Tag Archives: Architecture and Design Network

Architecture and Design Network presents HIGHLIGHTING HILLCREST: History, Architecture and a Sense of Community

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HillcrestThe monthly Architecture and Design Network lecture takes place tonight. This month’s topic is “HIGHLIGHTING HILLCREST: History, Architecture and a Sense of Community.”  The program begins at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center following a 5:30pm reception.

In 1891 two young  Michigan attorneys purchased 800 acres of land northwest of the city of Little Rock. Within a year, ten blocks were platted on a section of that acreage by the Pulaski Heights Land Company. Other suburban developments, including Hillcrest, followed.

A diversity of housing styles prevailed in those turn-of-the-century neighborhoods. A generous sampling of the area’s homes, including Colonial Revival and Craftsman style dwellings as well as vernacular  “pyramid cottages”, survive. Hillcrest’s historic housing stock includes  a variety of architecturally significant structures, built between 1893-1940. All are part of the Historic Hillcrest District, an area of the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The story of Hillcrest, a popular Little Rock neighborhood, distinguished by its history, its architecture and its unrivaled  community spirit, will be explored by Rachel Silva, Preservation Outreach Coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Tommy Jameson, an architect whose firm focuses on the restoration, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan and a  founder of the Hillcrest Residents  Association.

While demographics may provide information about an area’s population and its proclivities, it is the mindset of people who live in a particular section of town that determines the parameters, both social and physical, of a neighborhood.

Supporters of the Architecture and Design Network include the Arkansas Arts Center, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and the Central Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Architect Eric Höweler to Present Lecture on November 12th in Little Rock

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Howeler_November_12thc713d7Eric Höweler will present a lecture titled FAIL FAST on Tuesday, November 12th at the Arkansas Arts Center at 6 p.m., in the Center’s lecture hall, following a 5:30 p.m. reception. His talk is free and open to the public. Asked about the title he chose for his lecture, Höweler said FAIL FAST was part of a longer phrase, “Launch early, fail fast, iterate”, which, he believes, could easily serve as his firm’s motto.

Born in Cali, Colombia, Höweler (AIA, LEED AP) received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Masters of Architecture from Cornell University. He is currently an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and principal at Höweler + Yoon Architecture/MY Studio in Boston.

Prior to forming Höweler + Yoon Architecture, a multidisciplinary practice, operating in the space between architecture, art, and landscape, he was a senior designer at Diller + Scofidio and an associate principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. He is the co-author of Expanded Practice, Höweler + Yoon Architecture/MY Studio (Princeton Architectural Press 2009) and author of Skyscraper: Vertical Now (Rizzoli/Universe Publishers in 2003).

Awarded the Audi Urban Future Award in 2012, the Architecture League’s Emerging Voices award and Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard in 2007 for its efforts, the firm has participated in numerous exhibitions. Among their venues are the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston), the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), and the National Art Center (Tokyo). Höweler has lectured both nationally and internationally.

The Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, a nonprofit organization. Supporters include the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture. For additional information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.

Architecture of new LR library focus of talk tomorrow night

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READThe Architecture and Design Network presents architect Reese Rowland and Dr. Bobby Roberts in a conversation tomorrow night. (Tuesday, May 14)
Entitled “CALS Children’s Library and Learning Center: a New Paradigm,” Rowland and Roberts will discuss the process to design and build this innovative facility. The program begins at 6pm following a 5:30pm reception.  It will take place at the new Children’s Library and Learning Center located at 4800 West 10th Street.
Five years in the making, Little Rock’s new children’s library and learning center offers a range of participatory experiences designed to encourage the growth, development and well-being of its young patrons.
Situated on a six acre, landscaped tract that borders a  residential neighborhood just south of Highway 630, the 30,000 square foot facility is like no other in the region. Designed by award-winning  architect Reese Rowland, the twelve million dollar glass, steel and stone structure houses a collection of more than 21,000 books, CDs and DVDs. Among its special features are a computer lab; a spacious meeting room; a teaching kitchen; a series of study rooms and a multi-use,165-seat  theater. A greenhouse and teaching garden, set apart from the main structure, are  part of the complex which also includes an outdoor amphitheater.
Roberts will talk about how the idea for building a combined   children’s library  and learning center came about. He will also tell  how its  location was selected.  He and Rowland will discuss their roles, as client and architect, in the project’s design. They will talk about the kinds of programming  envisioned for the  facility and discuss  ways in which it plans to  engage with other  institutions and organizations in the community to serve children and their  families.
The event, part of  ADN’s Art of Architecture lecture series,  is free and open to the public. Series’  supporters include the Central Arkansas Chapter of the AIA, the Arkansas Arts Center,  UA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture and CALS. For additional information contact ardenetwork@icloud.com

 

Architect Kevin McClurkan in conversation tonight

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Kevin_McClurkanTonight at 6pm at the Arkansas Arts Center, award-winning architect and Arkansas native Kevin McClurkan, AIA, will make a presentation entitled THREADS: Ennead Architects’ Recent Works.  This is part of the monthly Architecture and Design Network lecture series.

A founding partner and management principal of  Ennead  Architects, New York-based architect Kevin McClurkan, has Arkansas roots and  continuing connections. An alumnus  of Pine Bluff High School, McClurkan earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where, in 1983, he received the Edward Durell Stone Award for Excellence in Design.

McClurkan has  continued to earn awards – a prestigious national American Institute of Architects Honor Awards among them. His  commitment  to design excellence, supported by  technical innovation,  is the hallmark of his work.  Little Rock’s William J.  Clinton Presidential Center; the Newseum/Freedom Forum Foundation World Headquarters, Washington D.C.; New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts  and  the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law are among the firm’s recent award-winning projects.

Ennead is the name of the firm formerly known as Polshek Partnership Architects. The firm’s  2010 renaming emphasizes  its identity as a group of architects rather than that of a single design leader.  The new name,  which means a group of nine,  reflects the democratic and collaborative culture of the partnership.

Currently working with Little Rock’s  Polk Stanley Wilcox on the redesign of the city’s  Robinson Auditorium, McClurkan  is a member of the  the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture’s Professional Advisory Board.  Of interest to the whole community,  his April talk is  free and open to the public.

For additional information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.

HEART/HAND: an architectural lecture by Billie Tsien

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TseinThis month, the Architecture and Design Network features Billie Tsien, AIA, NCAARB, FAAR of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects of New York City.

Ms. Tsien’s lecture will take place tonight in the Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall.  Her remarks will begin at 6pm following a reception at 5:30.

Born in Ithaca New York, Billie Tsien received her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Yale and her Master in Architecture from UCLA. Currently, in addition to practicing, teaching and lecturing, she serves on the advisory council for the Yale School of Architecture. In 2007 Tsien was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Tsien and her husband Tod Williams have been working together since 1977. Their firm, which operates out of a small, unpretentious studio on Central Park South in New York City, has earned wide acclaim for its work. This past December, the American Institute of Architects awarded the firm its prestigious 2013 Architecture Firm Award in recognition of work that “reveals a contemporary sensibility and intelligence.” Given annually, the award is the highest honor the AIA bestows on a firm. It recognizes a practice that has consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least ten years.

Their recently completed, 93,000 square foot museum in Philadelphia, designed for the Barnes Foundation, has drawn critical acclaim from many sources. In January, the AIA gave it a 2013 Institute Honor Award for Architecture. The new facility replaces the original one in Merion, Pennsylvania, established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922. A challenge to its designers was to replicate the original 12,000 square foot main gallery, replete with art as arranged by the late Dr. Barnes himself. And they did.

Supporters of the Architecture and Design Network, a non-profit organization, include the Arkansas Arts Center, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Reed Kroloff: CHANGING THE WORLD: ONE INSTALLATION AT A TIME

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kroloffTonight at 6pm, architect Reed Kroloff will give a presentation entitled “Changing the World: One Installation at a Time.” This is part of the ongoing lecture series by the Architecture and Design Network.

Since 2007, architect Reed Kroloff has been the director of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Museum, a graduate school of arts and design which prides itself on being a community. Cranbrook has been home to such luminaries as Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Daniel Libeskind. Florence Knoll, Tod Williams and Toshiko Takiezu – to name a few.

This past year Kroloff served as a member and chair of the jury that selected the prize winners of the 2012 design competition sponsored by the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Supporters of the lecture series include the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, The Fay Jones School of Architecture and the Arkansas Arts Center.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information e-mail Projects4pi@mac.com.
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013
Time: 6 p.m., preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.
Place: Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall

Art of Architecture series returns tonight with Professor Mark Boyer

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Mark Boyer will present a lecture titled “New Ground, Notable Projects” on Oct. 16 in Little Rock, as part of the Architecture and Design Network’s 2012-2013 Art of Architecture lecture seriesThe “Art of Architecture” series kicks of 2012-2013 with Professor Mark Boyer discussing “New Ground, Notable Projects.”  It will take place tonight, October 16, at the Arkansas Arts Center. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the center’s Lecture Hall, following a 5:30 p.m. reception.

Boyer is head of the department of landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He also currently serves as second vice president of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, the national organization of landscape architecture educators. He earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Kentucky and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University. He is the first landscape architect to participate in the Art of Architecture lecture series program, now in its ninth season.

Boyer will present an overview of several exciting and timely departmental programs and the creative contributions of both students and faculty members to those programs. For example, he’ll discuss a memorial for fallen police officers in West Memphis; the Campus RainWorks Challenge, a design competition run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and a project and research involving the Rohwer War Relocation Center in southeast Arkansas. In addition, he’ll describe green roof research, research of Roosevelt Era communities and a potential Haiti project.

The 2012-13 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.