Informality Magazine - Issue 8 - May 2016

EDITORS in chief: Alanna Lauter
managing: Kaitlin Faherty
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Matthew Addeo
EDITORIAL TEAM
Kristy Lau
Midori Tanabe
Sai Dhasma
Samantha Ong
Solomon Oh
Christian Camacho
FACULTY ADVISOR
Marta Gutman
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Gordon Gebert
Camille Hall
Erica Torres
Michael Miller
AIAS ccny
Contact Us
www.informalityssa.com
informalitymagazine@gmail.com
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
141 convent ave, new york, ny 10031 / 212-650-7118
acting dean: Gordon Gebert
chair: Julio Salcedo-Fernandez
ssa1.ccny.cuny.edu

ISSUE 8
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
INformality Magazine is a student-led, student-curated
platform for discourse at the Spitzer
School of Architecture (SSA) and the City College
of New York. Our aim is to incite conversation, debate,
and exchange across the disciplines of architecture,
landscape architecture and urban design,
with a primary focus on expression outside of these
seemingly independent realms: namely through art
and writing. We believe that, as design students,
it is important to celebrate and share the creative
works we make outside of the classroom as well as
within. We are most interested in how these disciplines
intersect.
In the past Informality has served as a platform for
students to showcase and critique the processes of
architecture in the academy. By creating a platform
that encourages informal drawing, writing, and discussion
we operate in a ‘call and response’ fashion
by engaging individual students and faculty members
in one-on-one conversations, asking them
to speak about a specific interest or talent which
they foster in tandem with their design education
or their professional work. This direct method of
communication is to our advantage in our academic
setting at City College because it is culturally
diverse. This is how our theme for Informality 8
developed; we wanted to explore the work that
inspires the creative thinkers of our student body,
and to frame their actions in a provocative, bordering
on rebellious, manner. There is no single belief
in the “right” way of designing, nor consensus on
where to pull inspiration from.
Thus is born our industrious mischief maker, the
individual who carries with them a unique inspiration
or perspective - some look forward to the
promise of complete digitization, others romanticize
it, still others are intent on studying the past.
As a collective they represent numerous lines of
thinking through design. Each of these acts, to bor
row from John Berger, are different “ways of seeing”
as expressed through methodologies of recording,
of thinking, and of doing.
The direct engagement which we sought with students
is the characteristic which we feel embodies
the goal of our publication, where the informal
conversations are the ones which bear the most
fruitful narratives and ideas. We focused also on
gathering event-based materials - hosting a coffee
cup sketch display, collective studio drawings, and
lecture sketch cards. The sketch, which was the
dominating result of these events, is the informal
and impromptu recording of thoughts. Amassed
they become a collage of individuals.
We’d like to give our thanks to all of the students
and faculty members who submitted their work
and encouraged our pursuit of formulating the
ideas for this print publication. We’d especially like
to thank our group of committee members for our
discussions early in the process of developing the
theme for this issue, and for their work to motivate
other students to share their work with us.
AL + KF

ISSUE 8 | constantly, regularly, or habitually active or occupied.

FORMALITY
IN dustrious.

FRANKFURT DAM GERMANY
STUDY ABROAD SUMMER TERM
ELIZA TANG
B. ARCH / 5TH YEAR
“If Images Had Buttons”
Wallpaper of a photgraph of a fire at a construction site placed
strategically on a wall in the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in
Frankfurt, Germany.

-TABLE of CONTENTS-
thoughts.
works.
SPECTACLE OF HOPE 4
Ben Tulman
PUBLIC SCHOOL 1: 16
Kaitlin Faherty
HOUSE HISTORIES 18
Christin Hu
URBAN REFORESTATION 27
David Tovar
MOUNDBUILDERS 30
Tyrell Lundman
THREE+TWO MUDHOUSE 45
Matthew Addeo
PRINTED FUTURE 47
Jethro Rebollar
craft.
SITE LINES 14
Ermira Kasapi
LECTURE SKETCHES 25
Various Students + C. Volkman
COUR DE MARBRE (PETIT) 35
James Geoghegan
KAHN-INVERTED 37
Lester Li
HEAVEN 48
Sainath Dhasma
PLACEMENT 51
Alanna Lauter
INFORMALITY 8 COVER SERIES
Matthew Noonan
PLASTIC PAVILLION 2
Digital Fabrication Studio
GRAFFITI 7
Cesar Juarez (Photographs)
NYC HAZE 13, 55
Christin Hu (Photographs)
CITY OF CULURE 15
Kaitlin Faherty
INK SERIES 24
Cristian Camacho
DOODLES 28, 45, 56
Hyun Pak
MANHATTAN CHRONICLES 29
Sal Cosenza
PLANET NYC 44
Gabriel Florimon
SPYDER 53
Chrisoula Kapelonis
talks.
HELEN LEVIN 9
With Kaitlin Faherty
DEFINE INDUSTRIOUS 23
Various Students
ADAM HAYES 41
With Alanna Lauter

works.
PLASTIC PAVILLION
OF PLASTIC FLOWERS
DIGITAL FABRICATION STUDIO
PROFESSOR JONATHAN SCELSA
SUMMER 2015
TEAM
EMIR GJOKA
DANICA VILDOSA
TONY FUNG CHEUNG
DANIEL ESCOBAR
DESTINY CONELY
BERK ERASLAN
CHARLES LENT
Plastic Flowers began as a study of curved
folding as a methodology of creating a volumetric
structure unit from sheet material,
requiring minimal fastening and maximum
space.
The pavilion is formed from 100 “petal”
units each constructed from an individual
piece of .0625” thick density polyethylene.
Two petals each were cut from a 2’ x 4’ sheet
and etched to .032” depth using a CNC 3 axis
router. The figural arc groove contour is created
with a V-Groove tool-bit that when folded
forms the rigid structure of this “Petal Brick.”
CL
- 1 -

-2-

-PLASTIC PAVILLION-
- 3 -

thoughts.
SPECTACLE OF HOPE:
SIGN AND SIGNIFIER OF
NEW YORK SUBWAY GRAFFITI
BEN TULMAN
M. ARCH / ALUMNI
NOVEMBER 19, 2014
It has been said that New York is the
loneliest city on earth. Something about
being surrounded by millions of people,
rushing between skyscrapers, each with
their own agenda, can provide a stark
backdrop that can torment an individual
with the close proximity of humans while
withholding the humanity of personal
connections. Relief from this cold version
of the city comes in various forms, but the
signage throughout the history of Times
Square provides insight into a deep-seated
desire for a humanizing element in the city.
Communicating ideas, whether through
language or images, is an act that evokes
a true human connection, even if one
may disagree with the message. An image
of city dwellers and visitors alike on the
Times Square sidewalk gazing up at the
news of the D-Day invasion of Normandy
demonstrates the importance of communication.
The news streaming along
the famous “zipper” news-reels caused
everyone to stop what they were doing,
pause their day, and concentrate their attention
on a story that affected everyone
and everything they knew. Ultimately,
generations of pedestrians have been captivated
as they look up at the signs and
lights of Times Square, a fun, colorful
escape from the regularity of the street,
as well as a symbolic reminder that they
are humans connected to other humans.
In acknowledging that sign, the people
are acknowledging their fellow men.
-4-

-SPECTACLE OF HOPE-
While this is an extreme example,
we see the communicative potency that
signs can have in a dense urban setting,
when the potential, or even the guarantee,
of spectacle is so great. At the core
of a sign is an exchange between the
signifier and signified. Signs are ubiquitous
in the city: they tell us where we
are, how to get where we need to go, but
also, more importantly, they communicate
mass messages of what the culture
in that city values. The content becomes
less significant than the act: What do we
let occupy the vision of the masses? In
the traditional capitalistic sense, the general
rule in signage seems to hold that
the largest, brightest, most influential
signs are the most valuable in advertising,
and therefore are rewarded with the
highest compensation and prime locations.
This top-down model is safe and
comfortable, but what happens when a
sign of maximum spectacle can be created
for free? Who creates them? Who
is the audience? How does it utilize, but
break away from, the accepted notions of
signage, spectacle, and mass communication
in the city? Graffiti becomes the
subject of study, a grassroots extension,
albeit a subversive one, of the culture of
spectacle inherent to signage in the city.
Like any other aspect of life in this
postmodern world, there is multiplicity
in the perspectives on graffiti, and the
significance of how it has changed over
the years. According to Marshall Berman,
graffiti was about instilling hope among
a decaying community, in this case, the
South Bronx. In the 1970s, New York
City was bleeding. Facing bankruptcy,
the city took cost cutting measures,
reducing social services and teachers.
Buildings were being foreclosed, people
were losing their homes, and neighborhoods
were literally burning. Therefore,
the struggling working poor faced fewer
options of social mobility, and needed
an outlet to tell the world their story.
“The buildings are burning down on one
side of the street, and kids are trying to
put something together on the other.”
The earliest form in which people who
weren’t part of that neighborhood saw
[these achievements] was the graffiti that
appeared on the subways in the 70s. And
this was on a very rickety decaying generation
of grey trains, they painted enormously
exuberant colored names and reliefs
and mottos. ...This was a parable of a
city that’s being ruined, being destroyed,
and they’re saying “we can rise again... we
come from ruins, but we are not ruined.”1
Marshall Berman
It was no accident that graffiti culture
in New York City began on the
sides of subway carriages. The graffiti
writer faces an interesting conundrum
in trying to spread his or her message,
while still concealing personal identity.
Unlike the Times Square signs
— which are a spectacle in their own
right, a work of graffiti must be elusive.
- 5 -

-SPECTACLE OF HOPE-
A blank wall one evening, a masterpiece
the next morning. The subway was the
best target for a graffitist to accomplish
his goal. It could be tagged in the concealment
of a rail yard, but gained maximum
spectacle as it was subsequently
carted throughout the city to display the
tag within every neighborhood it passed.
“The constant motion of subway graffiti
added to its sense of excitement for writers
and viewers alike. Different cars would
pull into each station regularly, each carrying
new tags and pieces,” according to
one graffiti writer. “When we went into
the slums in the Bronx, the train was
elevated so people could see the whole
train. You could see people blocks away
going, “Look at that!” ... ‘People were
crowded up there in front of stores, and
they were looking up and going Wow!”
As we know from history, Berman’s
romantic viewpoint of graffiti as an expressive
outlet was a minority opinion.
Regardless of whether it is colorful or
dull, ugly or beautiful, writing graffiti is
illegal. It put the graffitist into great danger,
and made some average New Yorkers
feel unsafe in an already disorderly
environment. According to one graffiti
writer however, graffiti evoked the most
fear in the political establishment over
the possibility of losing control. “I think
graffiti is freedom of thought and expression,
and that’s what scares the city
and the government the most. It’s simply
done out of their control. It’s a representation
of how uncontrollable youth
is.” The youth had discovered a way
to hack the system of signage, tapping
into the kernel of human emotion that
responds so clearly to bright, decorated
signs among a grey monotonous scene. It
was a voice for a disenfranchised, yet invigorated
population, and an important
facet of that voice was its status as illegal
and deviant, because it was dynamic,
“New York, New York. Times Square and vicinity on D-Day”.
Hollem, MacLaugharie, and Meyer, 1944 by 2014 Graduate Cesar Juarez
-6-

-SPECTACLE OF HOPE-
Photographs by Cesar Juarez, class of 2014
- 7 -

-SPECTACLE OF HOPE-
unexpected, and made the viewer think.
Considering this symbolic threat to their
control, the socio-economic elite of City
Hall and the MTA came down on graffiti
with increased security and harsher
punishments. This brute-force method
of stopping graffiti led to a great reduction
in tags across the city. “In 1984
80% of subway carriages contained
graffiti; by May 1989 the MTA was celebrating
the network being graffiti-free.
The change was reflected in the falling
number of graffiti-related arrests
- 2,400 in 1984, and only 300 in 1987.”
The ultimate irony here, however,
is that the demise of graffiti in New
York as a meaningful signifier of street
life came when it was painted on canvas
and displayed within gallery walls.
When graffiti was dangerous, transient,
and subversive, it was telling a real story,
larger than what can be told in the capitalist
world of gallery art. The gallery
graffiti, although still expressive as an art
form, became a pretense for that story,
and “has stripped graffiti of its heritage”
as a mass signifier. “While the painted
picture may appear similar, the experience,
in the processes of painting and
of viewing, has been profoundly altered.
Graffiti has changed from a vision to be
looked at to an object to be consumed.”
of graffiti’ in Queens - has now been
tamed, as the powers of real estate development
have recently demolished
the building to replace it with residential
high-rises. Unlike the site of our Times
Square primal scene, 5Pointz was not
deemed culturally significant enough to
save. It is a reminder of the transience
of the medium of graffiti, that perhaps
it is not quite as precious as art. “What
some considered art, others considered
crime. The writers themselves, however,
considered it neither. It’s no coincidence
that while many critics referred to
them either as ‘artists’ or ‘vandals,’ they
preferred the innocuous term, ‘writers.’”
In the endless battle between people
and oppressive institutions, graffiti
existed on the side of the people as a
colorful and communicative tool of hope
and empowerment. As long as there
is a message to be conveyed, urbanites
will continue to strive to connect with
each other in humanizing ways, to remind
us that we are all here together.
BT
As graffiti as a visual experience transitioned
into a commodity, we have been
witness to the repressing of a movement.
“Graffiti -- that anarchic, powerful, and
threatening form of expression -- was
not to be tolerated by the postmodern
world, not until it was tamed.” And
with that, 5Pointz - the famed ‘mecca
-8-

talks.
Current Editor Kaitlin Faherty
talks with past Informality Editor
Helen Levin, class of 2010
Kaitlin Faherty: Helen, thank you
for joining us for our Informality Talks
Series. Since you are an alum of the school,
we wanted to know why you chose to
attend the SSA and your feelings about City
College after graduating.
Helen Levin: I wanted to be in a
city studying architecture, and the
program really sold itself as that being a
big part of it. And the diversity of City
College, which is something that everyone
always talks about, but you don’t
realize how un-diverse places are until
you visit them. So, I had done a lot of
college tours, and it really appealed to me
to be in that diverse unban environment.
KF: While you were here, you
were an editor for Informality Magazine.
We were wondering if you
could tell us about the background
- how did Informality get started?
HL: I didn’t start it, but two of my classmates
one older then me, and one younger
than me had started it. They had taken a
course about publications in architecture,
and felt that it was really necessary that the
students had their own. So, they became
a club and asked other people that they
knew who were interested in a more theoretical,
critical writing about architecture
to participate. I was one of the people that
was writing in the beginning and the previous
editor-in-chief was a year older, so
she graduated and then I decided to take
over for my 5th year. That’s the basic story,
- 9 -

KF: We’ve done that to!
but it was just really fun, I had always
liked magazines and DIY kind-of things,
so that was what drove the aesthetic
of the original publication: that it was
kind of scrappy, that we didn’t have any
money, that we were just doing it with
what we could. And then when we
moved into this building, the new building
and got the huge grant we started
to petition the Dean for money to print
in color and that’s when we got really
serious about graphic design and themes.
KF: Where does Informality come from,
the name of themagazine?
HL: I think it’s from a little of that DIY
thing. I didn’t come up with it so I’m not
totally sure. But, the way I understand it
is that it’s kind of a vague word that can be
applied to a lot of things, and that it can
be broken down in a lot of ways. Architects
like to pull words apart and put
brackets in them and all the stuff, and I
think we were interested in that aspect of
language. So ‘Informality’ can be ‘In-Form’
or ‘Informal,’ all of these wonderful things.
HL: Yeah! We’ve all done that. It’s sort
of a cliché, but it’s also kind of necessary
because we are talking about the components
of things in architecture, and so
we’re trying to be that precise with our
language. So, that’s were it came from,
but then it definitely became a discussion
about “what does that mean in architecture?”
in the beginning. Then it kindof
just became a name that we used.
KF: Side question, could you tell us
about one of the pieces that you wrote
for the magazine, or one of the first pieces
that you wrote?
HL: Yeah, I interviewed Fran Leadon,
who was coordinating first year. Since
we were trying to define what ‘informality’
meant in architecture my task was
to get out of him what he felt that word
meant, and he actually gave this really
wonderful explanation about what
it meant for him as a professor of
architecture, what ‘informality’
meant. I know he told an anecdote
about his father who was also a professor,
inviting his students over for
dinner or having more, I guess, informal
social experiences with his
students, and that being a big lesson that
he took from his father in saying that…I
don’t ever remember going out of
school with him, he was never my professor,
so maybe he did it with his class,
but, he did mention in the interview
-10-

that he made a point of being friendly and
more informal, relationship wise, with his
students in the hallways and at lectures…
it struck me, because I think there is a big
distinction in this school, still, of the
older guard and newer guard, and that
really stands out as one of the differences
in peer-to-peer relationships.
KF: How has the work you’ve done
with Informality translated into your
career now, or what you’re doing now?
HL: Well, currently I’m not really sure if it
applies so much but up until a few months
ago I was writing for a blog. I always try
to make that a part of my work. I went
to graduate school and…I don’t know
I’ve always used it as something that was
really important, that shows that I can
really lead. So, there are two parts of
what Informality was for me. It was that
leadership of organizing, pulling at people
to write something and contribute
and be a part of something beyond studio
and showing up for class: that community
aspect. And the other part was
just writing and having a voice, which is
something that I think people undervalue
at City College, at least when I was
there. So, I think just both of those two
things together. It gave me confidence as
a writer and a leader and an organizer…
that kind of thing. I hope to do that stuff
again, but I’ve focused more on trying
to be a better designer…because while I
excel at editing and writing I didn’t really
think I excelled at design in undergraduate,
which is why I kept going to
graduate school, and now I’m getting my
license and all that stuff…so who knows!
I think it will all come back around.
KF: Well you mentioned having a
voice, how important do you think
it is to have these informal conversations
in school, especially in architecture
school as a platform for discourse?
Informality
Magazine Issue 2
and Issue 6
- 11 -

HL: Yeah, totally. It’s very important. I
think architects actually do have political
influence; I’m not quiet sure about
the role of the architect as the Utopian
leader; that’s kind of troublesome.
But, I do think that we have a prominent
role in society when we want our
voices to be heard. You can very easily
it back and let your clients dictate what
you do for the rest of your life, or you
can actually try to change perhaps their
preconceptions of what they think their
built space, and their built environment
i do think that we have
a prominent role in
society when we want
our voices to be heard
should be. So, I think that part of having
a voice is really important in design. And
then I think also that if the work isn’t
there, you know, if all you can get is the
client that all you can do for them is what
they want, you can turn to writing, to
conceptual practice, that kind of thing if
you have the time and the drive to do it.
And if you’ve built that platform and say,
well I have that project and I have things
that I care about, while you are in school
you will always come back around to that
even in your bleakest toilet specifying
moment…I think. At least that’s where
I am in my career. Finding the balances
in what I need to learn in order to
run projects and manage projects and
deal with clients and all of that. The
construction, the real life kind of stuff.
And how I’m going to let the ideas that
I started working on while studying
come back into my life, soon I hope.
KF: So there’s hope?
HL: Yeah, I’m very hopeful. I think
there is always work at this time…well
okay there isn’t always work, but right
now there is work. So, you don’t have
to run away from architecture in order
just to make rent. And I think even you
can find jobs in really amazing conceptual
offices and make a little bit less
money perhaps. But, I think right now,
I sense people are little bit disillusioned
with political structure and that kind of
thing. The whole…I hate to say it but
like ‘the maker thing’ is bringing back
the individual and creativity… So I think
you just have to keep learning and stay
positive, and I think the individual is
coming back.. but in a collective way.
That’s like really vague.. and not in like
a socialist way, but in a supportive way.
-12-

- 13 -
“STREET SMOKE” Photo by Christin Hu

craft.
SITE LINES
ERMIRA KASAPI
B.ARCH/ ALUMNI
THESIS STUDIO
-14-

“ CITY OF CULTURE ” Drawings by Kaitlin Faherty
- 15 -

thoughts.
PUBLIC SCHOOL 1:
EXPERIMENTATION IS LEARNING
KAITLIN FAHERTY
B. ARCH / 4TH YEAR
Take seventy-eight young contemporary
artists, put them in an abandoned
public school, and what do you have? A
collection of works that defined site-specific
art installation and brought experimentation
to institutionalized learning.
What follows the 1976 Rooms exhibit is
nearly forty years of experimentation,
practice, education, and avant-garde
gallery shows and classes that have accumulated
in the history of one of the
largest nonprofit art institutions in the
world, today known as MoMA PS1. But
the Romanesque Revival structure began
with the name Ward School 1, quickly
changed to Public School 1. It was constructed
in 1892 as the first public grammar
school in Queens, and remained as
such until closing in 1963, when it was
left to deteriorate and face demolition.
Public School 1 existed long before the
inception of the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art
Center, and before the prospect of its
affiliation with the Museum of Modern
Art. Spanning these changes in use and
ownership is the essence of the structure
itself, which has, for over a century, existed
in the service of learning.
The inception of MoMA PS1 occurred
behalf of Alanna Heiss and the Workspace
movement, today referred to as the Alternative
Space movement. Her mission
originated in London with the SPACE
program in the 1960s, when Heiss began
her hunt for old dock-site warehouses to
purchase and lease as studio space at a
low cost to emerging artists. When she
came to New York City, she was hired as
the program director for the Municipal
Art Society (MAS), continuing with her
mission to find alternative spaces to fulfill
Workspace as “an idea” of “the innovative
use of space.” The difference was
that it was now happening in New York
City, where it could act as a catalyst. Her
Under the Brooklyn Bridge event in the
summer of 1971 was the symbolic beginning
of the alternative space movement
in New York City, laying a foundation
for collaboration between the artists
who would come to define the art scene
of their generation. The carnival atmosphere
and guerilla-style collaboration of
artists, performers, and production teams
for the four-day event were fitting for
the cause; experimentation was, and still
is, an integral foundation for reclaiming
“neglected urban spaces” as centers for
artistic pursuits.
Exactly a year after the Brooklyn
Bridge event, Heiss co-founded the Institute
for Art and Urban Resources
(IAUR) in 1972, spearheading it under
the authority of MAS. Over the
course of the five years that followed
Heiss acquired a handful of spaces in
-16-

Manhattan and Brooklyn for “The Idea
Workspace.” From warehouse, to lower
Manhattan clock tower, to abandoned
Crown Heights police station, there was
no place that Heiss acquired that her
contemporaries believed insufficient for
their needs: so long as it was cheap and
could accommodate, or better yet, spark,
creativity.
Experimentation and adaptability are
the essences of the Idea Warehouse mission
that the abandoned Public School
1 would immediately embody with the
opening of its first show.
When Rooms opened at the P.S. 1
Contemporary Arts Center in 1976, its
success came from an extension of the
atmosphere created several years prior
in DUMBO and in the small spaces acquired
by the IAUR. The acquisition of
Public School 1 itself became an end to
Heiss’ search. After extensive negotiations,
the abandoned school was leased
to the IAUR and a grant was acquired
for its extensive repair, totaling $133,000.
Rooms opened a short seven weeks after
the space came under the direction of
Alanna Heiss, and the process of its creation
was the process that defined what
is commonly known as site-specific art
installation. The show featured artists
like James Turrell, Alan Saret, Richard
Artschwager, and Lawrence Weiner,
names that today are hailed for the pivotal
works they had begun to create in
response to the availability of P.S. 1.
P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center was
established as “a place that provokes and
engages artists and ultimately inspires
the works made and shown there.” This
statement is true about MoMA PS1 still
today. After undergoing renovations for
a three-year period, P.S.1 reopened in
1997 with a new backyard: the street itself.
KF
Fig 1: Battery Park City Authority, Futuristic
Model of Downtown, n.d., New York.
Fig 2: NYC Department of Information, Technology,
and Telecommunications, 200 Rector Place,
1924, New York.
- 17 -

thoughts.
HOUSE HISTORIES:
ABREAK FROM TRADITION AND
UNFOLDING LEGACY
CHRISTIN HU
B. ARCH / 5TH YEAR
Enter Downtown Manhattan. What
used to belong to the Hudson River,
under countless ships and piers along
the edge of downtown, is now the
built up site of a burgeoning residential
community: Battery Park City. This
is where I live, and where I have lived
for the past eighteen years of my life.
The neighborhood’s conception and
construction began long before I was
born, in the wake of the Urban Renewal
Project and its deterioration in the 1960s.
No doubt influenced by Jane Jacob’s
“mixed use” planning strategies outlined
in The Death and Life of Great American
Cities, Mayor Nelson Rockefeller looked
to create a new city on top of the dilapidated
piers with futuristic towers, parks,
subways, and scenic river promenades.
Amidst financial depressions in the 1970s
and debates about program and housing
for the poor, several plans were proposed,
but it was not until 1979 that a plausible
master plan was adopted. And it was not
until 1987 that my place of residence, Liberty
Court, designed by Ulrich Franzen
and Polshek Partners, was implanted into
the barren landfill of latent prosperity.
Two-hundred Rector Place was conceived
in the post-modern era and utilized
brick cavity wall construction with a steel
frame to optimize the height versus foot
-print conditions – a necessary step for
appealing to developers and providing
enough housing. Rising to forty-four
floors 400 feet above the ground, Liberty
Court was open for new buyers and
renters, specifically the rising middle
class who might work in the neighboring
corporate towers. My mother was
one of those buyers. With its new parks,
transportation, access to stores, and riverside
view, Battery Park City was instantly
appealing to my parents who
were at that time juggling multiple jobs
in the city and living in the relatively remote
area of Valley Stream, Long Island.
Having grown up in China during the
Cultural Revolution, my mother knew
many “homes,” as her family was perse-
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
-18-

-HOUSE HISTORIES-
-cuted and finally exiled to Inner Mongolia.
The apartment itself was appealing,
with its view to the World Trade
Center, but its location was equally – if
not more – significant. The calming esplanade
with accented sculptures and introverted
community gardens captured a
paradise of safety, stability, and pleasure,
which represented the establishment
of her success far away from the then
violent, red-ridden, streets of Beijing.
Stepping off the elevator onto the
plush ornamented carpet, I move, almost
mechanically, through the halls until
I reach a metal painted door, among
twenty-five other metal doors on that
level, with an engraved plate marking
“9V” – “V as in Victor,” as the doormen
always say. The lock clicks clumsily as
I enter and a soothing north light filters
in from a window framed in black. The
kitchen (renovated in 2008) is to my left
and opens up to an elegant dining room,
complete with breakfront and chandelier.
The “bedroom” has since become
a study with my drafting board, bookshelves,
desk, and cushioned bench.
Fig 3
Fig 3: Battery Park
City Authority, The
Landfill Site, circa
1985, edited by Christin
Hu, New York.
Fig 4
Fig 4: Battery Park
City Authority,
Liberty Court Aerial,
1987+, edited by
Christin Hu, New
York.
- 19 -

-HOUSE HISTORIES-
Walk out the door and turn left down
the hallway to the fire stairs leading
down and you’ll find the next apartment,
8C, which was purchased after my
parents’ divorce to support my brother,
mother, and me. Each day, we traverse
these hotel-like corridors and drab concrete
stairs, naturally segregating our
tasks and room functions. Once, a foreign
labyrinth to my four-year-old self
into my memory, the two apartments
have become, somewhat paradoxically,
both stable and dynamic “nests” molded
to my family’s evolving needs and whims.
My mother is fond of moving furnishings,
so we often changed the bedroom
and living room arrangements, but never
have we switched the ninth floor kitchen
and dining room. Those two spaces were
constant. Eating together was a big part of
our family life and was integral to keeping
us both physically and mentally connected.
As if to emphasize this, my mother
has garnered countless plates, kitchen
appliances, and dining room furnishings.
She chose to renovate the kitchen
and dining rooms first, spending large
sums of money to integrate and activate
the two for more enjoyable
cooking and eating experiences, as
well as to encourage my brother and
I to accompany her while she cooks.
While the ninth floor served as our
dining and living room, the eighth floor
apartment acted as mix of living and bedroom
spaces. There have been too many
furniture arrangements to count, but it
has always generally served as sleeping
quarters since we moved in. From the
very first move in day, my brother and
I slept on an uncovered king-size mattress
in the clutter of unfinished process.
Now, it is a guest room and shared
bedroom, where my mom and I sleep.
The kitchen program has changed
from cooking to storage and is currently
undergoing renovations. Although the
plan layout is nearly identical to 9V, 8C
has adopted a completely different function
for my family because of our collective
needs and the nature of our owning
two apartments, albeit on separate floors.
Although these spaces are ever evolving,
there remains a balance of eating and
working (9V) to sleeping and play (8C),
which occasionally gives way under extreme
circumstances (e.g. all-nighters).
This dynamic relationship cultivated by
my mother has always been a source of joy
and excitement for her. My brother
and I often joke about her seemingly
sudden changes in room arrangements
or acquisition of new furniture, which
in reality have been carefully and silently
considered for months or even
years. Our home is truly the establishment
of my mother’s independence
and modern family – it is her conquest
over past hardships and divorce – her
castle of confidence and individuality.
-20-

-HOUSE HISTORIES-
As a dual-apartment owner, my mother
rarely considered the exterior conditions
of the architecture. Rather she
frequently revisited the unique relationship
between the two apartments. We
have often considered acquiring an adjacent
apartment or an apartment below
to somehow connect the two – I say we,
because by then, my brother and I were
old enough to seriously discuss these issues
with my mother.
At one point in time, we had rented
out 8C and moved to the thirtieth floor,
30B, but those couple of years were just
an awkward phase: my father had tried
(and failed) to reconcile with us and my
borther was all about “teenage angst.” I
hardly remember those years except for
my parents’ yelling and my brother’s
“research” of a particular green plant.
In any case, our two original apartments
were already physically connected.
True, the hallways and stairs separated
certain functions, but the four metal
doors did nothing to divert us, whether
we were half naked, moving furniture,
formally garbed, or running barefoot.
The halls, rarely populated with neighbors,
served as our private, extended
doorway to our rooms.
Housing units lived
in by the Hu Family
I like to think of my home as a tangible,
living manifestation my mother’s
history and her family’s legacy. It isn’t
- 21 -

-HOUSE HISTORIES-
namely, my grandmother, great grandfather,
and great-great-grandfather. My
grandmother is an extraordinary human
being – a survivor of breast cancer in her
nineties, she has experienced everything
from near starvation in exile to luxury
train-travel. She has raised seven children
with the help of a hot-tempered
husband, always keeping her calm and
maintaining her integrity in the face of
opposition. This kindly and very stubborn
lady is one who has broken from
the traditions of patriarchal Chinese society,
just as her father had before her.
Her father, my great grandfather, had
risen from the lowly position of a janitor
in a medical school to one of the most
successful doctors and businessmen in
Chángshā, the capitol city of the Hunan
Province of China. He had married of
his own accord and was thus denounced
by his family (one of the most influential
clans in the city), permanently leaving
behind the conventions of the past.
Meanwhile, on my great grandmother’s
side was a merchant of Mobile Oil, a literally
and figuratively groundbreaking
profession in China at that time; and the
story continues.
My home is a dwelling that lives and
breathes, and contains a spirit which
has permeated throughout my mother’s
family history. Her mother’s unwavering
confidence, grand father’s creative intellect,
and great grandfather’s innovative
ability, live through her daily activities
and instinct for furnishing these two
seemingly ordinary one-bedroom apartments
we call home.
Now, as I contemplate my future career,
I struggle with the part of me that
wants remain at home and the other, that
nudges me toward another direction – to
move away and start new. It is the “tradition”
of breaking tradition my mother
has materialized at Battery Park City that
both repels and attracts me – a living legacy
which I have yet to unfold.
CH
-22-

DEFINEINDUSTRIOUS
“ Finding interest in something and
acting on it. You do it because you
find it pleasing and beautiful.” Mark M.
IN FORMALITY
“ Setting methodology.” Gabe F.
“ The root of industrious: to have
aptitude.” C. Camacho
“ Seeing things critically and changing
them—thinking on your feet and
deviating from what you expect.”
K.Faherty
“ Performative arts — An industrious
Mischief Maker.” A.V.L
“ Taking the unconventional and creating
a new.” Midori T.
- 23 -

INK SERIES CHRISTIAN CAMACHO / B.ARCH 2015 ALUMNI

INFORMALITY 8 COVER SERIES
MATTHEW NOONAN
M.ARCH/ 3RD YEAR

LECTURE
SKETCH SERIES
All lectures are free,
and open to the public
Thursdays | 6:30 pm
Sciame Auditorium
The Bernand and Anne
Spitzer School of Architecture
- 25 -

-26-

thoughts.
CHANGES
AT THE EVERYDAY LEVEL
IGNITE
A CHAIN REACTION
URBAN REFORESTATION:
INTERVENTIONS AT THE SCALE
OF THE EVERY DAY
DAVID TOVAR B.ARCH/ 4TH YEAR
In our everyday, overexposure to mundane
topics overshadows the topics that are
critically important to our collective living
and we, as a whole, have embraced this as
a fact of life. The lack of relatability to the
occurrences beyond our perceived realities
has desensitized us to our role within
Spaceship Earth. So long as this culture
remains unchanged, the risk of ignorance
remains.
Within this ignorance lies our greatest risk. While this piece is meant to be relatable
to all, designers in particular must take a moral stance and, through design, advocate
for positive change. Through our professions, we have the unparalleled ability to
help shape the world around us and with this responsibility must also come a moral
stance on the topics here discussed. Advocacy for reforestation extends beyond the
embrace of trees and biodiversity which as undoubtedly important. Instead, let us
view reforestation as an opportunity for sustainable living at the level of the everyday.
In this strive for sustainability, let us also strive for resiliency and cooperation -so
that we may alter the everyday life in our communities for the better. Remembering
the interrelatedness of the different scales in the scalar view of life, changes at the
everyday level ignite a chain reaction of positive change in our personal culture, our
community culture, our societal culture, and our collective culture. Let us strive for
a mutually symbiotic relationship with nature not only because we must but because
we can. Let us remember then that by investing in the present, we are consequently
led to invest in the future. In reimagining our urban future, creativity calls and as
designers we must answer.
On this note, let us design for an everyday that is sensible, moral, more equitable,
and nurturing; for life, as we know, takes place in the everyday.
DT
- 27 -

-28-
Doodle by Hyun Pak

works.
MANHATTAN CHRONICLES
SERIES
*Each piece measures
30” x 40”x 1.5”
Acrylic on canvas
SAL COSENZA
M. ARCH / ALUMNI
- 29 -

Manhattan (left)
Completed in 2002, the first installment in the series depicts the city's surviving buildings witnessing their
friends, the Twin Towers, ascending off into the heavens. The surviving buildings, which include Empire
State Building, Chrysler Building, and Lady Liberty, are shown in a state of mourning and unspeakable
loss at the sight of their murdered friends' departing spirits.
Using the horrific events of September 11th as a catalyst, the anthropomorphic painting won several
awards upon completion, and set into motion a story that drove the remainder of the series.
Manhattan : The Rising War (below)
Completed in 2005, the second installment in the series is darker and more brooding than the original, as
the buildings are witnessing an impending war between their own Manhattan Military, and the elite
T.E.R.R.O.R Group, the culprits behind the death of the Twin Towers. As they witness an air battle
erupting over the remains of Ground Zero towards the center, many questions about the future of the city
loom for the buildings still standing.
Like its predecessor, Manhattan: The Rising War also won several awards, and its story was based on
global events pertaining to war oversees.
-30-

Manhattan : The Wrath of Terror
Completed in 2008, the third installment in the series depicts the violent capture of Manhattan Island from
the deadly T.E.R.R.O.R Group, while a handful of the city’s surviving buildings are shown fleeing from
their island and into the mysterious sand dunes ahead. Chrysler and Empire State Buildings are shown
being captured in the bottom left of the piece, and towards the bottom right, the fleeing buildings are
shown discovering the presence of Freedom Tower, who makes a dramatic debut by rising out of the
sand like a phoenix.
Postapocalyptic in tone, the awardwinning piece took the series into strictly fictional territory, as
the buildings are shown being forced to flee their home and rely on a gleaming new tower to help them
going forward.
Manhattan : Part V working title (right)
Set for completion in 2016, the fifth and final piece in the Manhattan Chronicles will depict the events
following the reclamation of the island by the buildings. This sneakpeak
image alludes to a city under immense reconstruction, with new towers covered in scaffolding, new streets
paved, and so forth, while Freedom Tower, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral
and UN Building, among others, look on.
The finale is meant to bookend the series in a variety of ways, and tie back to the original Manhattan
through both its color palette and the positioning of certain buildings. As the series concludes, a
novelization of the entire story is also in the works, which promises to explore the world of Manhattan
Chronicles much further.
- 31 -

-MANHATTAN CHRONICLES-
-32-

thoughts.
THE MOUNDBUILDERS
ESSAY
TYLELL LUNDMAN
3RD YEAR M.ARCH
Ohio is quiet. The “great muddy flow”
provides an eerie beauty to those who
look up from the road. The plow became
at home here, once the trees were cleared.
It was a forest. The air is heavy, with a
dramatic sky, though not yet like the
West. It is a practical place, for practical
people.
Urban play is bleak here. It fouls the
open line of the plain and offers nothing
in return but detritus, cheap buildings
wired together with real wire and an
ether of exhaust on dusty streets – but
they are big. A parking lot. They are obsessed
with traffic lights.
The familiar sign of the Park Service
says “Earthworks” with a 2 o’clock arrow
pointing off the highway. Modest.
I think of first-year Room 107, 9am. We
are in southern Ohio. These must be
them. What were they called? Prehistoric
American. Not a great civilization from
the South, worthy of Spanish conquest.
There is no gold here, just the land. At a
T-intersection a mile later there is no indication
which way to turn. Monument is
quickly forgotten.
The Great Circle is located just off
Route 16, twenty miles east of the Columbus.
Ironically perhaps, the circle is cut
by the town line of Newark, Ohio, which
runs through its northern edge. It was
part of a much larger complex of circles,
octagons, and allées that covered some
three-thousand acres. The Great Circle is
a thousand feet wide.
- 33 -

There is a man playing with his dog,
and someone else about to set up a picnic,
but everyone seems so far away, diminished
by the force of perspective, and
the unrelenting trees.
Situated along County Road 79, connecting
to the Interstate fifteen miles
away, the Great Circle links a mid-century
residential part of the city with a
modern commercial strip. Lots of people
drive by, and a few park in the cluster
of spaces provided unguarded in front.
There is a closed museum, a miniature
copy of Kahn. From the street-side, the
complex looks like an earthen noise barrier
as one might find in any suburban
office park. From the inside it seems to
undulate with subtle variations in height.
Eight feet is made to seem like much
more behind a five foottrench. People are
small now and they were much smaller
then. This rise is 1,750 years old. That it
should be taller.
The Earth itself is soft here. It turns
under shoes like sand hung in a net of
peat grass. Trees uproot themselves easily.
They overturn the land. Tornados are
frequent. Moles are easily tracked. On
land like this, each step is labored. Every
movement is a negotiation. Person
applies a little pressure, the land yields
some. It stops. A successful pivot and the
process is repeated.
These people were industrious! The
Great Circle is not all there is. Maybe it’s
only ten percent - even more destroyed
now to build schools and roads. There
were grand boulevards stretching miles.
They forked into various directions, a
hundred feet wide. There were processions,
nodes, and squares. It is a Baroque
city plan.
I am driving ten minutes to another
part, not the other end, just halfway. It
is a private country club, “The Moundbuilders.”
Cheeky. I wonder if there will
be any trace left of the ancient forms.
I park on the east side in front of a severed
artery. Two of the boulevards were
here, a clear intersection with both projections
truncated on the bias that leftthe
node intact. It is a vector, or an editor’s
carrot, or an arrow in negative space
pointing back to the beginning. It is a
body with legs cut off by a rustic wooden
fence. I am in front of someone’s house, a
clapboard colonial, crossing the graveled
asphalt and walking along the edge of the
golf course. There is a lot of traffic for a
quiet neighborhood.
They didn’t destroy anything inside.
Dating from the mid 1930s, the golf
course uses the existing form to add
visual interest and a certain degree of
challenge. One island green is set inside
a smaller circle, only sixty feet across.
There is a target mounted on a pole to
help a person find it from the other side.
The white flag for the hole would be too
small to see.
What we do with what we have. It
is moved from place to place. Lower to
higher, nothing lost and nothing gained
but height and monument: a declaration
of place.
They built a golf course here. A sign
of diversion, or respect for something
unique and unguarded? It is kitsch, of
course, “The Moundbuilders,” but it is
better than being leveled and subdivided
on the square. There are still lunar pageants
here.
TL
-34-

craft.
COUR DE MARBRE
ELEVATIONS
JAMES GEOGHEGAN
B.ARCH / 5TH YEAR
- 35 -

-36-

craft.
[KAHN]VERT
A SEMINAR ON LOUIS KAHN
LESTER LI, SARA VEZELAJ, ANNA KWIATKOWSKA
B, ARCH / 5TH YEAR
Lester Li, Sara Vezelaj, Anna
Kwiatkowska
-37-

[KAHN]vert
It’s a little over halfway
through the semester. The
leaves on the trees have all
gently settled as piles on
lawns. Squirrels are frantically
stomp around in the
crisped leaves, preparing for
the end of fall. The end of fall
is approaching.
Its 7 minutes past 7 in the
morning. Sara, a close friend
and colleague of mine, says,
“Lester, let’s go for a smoke.”
It’s our 7th smoke break of
the night. We make our way
down to the loading docks.
After the sound of two clicks,
we inhale and Sara asks,
“Have you ever wondered
what we would be doing if
we never applied to architecture
school?” “… yeah, sleeping!”
As our delirious laugher
subsides, I turn my attention
to a cardboard box by a pile
of garbage bags. I look inside
and found black ink cartridge
parts. “This looks like half of
Erdman Hall’s dormitory.”
We mutually understood my
statement was because we
had analyzed that building in
our studio classes, only weeks
before today. We laughed as
if this was the funniest joke
we had heard on our lives. As
I dug through the box to find
more material for my popup
standup comedy skit, I found
a hundred more of these ink
cartridge parts. It was a goldmine.
“Woah… wouldn’t it
be cool if they let us just explore
this. We can cast them
in plaster and cut them up to
make parti models.”
LL
-38-

-[KHAN]VERT-
-39-

-[KHAN]VERT-
Study Models
Scale: 1/32”=1’-0”
Plaster, joint compound, found objects
-40-

talks.
Informality’s Editor
Alanna Lauter talks with
Adam Hayes
Alanna Lauter: What or who is the
inspiration for your personal style?
Adam Hayes: For me I think it’s a combination.
One is its kind of a functional aspect
that I like for certain stuff, so for me
it’s not about… well I don’t really like style.
I don’t like the idea of style or trend, or
fashion. I like things to have a purpose. I
think there are two things. It’s partly functionality,
something I’m doing. There’s
certainly a symbolic aspect to things, like
if you wear a suit to an interview, not necessarily
to a rave. But, I think the other
part of it is heritage. You know, I grew up
down south in Texas and there’s an aspect
of that which I carry with me. So it’s the
imprint of all the different experiences that
I’ve had. Going to school I had to wear a
suit and tie, so there’s an aspect of that, to
growing up and wearing boots. So it’s kind
of a sum of all the things that I’ve done.
AL: Do you ever mix your suit and tie
functions with your cowboy functions?
AH: Well yeah. I went out last night to an
event and I wore a suit that’s got a vest,
and I wore my suit and a tie and beat up
cowboy boots. I pretty much always do
that. You know that’s my thing.
AL: Has a particular article of clothing,
pattern or fabric inspired anything that
you have done in design work?
AH: I wouldn’t say specifically, as in like
- 41 -

event. I’ve got my dress cowboy hat too,
when that’s called for.
AL: So has being able to express yourself
been important? Because the stereotypical
type for architects is black and
white?
AH: Oh, I go out of my way…I suppose
that’s a sort of negative version of style.
I overtly avoid this sort of name casing
architectural black on black on black
with one highlight, and my funky glasses.
I think that’s terrible.
“I’VE GOT MY DRESSIEST SUIT,
MY TUXEDO FOR A FORMAL
EVENT. I’VE GOT MY DRESS
COWBOY HAT, WHEN THAT’S
CALLED FOR.”
here’s my plaid building. I think it more
of the construction that’s more of the inspiration.
In a sense that how something
is made, how something is crafted or like
how things are rugged, but also beautifully
done. Or you can wear it a certain way.
So it more has to do with that. It’s not so
much inspired, but to me it’s all a big ball
of wax. How I dress. How I design. How
I live. What I do. It’s all part of the same
thing. The consideration of it is from the
same place.
AL: So do you have specific articles of
clothing where you say, “Okay, this is my
interview…”
AH: Well I mean, within reason. Not
necessarily specifically. But yeah, I’ve got
my dressiest suit, my tuxedo for a formal
AL: So what do you do instead?
AH: Well, I try to do what I want. Like
I said, it comes from a heritage thing. I
wouldn’t put my style out there as “oh
this something you should wear,” because
it’s not your thing. But I think if
you’re wearing style as a trope to tell
other people what you are, I don’t care
whether you’re an architect or a hipster
or whatever, to me that doesn’t make
sense. There’s a mix between functionality,
there’s also a mix between tailoring.
I can wear certain clothes that
others can’t. If I dressed up in hip-hop
clothes… I like some of it, I think it’s actually
kind of cool, but I would look like
a total dumbass. I just can’t pull that off.
It wouldn’t look like me. So there’s that.
Something you look good in.
AL: Was there ever a time when you
wore something and thought, “Eh, maybe
that wasn’t the best idea?”
AH: Like a time? Or a period of time
in my life?
-42-

AL: A period of time in your life.
AH: No.
AL: No?
AH: I mean, I’ve bought things that I
thought were going to.. but in retrospect
said “No I shouldn’t have done that” because
they were for an extreme sport and
I wore them once in my life. I’m pretty
considerate about stuff like that, I don’t
tend to… you know, okay I look back at
what I wore in the 90s, and, the idea of
wearing it now would be laughable, but
at the time, when it was contextual, it
was cool, it was fine. Probably the most
ridiculous outfit for me was after working
for [Renzo] Piano’s office, because I
came back to the states and I was very
“European-architected-out.” It was all
black baggy Armani suits and shoulder
length hair, and that was.. pretty cool
back then. But I love the idea of custom
made stuff too, not just to do it, but to actually
get what you really want. Because,
if you’re buying something and you really
know what you want, and you’re not
buying it to say, “This is Prada, see the
real tag?” then you actually get to determine
what you want, what kind of pockets,
what kind of buttons and so on. That
part I definitely enjoy.
For full interview visit:
www.informalityssa.
Doodle by Hyun Pak
- 43 -

PLANET NYC
GABRIEL FLORIMAN
B.ARCH / 5TH YEAR
-44-

thoughts.
THREE + TWO COLLECTIVE
AN ARCHITECTURAL WORKSHOP
IN GHANA, AFRICA
MATTHEW ADDEO
B. ARCH / 5TH YEAR
This past summer I participated in an
Earth-Building workshop in Ghana to
further explore my interest in humanitarian
architecture for social change. I
hoped to interact with habitat and design
in a more primitive form. To renew perspective
outside the built environment of
New York City.
The objective of the workshop was
the realization of a modern single family
home, using both traditional and contemporary
building techniques and local
methods of construction in Abetenim
Village. The site is approximately 50 km
east of Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti
Region in Ghana.
According to Three + Two founders,
there was a balancing act between
a contemporary earth architecture that
is sensitive to surroundings – culturally
and environmentally – that also invites
change. The design inspiration originated
from traditional courtyard houses in
the Ashanti Region: Conceptually voids
within a mass – rather than the multi-story
modern villas, which are essentially
one mass within a void.
Naturally on site the drawings and
de sign altered to meet immediate needs
and challenges. For example, casting
the pillars in bamboo formwork was a
solution to a problem. The metal sheets
originally planned for formwork were
found to be too weak in Ghana. Though
exhausting to construct, the finished pillars
seemed to become the symbol for
our project, separating it from the other
competitors’ designs.
Due to power scarcity we used zero
power tools and focused on hand-drawn
construction documents. Our workforce
came from the village, we became
friends, and ate together. From the production
of mud tiles, to discovering the
cooking process of “FuFu”, a national
favorite dish, there was a full immersion
in the design-build and cultural experience.
If the academy exists to aid students
towards realizing their own architectural
position– so upon graduation we may
not only contribute to the practice, but
also to the discussion of architecture –
trips ands workshops add to the discussion
all the more.
From this workshop I can relay images,
words, and first-hand experience
to the ideas I was beginning to process
here in New York. I can add more to the
discussion of architecture. It was never
about a one-time experience, but another
step in discovering my architectural
identity.
for more information
www.threetwoworkshop.com
- 45 -

-46-

thoughts.
PRINTED FUTURE
FABRICATED DREAMS
AT THE 3D PRINT SHOW
JETHRO REBOLLAR
M.ARCH / 2ND YEAR
I brought my dog, Shiloh, to the
3DPrintShow at the Javitz Center’s 548
Gallery in Chelsea. Spring had finally
sprung and both of us were getting cabin
fever from a winter spent indoors. Upon
arriving at the show, I saw all the major
players of the 3D-print community that
make their annual appearance at MakerFaire.
Somewhat surprisingly, the darling
of the 3D-printer market, MakerBot,
seemed to have sat this one out completely,
with not even a flyer-distributor onsite.
One could only suspect that this year’s
company-wide layoff of twenty percent
of its staff may have had something to
do with the absence. Human-resources
issues notwithstanding, the heavy commercial
3D-printers like MakerBot might
no longer need to fight for floor space
with relatively bush-league, garage-band
outfits like Z-morph and Ultimaker, who
are holding their own but cannot afford
the outreach MakerBot has to put models
into classrooms, universities and fabrication
labs across the country.
Some background: MakerBot hit
the scene in 2009, capitalizing on the
Fused-Deposition Modeling (FDM) process
after the patent had expired in 2004.
FDM is one of the few processes that have
brought 3D-printing and rapid prototyping
closer to consumers’ reach. FDM is
the process of heating up a substance, typically
coiled plastic filament, and laying it
down in thin strands to additively “print
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0ut” a physical 3D-model from its
digital 3D counterpart. In addition
to MakerBot, other companies such
as ZeePro, PrintRBot, BigRep, Dynamo3D
and Digital WaBot, BigRep,
Dynamo3D and Digital Wax Systems,
to name a few, all use this process. Alternative
processes like Selective Laser
Sintering (SLS) apply a laser to a bed
of polymer-adhesive-blends, effectively
curing the mixture from the bottom
up to produce the shape seen in the
model.
SLS has always been of personal interest
to me since it doesn’t seem to be
either an additive or subtractive form of
manufacturing. I’ve always imagined a
metaphysical phase-change happening
through the relationship of the laser’s
trajectory and the material bed. More
capable minds would certainly disagree
with this flourish, but what good, after
all, is the promise of technology without
amazement? Wonderful products
and ideas continue to spark intrigue
at these types of events: Open-source
frameworks, peer-reviewed online
product libraries, improved materials
and the continued promise of Moore’s
Law, the expectation of more information
on smaller technology, exponentially.
This 3D-print show, however,
started to seem like themes and competencies
were becoming, for want of
a better word, echoey. The 3D-printer
salespeople who hope to squeeze into
the MakerBot market share have developed
a chilled desperation in their
tone of voice, verging on desperation.
I left the show thinking, If only the demand
for this technology could be as
HEAVEN CONCEPT RENDER
SAINTAH DHASMA B. ARCH / 5TH YEAR
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easily produced as the trinkets they use
to prove their own worth.
On a recent trip to Boulder, Colorado,
I spoke with Sam Sussman of 8 Boulder’s
Pearl district, where he is the resident
3D-printmaster. He shared the neophyte
dream of a printable future along with
his contemporaries as well as the shared,
imagined framework for delivery of this
service—localized providers, or shops,
instead of the machine-on-every-desk
model championed by the personal computer
over the last three decades. Undoubtedly,
one of the principal reasons
that 3D-printing succeeded as an idea
was this fantasy of one day being able to
simply push a button in your own home
and conjure your desired item. It sent
minds soaring. Entrepreneurs like Amazon’s
Jeff Bezos started to wonder: What
-PRINTED FUTURE-
if you could simply buy a particular item
online and pick it up in your garage’s
3D printer in a matter of minutes? This
kind of positive, disruptive, and wideeyed
dream was intoxicating, but was no
match for a recession that crippled even
the most heroic organizations of our
technocracy, like NASA.
The universe imagined in The Jetsons
might be more distant than hoped,
or it might be altogether parallel. Sam’s
3D-printmaster post at the copy center
in Boulder doesn’t make him a captain of
industry, but it does allow Sam to provide
3D-print services to clients who might be
coming in to print a few hundred color
catalogs for a trade show. The store might
also allow for Sam’s expanded electrical
and storage needs, should demand for his
service grow. The contingency plan for
Dmitriy Polyakov
B. Arch 4th Year
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the 3D-printable-future could alternately
be one where consumers visit local
providers at their brick-and-mortar locations,
if the 3D-printer has rights contracts
with participating corporations
such as Etsy, SONY, and Rubbermade to
manufacture and sell their items. What
this allows is for companies to reach a
broader audience of early adopters and e
ensure quality-control of their trademarks.
-PRINTED FUTURE-
We have returned from the honeymoon
of consumer-market 3D-printing
and we need to learn how to make the
marriage work between new design and
new manufacturing. Heavy strides need
to be taken in democratizing not just the
information infrastructure for the consumer
or designer side, but also on the
business end. As designers, we need to
start asking ourselves tough questions,
such as: “Does the industry even need a
3D printer the size of a house?” It can be
a perilous path when form doesn’t follow
function, but even a dreamer like me
can’t help but be excited by the possibility
of going to my local bodega to pick up
Shiloh’s freshly fabricated, monogramed
chew toy.
Nicholas Friedman is a Spitzer alumnus
(Class of 2015) who was a steward of
some of the graduate fabrication facilities
(including a Sratasys 3D-printer and a
Roland CNC router). We discussed our
school’s 3D-printing capabilities, and
we realized that even within our own
programs, we lack masterful control of
the machines, thus driving us and other
students away from the medium.
Recent pyrotechnics notwithstanding,
our model shop’s CNC router is on the
mend (thanks in no small part to Alvaro
Almada and instructors like Jonathan
Scelsa, who have been instrumental in
breathing life back into our fabrication
capabilities). As young designers and
architects, we are the ones who should
be spearheading the utilization of today’s
most advanced processes.
JR
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“BATLLO”
Barcelona, Spain
“INDUSTRIOUS”
Hamburg, Germany
“DE YOUNG”
“CARTOUCHE”
Catskills, NY
“MOSQUE”
Cordoba, Spain
PLACEMENT
STEADILY AND PERSERVERINGLY ACTIVE
ALANNA LAUTER
B.ARCH/ 5TH YEAR
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“CRITICA”
Santiago de
Compostela, Spain
“EDGELESS”
Rock of Gibraltar
“MUSHROOM”
Sevilla, Spain
“COMPANION”
San Francisco, CA
“OMA”
Oporto, Portugal
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[SPY]der
HARVARD GSD
works.
CHRISOULA KAPELOIS
B. ARCH CLASS OF 2014
Today we are living in a digital
symphony. A world comprised of a
convoluted soliloquy of data transfer.
A world where bytes are our currency,
and information is our crack. We are
living in hyperpixelated massiveness.
They are watching us. Our every
move is being tracked, archived,
processed, and analyzed. Our walls
have ears, our windows eyes, our
spaces brains. The world is watching.
How can we defend ourselves
against a world so untrustworthy, and
discreet? Simple. We track it back.
The [SPY]der dress reverses the
role of surveillance, to make the user
and the surrounding population
aware of the presence of security
cameras. When the dress senses
the presence of security cameras, it
engages by lifting its arms. The closer
the wearer gets to the gaze of the
camera, the higher the arms raise.
Once they are within the cone of
vision, the arms point in the direction
of the camera, both seducing and
fighting with its gaze.
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-[SPY]der-
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-[SPY]der-
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“BREATH & READ” Photo by Christin Hu

Doodle by Hyun Pak
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
141 convent ave, new york, ny 10031 / 212-650-7118
acting dean: Gordon Gebert
chair: Julio Salcedo-Fernandez
ssa1.ccny.cuny.edu