Month: July 2008

Another MDIM project highlighted on Curbed, this one at the corner of Driggs and North 12th (the smaller vacant lot facing McCarren – this by the way on the lone R7A block in the area, so relatively high density). And another winner – it will be very interesting to see this next to the Karl Fisher project going up on the lead paint factory site to the west.

I’d be interested to know who the developers are for these MDIM projects – they are obviously maximizing value, but doing so with an aesthetic that is decidedly a cut above the north Brooklyn norm.

Hertzberg:

As [Obama] whirled through Afghanistan and Iraq—talking with troops, huddling with generals, conferring with presidents and prime ministers—the policy dominoes suddenly began toppling his way, flicked by unexpected fingers. Commanders on the ground in Afghanistan made known their belief that more NATO troops are badly needed there, as Obama has been arguing all along. The Bush Administration sent an Under-Secretary of State to a meeting in Geneva with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, thereby edging toward the kind of direct diplomatic engagement with Tehran that Obama has been urging all along. The White House announced that President Bush and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had agreed on the idea of a “time horizon” for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, thus seeming to endorse the general approach that Obama has been advocating (and his opponent just as firmly rejecting) all along. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Maliki went stunningly further [and essentially endorsed Obama’s timetable].

Here’s my theory on the Bush administration’s embrace of Obama’s foreign policy: after almost 8 years of turning everything he touches to shit, Bush figures he’s bound to fuck all this up too. Hopefully, it will all be a complete mess by late October, at which point McCain/Bush can say “See, we told you Obama didn’t know what he was doing.”

Too clever by half, though, as Bush sure to screw up his plan to screw up Obama’s foreign policy talking points, thus making a success of Obmama’s foreign policy.

268 Wythe (MDIM Architects)
Photo: MDIM, via Curbed

Finally, some architecture for Williamsburg.

Via Curbed, we learn that MDIM Architecture is responsible for two new buildings now under construction. The above rendering is of 268 Wythe, at the corner of Metropolitan (and across the street from 80 Metropolitan (the former Dutch Mustard site)). Unlike 80 Met and just about every other building in Williamsburg, 268 Wythe will not be using gray brick. Shocking, yes.

Judging by the rendering, the screen wall seems to have a lot of similarities with what Norman Foster is proposing for 980 Madison Avenue. The material looks to be different (wood on Wythe?), but the concept looks to be the same: an adjustable array of louvers that forms the outer facade, with the operable window walls behind.

MDIM’s second Curbed site is at 50 North 1st between Wythe and Kent (also across the street from 80 Metropolitan). The renderings are less clear than Wythe, but this too seems to be using screening elements. The screen elements could well serve as shading (certainly at Wythe, less clear at North 1st) – does anyone know if either of these projects is looking for LEED certification?

Also of note is that MDIM did a study for 184 Kent (the Austin Nichols Warehouse). Their proposal called for a tall slab addition on the west end of the building, a clear riff on the massive sign that once graced that end of the building. Like the scheme prepared by Arquitectonica, this design shows some inspiration and attention to design. But it also goes a step further, and shows some attention to the history and context of the building.

And speaking of 184 Kent, is there an architect in the world that has not prepared a study for this building? I can name six off the top of my head that have worked on this project.

The MDIM site is worth a look – they have a lot of projects in Williamsburg, all of them decidedly not your typical gray brick and stucco north Brooklyn special. (Their list includes 131 Wythe, another personal favorite of mine, as well as 190 Green.)

Dines Farms was a fixture at the Greenpoint farmers’ market for years, even in the dead of winter when only three or four vendors would show up. They disappeared without explanation late last year, but now the Times tells us why: it turns out Mr. Dines was selling other people’s meat. This violates one of the most basic of Greenmarket commandments, so Dines was suspended from the Greenmarket program (Dines sold at 9 of the city’s 45 Greenmarkets). Too bad, as Dines’ replacement has a much narrower selection, and, anecdotally, seems to be a lot more expensive (and Dines was not cheap). Plus, the Dines guy at the Greenpoint market was a mensch.

Rededication at 306 Union.

Yesterday, St. Nick’s Neighborhood Preservation Corporation held a rededication for its property at 306 Union Avenue (WilliamsburgIsDead was there too). St. Nick’s acquired 306 Union from the City in the 1980s. They rehabbed the abandoned building using low-income housing tax credits, and turned it into a model housing development for formerly homeless residents. Those tax credits had a life span of 15 years, after which the property could revert to market-rate rentals.

This is where the waterfront rezoning comes in. One of the biggest selling points of the rezoning for long-term residents was the inclusionary housing bonus which, theoretically, would result in 33% of all new housing units being developed as affordable housing. Most famously, developers would receive a density bonus for developing new affordable housing (about 1.25 new market rate units for each affordable unit developed). But there was also a provision in the inclusionary program for the preservation of existing low-income housing units.

306 Union is the first projects to utilize this part of the inclusionary bonus. In return for additional floor area on a new development elsewhere in the neighborhood, St. Nick’s received money to rehabilitate and upgrade 306 Union. More importantly, by using the inclusionary bonus, St. Nick’s is committing to keep 306 Union affordable forever.

With the exception of waterfront developments like Northside Piers and the Edge, the inclusionary program has not yet resulted in large numbers of new affordable housing units. But it is resulting in the permanent preservation of existing affordable housing units throughout the neighborhood. 306 Union is just the first among these.

It was postponed last week (apparently because the developer was selling the property – does anyone have any further information on that?), but the Finger Building appeal at the Board of Standards and Appeal is scheduled to go forward this morning.

The hearing will be held at the BSA at 40 Rector Street, 6th Floor: Hearing Room E 10:00am. (Take the #1/ W/R train to Rector St. or the 4/5 trains to Wall St in Manhattan.)

A number of local politicians and churches are sponsoring a prayer rally and concert on 2 August to protest the recent spate of violence in the Southside. The rally will start at 5 p.m., at Continental Plaza at Roebling and South 5th Street.

Actually, they should put stores in the vacant stores at Williamsburg Houses.

Given all the talk of a lack of decent food buying options in public housing, why not put good supermarkets in there? Local residents won’t have to travel far for decent food, and a quality supermarket would even attract people from outside the given project, making the retail more viable and (theoretically) the goods more affordable.

Yes, affordable housing is important, but so too are good jobs and local groceries.

An architect, in the process of designing a very high-profile office tower in Manhattan, once told me about the elaborate, effective, and largely undetectable security measures that had been incorporated into the building. His client, a very high-profile financial concern, looked at the plans and announced that they needed the building surrounded in bollards. The client told the architect that they wanted something noticeable, something that would, ideally, send the opportunistic terrorist off to the next building.

This could get interesting.