Center for Architecture

Operated by the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Center for Architecture is located in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village at 536 LaGuardia Place, between West 3rd Street and Bleecker Street in New York City (USA). In recent years, the center has become an increasingly important cultural institution through its revolving exhibits on architecture, urban planning, urban design, and environmental planning. The center also offers an extensive calendar of seminars, public feedback forums, project unveilings, and educational programs. The Center also keeps an online monthly [http://www.aiany.org/calendar/ calendar] of events and changing exhibitions.

The Center for Architecture opened to the public in October, 2003.

Partner organizations housed at the Center for Architecture

The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Founded in 1867, the AIA New York Chapter is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA New York Chapter is dedicated to three goals: public outreach, professional development and design excellence. The Chapter's members include 3,200 practicing architects, allied professionals, students, and public members interested in civic design. To fulfill its mission, the Chapter sponsors an array of programs that explore the role of architects in housing, planning, historic preservation, and urban design and hosts an annual Design Awards Program to recognize excellence in these areas. In addition the Chapter publishes a magazine, OCULUS, an electronic newsletter e-OCULUS, coordinates the activities of more than 24 standing and special committees and works with its charitable affiliate the New York Foundation for Architecture to provide scholarship and educational opportunities to students and the general public.

The Center for Architecture Foundation(formerly New York Foundation for Architecture)The mission of the Center for Architecture Foundation is to promote broader appreciation of the influence of architecture in shaping our city. The Foundation embodies the highest aims of the original and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The Foundation's activities focus on public education, research and scholarship:"Education": Learning By Design:NY, the premier program of the Foundation, reaches K-12 school children through built environment education programs. Through workshops, classroom residencies and programs for educators, we work with more than 3,000 students each year. The Foundation also reaches a large and diverse adult audience through public presentations and educational seminars."Research": By encouraging and sponsoring promising research, we partner with individuals and organizations that are enhancing awareness of the built environment. We support projects that promote our mission and whose products should be available to the public."Scholarship": We seek to break barriers within the field by awarding scholarships and grants for the study of architecture and the designed environment. Our annual scholarship awards focus on emerging architectural writers and students enrolled in architectural programs at schools in New York State.

American Society of Landscape Architects New York ChapterThe purpose of the ASLA New York Chapter, as stated in its Constitution, "...shall be the advancement of education and skill in the art of landscape architecture and the promotion of the profession of landscape architecture as an instrument of service in the public welfare, and to this end the Chapter shall seek to effectuate within the Chapter territory the aims and policies of the American Society of Landscape Architects..."

Structural Engineers Association of New YorkSEAoNY is a member organization of the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. The purpose of SEAoNY is to advance the art of structural engineering in New York by improving the flow of ideas and building the community of colleagues.

The association sponsors workshops, panel discussions, lectures and seminars with the aim of addressing topics of interest and concern to structural engineers. Our membership, which is over 500 members, includes individuals from most major structural engineering design firms in New York State.

SEAoNY also reaches out to other professionals, outside the engineering community, who work in related fields with common interests. Currently, 10% of our membership are affiliate members who come from a variety of disciplines such as geotechnical, civil, construction management and architecture.

The Geothermal System at the Center for Architecture

In the summer of 2003 the geothermal system for the Center for Architecture was installed. For three weeks, construction crews drilled two wells, each 1,260 feet (~ 384m) deep beneath the sidewalk. After drilling through layers or gravel, pea stone, over burden soil and bedrock, the wells were connected to make a closed loop system. The geothermal system consists of 6 inch diameter pipes, heat exchangers and pumps for groundwater to flow through.

The geothermal system cools the Center for Architecture during warm weather and heats it during the cold months by circulating water through heat exchangers. The system is based on the fact that the earth’s temperature at a thousand feet below Manhattan is a constant 52° Fahrenheit (11° Celsius). Using that principle, the heat exchangers use the temperature of the water to cool (or heat as demand requires) the air released into the 12,000 square-foot (~ 3,658 m²) facility through air ducts. Air is blown over the chilled or heated water before traveling into the galleries and office spaces.

Two other notable examples of geothermal installations in New York City are the Cook + Fox Front Street retail and residential development in southern Manhattan and the Full Spectrum affordable housing project, 1400 on Fifth Ave. Both buildings use similar geothermal systems and other environmentally friendly elements such as recycled materials, green roofs and photovoltaics to reduce energy consumption. In addition to being a forerunner of geothermal installations in Manhattan, it is the first publicly accessible system in New York City. The system regulates the air temperature in the building by circulating groundwater in a closed loop system of pipes and heat exchangers.

ee also

*List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
* [http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/newsletter eOCULUS] - e-zine that highlights many events and lectures at the Center for Architecture.

External links

* [http://www.aiany.org/ Official website]