Oculus - Winter 2013 - (Page 45) last words LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Winging It -from "I Get Around," by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, 1964 Volare, oh oh Cantare, oh oh oh oh..... Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind Just like birds of a feather, a rainbow together we'll find. -from "Volare," by Mitchell Parish, Domenico Modugno, and Franco Migliacci, 1958 The only thing that we know is that we know nothing - and that is the highest flight of human wisdom. -from War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, 1869 At his last words, a bird flew past on the right, An eagle clutching a huge white goose in its talons... All looked up, overjoyed - people's spirits lifted. -from The Odyssey, Book 15: The Prince Sets Sail for Home, by Homer The Fun Factor: Visitors + Vistas olstoy supposedly said that all great literature is one of two stories: a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. Traveling for business or pleasure is hardwired into our genetic makeup as a species of hunter-gatherers. Domesticity and urban settlement may be a product of sustainable agriculture or the taming of this or that tasty species. But still we get around, carbon footprint guilt trailing in the airstream or riding down the rails. What do we see when we get there? Well, architecture, yes, and the monuments, museums, and landmarks that give cultural identity to places known by name only. But, as importantly, what do we feel? If lucky, we experience a sense of welcome, wonder, and hospitality. That word itself, from the Latin hospitalitus, suggests an architecture of well-being, reception, and entertainment. We are welcomed by walls, wells, and a roof over our heads - not to mention empathetic attention to our tired feet and jet-lagged psyches. It has only been since Wilbur and Orville Wright used observations of birds changing wing angle and bicyclists leaning into a turn that aeronautical controls took form and human flight became possible. The brothers had run a bike shop before trekking to Kitty Hawk to find propitious winds. Others, from Leonardo da Vinci to Alberto Santos-Dumont, had connected human flights to avian example. Parisian papers had dubbed the latter's tail-first device a "canard" because of its duck-like characteristics. Birds have been there before. But why do they travel seasonally, and what do they see and feel when they get where they are going? Too often it is a killer pane of glass beckoning along the way like a lustrous siren of doom. The New York Audubon Society has taken the lead in combating the risk to birds from some of our glazed skyscrapers by publishing "Bird-Safe Building Guidelines" (www. nycaudubon.org/pdf/BirdSafeBuildingGuidelines. pdf). Design can make a difference in reducing the risks of bird kill, as FXFOWLE's Bruce Fowle, FAIA, has demonstrated in his projects. There are also problems outside of urban centers. Sprawl has led to loss of habitat in many locations where birds - and bees - travel. Gertrude Stein said, "There is no there there." Do architects T ©Chase Rynd Round round get around I get around Yeah Get around round round I get around I get around Get around round round I get around From town to town Get around round round I get around Bell among a medley of Norwegian birdhouses in Oslo. have a responsibility to think outside the species? Should elected officials have a higher calling? Birds vote with their wings - early and often. They flock together in blocs that fly in formation, some threatening aircraft and terrestrial domination. Yet they live at ease in the natural environment and in incredibly small spaces. A recent installation by Huus og Heim Arkitektur at the Oslo Nasjonalmuseet created a community for a "medley of Norwegian birds." The birdhouses were different in volume, fenestration, elevation, and section, but their basic typology and material, Norwegian wood, were the same. The sounds coming from the birdhouses in the museum's Ulltveit-Moe wing, designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Sverre Fehn, were extraordinary: happy tweets from birds with melodic names such as kattugle (tawny owl), kaie (western jackdaw), and kvinand (common goldeneye). In the exhibition, which addressed "how we relate to nature and space sensually, physically, and emotionally," these birds lived together in perfect harmony. Similarly, in the children's room of the Elizabeth Stewart Gardner Museum's new wing by Renzo Piano in Boston, kids of different backgrounds gathered around a birdcage to listen to the warbling of a few bewildered parakeets. Birds can bring people together if they don't fly the coop. That's where housing comes in. Bill de Blasio, New York's new mayor, has promised that affordable housing will be of increasing priority as the city prepares for another decade of growth. People fly to JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia, and many stay if they find homes. Dwellings need not be large. Microunits of 300 square feet can be just the right size for a newcomer living alone, or a tight family without a nest egg. Rick Bell, FAIA Executive Director, AIA New York Chapter Winter 2013 Oculus 45 Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Oculus - Winter 2013 First Words Letter from Two Presidents A Word from the Editor Center for Architecture One Block Over Opener: Designing – and Defi ning – a Moment in Time Lounging Around Warmer Welcomes Eat, Drink, and Wear the Brand Architecture Tourism: New York City’s Waterfront – and Beyond Waterside Oasis Development Does DUMBO A Tale of Two Piers Healing Buildings to Heal a City Once Again In Print 127-Year Watch Last Words Index to Advertisers Oculus - Winter 2013 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0217 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0117 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0416 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0316 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0216 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0116 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0415 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0315 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0215 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0115 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0414 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0314 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0214 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0114 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0413 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0313 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0111 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.