WEST HARTFORD Architects from Perkins Eastman will present conceptual plans for the new Charter Oak International Academy at a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The firm came up with three abstract designs for the building and site layout after holding public meetings earlier this month.

The town plans to build the new 86,000-square-foot building in an effort to correct a racial imbalance at the town's two magnet schools: Charter Oak, an International Baccalaureate school, and Smith STEM School; STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. The $44.6 million project is expected to cost the town between $9 million and $16.65 million, after reimbursement from the state under diversity school legislation.

The current 1929 building will remain standing while the new building, which will hold nearly double the number of students the current school does, is constructed. The school currently holds about 300 students and has three classes per grade.

The district plans to have five pre-kindergarten classrooms and four classrooms each for kindergarten through fifth grade, with an anticipated 560 students attending by the 2020-2021 school year.

The town expects that a complete schematic design and cost estimate will be presented to the school board by the end of January. If all goes according to plan, the board will review and approve a final project design in June.

The new building is expected to open for the 2016-2017 school year.

The meeting will be held at Charter Oak, 425 Oakwood Ave. For more information, visit http://www.whps.org and click "Charter Oak Building News" under "Timely Topics."

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Architects To Present Charter Oak School Conceptual Plans

Museo JUMEX by David Chipperfield Architects
En noviembre de 2013 se estrena el Museo Jumex, la nueva plataforma principal de Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo. Conoce el edificio y la visión de la fun...

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Museo JUMEX by David Chipperfield Architects - Video

A year after Hurricane Sandy struck the United States, destroying houses and public infrastructure along the Eastern Seaboard, we reached out to several architects and posed two questions: What did you learn from Sandy? And how can architects prepare for the next storm? Their responses, edited and condensed, are below.--Eds

Unfortunately, architects tend to think they can profit from the damage. You wonder if theyre coming in to look at the problems or to get more work. I was appalled to hear that in the first week after Sandy, there were AIA ads for architects needed. It made my stomach turn--architects being ambulance chasers.

One of the obvious things architects can do is design their buildings that are within the flood zones to withstand the flood. Were doing a project for Duke University, which is in flood areas, on the coast. We placed the building almost 30 feet above sea level, and the whole building is designed to withstand winds of 140 mph. Buildings on the coast need a lot of structural resistance to the wind itself. And of course, water is a big issue. We placed the science building at Duke very high above sea level and are allowing the first-floor spaces to get destroyed--the first floor is programmed such that it wouldnt be a disaster if it got wiped out.--As told to Carey Dunne

From our studio research and our own work, weve discovered that one of the great lessons is to not rely on a single methodology for accommodating events like flooding. Our very first project at Olympia Fields was designed to accommodate torrential rains and collect water in a safe yet aesthetic manner. In other words, water collection is woven into the core of the design.

In the 25 years since, our practice advocates a multidisciplinary approach to shaping sites and engaging infrastructures. At our newly completed park at Hunters Point South, 88% of the shoreline is now soft, which means that it is designed to absorb a severe influx of water. The roof of the park pavilion is designed and constructed to resist hurricane-force winds. This park now represents a first line of defense for the surrounding community, which sat four feet underwater a year ago during Hurricane Sandy.

Infrastructure is often incorrectly perceived as hard and inflexible. These same considerations apply for landlocked sites as well. At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, our rain gardens and 10,000-square-foot green roof are able to absorb a substantial amount of water without damaging the new structure or this historic site. In this way, we can rely on soft infrastructure that acts as a giant sponge to collect and gradually release large quantities of water over time, instead of all at once. It is our belief that it is now time to design alternate strategies that support resilient and pliable sites capable of absorbing cycles of extreme, unpredictable events.--As told to Suzanne LaBarre

It is important to look at small-scale solutions and legislative guidelines to help prevent loss of life and property. The grand and sometimes epic conceptual thinking is useful, but it should be balanced with immediacy. Simple flood protection can easily be implemented in building construction to ensure their contents are protected better. Beyond this, we must focus on landscape design that augments the natural needs of shorelines and basins where flooding may occur. Educating people who live in flood-prone zones should be more extensive than simply posting evacuation plans. In some places, there are credits given to those who design and inhabit shoreline conditions responsibly, measured by their inclusion of environmentally sensitive planning. --As told to Belinda Lanks

We need to change to sustainable systems NOW, not in the future. That means nature-based systems that can be implemented very quickly, unlike big hard engineering infrastructure projects, and for less money. Green roofs, green streets, rain gardens, pervious paving, linear parks, floating landscapes (which we are currently working on) are all tools that are immediately implementable and do not cost billions.

Architects need to learn about those soft systems, and landscape architects who do know about them need to develop a richer language and more varieties of nature-based systems. Architects pay little attention to sources of energy, and to where they are placed. Both are issues that have moved to the head of the list and cannot be treated as something the mechanical engineers alone will place in the buildings architects design.--As told to Sammy Medina

There's a lot to be done in terms of minding flood zones and taking those things much more seriously. In the past, we looked at hundred-year worst-case scenarios, and I think we're going to see a greater recurrence of this kind of thing as the climate changes.

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7 Architects On How To Design For Disaster

From the Political State blog on NorthJersey.com

New Jersey should make it easier for architects and engineers to volunteer their services after a disaster, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden, said at a press conference Monday, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.

Hundreds of architects and engineers were available after the storm to conduct safety inspections of buildings, roads, bridges and other structures, Greenwald said, but they were prevented from volunteering because of liability concerns.

The potential for massive lawsuits keeps these critically needed volunteers on the sidelines, Greenwald said.

Legislation shielding volunteer architects and engineers from lawsuits was introduced in the Assembly January, but it has not been brought up in committee or introduced in the Senate. Greenwald said he wants to take action on the bill before the Legislature adjourns in January. The bill is modeled on similar good Samaritan laws in 26 other states, he said.

Jack Purvis, president of the American Institute of Architects New Jersey chapter, said more than 100 of his members were prepared to help after Sandy, but without protections against frivolous lawsuits, they were not able to quickly jump in.

With this bill, we will be able to assist towns and governmental agencies by quickly responding with boots on the ground to assess the viability and safety of all types of structures, Purvis said. This quick assessment is essential in the recovery from a disaster.

See the article here:
N.J. Assembly Majority leader, marking Sandy anniversary, pushes for shield law for architects, engineers

Pedro Bandeira

Although the railway bridge, which dates back to 1877, has been defunct since 1991, it's still the most recognizablestructure in the historic city of 237,000.

Now the architects Pedro Bandeira and Pedro Nuno Ramalho want to scooch the famous Maria Pia Bridge just over three miles inland from its current location over the River Duoro.

Bandeira and Ramalho proposed the project when thePortuguese Council of Architectscalled for ideas earlier this year to help revitalize theAurifcia area in central Porto, which is largely abandoned due to a swell of inhabitants moving to the suburbs, Bandeira wrote in an email to Business Insider. He wanted to make the city desirable again.

According to the architects' plans, the absurdity of finding a wrought-iron bridge in the center of town would attract tourists. Bandeira told Business Insider that he wanted the project to "dignify thisforgotten monument and most important,increase the self-esteem of Portoinhabitants, like me."

It would have taken five months and less than 10 million euros ($13.8 million) to move the bridge,the British architecture magazineDezeen reported.

The relocation of the bridge didn't end up winning the revitalization competition, but Bandeira still thought the project did a good job of attracting attention to Porto.

"The major goal was to provoke debate and draw attention to the problems of the city," Bandeira wrote. "Toexecute a project like ours [even after losing the competition], we would have to talk to and convince everyone not just around the Aurifciablock, but the whole city and I think we are starting that processrightnow."

See how these Portuguese architects would have dismantled and reassembled a 1,158-foot wrought iron structure.

The bridge's latticed girder structure would make it easy to dismantle. Bandeira illustrates the deconstruction in four steps.

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Portuguese Architects Want To Move A 136-Year-Old Bridge To Revive Their City

Grand Theft Auto V - Gameplay Walkthrough - Part 52 The Architects Plans
This is our part 52 of a full Grand Theft Auto 5 Gameplay Walkthrough. Los Santos: a sprawling sun-soaked metropolis full of self-help gurus, starlets, and f...

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Grand Theft Auto V - Gameplay Walkthrough - Part 52 The Architects Plans - Video

A seven-acre patch of undeveloped ground on East Broadway will undergo a transformation over the next few years as Missoula College prepares to lay claim to its new location.

But before ground is broken sometime in late 2014, the architects at StudioFORMA will set out to design a new building that adheres to state-mandated energy standards, and to complete an environment assessment to ensure impacts to the Clark Fork River are negligible.

A building committee at Missoula College also will work to identify the schools needs during the projects first phase of development. Yet if all goes as planned, architects believe the new building will enhance the river corridor and set a rejuvenating tone for Missoulas eastern edge.

That whole stretch of the river is rather unkempt and ragged, and it would be cleaned up tremendously, becoming much more of a public space, said StudioFORMA architect Mark Headley. We envision lots of public seating spaces with public areas on the south side of the building, looking over the river.

Headley will start the design from a clean slate and fewer restrictions than he would have faced if Missoula College had been constructed on the University of Montanas South Campus. Gone are campus regulations mandating a renaissance revival design and limitations on height.

While design work will likely take a year given the projects size, Headley said, the initial phase calls for a four-story building with a basement. The project will be engineered with upward expansion in mind, as city code currently allows for eight stories.

Well list what will be built in this first phase and define what would be built in a second or even third phase, so we can plan it on the site and incorporate it into the building design, Headley said. Missoula College is an enormously popular and successful program, and theres no indication that will change.

Headley expects the schematic work to wrap up by Jan. 15. At the same time, National Environmental Policy Act specialist Stephanie Lauer with JBR a Missoula firm will work through an environmental assessment with both the universitys and the citys oversight.

The assessment will include a traffic study and a riparian management plan for the Clark Fork River. The Montana Department of Transportation also will be involved, given the potential impacts to East Broadway and Highway 200.

At the end of that phase, around Jan. 15 or so, well have an early building design and all the EA work done, Headley said. A building that big will take most of 2014 to develop. Id expect the project to go to bid and ground to be broken in the latter part of 2014.

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Architects, committee plan new Missoula College; school to help anchor East Broadway corridor

Architects South Africa | Tel: 041 582 4390 | Award Winning
Architects South Africa Call Us On 041 582 4390 or visit our site http://www.theworkplace.org.za The Workplace Architects is a top class architectural design firm s...

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 Last updated: Saturday October 26, 2013, 10:25 PM

AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Architect Verity Frizzell at a Mantoloking house that has been elevated above flood level. The homeowners raised it more than required so they could include parking underneath.

AMY NEWMAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A home on East Avenue in the Ocean County borough of Bay Head is being elevated to protect it from future storms.

For the Jersey Shore, the only way forward is up.

A year after Superstorm Sandy roared into the Shore, homeowners and builders are elevating homes so that living spaces will be high enough to allow floodwaters to wash underneath. The change is being driven by new federal flood-insurance maps, and the result will inevitably transform the character of the 130-mile Shore.

This is the future. Its something thats going to be happening up and down the coast, says Jack Purvis, an Allenwood architect who is president of the American Institute of Architects New Jersey chapter. One of his home elevations, in Bay Head, is being featured on the current season of the television show This Old House.

The fabric of the Shore is going to change, says Michael Scro of Z-Plus Architects in Allendale, which is working on a house elevation and renovation in Mantoloking.

The changes are starting already, as anyone who drives along the Shore will find. A giant, century-old house stands on laddered wooden columns, looming over its beachfront site in Bay Head. A tiny cottage squats atop tall pillars in Ocean Beach. A house stands high on a blank, one-story cinder-block foundation in Seaside Heights.

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Tall order for architects: Can elevated Jersey Shore homes keep their charm?

Historic Home Expanded by Crisp Architects
Historic Home Expanded by Crisp Architects Discover more architectural and interior design inspirations on http://www.homedesignlove.com interior design deco...

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