—a role it has played for more than 40 years.

"We are closing one chapter as real-estate developer and opening a new chapter as a building manager," said Gayle Horwitz, chief executive of the authority.

The other project the authority is working on is the development of Pier A, which has been closed to the public for several decades. It will include food courts and performance space and is expected to be finished by the fall of 2012.

A rendering showing the complex at ground level. It is expected to be finished in September.

In 1968, the Battery Park City Authority was formed to oversee planning for the nascent neighborhood that was built on landfill from the excavation of the World Trade Center. In its early days, the authority put together a master plan for Battery Park City to manage the growth of the neighborhood.

Click here to read the full article on wsj.com
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.