Tag: Water and Architecture

Victoria Meyers is WaTER

April 6th, 2023

Above: v.Ma_Studio's interpretation of WaTER: WaterFall Table

Water: Oil on Canvas: Karen Gunderson

Above: v.Ma_Studio: DWi.P: a 30,000 square foot public Community Center at Battery Park City:
A 320 foot long glass facade with an etched finish referencing WaTER.

DWi.P: a building whose ground floor houses pools of WaTER.

A building that sits West of the World Trade Center Memorial fountain and east of the Hudson River.

Karen Gunderson: WaTER: oil on canvas

Takemitsu: photograph of Water/ Sky

Above: WaterFall Table: vMa_Studio

Each of these images are artistic interpretations of WaTER.
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.
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.
Interactive Wall Design: Digital Water Pavilion hanrahan Meyers architects; cell phone Apps + Architecture; Michael J. Schumacher WATER score

May 6th, 2010

Digital Water Pavilion (DWP) is planned to be a Platinum LEED building designed around principles of sustainable design. The conservation of water is a key issue of the new Pavilion, and the main facade of DWP will have a piece written by composer Michael Schumacher etched on the glass titled: WATER.

Schmacher's score for WATER will be etched on the façade as a bar code. The facade is a 550-foot long glass wall designed by hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa), and visitors will be able to activate and 'play' Schumacher's piece by aiming their smart phones at the wall, and using a custom 'app' to 'play' the facade. By 'playing' the facade, visitors will hear WATER through their cell phone earpieces.

Digital Water Pavilion: hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa). A new pavilion in construction at Battery Park City, facing the Ballfields. The facade is a collaboration between hMa and NY Composer Michael Schumacher called: Tonal Motion.

The use of water as a constantly circulating, regenerative natural element is explored inside the new Digital Water Pavilion, which features an Olympic length pool with filters that clean the water using minimal chemicals, and minimal water waste. The building features Grey Water recycling, and all plantings around the building are native species.

Visitors walking by the glass façade of the Digital Water Pavilion can wave smartphones toward the façade and read a signal, which will play part of Schumacher's piece, WATER, on their phones. Visitors can literally play the façade.

For information contact: info@hanrhanMeyers.com

Facade design by hanrahan Meyers architects www.hanrahanMeyers.com

Sound by Michael J. Schumacher http://www.diapasongallery.org/