Chad Smith | USA Character Blog

Beach House Modernism, 21st Century Edition.

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:30:00 -0500

The 21st Century has seen a revival of the modern beach house, including a sustainable version. The Genus Loci House, designed by Bates Masi Architects, sits more in the Long Island landscape of sand and dunes than anything built since Horace Gifford's houses in the 1960s and 1970s. On the approach to the house, it appears to be two low barns hugging the hill. However as one gets closer, the entire landscape unfolds, and the interconnection between the main buildings and the beautifully designed outdoor elements (pool, porches) becomes apparent. This is a house for those who love to be outdoors.

It's Character Approved because it's gorgeous, and it's as close to living on the sand as you can get without pitching a tent.

[Image: Bates Masi Architects]

The Dream of Dream Downtown Hotel

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:30:00 -0500

Finishing what they began a decade ago, Handel Architects has completed the final phase of Dream Downtown Hotel. Converting the 1960s porthole-window structure made for a gaga moment in Lower West Manhattan when the hotel opened ten years ago: it set off the craze of renovating quirky, dilapidated buildings into quirky, modern hotels. Yet no quirky loft building can hold a candle to architect Albert Ledner's round-windowed original.

The most recent phase of this project was to sheathe the original structure in a gorgeous, dot-perforated stainless steel skin, causing the original gestures to literally sparkle. The hotel now operates as an expanded whole, with a complex of restaurants, bars, and nightclub spaces to provide a complete pleasureland. For restoring a run-down building back to its original fashionability, the Dream Downtown Hotel project is Character Approved.

[Image: Branden Kayko via A/N Blog]

The New Factory For Art

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:00:00 -0500

Bethlehem Steel was a powerhouse manufacturer of steel in its day. Having visited it shortly before it closed, I can tell you it was a wonder of the world. The scale of the smelters, the heat of molten steel--it felt like visiting the center of the earth, or the interior of a volcano. Since it closed in 2003, the factory site has begun development on several projects, including a contemporary performing arts center called the ArtsQuest Center. That building, designed by Spillman Farmer Architects, has won the Pennsylvania American Institute of Architects Silver Medal, its highest honor.

The award is well deserved. The building is composed of fairly raw materials: steel, concrete, glass, and some wood. Almost every inch of steel is painted a bright, tangerine orange, highlighting the steel history of the site while at the same looking forward. The steel detailing comes to the forefront, and all of the structural load calculations, design drawings, bolt sizing, weld notes, and shop fabrication drawings are visitble in the dance of steel detailing that permeates the center. It is a truly awesome and Character Approved backdrop for the performing arts, and there is nothing like it anywhere else.

[Image: Paul Warchol Photography via Bustler]