Videos

Wednesday, October 13th, 2021

In the Footsteps of Vitruvius…Design and Construction Durability Lessons Learned from the Hands-on Study of Two Thousand Years of Historic Construction with Matthew Bronski

Construction that is highly durable over the very long-term (e.g., centuries) is inherently sustainable. Despite major emphasis on sustainability in recent decades, we are in the midst of a widespread crisis of rapid building durability failures, with failures running the gamut from new wood-framed, spec-builder houses on Anystreet USA, to prominent commissions by “Starchitects” at major museums and university campuses. Yet, while many mid-to-late 20th century concrete structures are now experiencing severe deterioration, many ancient Roman structures, and later buildings from the medieval and renaissance periods have stood the test of time. Where did we go wrong? What do we fail to understand today about designing for durability? And what pertinent lessons, if any, can we derive from historic construction examples that have proven durable for many centuries?

In this slide lecture, Matthew Bronski, the 2009-10 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Rome Prize in Historic Preservation and Conservation, presented some key findings from his Rome Prize research project. His 10 month long Rome research project comprised hands-on study of approximately two dozen historic buildings in Italy, ranging from the 1st c. B.C. to the early 20th c., including buildings by Bernini, Borromini, Moretti, and others. His hands-on research (often on the scaffolds of buildings under restoration) diagnosed successes and failures in the durability of construction detailing, to derive lessons and general principles for designing buildings more durably (and hence more sustainably) today.

For the past 25 years, Matthew Bronski’s practice at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. in Boston has focused on investigating and diagnosing the causes and consequences of building envelope and structural problems in historic buildings, and designing sensitive and appropriate repairs and restorations/rehabilitations to solve those problems.

Matthew holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tulane University, a Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. in Historic Preservation also from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a Recognized Professional of the Association for Preservation Technology International (APTi).

Matthew has led SGH’s envelope investigation and restoration design efforts on numerous highly significant buildings, including over a dozen National Historic Landmarks. His recent projects include exterior restorations of Lowell House (c. 1929) and Harvard Hall (c. 1760) at Harvard University, the Boston Athenaeum (c. 1849), and H.H Richardson’s Trinity Church in Boston (c. 1877). At SGH’s in-house laboratory, he has supervised the analysis and testing of historic building materials including mortar, brick, sandstone, granite, marble, slate, clay tile, and historic glass. He has written and lectured extensively on topics ranging from preservation philosophy, to façade inspections of masonry buildings, to traditional slate, clay tile, and copper roofing. He has served as a guest lecturer or guest critic at numerous universities, including Harvard, MIT, UMass Amherst, and Yale.

Thursday, May 13th, 2021

Reawakening, A Lecture by David Rau
Hosted by the New Vitruvians, the emerging professionals of the ICAA New England Chapter

Architect David Rau presented “Reawakening,” a newly-expanded version of a brief TEDx Talk he first delivered at the TEDxRVA festival in Richmond, Virginia. This provocative and richly-illustrated presentation challenges current architectural theory dictating that new buildings must reflect the zeitgeist of their time, and then stakes out original territory vindicating Classical thought as a relevant - even vital - force in new contemporary architecture. The discussion hinges on the conventional notions of the future, where today’s culture might suggest an ever-accelerating advance toward modernity (based in part in 1920s Italian Futurism, but also postwar industrialization and popular culture, and the present ongoing technological revolution). By contrast, a review of the historic trajectory of architecture - and specifically the course of traditional building throughout the ages – reveals cyclical revivals of Classicism (or “recalls”), generally transmuted through the lens of new cultural imperatives, as can be seen in the birth of the Italian Renaissance, for instance. In charting a path forward, the talk concludes with a new vision of a sustainable, “whole architecture,” at once in sync with today’s millennial culture and American ideals of individualism and happiness, while also expressive of the ancient purposes of Classicism.

DAVID RAU, AIA
Hart Howerton, Principal
David is an architect whose unique, collaborative approach has attracted a diverse clientele that relies on his ability to bring together ownership, executive teams, and other stakeholders, while leading large, complex assignments worldwide for destination resorts, residential communities, cultural centers and urban infill developments.

Recent work includes two new U.S. locations for Hyatt’s luxury Miraval resort brand, as well as expansion of the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod, the repositioning of Harbour Town at Hilton Head Island and the new Outrigger Reef Hotel in Oahu, Hawaii. Prior work includes a private yacht club on Gibson Island in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay; a new Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Homestead resort in Virginia; and the repositioning of the iconic Grove Park Inn at Asheville. David’s international work includes The Belfry resort outside Birmingham, UK and a new residential community along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa.

A frequent lecturer, David recently led a panel on absolution through architecture at Congress for New Urbanism’s 26th congress and has delivered TED Talks as part of a regional TEDx event. He serves on the editorial board of The Classist, the national journal of the Institute for Classical Architecture & Art. His buildings and interiors have been widely published, in print and online and most recently, his work for Quirk Hotel in downtown Richmond, Virginia received widespread recognition, including in Condé Nast Traveler as one of the “Best New Hotels and Resorts in the World.”

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Medici Revisited: Tuscan Villas and Transplanted Englishmen by Cece Haydock
Hosted by the New England Chapter in partnership with The Magazine Antiques in collaboration with the National Chapter

The New England Chapter of the ICAA in partnership with The Magazine Antiques joined in celebration of Boston Design Week for this lecture by Cece Haydock, which details the fabulously wealthy Medici bankers towered over Tuscany during the Renaissance. With their riches, the princes built large villas with elaborate gardens just outside Florence. Medici, Castello, and Petraia are a few of the early country estates built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Four hundred years later most villas remained although in need of repair. New money arrived in the Tuscan hills as the expatriate Englishmen busied themselves renewing and creating magnificent gardens such as Gamberaia, La Pietra, I Tatti and Le Balze. Learn the history of Renaissance garden making and how it was interpreted by English gardeners of the early 20th century.

CeCe Haydock is a licensed New York landscape architect WBE and has practiced in the public as well as the private sector. She is a graduate of Princeton University (BA English), and received her master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry. A former New York City Parks Department site engineer, she was then employed by the firm, Innocenti and Webel in Locust Valley, NY, and later founded her own practice, Constance T. Haydock, Landscape Architect, P.C. For the past 25 years, she has been working on predominately residential projects, as well as municipal parks and commercial sites, using a classical design palette.

Currently, CeCe is SITES & LEED accredited, and is enlarging her practice to focus on sustainability and “green” building; she partners with Studioverde to provide SITES certification for large projects. A member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), she is also a member the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, the Edith Wharton Society and The Mount.

She is an officer of the ASLA national leadership sustainable group, a trustee of the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, NY, a member of the International Council of The Preservation Society of Newport County and a visiting lecturer at the New York Botanical Garden.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Martin Hedmark: A Modern Swedish Architect in America, a lecture by Eric Inman Daum, AIA

Martin Hedmark was a young Swedish architect who came to the United States in late 1924 to launch his career, primarily as an ecclesiastical architect for Swedish congregations and cultural institutions in America. His first commission was for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Providence. This unique building is an expression of two distinct early 20th Century Nordic architectural styles, the first, National Romantism was being supplanted by the second, Nordic Classicism, or Swedish Grace, around the time that Hedmark emigrated to the U.S. This lecture by Massachusetts architect Eric Inman Daum, will explore in depth Hedmark’s designs for Gloria Dei and touch upon other projects in New York, Worcester, Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey.

Daum, founding president of the New England Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art and a current board member, will discuss how these two Early Modern architectural styles exhibited in Hedmark’s work drew upon Swedish architectural history to address the demands of an increasingly industrialized and urbanized Sweden. Just as the Postmodern architects of the 1980s turned to History and ornament as a reaction to the corporate austerity of Mid-Century Modernism, the Nordic Classicists sought to reconcile their native architectural traditions with a developing modern state.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

The Miracle on 34th Street, with Richard Cameron

ReThinkPennStationNYC made a submission and presentation to the Empire State Development Corporation’s public hearing process for the Penn Station district in New York City in August of 2020. In it ReThink illustrated it’s proposals for a comprehensive transit plan for the tri-state region centered on the rebuilding of the McKim Mead and White train station and a new Madison Square Garden at Herald Square (along with three other possible locations). Entitled The Miracle on 34th Street the proposal has generated considerable interest and stands in direct opposition to the overdevelopment of the site by the ESDC, the Governor, and the developer of the site Vornado. Please join ICAA co-founder and partner of design firm Atelier and Company Richard Cameron for a presentation of ReThink’s latest proposals and a summary of the many problems and challenges posed by the ESDC’s current plans.

Richard W. Cameron is the founding partner of the design firm Atelier & Company. He is a co-founder of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. He was educated as an architect at the University of Toronto (B.Arch) and Princeton University (M.Arch). His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Architectural Digest, and numerous other publications.

Mr. Cameron has been involved for 30 years in the effort to Rebuild Penn Station–the advocacy project to replace the current Pennsylvania Station in New York with an adapted recreation of the original masterpiece designed by McKim, Mead, and White, which was demolished between 1963 and 1967. https://www.rethinkpennstationnyc.org/

Mr. Cameron lives in Garrison, New York.

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Gardens of the Arts & Crafts Movement, with Judith Tankard

English gardens from the Arts & Crafts era are jewels of early 20th Century design. Part of the same design movement that flourished in Europe and North America between 1880 and 1920, these gardens emphasized medieval and romantic styles. Designed on an intimate scale, they blurred the distinction between indoors and outdoors, and emphasized the symbiotic nature of the house and garden as a unified landscape. Many contained a series of distinct outdoor 'rooms' often delineated by hedges and embellished with whimsical topiary. Most had lavish plantings of perennials, ornamental shrubs, bulbs, and annuals—all massed for color, textural effect, and seasonal impact. Small structures, such as pergolas, arbors, sundials, and other traditional ornaments produced storybook-like gardens that referenced Old English manor house surroundings of the 17th Century.

In this illustrated lecture, Judith Tankard will give insight into the minds of the movement’s creative giants such as William Morris and Gertrude Jekyll, as well as lesser known designers such as Avray Tipping, Thomas Mawson, and Robert Lorimer. She will illustrate gorgeous National Trust gardens such as Hidcote, Standen, Snowshill Manor, Red House, and Kellie Castle, among others, and give visual tours of other stunning gardens, such as Hestercombe, Great Dixter, Gravetye Manor, and Munstead Wood. Tankard will show how these English models created a lasting impact on gardens across the pond, as American designers took inspiration from their British contemporaries.

Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

Panel: How to Hire the Right Designer

A distinguished panel of design industry leaders will discussed how to choose the best designer. The New England Chapter of the Institute of Architecture and Art and the Boston Design Center joined in celebration of Boston Design Week to hear an intimate group of industry professionals share their personal experiences and secrets on how they might interview other professionals within their own field and further, and explain the process that they go through to recommend other professionals to their clients to be part of the larger team.

ICAA New England Chapter president and architect David Andreozzi will hosted a fireside chat on Zoom with industry leaders including interior designer Suzanne Kasler in Atlanta, architect Anne Fairfax of Fairfax & Sammons in New York and Palm Beach, landscape architect Janice Parker in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Andrew Cogar, president of Historical Concepts Architecture and Planning in Atlanta and New York City.

Forming a design team is difficult because all designers are different! Most new to the process mistakenly rely on glossy magazines or a neighbor’s praise to choose a designer—but custom bespoke design does not come together that way. Rather than following, search for a designer that will best reflect your own design soul. Ask the important questions about the designer’s individual process, who will actually design for you at their office, and most importantly, their methodology of project administration. Build a team with like-minded professionals to guide you through the design and construction process and who will advise and shepherd you along the way. This team approach will not only meet your aesthetic desires, but also protect your resale with timeless rather than trendy solutions.

Aric Lasher

The 2018 Keynote Lecture was delivered at 1:00 pm at the Algonquin Club in Boston, by Aric Lasher, President and Director of Design at HBRA Architects in Chicago, where his projects have included buildings for government, cultural, academic and public institutions, residential projects, landscapes, renovations and restorations of historic structures. Recent work includes Yale University’s Bass Library, renovations at the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, The University of Notre Dame’s new Jenkins & Nanovic Halls, and renovation of Northwestern University’s iconic Deering Library. His interest in the evolution and planning of building ensembles is explored in his book, Plans of Chicago, which considers the legacy of planning innovation and the future of the city from an analytical and urban historical perspective. Mr. Lasher graduated from the College of Architecture, Art & Planning at Cornell in 1984 and has a Master of Fine Arts in film production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In addition to his work in architecture he has designed sets for numerous films including Minority Report, Pearl Harbor and What Dreams May Come. Aric’s professional affiliations include the Society of Midland Authors, the Art Directors’ Guild, the Society for College and University Planning, The Mies van der Rohe Society and the Society of Architectural Historians, where he serves on the Board of Directors. Mr. Lasher is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Duncan Stroik

The 2017 Bulfinch Awards Keynote Lecture, "Modern Principles of Classical Architecture Disproved by the Renaissance," was delivered at the Algonquin Club in Boston, by Duncan G. Stroik, a 2016 ICAA Ross Award winner, a practicing architect, an author, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. His award-winning work includes Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in California, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin, and Saint Joseph Cathedral in South Dakota.

The Bulfinch Awards morning lecture "In the Footsteps of Vitruvius; Design and Construction Durability Lessons Learned from the Hands-on Study of Two Thousand Years of Historic Construction," by Matthew Bronski, P.E. was held at the Algonquin Club in Boston. This lecture derived from Bronski’s 2009-10 Rome Prize project, where his hands-on research of buildings in Italy spanning over 2,000 years diagnosed successes and failures in the durability attributable to design and detailing, to derive lessons and principles for designing buildings more durably (and hence more sustainably) today.