The renewed Stone Hall, a student residence that forms part of Harvard University's Quincy House, recently received a LEED Platinum rating, the highest level of sustainable building certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. As the first in a series of House renewal projects at Harvard, Stone Hall sets an important benchmark for the 2.5 million square feet of renovations that will follow. In addition to meeting ambitious sustainability goals, the renewal preserves Stone Hall's historic architectural character and the "House culture" of the 80 year-old residence.
A new light court replaces an under-utilized alleyway between the dining hall and new common spaces at McKinlock Hall.
At Harvard University, McKinlock Hall (part of Leverett House) reopened to the student community in August following significant renovations. The Harvard Crimson reports that the 165-bed residence hall, the second Harvard House to be renovated under the House renewal program, has been drawing praise from students for its modernized bedrooms and social spaces, including the lower-level spaces dubbed "the Rabbit Hole" (the house mascot is the rabbit).
Glowing glass pavilions at Dilworth Park welcome commuters to underground transit in Center City Philadelphia.
Dilworth Park had its ceremonial opening last week, with a ribbon cutting by Mayor Michael Nutter, who called the renovation “one of the most exciting things to happen in Philadelphia in the past 50 years.” Now, two-thirds of the site adjacent to Philadelphia's City Hall is complete, and the remaining elements will be completed in about six weeks. KieranTimberlake worked on the project in partnership with Urban Engineers and Olin.
Urban Engineers recently released a video of the new Dilworth Park featuring interviews with Philadelphians who expressed their reactions to the new public space, which had its opening on September 4. Urban Engineers worked in partnership with the design team from KieranTimberlake and landscape architects from Olin.
This GIS image shows the Morgantina excavation site in central Sicily. Morgantina reached its peak in the third century BCE thanks to its fertile, grain-producing territory and its likely association with the wealthy empire based in Syracuse—the setting of Archimedes’ famous bathtub discovery of density. With no modern city standing above Morgantina, the site provides one of the better records of the prosperity and the elaborate urban infrastructure achieved in its time. Remains include a large agora, Greek theater, large courtyard houses with early mosaics, and one of the earliest bath complexes, with an elaborate hypocaust system for underfloor heating.
For the past eight years, KieranTimberlake architect James Huemoeller has spent part of each year supporting the archaeological excavations for the Contrada Agnese Project (CAP), directed by Alex Walthall (University of Texas), at the ancient site of Morgantina in central Sicily. James' work developing and implementing data recording and management methods for the excavation continues a tradition started by the Renaissance architect Raphael, who advocated for the systematic recording of ancient ruins to preserve knowledge for future generations in a letter to Pope Leo X.
The layout of the Building Information Model (BIM) represents an ideal configuration of a theoretical Mars base designed by Dr. Kerry Joels, president of the non-profit Total Learning Research Institute (TLRI) and a former NASA scientist. The 3D digital representation of the facility will be used to generate facilities management challenges for students.
A team from KieranTimberlake, along with partners Gilbane Building Company and Travis Alderson Associates, recently completed a Building Information Model (BIM) of a virtual base on the planet Mars. The model will be an integral part of the Mars City Facility Operations (Ops) Challenge: a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program designed to engage high school and community college students with building sciences and spark their interest in careers in the field. Participating students will act as facility managers responsible for maintaining the base and will develop their teamwork skills as they handle building systems issues that arise.
Renovation work at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of Philadelphia's cultural district is nearing completion, and Volver restaurant, operated by chef Jose Garces, has recently opened. KieranTimberlake is responsible for designing the new space, with Marguerite Rodgers leading interior design for the restaurant.
The new Volver restaurant is located at the site of the former gift shop. Entered directly from the street or from within the Kimmel Center, the dining room and bar face Spruce Street, with fully glass walls extending into the sidewalk to engage the streetscape and enliven the presence of the building. With interiors by the designers for nationally-acclaimed restaurants Fork, Lacroix, Striped Bass, and XIX, it is an inviting, urbane space that incorporates bespoke furnishings, cabinetry, and artwork by local craftspeople to create the intricately detailed atmosphere that Marguerite Rodgers is known for.
It was announced today that KieranTimberlake has been selected to design a new building for the expanding School of Engineering at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The building will include cutting-edge laboratory facilities as well as spaces for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
As we celebrate our 30th year in practice, we revisit some of our past works to see how they have matured and uncover what we can learn from them today.
By Fátima Olivieri Completed in 2003 as part of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall is a 48,000 square-foot addition that adjoins two historic structures, the Graduate Research Wing of the Moore School and the Towne Building. This new structure was built as a home for the Department of Computer and Information Science, providing much-needed faculty offices, labs, classrooms, and student amenities such as the Wu and Chen Auditorium, Weiss Tech House, and a café.
With Levine Hall, the university wanted to amplify the work of the School of Engineering and demonstrate its pioneering spirit through architecture. KieranTimberlake proposed a narrow, 6-story, bridge-like addition that would connect the existing buildings and minimize the footprint at street level. Expansive glass curtainwalls were used as the primary facades to make the activities inside the building visible to all and to maximize light and view on a dense urban site.
The 14th Annual Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale runs from June 7 to November 23, 2014. This year's Biennale includes 65 participating countries.
A mock-up of the marquee we designed for the Suzanne Roberts Theatre in Philadelphia is on display at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. The exhibit, called Elements of Architecture, includes the fundamentals of buildings anywhere on earth: floor, wall, ceiling, door, etc. Within the room dedicated to "Facades" are twelve assemblages, including the theater marquee, that have been developed over the course of the past century—from all-glass to curtainwall to green facades.
Zahner, an American engineering design consultancy and fabrication shop, constructed both the mock-up and the actual marquee in its Kansas City factory. Made of interference-coated stainless steel, the curvilinear marquee appears to change colors from different angles and in different lighting conditions. Its dynamic, billowing shape further exaggerates its material ambiguity.
