Exhibition
Featured Architects | In the Neighborhood
Featured Architects
Alchemy Architects, weeHouse — St. Paul, Minnesota
photography courtesy of Alchemy Architects
The Saturn weeHouse is a unit that represents the building block of Alchemy's modular program. Presenting the opportunity for an intimate tour of the work parallels the personal nature of the client's involvement in the design process. The weeHouse and 'not-so-weeHouse' as urban infill solution is explored through past and current projects, including a commissioned conceptualization for a Philadelphia neighborhood CDC... see Partnerships.
Elemental — Santiago, Chile
image courtesy of Tadeuz Jalocha and Cristóbal Palma.
Elemental is a 'Do Tank' that focuses on the design and implementation of urban projects of social interest and public impact. Since its initiation in 2003, the strong emphasis on research and development has resulted in innovative, yet affordable urban dwellings. Through engagement with Chilean government funding and subsidies and organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the prefabrication process has been repeatedly applied in the effort to overcome poverty and inequity.
Gans Studio & dArchitects, Habitat Home — New York, New York
rendering courtesy of Gans Studio and dArchitects
Commissioned for A Clean Break, this home is the first modern prefabricated home to be constructed for the Philadelphia chapter of Habitat for Humanity. This corner lot, two-story home meets all of Habitat's standards — including the Philadelphia chapter's mission to provide families with environmentally-sound solutions — by its LEED status. Through a highly efficient and cost-effective process, the home will be fabricated and placed in North Philadelphia in the coming year.
Interface Studio Architects — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
rendering courtesy of Interface Studio Architects
Philadelphia is a city of numerous vacant lots and houses. ISA has pursued a series of projects investigating approaches to housing that can exploit this condition. The exhibit will present work by ISA, for both for-profit and non-profit markets, that position pre-fab as a moving target that includes varying degrees of off-site building and field work. The investigation will be framed within the specific challenges and opportunities of the Philadelphia development landscape.
Studio 804, University of Kansas — Kansas City, Kansas
photography courtesy of Studio 804
The not-for profit, design/build program is a student led process that creates prefabricated architecture while responding to global problems of density and sustainability. In the past, Studio 804 has succeeded as the impetus of change in older neighborhoods throughout Kansas. Their most recent project, the Sustainable Prototype, is an Arts Center in tornado stricken Greensburg, serving as the first completed public facility. The LEED Platinum building uses many passive and active energy systems, as well as recycled materials from a reclaimed army ammunition building.
Sustain Design/Altius Architecture, MiniHome — Toronto, Canada
rendering courtesy of Sustain Design Studio
Featured at exhibition, the MiniHome SOLO is the first of three customizable models marketed as the 'urban rv,' a new concept for sustainable, efficient living. Sustain Design offers this off-grid, year-round dwelling as part of a larger Small Lot Ecological Communities development program that values green space over square footage — an interesting alternative to vacant land management whose suitability within Philadelphia will be explored.
In the Neighborhood
Bike Share Philadelphia — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Bike Share Philadelphia is a network of organizations and individuals working to bring community use bicycles to Philadelphia. Bike share programs provide bicycles to the public for free or little cost in order to encourage bicycling as a viable alternative form of transportation, to reduce traffic congestion and to enhance the livability of cities. An example of an IT-driven program will be present with prototype kiosk structures and bicycles.
Greensgrow — Philadelphia — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationally recognized as a model for urban farming, Greensgrow presents a vertical farming installation applied to a modified shipping container — a contemporary medium for modular building — that will later serve as a field office at their site in the Kensington section of the city. The project serves as an example of the possibilities of local food production — on an organizational or individual scale — within the density of the urban landscape.
Maruja Fuentes, Leaning Molds — Puerto Rico
photography courtesy of Maruja Fuentes and photographer, Tristan Reyes
Leaning-molds are an innovative furniture wall-system created for public spaces where, instead of sitting, an individual leans against it. It is composed of two molds made of recycled plastic that are identically shaped and fit together like puzzle pieces. Together they can transform a space creating infinite patterns either individually or in a composition.
Iannone Design — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
photography courtesy of Iannone Design
Eco-friendly material and finishing choices are at the core of Michael Iannone's furniture, incorporating them in new and creative ways that play off the dynamic contrast of manmade materials and organic ones, decorative craft and minimal design. The result is beautiful, functional furniture that is both timeless and innovative.
Inliquid — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
An architectural intervention by artist, Jessie Lehson investigates the means to reclaim unused landscapes and renew the urban habitat. Curated by Angela Jerardi of InLiquid, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting and promoting visual artists through exhibition opportunities, online exposure, and educational programs, while serving as a free, online public hub for arts information on Philadelphia and the region.
Daniel Michalik — Brooklyn, New York
photography courtesy of Mark Johnston
Michalik's sculptural furniture reflects his exploration of the unique qualities of individual materials. Featured is a seating collection made entirely of cork - a renewable, sustainable and recyclable material that, as naturally weather resistant, functions as well in the landscape as it does the interior.
Pie Studio — Miami, Florida
The furniture designs of Project Import Export manage to reflect a handmade and cutting-edge aesthetic at once. As with the full body of work, the outdoor pieces featured use natural and sustainable materials to create rich textures and organic forms.
SMIT — Brooklyn, New York
photography courtesy of Teresita Cochran c/o SMIT
Grow, a system of modular solar cells fixed to structural stainless steel mesh, was designed as an exterior wall application mimicking the delicate quality of ivy. A second iteration of these solar leaves also harnesses wind energy. Commissioned for the exhibition, Smit utilizes the system for a bus shelter construction which will provide shade during the day, a place to sit, and light at night. The power for the lights is produced by the photovoltaic leaves, and stored in an array of batteries housed in the bench which includes outlets to charge phones, computers and other electronics.