Gonchar, FAIA| Architectural Record

Joann Gonchar, FAIA, LEED AP, is deputy editor at Architectural Record. She joined RECORD in 2006, after working for eight years at its sister publication, Engineering News-Record. Before starting her career as a journalist, Joann worked for several architecture firms and spent three years in Kobe, Japan, with the firm Team Zoo, Atelier Iruka. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is licensed to practice architecture in New York State.

Innovations in Glass

Continuing Education: Large, Flat Glass

Bigger, Flatter, Clearer: Two towers rising in Shenzhen, China, demonstrate SOM's approach to creating transparent and pristine facades.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

March 1, 2015

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Two towers rising in Shenzhen, China, demonstrate SOM's approach to creating transparent and pristine facades. Image © SOM The two all-glass towers, part of a mixed-use complex, are to be completed by 2017. To earn one AIA learning unit (LU), including one hour of health, safety, and welfare (HSW) credit, read each of the articles below, and complete the test online. Upon passing, you will receive a certificate of completion and your credit will automatically be reported to the AIA. Find additional information regarding credit-reporting and continuing-education requirements at ce.construction.com, under “requirements.” Innovations In Glass Straight Story On Curves Reflections

Fulton Center by Arup, Grimshaw, Page Ayres Cowley, and HDR

New York

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

January 16, 2015

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A multifaceted design team creates a 21st-century transportation hub for New York while preserving an important piece of the city's history.

Ruth Caplin Theatre, University of Virginia

A 300-seat performance space takes cues from the topography of its site.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

December 16, 2014

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Architect William Rawn is often asked about the 85-foot-long undulating glass facade at his recently completed Ruth Caplin Theatre on the campus of the University of Virginia (UVA), in Charlottesville. People wonder, he says, if it was inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s serpentine brick walls that are part of the so-called Lawn—the complex of 18th-century structures and grounds at the university’s historic heart.

Boston University Law School Renovation & Expansion

Sert Re-Asserted: A renovation and expansion of a midcentury academic tower restores a master's legacy.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 15, 2014

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A renovation and expansion of a midcentury academic tower restores a master's legacy. Preservation and Modernism might seem to have contradictory goals, but not for architects Bruner/Cott. The Cambridge, Massachusetts'based firm is renovating and restoring Boston University's Law Tower and has just completed a 93,000-square-foot addition at its base.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 10, 2014

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The Fulton Center's metal-clad oculus can be seen emerging from Grimshaw’s steel and glass station. The 125-year-old Corbin building, to the right of the station, was renovated and provides another entrance into the station. For months, commuters have been traveling through the almost complete Fulton Center, the transit hub conceived for Lower Manhattan in the wake of the September 11 attacks. But much of the $1.4 billion complex was off limits, hidden by temporary partitions and construction tarps as final construction and systems testing wrapped up. But the tarps and partitions have come down and nearly a decade after the

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

November 3, 2014

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On October 31st, the Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC)—a 96-foot-tall, 51,000 square foot structure built almost entirely out of engineered wood components—opened in Prince George, British Columbia.

Approaching Zero

Design teams reach the once-elusive goal of creating buildings that produce as much energy as they consume.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

October 16, 2014

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A building that produces all the energy it requires, without sacrifices to its operations or concessions of human comfort, might sound like pie in the sky. But according to the New Buildings Institute (NBI), 160 commercial and institutional buildings in the U.S. are targeting or have achieved net zero energy—meaning that, over the course of a year, they produce at least as much energy from renewable sources as they consume.

The Engineering of Art

Artists who use public space as their canvas often depend on structural experts to help them realize their visions.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

August 16, 2014

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The artist toiling in solitude has long been a romantic ideal. But it rarely holds in reality, especially for those who work at the civic scale, making pieces that straddle the blurry boundary between art and architecture. These artists rarely work alone, typically relying on a host of collaborators to realize their visions, including studio assistants, fabricators, and even city officials.

Teaching an Old Material New Tricks

Three projects under construction in North America demonstrate that timber can be used as an alternative to concrete, steel, and even masonry.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

July 16, 2014

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As a building material, wood's appeal has endured at least as long as humans have been constructing shelters. However, since the industrial revolution, the range of potential building materials has expanded, putting wood at a disadvantage—until now, that is.

Kinetic Architecture: Designs for Active Envelopes

By Russell Fortmeyer and Charles D. Linn

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

June 16, 2014

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By Russell Fortmeyer and Charles D. Linn. Images Publishing, April 2014, 224 pages, $78. Smart Skins Despite its title, Kinetic Architecture is not a book about buildings with components that literally move. Instead, its authors, Russell Fortmeyer and Charles D. Linn (both former editors at Architectural Record), investigate projects with envelopes that dynamically respond—in ways both visible and invisible—to their surroundings in order to modulate the interior environment, conserve energy, and enhance the comfort of occupants. Linn, an architect and director of communications for the University of Kansas School of Architecture, and Fortmeyer, an electrical engineer and sustainable-technology specialist at

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

Explore modern façade and glazing systems that enhance daylighting, fire safety, and thermal performance while expanding architectural design possibilities.

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

Explore façade retrofit strategies and award-winning design concepts that can transform aging office buildings into healthier, higher-performing workplaces for today’s hybrid workforce.