Today's archidose #671

Here are some photos of the Twelve at Hengshan (2012) in Shanghai, China, by Mario Botta Architetto, photographed by Jian Wu.













To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

IDEAS CITY

The second biannual IDEAS CITY takes place May 1-4 on and around the Bowery. What is IDEAS CITY? Here's the official description:

IDEAS CITY explores the future of cities around the globe with the belief that arts and culture are essential to the vitality of urban centers, making them better places to live, work, and play. Founded by the New Museum in 2011, IDEAS CITY is a major collaborative initiative between hundreds of arts, education, and civic organizations. This year’s theme is "Untapped Capital," with participants focused on resources that are under-recognized or underutilized in our cities.

IDEAS CITY is a four-day Festival of conferences, workshops, an innovative StreetFest around the Bowery, and more than one hundred independent projects and public events that are forums for exchanging ideas, proposing solutions, and accelerating creativity.

["MirrorMirror" by Davidson Rafailidis | Image courtesy Storefront for Art and Architecture]

The winner of the 2013 StreetFest Competition is "MirrorMirror" by Davidson Rafailidis. Their installation will be built and installed for the May 4 StreetFest. Here is some information on the winning design from the Storefront for Art and Architecture announcement:

“MirrorMirror” is a base unit covering twelve feet by sixteen feet. The design includes a simple forty-five-degree-angled gable roof made from miorroring panels. A single unit will house small programs. When combined, the units create a large barn-like structure that will can be host to larger gatherings. The design utilizes aluminum frames with Mylar mirror foil that are often used as glassless mirrors in dance studios.

["MirrorMirror" by Davidson Rafailidis | Image courtesy Storefront for Art and Architecture]

Visit the IDEAS CITY website to plan your visit, purchase a conference pass, and download a guide (PDF link) to the many events happening in downtown Manhattan over the course of four days next week.

My recommendations:

Wednesday, May 1:
Joi Ito
Keynote address at 7:30pm at The Cooper Union

Thursday, May 2:
Ad Hoc Strategies
Panel discussion at 9:15am at The Cooper Union

Play
Panel discussion at 2:30pm at The Cooper Union

A Road Not Taken
Film screening at 7pm at the Swiss Institute

Friday, May 3:
The Future of the City
Conversation at 5pm at Center for Architecture

Hack City
Workshop at 6pm at the Old School

Pitching the City: New Ideas for New York
Presentation at 7pm at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

Saturday, May 4:
StreetFest
Numerous booths, events, and projects from 11am to 6pm on and around the Bowery

Godfrey Reggio’s Naqoyqatsi
Film screening at 11am at NYPL Mulberry Branch

Delancey Plaza: An Afternoon Above the Lowline
Workshop from 11am to 6pm at Delancey Plaza

No Shame: Storefront For Sale
Exhibition performance from 11am to 6pm at the Storefront for Art and Architecture

Adhocracy
Exhibition from 11am to 6pm at the New Museum

Softwalks
Installations from 6pm to Midnight in various locations

Change of State
Installation from 8pm to Midnight on the facade of the New Museum

Snarkitecture
Installation from 8:30pm to Midnight at Mulberry and Prince Streets

Social Justice and the City, 1973-2013

On Saturday, May 4, the Graduate Program in Design and Urban Ecologies is presenting Social Justice and the City 1973-2013, commemorating the 40th anniversary of David Harvey's seminal book of the same name. See below for an event poster and bottom for a description of the free one-day symposium. RSVP here for the event.

Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013
Time: 10am-6pm
Location: Parsons the New School for Design, 66 West 12th Street (A404, A407), NYC

In April 1970, an essay titled “Social Processes and Spatial Form: An Analysis of the Conceptual Problems of Urban Planning,” was published in volume 25 of the journal Papers of the Regional Science Association. For this first time, this essay constructed an unexplored critique of urban disciplines vis-á-vis capitalism. The result created a dialectical theoretical framework, and forever changed the way many urban practitioners viewed their disciplinary tools and formal training. Ultimately, this heralded an ongoing formation of radically new and unseen forms of urban practice. In 1973, this essay became the first chapter of Social Justice and the City. David Harvey’s seminal second book split the way our cities are read, and created entirely new research paths for his contemporaries and younger practitioners.

Forty years after its publication, Social Justice and the City is as relevant as when it was first conceived. As the processes of urbanization fall faster than ever at the control of the elites, an unprecedented wave of enforced spatial segregation radically alters our urban realities. Today, Social Justice and the City provokes views and directions that remain at the core of any imaginary for resistance, and an action towards the belief that socially just forms of urbanization are possible.

The 40 year commemoration of Social Justice and the City will pay tribute to the lasting work and influence of David Harvey. The day will be introduced by Harvey, who will share his views on the book and its 40 year trajectory. Harvey will then be joined by a diverse array of urban practitioners, from artists to academics and designers, whose practice has been transformed by Social Justice and the City.

Participants Include: Sharon Zukin, Don Mitchell, Andy Merrifield, Margit Mayer, Peter Marcuse, Ayreen Anastas, Martha Rosler, Miguel Robels-Durán, Rene Gabri, William Morrish, Andrew Ross, Jeanne van Heeswijk, William Tabb, John Krinsky, Teddy Cruz, Erik Swyngedouw, Nik Heynen, Neil Brenner, Melissa Wright, Tom Angotti, Linda McDowell, Miriam Greenberg, Richard Walker and others.

Book Briefs #14: 3 Monographs on 3 NYC Architects

"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on my daily or weekly pages.



1: Architecture as a Design Partnership by Spector Group | Visual Profile Books Inc. | 2013 | Amazon
Only one drawing is found in the pages of the Spector Group's second monograph: a watercolor of the Parthenon done 77 years ago by Charles Spector, the founder of the firm that is now in the hands of two more generations of Spectors (soon to be three, per the foreword by Charles's architecture-school-bound great-grandson). Photographs and renderings are the means of describing the approximately 75 projects organized into four sections: architecture, interiors, master planning, and residential. Descriptions are short and to the point, though unlike the longer list of buildings included in the "representative project portfolio" at the back of the book, there isn't a chronological or some other logical order to the projects. For example, the recently completed, glassy Mercedes-Benz showroom on 11th Avenue is immediately followed by the postmodern visage of the Birch Wathen Lenox School; projects jump around without an evident progression. Yet the representative project portfolio shows how the Spector Group has rolled with the changes (some semi-brutal buildings in the 1960s are followed by mirrored glass then postmodernism, and so forth) in its nearly 50 years of existence. The roughly 20 projects in the "soon..." chapter point to a little bit more adventurousness for the corporate firm.

2: Shelton, Mindel and Associates: Architecture and Design, Contribution by Joseph Giovannini, Photographed by Michael Moran | Rizzoli | 2013 | Amazon
Gracing the cover of Shelton, Mindel and Associates' first monograph is a duplex apartment sitting atop the Jean Nouvel-designed building at Broadway and Grand in SoHo. Many residential projects designed by Lee Mindel and the late Peter Shelton follow the same scenario, where another architect has shaped the larger canvas in which they work, be it a new building by Nouvel or Richard Meier, or a Beaux-Arts building on Central Park West. Their designs exhibit an amazing ability to fit well within any building, exuding a luxury that is balanced by their minimal hands. Texture, light, and clarity are paramount, going beyond style. When confronted with a relatively blank canvas, such as a house on Long Island, Shelton and Mindel (with architect Reed A. Morrison) are more adventurous, but the same considerations come to the fore. The qualities of the nearly 20 residences assembled in this book really jump of the pages, thanks to Michael Moran's photographs and the duo's consistent level of quality that occurs regardless of style.

3: Theater of Architecture by Hugh Hardy | Princeton Architectural Press | 2013 | Amazon
The least monograph-y (and for this and other reasons the best) of these three books is Hugh Hardy's autobiographical treatise on architecture expressed through 20 projects spanning much of his 5-decade career. Hardy is known for architecture for the performing arts (exactly half of the projects in the book are such), with both Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, but the title's "theater of architecture" is a broader statement about designing for human experience. As Hardy puts it in the preface (my emphasis): "Even though these projects do not all look the same, they all were created with the intention of setting the stage for their inhabitants' different journeys of discovery."

Hardy's approach to design comes across in the lengthy descriptions for the projects fitted into ten thematic chapters: A Talisman, Entry, Legend, Place, Contrast, Time, Public Space, Continuity, Environment, Intimacy. Experience and context are of the utmost for him, evidenced in the commissions he chooses (theater restorations, public spaces, and so forth) and the way he traces the history of each project well beyond his involvement. Clients are also important for Hardy, and their voices are included in sidebar interviews conducted by Mildred Friedman. PS New York should be commended for taking the mix of photographs, descriptions by Hardy, and client interviews, and making a very readable book that carefully uses color throughout. I'm a big fan of monographs that push the typology beyond its norms, so I appreciate the effort and execution of Hardy's (more than a) monograph.

Princeton Architectural Press has created a trailer for the book, featuring the ever-youthful Hardy talking about his early days in architecture and some of the ideas he explores at greater length in his excellent book:

Today's archidose #670

Here are some photos of the Kröller-Müller Museum (1977) in Otterlo, Netherlands, by Quist Wintermans Architekten, photographed by Klaas Vermaas.









To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

Tuesday, Tuesday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:

This week's dose features Dead Garden in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, by Vasio S/A:


The featured past dose is 285 Montevideo in Belo Horizonte, Brazil by Vazio S/A:


This week's book review is Entre: Architecture from the Performing Arts by Carlos M. Teixeira:


: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

American-Architects Building of the Week:

Roth Trailhead in Lawrence, Kansas, by Dirt Works Studio:

Viral Voices

Last May was the Going Viral panel discussion, which "explore[d] the impact that social media, technology and device culture are having on our design process, and ultimately the way we practice." This year it's Viral Voices, a continuation of last year's discussion, with many of the same "voices" (Morpholio, GSAPP, ArchDaily).

Viral Voices: Global Dialogues

When: Thursday, May2, 6:30-10pm
Where: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY
Cost: Free (RSVP required)

Viral Voices: Global Discussions will explore the impact that social media, technology and device culture are having on our design process, and ultimately the way we practice. How do we shape a global conversation? How are we changing the relationships between academia and the profession? What is the impact of hyper information sharing and critique? Throughout the evening, the topics of communication, research, collaboration, and data distribution will be addressed and debated.

Mark Wigley, Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University and David Basulto with David Assael of ArchDaily will come together for an evening discussing how these technologies affect the relationships between academia and profession. Following their talks, Carlo Aiello from eVolo, David Fano from CASE, Jill Fehrenbacher from Inhabitat, Toru Hasegawa from The Morpholio Project/the GSAPP Cloud Lab, Tim Maly from Wired magazine and Cliff Kuang from Fast Company will join the speakers for a panel discussion addressing the impact that social media, technology and device culture are having on our design process, and ultimately the way we participate in a global discussion.

Buildings That Lie About Their Age

In case you missed it last week, Christopher Gray's Streetscapes column in the New York Times used my Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture as a jumping-off point for a discussion of neo-traditional architecture in NYC. "Buildings That Lie About Their Age" questions the absence of neo-trad architecture among the 200+ buildings in my book.


[Screenshot from "Buildings That Lie About Their Age"]

Here is a snippet from the beginning and end of Gray's article, where my book is mentioned:

John Hill’s book “A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture” is filled with examples of the crazy new forms of the last decade, like Frank Gehry’s white wind-filled “sail” on the West Side Highway in Chelsea. They are startling, creative, amusing, sometimes even hilarious.

And yet, the United States is in the middle of a great revival of traditional architecture — Georgian, neo-Classical, Arts and Crafts and so forth — that is almost absent from Mr. Hill’s stimulating and enjoyable work. So, what isn’t contemporary about traditional design?

...

Mr. Hill includes a few neo-traditionalist buildings in his 10-year review, including Robert A. M. Stern’s 1920s-revival apartment house at 15 Central Park West, and George Ranalli’s prairie-style Saratoga Community Center in Brooklyn. But out of 200-plus projects, that’s it.

Does he have a bias against the neo-traditional movement?

He doesn’t think so. “I thought about including the Carhart town house,” he said, “but just didn’t get around to it.” As for the Ralph Lauren store, “it was being completed just as I was finishing the book” in late 2010. But he does include other projects scheduled for 2012 and even 2013.

This suggests that there is probably space for a guidebook of neo-traditional architecture. At the moment, it might not be more than a couple of chapters, but it is sure to grow.

The addition to the Carhart mansion can be seen on John Simpson's website. As Gray mentions, for a long time I had that project in my book, as a means of discussing how "contemporary" has many meanings, one of which includes neo-traditional architecture. The project was eventually replaced by another one, also in the Upper East Side, more fitting with what's in the rest of the guidebook. There was also the question of, "If one project is in the book to point out that neo-traditional is also contemporary, then why not include more?" That's probably the stronger reason of why I did not include a project so overtly traditional.

Peter Zumthor: 1986-2013

The most recent monograph—the only one, actually—on Swiss architect Peter Zumthor was released in 1998. It's so desirable that used copies are being sold on Amazon for around $1,500. A forthcoming monograph from Scheidegger and Spiess may temper the desirability of that book, since it will cover Zumthor's work from 1986-2013 (the earlier one covers 1979-1997) and will be more than twice as big (800 pages versus 318). Sure, it comes with a $250 cover price and won't be released until September, but if anybody can find me a more anticipated architecture book I'd like to know about it.



Book description via Amazon:

Unquestionably one of the most influential and revered contemporary architects, Peter Zumthor has approached his work with a singular clarity of vision and a strong sense of his own philosophy, both of which have earned him the admiration of his peers and the world at large. Choosing to only take on a few projects at a time and keep his studio small, Zumthor has produced a comparatively few number of realized buildings, but they rank among the world’s most stunning: St. Benedict’s Chapel in Sumvitg, Switzerland; Therme Vals in Vals, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Bregenz in Bregenz, Austria; and the Kolumba Art Museum in Cologne, Germany number among his most famous buildings. This collection, however, explores his entire body of award-winning work from 1986 to 2012 in five volumes, including his lesser-known but nonetheless critically acclaimed works such as the Field Chapel for Brother Klaus near Mechernich, Germany, and the Steilneset. Memorial for the Victims of the Witch Trials in Vardø, Norway.

Peter Zumthor presents around forty of his projects, both realized and unrealized, through Zumthor’s own writing, and with photographs, sketches, drawings, and plans. A complete catalog of his works starting in 1979 rounds out the book. Richly illustrated and beautifully designed, this book serves as both an introduction to Zumthor’s work and philosophy for the layperson and a required addition to any architect’s library.

(Many thanks to Jim G. for the heads up!)

Pre-order your pricey Zumthor monograph here:
US: CA: UK:

Architects House Themselves

The current World-Architects eMagazine has a feature I assembled on houses that architects have designed for themselves, culled from the many profiles featured on the site. Architects House Themselves highlights nine projects—3 from Europe, 3 from the Americas, and 3 from Asia/Oceania—and their varied responses to unique architect-as-client scenarios.


[Tower House, GLUCK+. Photo: Paul Warchol]

The introduction for Architects House Themselves:

There exists a long tradition of architects designing houses for themselves, many of them becoming historically notable works of architecture because of experimentation, a mix of living and working spaces, and an obviously unique architect-client relationship. Think of Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park and his Taliesin estates in Wisconsin and Arizona; Alvar Aalto's house in Helsinki; Walter Gropius's house ten miles from Harvard; the Charles and Ray Eames House in California; Luis Barragán's House and Studio outside Mexico City; Frank Gehry's exploded bungalow in Santa Monica. The list of architects and houses goes on, with pre-20th-century examples found in Thomas Jefferson's plantation home at Monticello and Sir John Soane's house-museum in London, to name just two.

Even as architects continue to design houses for themselves and their families, very little attention is given to the unique circumstances these projects represent. How do architects design for themselves? What experiments do they incorporate that can't be done with traditional clients? What are the stories behind the design and realization of an architect's own house? As a means of answering these and other questions, this "Insight" collects some houses of architects with profiles on World-Architects. Since this architect-client situation isn't geographically unique, we've assembled one house from many of our national platforms, grouped by larger geographical area—Europe, Americas, Asia/Oceania. These houses illustrate that the tradition of "architects housing themselves" is still alive, producing some of tomorrow's historically notable works of architecture.

Today's archidose #669

Here are some photos of the Centre for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) at the Fraunhofer Institute, Stuttgart, Germany, by UNStudio (2012), photographed by Frank Dinger (bcmng). See many more photos of the project in bcmng's Flickr set on ZVE.







To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

Emerging from the Ruins

Mark yr calendars: Thursday, May 2, is the 2012 Lewis Mumford Lecture on Urbanism, to be given by Professor Marshall Berman. The 9th annual lecture is presented by the Graduate Program in Urban Design, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at City College of New York (CCNY), and will be held in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall at CCNY, Convent Hall at 138th Street. It's free, open to the public, and no reservations are necessary.



Previous Lewis Mumford Lectures:

2012 - Janette Sadik-Khan: "It's Not Impossible to Change a City"
2011 - Richard Sennett: "The Edge: Borders and Boundaries in the City" (video archive available)
2010 - No lecture
2009 - Paul Auster: "City of Words"
2008 - David Harvey: "The Right to the City" (audio podcast available)
2007 - Amartya Sen: "The Urbanity of Calcutta" (audio podcast available)
2006 - Enrique Peñalosa: "A New Urban Paradigm: Building a Just and Sustainable Metropolis"
2005 - Mike Davis: "Planet of Slums"
2004 - Jane Jacobs

A Closer Look at the Folk Art Museum

Finding myself in Midtown the other day I decided to walk by the former American Folk Art Museum and take some photos, considering MoMA is planning on demolishing the marvelous building designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. As I was snapping some photos from under the sidewalk shed across the street a lady stopped and we started talking about how much we both like the building and couldn't believe it would be torn down. She then thanked me for prompting her to stop and take a look, something she wouldn't have done otherwise.

Her words prompted me to take an even closer look at the distinctive Tombasil (alloyed white bronze) panels that comprise the distinctive facade. Below are three levels of details: The base of the building from across the street; a detail of a panel where the name of the museum used to be mounted; and a close-up of one of the big air bubbles created in the process of making the panel.


[Photos by John Hill]

Today's archidose #668

Here are some photos of the new "Printemps" shopping mall (2013) in Strasbourg, France, by Christian Biecher Architectes, photographed by shift.A.











To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:

:: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or
:: Tag your photos archidose

"The Most Important Room in the World"

The unveiling of the restored UN Security Council Chamber, what's called "the most important room in the world," happened earlier this evening. Below are some photos I took and some brief explanation of the original project and the ceremony.



The room, situated within the United Nations Conference Building, was presented to the UN as a gift from Norway in 1952. It was designed by architect Arnstein Arneberg, though most of one's attention is drawn to Per Krohg's mural that graces the east wall and serves as a backdrop for the members seated at the circular table.



Arneberg designed the room to embody the Norwegian art and culture of the time, though he also wanted a "character so neutral that it could withstand the test of time." While hardly timeless, the combination of modern architecture, a figurative mural, modern furnishings, and richly patterned wallpaper is a successful one that manages to exude calm and respect.



One detail pointed out both in the informative pamphlet and during the Norweigan Minister of Foreign Affairs' address is how the ashtrays (next to the microphones on the circular table, above) have been exchanged for data outlets; the detail is the same but the function under the black cover conveys the changes that have taken place in the last 60 years, or more accurately the last decade.



UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (below) addressed the packed house, saying (I think rather nicely and accurately) that "the room speaks to us in a language of dignity." Espen Barth Eide, the Norweigan Minister of Foreign Affairs, said later that the room is "an inspiring space for carrying out the UN's core tenets of peace and security."



Overlooking the circular table and large mural are about 20 rows of seats, half of them fixed red seats (the same as the ones flanking the circular table, visible in the second and second-to-last photos) and half of them folding green seats (below). In this upper section of the space the Damask wallpaper designed by Norway's Else Poulsson has a really strong presence. The original wallpaper was removed and remade as part of the restoration; one piece of the old wallpaper was made into a tie and given to Ban Ki-moon as a gift.



This last view of the UN Security Council Chamber shows the seats that flank the circular table. For some reason the photo does not capture the greenness of the wallpaper, but I think it reveals how the furnishings and materials manage to work together, even as the combination of modern, marble, and regular pattern blends some usually irreconcilable design features.



After the ceremony there were some drinks in the North Delegate's Lounge (below). I'm including this photo because it shows how many people turned out for the unveiling, and because of the view of the residential towers in Long Island City, Queens, thankfully filtered by some decorative hangings in front of the glass.

Monday, Monday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:

This week's dose features the Coach Flagship, Omotesando in Tokyo, Japan, by OMA:


The featured past dose is McCormick Tribune Campus Center in Chicago, Illinois, by OMA:


This week's book review is Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Architecture after Images by Edward Dimendberg (L):

(R): The featured past book review is Scanning: The Aberrant Architectures of Diller + Scofidio edited by Aaron Betsky.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

American-Architects Building of the Week:

Iowa Utilities Board – Office of Consumer Advocate in Des Moines, Iowa, by BNIM:

The Vienna Model

Tomorrow, Tuesday April 16, is the opening of The Vienna Model, an exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York curated by Wolfgang Förster and William Menking. The opening includes a panel discussion at 5pm (RSVP required) and a opening reception (no reservations required) following at 6pm. See below for more information on the exhibition that runs until September 2, 2013.



From the ACFNY exhibition page:

This exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents a survey of public housing design in the Austrian capital of Vienna curated by Wolfgang Förster and William Menking. The exhibition will feature 36 case studies in Viennese public housing, accompanied by a responsive series of images of artworks curated by the Austrian collaborative duo Sabine Bitter and Helmut Weber.

The City of Vienna has achieved extraordinary milestones with regard to public housing: today, about 60% of the Viennese population lives in municipally built, owned, or managed housing, and the city is clearly in control of the housing market. This stands in stark contrast to the United States, where, in most cases, the private market is the provider of housing and is often even relied upon to rehabilitate existing neighborhoods and create new communities. Vienna’s housing model contributes to a tangible positive impact; for the past four consecutive years, Vienna topped the Mercer “Quality of Living” survey as the city boasting the world’s highest quality of life in the world, was ranked second in The Economist’s 2012 “World’s Most Livable City”, and number eight in Monocle’s 2012 “World’s Most Livable Cities”.

This successful model dates back to the days of “Red Vienna”, in the early 20th century, when the socialist government took an active interest in designing for the masses. That interest has since evolved into a housing-policy that has produced works by a host of prolific architects and studios over the years, such as those of Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Richard Neutra, and Margarete Schütte Lihotzky.

The projects featured in The Vienna Model are characteristic for contemporary Viennese public housing trends, some little-known outside the city: The Kabelwerk Estate, which involved turning the grounds of an old electrical cable & wiring factory into an entirely new urban area (completed in 2007, Hermann & Valentiny & Partners, Mascha & Seethaler, Schwalm-Theiss-Gressenbauer, Martin Wurnig, pool Architektur, Werkstatt Wien Spiegelfeld, Holnsteiner & Co.). Other examples include an Inter-ethnic housing complex (Peter Scheinfinger and Partners, 1998-2000), Bike City (königlarch architects, 2005 - 2008), and the Sargfabrik (BKK-2, Johnny Winter, 1996 - 2001), a former coffin manufacturing plant turned into a housing complex: this project was planned by a residents’ group in Vienna’s densely built-up fourteenth district, and has since received international acclaim for its outstanding architecture as well as its social concept of introducing a new communal infrastructure into a low-profile urban area.