The Materiality of Light

Rarely does one see light as a material. Most often lighting plays the role of supporting actor, highlighting the materiality or decoration of surfaces it illuminates, rather than holding the starring role itself. That changed for us this year as we had the opportunity to design the renovation and expansion of an abandoned 14,000 s.f. two-story building in Center City Philadelphia into a restaurant + nightclub. The client sought spaces that could transform from being a romantic dinner venue to pulsing dance nightclub with little effort. We turned to lighting to make such transitions easy and dramatic.

Our inspiration for using light as the subject came from artist James Turrell’s light installations, such as “Red Around” installed at ARC, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Paris (shown above). While Mr. Turrell’s works from that period (1980’s) were static installations, they certainly rendered colored light as an exciting and palpable substance. By using current LED (light emitting diode) lighting technology (instead of fluorescent lamps as Turrell used in the above piece) we were able to plan a dynamic range of effects and mood environments. Use of mixed lamp sources (red, amber, green and/or blue) enables virtually any color to be achieved. Shifts in coloration and intensity can be digitally controlled as slow fades, rapid pulses or anything in between. On the exterior, the two street facades were designed as “tunable” instruments of light. Along the long façade, LED edge-lit translucent vertical “light fins” are used to create both static and animated colored light effects.

The project received a 2008 Award of Design Excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA). The jury commended our transformation of a derelict building into an urban oasis.

[23 Oct. ’08 SARA awards program – Ed Barnhart, AIA]

American Philosophical Society: Design-Build

Earlier this year our American Philosophical Society renovations received the Best Design-Build Project Award from the General Building Contractors Association (GBCA). Always by Design (AxD) provided the architectural design leadership while J.S. Cornell & Son (JSC) served as the project lead and construction manager for the four phases of this $6.15M project. This marks the second time that I’ve received a GBCA award working in a design-build relationship with JSC. (The Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Ullyot conference center addition received the Best Institutional Project Award the year it was entered.)

In my experience, the strength of the design-build process has been in fostering teamwork and shared responsibility among Builder, Designer and Owner. In contrast to the myopic, mine-versus-yours provincialism and frequently adversarial environment engendered by a conventional low-bid process, design-build encourages thinking in terms of achieving the best shared outcome. Particularly when working with a non-profit institution relying on receiving grants for a phased renovation involving multiple existing buildings, the ability to accommodate incremental funding and concealed or unforeseen conditions is invaluable. The design-build methodology represents a very useful project delivery option, facilitating the shift toward greater teamwork. The evolution of holistic, “sustainable” thinking and availability of new tools (such as object-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) software) is allowing an even more fluid, integrated, and productive approach to design and construction.

[3 Nov. ’08 GBCA awards program – Ed Barnhart, AIA]

Mentoring in the Arts: Anne d’Harnoncourt’s example

The autumn season this year has proven bountiful for AxD, culminating last week in our receiving our first state-level design award and sixth award overall. The 2008 awards program for the Pennsylvania American Institute of Architects gave recognition, not only to exemplary projects, but exceptional individuals as well. Anne d’Harnoncourt, the late director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, was posthumously given the award for Contribution to the Profession by a Non-Architect. She was clearly a beloved and dedicated leader in the field of art. Among the many exemplary qualities for which she was cited, three stood out to me: Passion, Intellect, and Mentoring of others to seek their personal best. Certainly anyone engaged in a form of art, be it painting or architecture, expects and indeed needs to bring passion and intelligence to their craft if it is to be vital, to themselves and their audience. In a culture that so readily embraces the exaltation of the individual as hero, or genius, leadership through mentoring and collaboration is frequently overlooked.

While it may have been completely serendipitous that in the same awards program where Anne d’Harnoncourt’s leadership in the arts was recognized, our art gallery & studio received a citation of design merit, I believe there was a shared thread. In conferring the design award for the art gallery & studio, the jury noted the role that mentoring played in the project. They wrote that they were “…impressed with the hands-on nature of the project, using it as part of the educational process; it made the end product better”. While our entire staff served as their own client, user and contractor for this particular project, I believe that the process of architecture is intrinsically a social art. As architects we must strive to exert leadership, not so much through individual authorship but rather in fostering an environment of shared mentoring, growth and ownership.

[18 Nov ’08 PA AIA awards program – Ed Barnhart, AIA]