Architecture firm RicciGreene builds on judicial reform brings human approach to courthouses, jails.

Onondaga County / City of Syracuse Courthouse, Syracuse, NY

Architecture firm RicciGreene Associates is collaborating on a jail complex in Denver that’s attractive enough to sit in the city’s downtown core—right next to the U.S. Mint building.

With its sleek design, and its absence of eyesores such as razor wire and barred windows, the Denver Detention Center won’t look like a jail at all, says Frank Greene, a principal at RicciGreene: “It will look like an art museum.”

Designing jails and courthouses that look and function better than traditional facilities has made 20-year-old RicciGreene a leader in the movement to design judicial buildings that emphasize conferences over confrontations and rehabilitation over punishment. The 35-person firm’s expertise puts it in position to continue its steady growth even as the economy falters.

“We made the choice to be an inch wide and a mile deep,” Mr. Greene says.

Design work for government buildings, schools and hospitals continues to grow. As of May, billings in that sector were up, while those from commercial and residential projects were sliding, according to the American Institute of Architects.

RicciGreene, which has offices on West 27th Street in Manhattan and in Lexington, Ky., has won raves from those who work within the legal system. The Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse, for instance, is “all very efficient, economically and security-wise,” according to Fifth District Administrative Judge James Tormey.

Full article via Crain’s New York Business

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Rotterdam Periscope – A Conversation

by Emiliano Gandolfi

Willem Jan Neutelings of Neutelings Riedijk Architects spoke with Emiliano Gandolfi, a correspondent for The Plan magazine, about the Dutch firm’s design approach as exemplified in the Shipping and Transport College in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. — Editor

Emiliano Gandolfi: Part of the gradual revitalization of the port of Rotterdam, the Shipping and Transport College is the ultimate “urban icon,” not at all what one would expect of a school building. How did it come about?

Willem Jan Neutelings: We had to bear in mind the particular character of the College, created 15 years before from the merger of several Dutch maritime training establishments. The new school brought many completely different functions under the same roof: mechanical workshops, virtual simulation labs, restaurants, gyms, offices, and classrooms. The result was a highly intricate program.

The College is also of international standing, so it was essential to develop a strong, recognizable image. Another key aspect was the need to maintain a visual reference with the port, its warehouses, silos and containers.

This led us to propose a tower shape in keeping with a port environment. The form brings together all the requirements of the brief and at the same time gave us a highly distinctive building whose cantilevered auditorium offers splendid views over the sea.   >>>

This article is excerpted from New Forms: Plans and Details for Contemporary Architects by The Plan, copyright © 2009

Skyscrapers as living organisms

David Fisher’s Dynamic Tower

This Dynamic Architecture building by David Fisher will be constantly in motion changing its shape. It will also generate electric energy for itself.  If you haven’t seen this vidio lately it’s worth revisiting (90 sec.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY0Uuyf8Xhw]

More via Dynamic Architecture