Wednesday, 6/17 at the Van Alen Institute: "Building the Innovative Green Home" panel discussion · Jun 15, 01:34 PM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 6:30 – 8:30pm the at Van Alen Institute:
Building the Innovative Green Home
A panel discussion featuring “From the Ground Up” design competition winners
moderated by Karrie Jacobs
This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to rsvp@vanalen.org by 5:00pm on Monday, June 15.

R-House, Della Valle Bernheimer, 2009 winner of the Syracuse University “From the Ground Up” competition
Van Alen Institute is pleased to present “Building the Innovative Green Home” on Wednesday, June 17, in conjunction with the exhibition “From the Ground Up: Innovative Green Homes,” on view from May 18 – June 26, 2009. Presented by Syracuse University School of Architecture and based on a design competition of the same name, the exhibition features the winning designs for 1,100-1,500 square-foot single-family homes that can serve as affordable, green prototypes for formerly vital, urban residential neighborhoods throughout the United States.
“From the Ground Up: Innovative Green Homes” sought to produce modern, sustainable homes for no more than $150,000. Four winning teams were selected, and the homes are now under construction in Syracuse, NY. What made it possible to go from competition to fruition in this case? What can we learn from the Syracuse model about ways to develop well-designed affordable housing elsewhere in the country? Did the design competition, as a process, promote better design or a greater likelihood of development? Were new strategies used to overcome the complex forces that often stand in the way of innovation (be they market, cost, community, political or other)? What did the winning architects learn from participating in this venture? With stringent budget constraints and its reliance on public support, affordable housing is neither politically nor economically the most likely candidate to foster design innovation—or is it?
The panel discussion brings the design competition winners together in conversation with moderator Karrie Jacobs, design critic and author of The Perfect $100,000 House. Panelists will include Mark Robbins, dean of the Syracuse School of Architecture; Rick Cook, Cook + Fox Architects; Jared Della Valle, Della Valle Bernheimer Timothy McDonald, Onion Flats; and Adam Yarinsky, Architecture Research Office. Please join us for a lively evening of exploration into the design and construction of well-crafted and sustainable affordable homes.

Think/Make: Della Valle Bernheimer
Just a decade into their practice, Della Valle Bernheimer has assembled an impressive body of completed projects. Coveted commissions in New York City include two high-profile condo towers in Chelsea and the renovation of architect Paul Rudolph’s landmark modernist apartment at 23 Beekman Place. Think/Make documents twelve of the firm’s most innovative projects, ranging from residences to public commissions such as Federal Plaza in San Francisco; affordable housing units in the Bronx, New York; a public swimming center in Aalborg, Denmark; and a proposal for the reuse of New York City’s Hudson Yards.

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