What if the profession of architecture was organized like the profession of medicine? What if architecture had residencies, where graduates rotate through all the different types of work to make a building before specializing? What if there were incentives to take residencies in obscure and poorly served areas? What if everyone had an architect, with whom they would have check-ups, to ensure their built environment is serving them optimally? What if architects offered emergency room service, where anyone homeless, or poorly housed, could come and have their basic needs addressed on the spot, regardless of background or resources? What if access to architecture was considered a basic human right?
What if medicine were organized like architecture? What if the best hospitals did not pay new doctors anything but prestige, barring all but the affluent? What if wealthy families chose their doctors primarily on personal connections, further favoring the affluent? What if doctors everywhere valued brand and originality, eschewing the adoption of proven techniques from their peers? What if access to healthcare was considered a basic human right?
Just some questions I have been pondering. Tell me if you have too. I am Nicolas Kemper, the Publisher of the Review, and am back on rotation writing this week’s Pitch Sheet.
There has been a little confusion from our readers about the Pitch Sheet - whether it is intended more for readers or writers. The answer is both. It is, in short, a summary of what is on deck next week in New York architecture, but also an earnest call for pitches from potential writers. It has been working - these have been both well read, and we are receiving a steady stream of great pitches, but we have nevertheless been considering changing the name of the e-mail. The leading contender is changing it to match our column recounting what has happened, SKYLINE. If you have any opinions or suggestions, please tell us.
And if you see something here you want to write about, tell us. Read our writing guidelines, then send your pitch to: editor@nyra.nyc
FROM THE REVIEW
The most exciting part of this week’s e-mail is we have put our first Review article online, Stephanie Choi’s ode to copper (like these railings, above), CONTACT KILLING. From the article: Microbes deposited on copper surfaces are killed upon contact within two hours on average, unlike materials such as stainless steel or plastic, where microbes can remain for two days or longer.
EVENTS
5/18. On Monday…
What’s in the future? PRATT. (Well, Zoom, but hosted by Pratt). 6-8pm.
A conversation between two New York construction executives. We would love to know the answer!
5/21. On Thursday…
Green Roofs! A symposium. 1-4:30pm ($30)
A fascinating and pressing topic at any time.
Reimagining New York, Health, and Wellness in the Built Environment, 6pm-7:30pm (Webinar)
Pretty self-explanatory. Important work. Definitely tell us if you are going.
5/22. On Friday…
The story and history of Modern Design (1850-2020), 5-6pm
170 years in 60 minutes. Easy.
Neil Denari & Aaron Betsky, 6:30-7:30pm.
Betsky makes it his job to stay in the middle of the fray. Should be newsy.
Exhibitions
Columbia GSAPP has put its whole student show online. Check it out. In the same spirit, Spitzer will have a summer show, in two weeks.
Koolhaas’s Guggenheim full-spiral Countryside exhibit was the event of the spring, the Review attended its opening and and published two reviews - before covid nipped it in the bud. Now the Guggenheim is closed, but it turns out part of the exhibit, a violet light bathed sidewalk hydroponic cherry tomato operation, is still in operation, and its operator, Cherry Tomato man, is still on the job. NYT has the story.
ARTICLES
I have not left the island of Manhattan since March, but if you were wondering who has, the New York Times studied cell phone data to find the answer: the rich.
Peterson Rich Office has been thinking about how to improve New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) stock.
There are a bunch of articles speculating on the prospects for density, here are a few: about Midtown office space (NYT), speculations on cities in general (FP), and a historical perspective (The Economist). We co-hosted a conversation between Seoul and New York with The Ballot on the topic last Thursday, where one of the takeaways was that with the aggressive - and invasive - tracking procedures from Asian cities, density is still very doable.
AWARDS
The Architectural League announced the winners of its 2020 League Prize, ‘Value’ - also the theme of Paprika! Fold X. The winners are:
Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb | New Affiliates
Isaac Michan Daniel | Michan Architecture
Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic | HANNAH
David Eskenazi | d.esk
Luis Beltrán del Río García and Andrew Sosa Martínez | Vrtical
Garrett Ricciardi and Julian Rose | Formlessfinder
We look forward to seeing them all on Zoom, in late June.
BUILDING OF THE WEEK
To bring it full circle, the Mt. Pleasant Community Church, submitted by John Kleinschmidt.
His description made me think of a profession more akin doctors, serving a community, not clients:
It was designed by Helmut Ajango, an architect who I "job-shadowed" in high school - an Estonian native who held down a small office on Main Street in our little town for 50 years. He brought modernism with a touch of the prairie. His practice was of modest regional fame (we are a modest region) and was the epitome of the "village architect."
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If you would like to cover any of these events, or review any of these articles or exhibitions, or have another pitch altogether that you think is great, tell us about it: editor@nyra.nyc
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