Articles by Joann Gonchar, FAIA

Leven Betts Studio Crafts Its Project-Specific Solutions at a Variety of Scales

December 19, 2007

Employing what they call a "research-and-diagram-based process," David Leven and Stella Betts, of New York City'based Leven Betts Studio, have been creating environments that are inventive, spare, and elegant for the past decade. Their method involves scrutiny of site, program, and material, to create an organizational framework and physical structure.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 19, 2007

No Comments

Earlier this fall, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) released performance data for the green roof planted on its Washington, D.C., headquarters. The findings demonstrate a number of environmental benefits, including a significant reduction in storm-water runoff, retaining 27,500 gallons of water, or nearly 75 percent of precipitation, during a 10-month monitoring period. Photography: Courtesy ASLA The installation includes planted “waves” that hide rooftop mechanical units. The results suggest that widespread implementation of green roofs and other sustainable site development practices could be a viable storm-water-management option, particularly in cities with older, and overburdened, combined sanitary and wastewater transportation

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 19, 2007

No Comments

Since the launch of LEED for Existing Buildings (EB) three years ago, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has seen modest participation in its program focused on encouraging best practices in the ongoing operations and maintenance of already constructed buildings. So far, about 400 buildings have been registered with the council, while approximately 75 projects have achieved certification. Photography: © Timothy Hursley (top); dbox advertising and design (above) Two previously certified NC projects, the Clinton Library (top) and the Solaire (above), are seeking EB certification at the Platinum level. According to council estimates, fewer than five of these EB-certified projects

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 15, 2007

No Comments

If there were a prize for the project most often mentioned during the conference “Engineered Transparency: Glass in Architecture and Structural Engineering,” it would go to the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, in Ohio, designed by SANAA [RECORD, January 2007, page 79]. The first to present the building was the Tokyo-based firm’s principal, Kazuyo Sejima, in her keynote address on September 26 for the two-day event at Columbia University, in New York City. Photography: ' Christian Richters The apparent simplicity of Toledo’s Glass Pavilion belies its complexity. Several of the subsequent 30 speakers, including architects, consultants, and

Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur

In a remote corner of Bohemia, John Pawson sculpts light, carving out a powerful yet ethereal home for the brothers of Novy Dvur.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

September 3, 2007

No Comments

On the surface at least, it is hard to imagine a more incongruous combination of architect and client: the London-based John Pawson, known for his starkly Minimal and elegant temples to material culture, and a community of Cistercian monks whose lives revolve around prayer, study, and physical labor.

U.S. Federal Building by Morphosis

San Francisco

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

August 19, 2007

No Comments

Morphosis and Arup engineers create dynamic form that follows function for the U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco.

Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park

Former brownfield site reinvented as a connection between the city and the water’s edge.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

July 19, 2007

No Comments

To create Seattle’s new Olympic Sculpture Park, lead designers Weiss/Manfredi have fittingly sculpted the earth.

A Temple to Transparency Rises in Athens

A technically challenging and long-anticipated Museum devoted to the display of ancient artifacts nears completion at the foot of Greece’s most sacred mount

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

June 19, 2007

No Comments

A technically challenging and long-anticipated Museum devoted to the display of ancient artifacts nears completion at the foot of Greece’s most sacred mount At of the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, a politically charged and technically complex project first envisioned more than two decades ago is finally nearing completion.

Yale University Art Gallery, Kahn Building

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

June 1, 2007

No Comments

When the Yale University Art Gallery first opened in 1953, this magazine included it in a roundup of new art museums.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

May 19, 2007

No Comments

Efforts to make life-cycle assessment (LCA) an integral part of sustainable design practices are beginning to bear fruit. Since late 2004, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been working to incorporate the methodology into its widely used building-rating system, LEED, and has committed to producing a detailed plan for integration by November 2007. The two-year-old not-for-profit organization, Green Building Initiative (GBI), has already created a climate change calculator primarily intended for use with its own rating system, Green Globes. But the organization also plans to release a stand-alone version of the software, without charge, to other green-building organizations, trade

NOW ON DEMAND

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU; 1 IDCEC CEU/HSW

Science teaches us that matter moves from order to disorder. Amazingly, the same thing can happen to buildings! What once was sparkling and new can eventually slide into disrepair.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU

During this 1-hour seminar, attendees will learn how to improve specification considerations when providing solutions to blindside waterproofing.