THE PROJECTIVE ALLURE OF HISTORY

Posted on March 29th, 2017 by Nader Tehrani

Posted under: Academic, The Cooper Union

Introducing the work of John Hejduk at The Cooper Union would appear to be an easy task, if a bit redundant, but if measured by the many protagonists that emerged from the generations that have walked these halls, then it would seem even more challenging coming from the one voice whose difficult mission it would be to occupy his shoes. Now almost two decades after his departure, the sheer advent of time has invariably forced us to revisit his presence, but this time through the lens of history.

The work of Hejduk was multi-faceted; it came in the form of words, drawings, installations, buildings and, more importantly, pedagogies. His definition of the social contract came through the act of giving: he gave his time, patience and ideas through the production of knowledge, and over thirty-five years of dedication produced a “school of thoughts” that has created many teachers, architects and thinkers of exemplary qualities. In great part, that is arguably Hejduk’s greatest achievement, giving life to the myriads of voices through whom we now experience new forms of debate, architectural inventions and emerging pedagogies.

With Hejduk’s generosity came a space of dialogue and collaboration. It was David Shapiro’s words that would prompt Hejduk to give formal, spatial and material substance to the House of the Suicide and the House of the Mother of the Suicide. It would require the tectonic tenacity of Jim Williamson to situate and translate raw sketches into constructive drawings for the eventual fabrication of the two structures. Certainly, it would also require the eyes of Hélène Binet to reinvent the structures: to give light, weight and depth to them as our eyes could not otherwise see.

This exhibition brings these forces together in Cooper Square, where the Jan Palach Memorial has been installed, in the Second Floor Gallery where the timeline of its various iterations gain historical clarity, and in the Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery where the work of Hélène Binet sets the stage for the work as part of a larger body. While Binet is often introduced as the documentarian of Hejduk’s work, this exhibition demonstrates inversely how she also adopts him as muse, if only to manifest a sustained and patient temporal gaze on a dedicated oeuvre.

From our perspective today, the lens of history offers us this opportune overlay of four characters whose strength of vision and commitment brings forth a collaborative narrative that sustained over three decades, while commemorating events of 1968 that sparked an era of resistance. If the social and political messages that are ingrained in these structures do not sufficiently demonstrate the ways in which an architectural project embodies a commitment to varied forms of disobedience and defiance, however obliquely, then their reconstruction can be a simple reminder of the political transitions that we are living through today, if only that it prompts us to gauge the very predicaments and decisions that surround us as history is being recast on a daily basis.

As we revisit the forms of the Jan Palach Memorial, we see in their strangeness a certain familiarity; that is the plight of architecture, as history situates—and saturates—its forms with particular associations.  But we are reminded constantly of their once de-familiarizing presence, anthropomorphic characters invented to act on the urban scene as no other architecture could, if only to remind us of other possible realities we could inhabit. But, it is also a reminder that we face this very challenge again today, projecting against a new reality.

-Nader Tehrani, Dean

The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture

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JOHN HEJDUK’S WORK ON DISPLAY AT COOPER

Posted on March 23rd, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: Events, The Cooper Union

Starting next Wednesday seven of Hejduk’s works will be on display at the Cooper Union. FIND OUT MORE 

And watch the story via New York 1 HERE!

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DAN ON JURY FOR UNBUILT AWARDS AIADC TOMORROW

Posted on March 20th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: Academic

Info HERE.

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AZURE TALKS: ‘WHAT MATTERS NOW’

Posted on March 17th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: Academic, Lectures

Nader will be joining Nina-Marie Lister, John Tong, Michael Vanderbyl, and George Yabu in Toronto on March 21 for a panel on what architects and designers think “matters now”. Tickets are on sale HERE.

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ROCK CREEK HOUSE FEATURED ON ARCHDAILY

Posted on March 17th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: _Rock Creek House, Press

Check it out HERE.

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ROCK CREEK HOUSE IN DEZEEN

Posted on March 16th, 2017 by Jalisa Joyner

Posted under: _Rock Creek House, Press

Rock Creek House is featured in Dezeen!

Read more HERE.

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‘EVERYTHING IS ABOVE’

Posted on March 14th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: Press

BNQ_CP_001

Banq is featured in Nisha Magazine for Design and Architecture in a feature on ceilings and interior design.

Nisha-banq

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IGNANT FEATURES ROCK CREEK HOUSE

Posted on March 13th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: _Rock Creek House, Press

See more HERE.

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New Intellectual Geographies

Posted on March 6th, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: Academic, Urban Design

Nader writes for TRANS—FER on how sustainability in architecture is evolving. Or read the full essay HERE.

“we can imagine the recalibration of a world that humans have impacted beyond what nature has offered on its own terms. The delicate balance of forestation, agriculture, global and local interactions, the environmental impacts that transcend political boundaries, all bring a global perspective to the design of “geographies”, a scale often neglected in the design of urbanism.”

Port_to_Port01_0

“Port to Port”: a visual exploration of energy shipping routes around the world. Columbia Center for Spatial Research. Project Director: Laura Kurgan.

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OFFICE VISIT TO BEAVER

Posted on March 3rd, 2017 by Nicole Sakr

Posted under: _BEAVER R+D Center, Academic, construction

We took an office trip today to check out construction progress at Beaver, Gretchen gave us a tour.

 

cracks!

future ramp

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