Tag: won buddhist retreat

BP Oil Spill: What can we as architects do to help?

May 16th, 2010

The BP (British Petroleum) oil spill is perhaps one of the worst ecological disasters of our century. The Oil Companies have been drilling ('drill baby drill'?) for oil, with one thing in mind: money. They've been cutting corners, and lying to the general public and to the U.S. Government about how safe their operations really are.

Drilling 5,000 feet below the ocean, in turbulent waters with highly variable conditions, including hurricanes (which can destroy oil rigs) and frigid temperatures at the ocean floor, combine to create a highly volatile, uncontrollable situation. It puts the world's oceans and the wildlife who live there, at risk. This is not acceptable. (Hint to DEMOCRATS: if you want to win the next election, why not post images of the REPUBLICANS chanting 'drill baby drill' from the last election, and post, right next to that, images of the disaster in the Gulf.).

If ever there was a siren call for the world to wean itself off OIL - we're there. This is a disaster.

The world's oceans are at grave risk. The oceans are a resource we need to treasure and protect. Oil Executives don't care about clean water, and they don't care about ocean wildlife. I think even REPUBLICANS ('drill baby drill') - may recognize that the time has come for them to back off from their attacks and intimidation tactics against environmentalists who have been calling for CLEAN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS to our energy and living needs.

What can we as Architects do to support this conversation?

We can all get behind sustainable and green infrastructure in all of our projects, especially when it comes to energy sources in our projects.

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) are currently working with the Won Buddhist Organization of America to build a five-building project on a 700-acre site, that is GREEN and 100% 'off the grid'. Through a combination of geo-thermal wells, solar panels, and the implementation of wood-chip technologies, the Buddhists are doing their part to help the planet, and we, as architects, are doing everything we can to help them achieve that goal.

I would encourage all clients considering projects in their future - to heed this call to action. Support clean, green renewable energy solutions in your projects. Go 'off the grid'. Put money into the development of clean, sustainable, renewable energy sources for your new building or master plan.

America can take the lead in this change. Go green! Our future (and our future generations' futures) depends on it.
Award-winning Education Buildings:Pratt Pavilion; WaveLine; Buddhists Educational Retreat

March 2nd, 2010

Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion: View of Pavilion floating above entry court: hanrahan Meyers architects: 2007 NY Designs Award, Architectural League

New York architects hanrahan Meyers (hMa) have a track record for designing award winning educational buildings. hMa's Pratt Pavilion, completed in 2007, was recognized for its cutting edge design with a 'New York Designs' award from the Architectural League of New York. The building is featured in the 2009 Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture. The Juliana Curran Terian Pratt Pavilion is a new 10,000 square foot building on the Pratt Institute Campus in Brooklyn. The Pavilion ties two previously separate buildings into one entity: the Pratt Design Center, creating the first Design Center in the United States uniting all Design disciplines (fashion, interior design, graphic design and industrial design) under one roof.

WaveLine Pavilion: Rear elevation view: roof becomes the wall; hanrahan Meyers architects: 2007 AIA NYChapter Design Award

WaveLine, completed in 2007, was recognized with an AIA NYChapter Design Award for its excellence in design. WaveLine was built within an existing NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) compound in Queens, New York, as a multi-use building. Like Pratt Pavilion, WaveLine is connected to a larger Community Center, and was designed to function part-time as a classroom.

Won Buddhist Training Center, Claverack, NY: hanrahan Meyers architects

The Won Buddhist Retreat, currently in construction in Claverack, New York, is designed as a campus for Buddhist education. The Retreat consists of five buildings; three residential halls (each with one room dedicated as a classroom); an Administrative building (with classrooms and a library); and a main Buddhist Meditation Hall.

All three projects have been recognized through publications and awards programs for their foresight in design.

To read more about hanrahan Meyers architects visit our website: www.hanrahanMeyers.com.

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Won Buddhist Training Centercampus master plan

November 30th, 2007

Campus Master Plan: A Rural Layout

hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa) have a designed a new Won-Buddhist Retreat that will be approximately 2 hours north of New York City on a rural site. The site is mostly wooded, with a swath of Meadow on the western edge where buildings can be built.

- The site features relatively unspoiled Natural features with native vegetation. All site development will occur in the western edge where the trees have been removed. The rest of the site will be untouched.

- The site plan shows buildings in a rural arrangement, creating a primary impression of the forest’s uninterrupted expanse reinforced by buildings oriented to the path of the sun. The site is large enough to accommodate the program without crowding, maintaining sufficient space so that the Nature of the site permeates the buildings. The Program that we are showing includes a Meditation Hall, a Dining Hall, and Housing.

- The Visitor experience hMa has designed for the master plan and buildings: One with Nature.

Nature Gate

Carefully planted trees and Grasses form a Natural Gate to the site. Gateways that are almost invisible, but present. Using the sound of Nature as the entrance to the site. Initial Entrance Experience: Stone crunching underfoot; leaves rustling in wind; tall grass blowing in breeze.

Stone Gate at the Ridge

A stone base marks a datum across the site. Structures with stone walls create a datum in the Landscape. Architecture becomes a means of measuring site.

From the Stone Gate at the ridge, visitors will be able to glimpse the various structures in the landscape. All structures to be constructed with the same sensibility as the Stone Gate using natural materials. Treating buildings as part of Nature.

View of the buildings

Buildings on the site all share common sense of Natural Materials with the Stone Gate; stone base with wood construction above. The buildings become like the site; like trees sitting in the earth.

View from Meditation Hall:

A sense of being outside when you are inside. A space lit by natural light, so the Meditation Hall is tied to the natural rhythms of Nature and sunlight. Beams overhead that modulate the light, like leaves on the trees. A place that allows the users to feel the awe of Nature.

Building the site into the building, as well as building into the site.