Architecture

U-M’s Barbour, Newberry dorms prove long-lasting worth

By Newsroom

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February 17, 2010

Two of the University of Michigan's most unique dormitories once again proved their resilience as Betsy Barbour and Helen Newberry continued to hold their historic ground in a campus forever modernizing its student-housing options.The two mansion-style dorms across State Street from the Diag date from the early 20th Century and today house 221 students between the two of them. The period architecture makes the buildings easily mistaken for a fraternity or sorority.They stand in contrast to the beehive of housing that is the university's quads and Hill area dorms. In fact the university decided last week to let Barbour keep its dining facilities instead of moving them to the nearby, nearly finished North Quad. Barbour and Newberry have been able to avoid consolidation into larger dorms by carving out a niche, serving as a female-only dorm with a down home feel."It's so home like," says Ankita Mohanty, a senior with a major in psychology at U-M who has lived in Newberry for three years. "Even the lighting is a little different, a little home like. It makes us feel like we’re in a house more than a dorm."Mohanty points out that the "beautiful" architecture and high interaction between students helps improve the student living experience by providing another living option. The near constant interaction between students who live there helps encourage a more personal bond."When I leave the resident hall I am leaving a very comfortable space," Mohanty says. "Coming back is like coming back to friends and family."Source: Ankita Mohanty, student at the University of Michigan and Peter Logan, spokesman for the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Latest in Architecture

New Ann Arbor B&B plans to rebuild historic house

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 3, 2010

A new type of demolition/rebuild is about to take place just north of downtown Ann Arbor, turning a little house into an ultra-sustainable bed and breakfast.Lansing-based Against The Grain has made plans to convert a late 19th Century home on Fourth Avenue near Wheeler Park into a greener-than-thou bed and breakfast this year for the woman who lives there. "It's a very cool house," Belous says. "We're going to save as much as we can. What we can't save we're going to reuse."The 1,800-square-foot farm house was moved to its current location in the 1920s. It will be deconstructed into a 2,800-square-foot B&B complete with organic garden. The owner plans to also hold organic cooking classes.The $350,000 investment will create a colonial-style home with columns and other architectural details that fit in with the historic neighborhood. The project is expected to take one year to complete.Source: Jason Belous, owner of Against the GrainWriter: Jon Zemke

Hobbs+Black nails down big architecture projects

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 3, 2010

Projects continue to roll on at Ann Arbor's Hobbs+Black Architects, allowing the downtown-based firm to not only maintain its staffing levels but look to 2010 as a year for staff growth.That's no easy feat in the architecture game where building has all but ground to a halt. That toxic environment has led more and more firms to either freeze hiring, lay off architects or even declare bankruptcy in the case of Yamanski Associates (of World Trade Center fame). Hobbs+Black, however, is on a different trajectory. "We have a couple of significant projects outside of the state," says Ellin Callahan, vice president of marketing and business development at Hobbs+Black Architects. "We are very fortunate."Among those projects are a few blockbusters, including a $1 billion development in downtown Salt Lake City and a $120 million project in Tucson, Arizona. The firm is also the designer behind the dynamic Dearborn Towne Center development in Dearborn's east downtown."We are very excited about that project," Callahan says. "We feel it will bring some new life to that older section of Dearborn."All of this work has allowed Hobbs+Black to maintain its staff of 90 people and a few interns at its three offices, including 65 people in downtown Ann Arbor. The company expects to maintain those levels this year and even begin hiring again later in 2010 as it continues to pursue more work."We are seeing opportunities at the federal level, especially in the Veterans Administration," Callahan says.Source: Ellin Callahan, vice president of marketing and business development at Hobbs+Black ArchitectsWriter: Jon Zemke

Watch renovations for Ypsilanti Freighthouse project

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Arts & Culture

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January 20, 2010

Ypsilanti's Freighthouse has been slowly but steadily improving in recent years, but some local stakeholders have put together a animation of what the rest of the historic building's rebirth should look like. Check it out here.

Video Jacobsen Daniels: Planning Airports and the Aerotropolis

By Keith Jefferies

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Arts & Culture

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November 18, 2009

In eight years this airport planning firm has grown more than ten fold, bought a building in downtown Ypsilanti and count many of the nation's biggest airports as their clients. From internships to aerotropolis development, Jacobsen Daniels is not only the kind of new economy business Michigan needs more of, they are passionately invested in their community's future.

U-M prof’s HOT AIR exhibit celebrates fall of communism

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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November 11, 2009

Thirty six years ago Anca Trandafirescu's family fled communist-controlled Romanian when she was six years old. Today the assistant professor of architecture at the University of Michigan has returned an artistic hero.Trandafirescu is the designer and fabricator who made the HOT AIR exhibit happen in Timisoara, Romania. The giant inflatable head exhibit celebrated the fall of communism 20 years ago by placing a giant inflatable head laying on its side in Victory Plaza where the revolution began."It looks like what a fallen statue would look like when a regime is toppled," Trandafirescu says. "Like when revolutionaries topple the statues of the old regime and drag them out of the square."The exhibit measured 12 meters long and five meter high. The face was not of anyone in particular, although some compared it to Lenin's face. It remained in the square from Nov. 3-7 to mark the revolution. It's called HOT AIR because heat was rationed in those days and it was unusually warm during the revolution."It helped people stay outside longer," Trandafirescu says.The exhibit was funded with $6,700 in grants, including $3,200 from the University of Michigan. The head is in transit back to the U.S. and will go on display over the next few years to commemorate the fall of communism in Romania.Source: Anca Trandafirescu, assistant professor of architecture at the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M hosts design leaders with Future of Design conference

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 30, 2009

Famous architects and designers will converge on the University of Michigan next week for the university's Future of Design conference on Oct. 9-10.About 30 people who dabble in design in one way or another will talk about where design is heading in the near and long term at U-M's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Participants will include architects, landscape architects and designers in the interactive, industrial and interior industries. Attendees making presentations include the dean of Princeton's School of Architecture, managing director of Goldman Sachs, along with the editor and chief of Architect Magazine and Metropolis.The event is free and open to the public. The 15-minutes presentations will be recorded and put on YouTube as of Oct. 19. For information, click here.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s MidMod builds prototype of new sustainable home

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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June 17, 2009

It's going to take more than a cookie cutter to construct the homes that Ann Arbor-based MidMod wants to build. And they promise to be a whole lot more unique.The University of Michigan spin-off is developing a pre-manufactured modular home that can be used to create sustainable, multi-unit housing. The 3-year-old firm uses a unique steel frame and decking system to create flexible modular units that can be stacked into things like apartment buildings."It would start at seven floors and go even higher," says Harry Giles, founder of MidMod and an architecture professor at the University of Michigan.MidMod is building a full-scale prototype at the university. It expects to finish this demonstration unit by the end of the year where it will demonstrate how easily it can be manufactured and how sustainable it is."It's highly energy efficient," Giles says. "We're incorporating state-of-the-art sustainable strategies."Source: Harry Giles, founder of MidModWriter: Jon Zemke

AIA Mich recognizes Ann Arbor’s Traverwood library for design

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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June 10, 2009

The Ann Arbor District Library's Traverwood branch looks like something that could be featured in Dwell or URBANLAND, which is why the American Institute of Architects Michigan chapter recognized it for its design.The AIA award jury describes Traverwood as a project that "shows a great sensitivity towards the timeless hallmarks of great design: space, materiality, lighting, form. The detailing is excellent; inventive design combined with rigorous execution."Put more simply, think modern, contemporary design, and lots of it. The library is truly a modern art masterpiece without the snideness that comment inspires. The Ann Arbor District Library built the library on four acres of green space at the southwest corner of Traverwood Drive and Huron Parkway. Northville-based inFORM studio tried to incorporate as much of the surrounding area into the design as possible.First it chose a corner of the green space so as not to disturb the rest of the natural area. It also used dying ash trees on the property to for everything from paneling to flooring to structural columns in the new library."If we're going to build here we need to be as respectful as possible," says Cory Lavigne, design director of inFORM studio.He describes the library as the urban edge or nose guard protecting the rest of the green space. He also says his firm tried to make the design complement the landscape.Source: Cory Lavigne, design director of inFORM studioWriter: Jon Zemke

Damian Farrell Design adds positions, plans to hire more

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Arts & Culture

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June 10, 2009

Damian Farrell wanted to become his own boss so badly he did it twice. The owner of Damian Farrell Design Group started the company in 1992, sold it after a couple of heart attacks and went to work for someone else in 2002 before restarting again last summer."I had always wanted to be on my own," Farrell says. "I really wanted to focus on the type of architecture that interests me."He restarted with two full-time employees and a part-timer last July. Today the downtown Ann Arbor-based company employs five people and two independent contractors. It just hired a former intern that graduated from college and expects to hire another person within the next six months.Damian Farrell has done a lot of high-end residential design work, including Plymouth Green Crossings. He also helped design the new Evans Scholars house and Arlington Square development while working for another company.One of the firm's main focuses is consulting with schools, local governments and corporations to make them more energy efficient. The company creates a financial and energy master plan so its client know how much to invest in what type of efficiency-creating technology."There are huge savings to be had," Farrell says. "This could help keep programs and even schools open."Source: Damian Farrell, owner of Damian Farrell Design GroupWriter: Jon Zemke