The Epoch Times 0DUFK 5HDO(VWDWH
Thom Mayne: Pushing Architecture’s Nature
By CHARLOTTE
CUTHBERTSON
(SRFK7LPHV6WDൠ
“How do I develop a design
concept? I don’t.”
Architect Thom Mayne de-
cided early on not to worry about
aesthetics. Instead, his work is
steeped in solving problems,
putting together an incredible
group of solutions
to create build-
ings that are like
organisms.
“Whether we
like it or don’t
like it, who
cares? Does it
operate in an in-
teresting way?
Does it take you some
place in your brain? We should
be focused on issues that are of
some substance that represent a
connective tissue,” Mayne said.
He was speaking at the “Land-
marks in 21st Century American
Architecture” function in the
New York Center for Architec-
ture on March 5.
The Federal Building
The 2005 winner of the Pritz-
ker Prize has begun a collection
of edifices in different cities that
personify a movement that is
more about function than form.
The Federal State building in San
Francisco, completed in 2007,
was designed to consume less
than half the power of a standard
office tower. The building has no
air conditioning, rather relying
on an intricate system of a steel
screen, opening windows, undu-
lating concrete ceilings, and glass
fins to create natural ventilation.
“This was a gutsy building. I
wanted some sort of invention,
and that non-repeatability,”
Mayne said.
Despite its inherently energy-
saving nature, the building failed
the Leadership in Energy and En-
vironmental Design (LEED) cer-
tification that is designed to rate
buildings on their sustainability.
“We did this building and it
was super-green. And we be-
came greener than green because
we out-greened the green guys,”
Mayne said. He is supportive of
the LEED program, he said, but
a set of rules means architects
When Condominiums Are Just Not Selling
By CHRISTINE LIN
(SRFK7LPHV6WDൠ
NEW YORK—It’s getting
desperate out there. “Dramatic
200K price reduction”, “Big price
drop!!!”, “Huuuuggggee Price Re-
duction” are some of the adver-
tising cries in the Condos for Sale
section of propertyshark.com, a
multiple listing website.
The beleaguered condo busi-
ness is hurting, and experts say it
hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. While
unsold condos are languishing in
the market, everyone is looking for
a way to save the units from pro-
longed vacancy.
Developers’ Woes
Developers are taking conces-
sions in general, but many are
turning to creative alternatives in-
stead of simply taking a loss.
As reported by Crain Business
magazine, developer Toll Broth-
ers is using creative tactics to
lure buyers to its New York City
condominiums.
“On top of recent price cuts of
as much as 37 percent at its new
Williamsburg luxury condo One
Northside Piers, the big Horsham,
PA.-based developer is now offer-
ing home buyers the safety net of
hard-times mortgage insurance,”
Cucina Italiana
1356 First Avenue At 73rd
often then restrict themselves.
“The architects just then follow a
checklist.”
Not one to follow a checklist,
Mayne tends break norms rather
than follow them.
“If it’s actually disgusting to
you, it’s actually very impor-
tant—everybody needs buildings
they absolutely despise in the
city–that’s what cities are about,
right?”
Paris’ Phare Tower
The Phare Tower in Paris is
curvaceous—a departure from
the angled, blocks of steel that
have been more indicative of
Mayne’s work. Due to be fin-
ished in 2012, the tower will be
the tallest skyscraper in the city,
a few centimeters shy of the Eiffel
Tower’s top point. The roof will
be full of turbines that run gen-
erators for electricity, giving it a
shock of “hair.”
“The Paris building is soft,”
Mayne said. “I had an amazing
response to this building. You’ve
seen all that harder stuff. People
think it’s because I’m angry.”
The 65-year-old is intent on
looking for new ways of solving
problems.
“Architecture is not singular,
it is integrated. Any architect
knows you are putting together
multiple problems. And if you
can succeed at it you are dealing
with something that has incred-
ible complexity that deals with
15 problems or 100 problems
… and it makes architecture
unachievable.”
The new Cooper Union for the
Advancement of Science and Art
in New York’s Manhattan is an-
other of Mayne’s recent projects.
The plans include a glassy exte-
rior. “It was a real mark for me to
build on a little block in the mid-
dle of Manhattan. It’s really an
experience for me to build here.
It’s a symbol. Like all architec-
ture in history. I am very proud
of it,” he said.
Quality and Modernity
A little anecdote best sums up
Mayne’s view of his work.
In bidding for the contract for
the San Francisco Federal Build-
ing, he took a woman’s shoe
to the two-hour interview and
placed in on a stack of books.
Crain writes. “If a buyer loses his
or her job, the developer is offering
to make mortgage payments for
up to a year at all three of its New
York City luxury condos-North-
side, 5SL in Long Island City,
Queens, and 303 East 33rd in Kips
Bay, Manhattan.”
Units have also been repackaged
by people who are aiming to sell in
bulk. Eric Anton, is a principal at
Eastern Consolidated, an invest-
ment services firm. He said sell-
ing condo units by bulk is a choice
that more developers are turning
to as they find it more difficult to
unload their last stock.
Selling units in bulk is not
something new. It was popular in
the early 90s. Many investors who
made money last market are return-
ing to bulk, Anton said. “They’re
calling us saying, you know what,
we want to jump back in, because
we made a lot of money when we
bought on the down cycle,” he
said. “There are many foreign in-
vestors that like that business, be-
cause it’s easy to manage because
you don’t need to run the building,
you just operate your units within
the building.”
The Option of Repurposing
There is a need for affordable
housing in the city, and there are
Spacious and elegant
Upper East Side restaurant.
Available For Large Parties
(212) 772-8800
B5
THE MAN: Thom Mayne at the
Center for Architecture on March
5. CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
Near the end of the interview he
explained why it was there. Made
in Italy—a sure sign of quality.
Old style comfort built into a
modern-looking shoe. Prada—
an instantly recognizable brand.
Mayne was perhaps trying to
sum up his work, his values—the
Prada of architects.
The restrictions for architects
are many, Mayne said. Archi-
tects are “completely [bound]
by the perception of culture and
particular state of history. One
can be full flat out, go for it. And
right now it’s in China, Kuala
Lumpur... and it’s absolutely po-
litical, cultural, social,” he said.
“It’s why architecture is lo-
cated in certain places of the
world. It starts with that psycho-
logical state ... the notion of fail-
ure doesn’t exist.”
Thom Mayne was born in
Waterbury, Connecticut. He re-
ceived a Bachelor of Architecture
from the University of Southern
California (1969), and a Master
of Architecture from the Harvard
University Graduate School of
Design (1987).
Thom Mayne founded architec-
ture company Morphosis in 1972,
based in California and now New
York.
With Morphosis, Mayne has
been the recipient of the 2005
Pritzker Architecture Prize, 25
Progressive Architecture Awards,
75 American Institute of Architec-
ture Awards and numerous other
design recognitions. THE ARCHITECTURE: The Phare Tower in Paris is Mayne’s ‘soft’ building that includes turbines on the roof
Source: Morphosis.com to generate electricity. CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
condos that aren’t selling. Why not
kill two birds with one stone and
turn those condos into affordable
housing units? Assemblyman Ha-
keem Jeffries is advocating this
idea.
Jeffries has not penned any leg-
islation yet, but has tossed ideas
around with senior administra-
tion at the Housing Preservation
Department and the State’s Divi-
sion of Housing and Community
Renewal.
Some options they are looking
at include refinancing developers’
existing debt to reduce outstand-
ing liabilities on the building to
the point that it could be sold or
rented at a lower price, bonds from
the City and State, as well as en-
couraging banks to refinance the
properties.
In his district in Brooklyn, there
are vacancy rates of up to 50 per-
cent, Jeffries said. Many develop-
ers as well as some of Jeffries’ col-
leagues have expressed interest,
particularly in areas such as Fort
Greene, Harlem, and Bedford-
Stuyvesant, where a crop of con-
dos have sprung up recently, ac-
cording to Jeffries.
Though Jefferies will try to keep
developers’ interests in mind, their BUYING IN BULK: Bulk sales of unsold condominium units are becoming increasingly popular as developers
profit is not ultimately the point, look for ways to unload stock. GRAPHIC BY CHRISTINE LIN
he said. “Out interest is not to sub-
sidize developers or provide a soft The idea has backing by City building boom. est possible price, and make these
landing, but to provide affordable Council Speaker Christine Quinn “These vacant apartments now homes affordable for middle class
housing,” he said. “But if [a favora- and a few others in City govern- represent our best asset in the fight families to rent or buy. Using ex-
ble outcome for the developer] is a ment. Quinn said in her State of for affordable housing. isting funds we’ll add thousands of
byproduct, then I would say it’s a the City address recently, “Now So today we are announcing new affordable homes.”
good exchange. I’ve got nothing against high-end a new partnership between the Other purposes than affordable
“Some developers may find development. In fact, this Council Council and the Administration, housing can be found for unsold
themselves in default. In that case, approved much of it. But no one to turn these unsold apartments condos. Condos around the city
the government should be able to could have predicted this. Thou- into affordable homes. Where de- have been converted into such es-
step in and purchase the building sands of those homes never sold, velopers have units they cannot tablishments as hostels, schools,
at a discount,” Jeffries said. left like tarnished trophies of the sell, the City will negotiate the low- and veterans’ homes.