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By: Seth Wentz, AIA, YAF Chairman
Young Architects are the future of Architecture and our local chapter has some truly outstanding Young Architects. You work beside them every day, volunteer with them after hours, and watch them mentor to those still going through the licensure process. It's time to show them that their exemplary performance in architecture, leadership, vision and community service is appreciated.
Central PA AIA is now accepting nominations for the Central Pennsylvania 2012 Young Architect Award. This award will be presented at the Design Awards Ceremony on October 4th, 2012. While the award has been established in our chapter for over a year, the 2012 recipient will be the first to be awarded this honor.
If there is a newly licensed architect that you feel deserves recognition for their contributions to the profession please consider nominating them. The recipient of this award will be recognized as a unique member of our society who has gone above and beyond for our profession, inspiring other like members to follow their example.
Nominations must be received no later than 5pm on September 13, 2012 to be eligible.
*Remember, the member category "Young Architect" includes anyone who has been licensed 10 years or less. This is not an age specific award.
For more information, please review the
Submission Requirements and Nomination Form. |
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An Obligation to His-story |
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By: Rich Gribble, AIA, President
I recently had the opportunity to talk with author Ken Frew about his book, "Building Harrisburg, The Architects and Buildiers 1719-1941". Many of you probably remember that the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was one of the many financial sponsors that made the publication of this book possible. Ken worked on it for nearly 30 years, so when it was finally published in November of 2009 it was a great relief for him. You might wonder why the book took so long, but researching history takes copious amounts of time and energy, and with Ken's strong commitment to tell an accurate story, the time passed by quickly. Ken mentioned to me that he once spent several weeks trying to accurately determine if an event occurred in May or June of 1889. But it is because of this attention to detail that the book has become a one of a kind history of Harrisburg.
The book originally started out as a small biography on Harrisburg architect Charles Howard Lloyd, but Ken soon realized that the story had to be expanded to fully appreciate all of rich architectural history that Harrisburg has to offer. Ken explained how the more he researched a building and its architect and builder; the more he wanted to know. In some cases the architect or his family were still in the area and were happy to meet with Ken. I joined Ken on one of these visits back in 2008 to meet with Dean Minick. His father Jim Minick was labeled as Harrisburg's first modernist architect for the two story home he designed for himself and his family in Camp Hill. It was great to talk with Dean and hear the stories about his father first hand. Sadly Dean passed away last October, but the stories he shared had a lasting effect on Ken and I. Thinking back to it now, and talking about it with Ken, I understand what Ken means when he says he felt an obligation to tell the story about these men and their lives as accurately as possible.
Kens book was very well received by Harrisburg's community of historians, architects and builders, as well as by the public at large. He never expected he would be asked to sign so many books, or that so many people would actually be interested in it. He also never expected that the small book he started writing about Charles Howard Lloyd thirty years ago would mean so much to two women from South Carolina, who with no knowledge of the book or Kens work, wondered into the Dauphin County Historical Society in Harrisburg, where Ken works as the librarian, in search of information about their grandfather architect Charles Howard Lloyd. They asked Ken if he knew anything about Mr. Lloyd. Ken had about thirty years worth of stories to tell them. |
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By: Rich Gribble, AIA, President
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Scholarship recipient Elizabeth McIlany and fellow students at the coliseum in Rome, Italy. |
Last year the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the AIA awarded its first scholarship to Elizabeth McIlany. She is an architecture student at Temple University, and York Suburban High School graduate. She applied her scholarship funds toward international cultural design research during a pivotal semester abroad at Temple University's Rome campus. Of
 | | Scholarship recipient Elizabeth McIlany, working on an architectural model |
her time in Rome, she said, "I am truly grateful for the opportunity that this scholarship is affording me. This semester has been an amazing experience thus far, and the most eye opening experience in my life as a designer." Elizabeth is an active participant in Habitat for Humanity, American Institute of Architecture Students and Freedom by Design at Temple University. She will be an excellent addition to the profession and activist for the positive contributions that Architects can make within our communities. We look forward to catching up with her when she is back in central Pennsylvania to hear more about her studies in Rome.
For more information on how you can get involved with the Central PA Architects Foundation Fund Scholarship, please contact AIA Central PA. To donate to the scholarship, please click on the advertisement above. |
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By: Scott Butcher
In the history of York County, the Dempwolf name has been associated with great architecture more than any other firm or individual. John Augustus Dempwolf established a practice on Centre Square and quickly became York's most prominent architect, designing landmark buildings from the 1870s into the 1920s. But J. A. Dempwolf was not just the name of a man: it was also the name of his architectural firm. His brother, Reinhardt and son, Frederick were key elements to the firm's great success. Many younger architects mentored under the Dempwolfs then later formed their own companies, contributing greatly to the built environment in York and beyond.
John Hamme and Edward Leber worked for Dempwolf in the latter part of the nineteenth century, establishing their own firm, Hamme & Leber, in 1900. Hamme first joined the Dempwolf practice in 1881, then left to attend Cornell University. After graduation, he returned to Dempwolf, only to leave again to work in Seattle. He later returned to York and J.A. Dempwolf. His partner, Edward Leber, was nine years younger and not yet 30 years of age when he co-founded Hamme & Leber. Together they designed the George Motter & Sons factory on West Princess Street (today the Agricultural & Industrial Museum), several schools - including Harley, Lincoln and Noell Schools, and residences in Springdale. One of their earliest commissions was to design a major renovation and expansion to the Edwin Myers residence east of York City. That building is known today as the Meadowbrook Mansion.
Harry E. Yessler was another architect who apprenticed with the Dempwolf practice then went out on his own, establishing a firm with his son, Russell. While with Dempwolf, Yessler was heavily involved with designing a mansion for the Emerton family. The building still stands and is better known as the Hahn Home, one of Dempwolf's most notable commissions. Yessler designed several churches, including Heidelberg UCC on West Philadelphia Street, but was better known as an architect of domestic architecture. He designed homes in the Springdale neighborhood and was heavily involved with the planning of the Elmwood neighborhood, designing many of the residences that followed. The father and son Yessler team brought Spanish Colonial Revival to York, especially in the Elmwood neighborhood.
Robert A. Stair learned the practice of architecture working in the Dempwolf firm. In 1905 he established a practice on East Market Street. He designed several private residences in Springdale, but it was his work as architect of Eltham, the S. Fahs Smith estate, that elevated his status as an important architect. He also designed Edgar Fahs Smith and Phineas Davis Junior High Schools. While he sometimes competed against his former employers, he also maintained a close relationship with them. Stair and Frederick Dempwolf teamed together on a number of projects, including design of York City Hall. With former colleague Edward Leber, Stair and Dempwolf designed a new building for the Country Club of York.
William Billmeyer is not as well known today as some of the other Dempwolf apprentices; however, after leaving the fold he established a partnership with George Gemmill and designed several prominent buildings in York City, including the Beaux Arts First National Bank building that stands on the northeast quadrant of Continental Square and the York Trust Company on East Market Street. Billmeyer was also the architect of the York Water Company building on East Market Street, a notable Neoclassical building that includes a number of water-themed elements within the design.
Harry Lenker worked in the Dempwolf practice during the last decade of J.A. Dempwolf's life. In 1927 he established his own practice. On his own he designed several churches, including St. Paul's Lutheran Church and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, both in York, as well as First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia, PA. Lenker also worked closely with J. Alfred Hamme, the son of John Hamme, to design a number of schools, including Devers Elementary School and Dallastown High School. Lenker served as president of the AIA Central PA Chapter and Engineering Society of York.
Milford Patterson, Arthur Rosser, and Edward Keyworth are also architects who worked for the Dempwolf practice then continued their careers elsewhere. Beyond these Dempwolf apprentices, there was a second generation of architects trained with the Dempwolf influence - apprentices to the apprentices. Early in his career, Frederick Dempwolf worked at a number of other firms and fought in World War I. After his father's death, he continued on with the Dempwolf firm. In doing so, he apprenticed young architects like William Dize, who was only 12 years of age when J.A. Dempwolf died. Dize inherited many of the Dempwolf drawings, which he donated to the Historical Society of York County in the late 1980s. J. Alfred Hamme learned the profession of architecture from his father, John Hamme, and took over the practice. Within the Hamme successor firm, John Gilbert and Stanley Snyder also carried on the tradition, sometimes working with Frederick Dempwolf and at other times with Harry Lenker.
The Dempwolf firm contributed greatly to the local built environment, from the projects they designed to the work of their apprentices, who continued the firm's legacy throughout much of the twentieth century. Edward Leber wrote that J.A. Dempwolf viewed his apprentices as "his boys," even after they left the firm. So close were the ties between mentor and prot�g�s that Edward Leber, William Billmeyer, Robert Stair, and Harry Lenker all served as pallbearers at the 1927 funeral of John Augustus Dempwolf.
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The Arts and Economic Development in Downtowns |
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By: Tammie Fitzpatrick, AIA & Wendy Tippetts, AIA
This year's event will be held in downtown Lancaster City in the Ware Center, a central location in the historic city on the 4th of October 2012. The theme for the event is the role of the arts as an effective catalyst for economic development and growth in the built environment. The schedule is as follows:
12:00pm to 1:00pm Building Tour of The Ware Center
1:00pm to 2:00pm Phil Acone, Cooper Lighting: Retail Lighting
1:00pm to 2:00pm Kevin Riedy, Boral: Cultured Stone
2:00pm to 2:30pm Vendor Exhibit Time
2:30pm to 3:30pm Langan Engineering & Environmental Services: 3-D Laser Scanning
2:30pm to 3:30pm Glen Gery: Topic to be determined
3:30pm to 4:00pm Vendor Exhibit Time
4:00pm to 5:00pm Keynote Speaker - Elizabeth Todd Lambert
5:00pm to 7:00pm Happy Hour
7:00pm to 8:00pm Design Awards
8:00pm to 9:00pm Social Hour with dessert and drinks
Speakers:
Building Tour
This year's event will kick off at noon with a tour of the Ware Center, designed by the internationally recognized firm Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects and built by the local construction firm, Benchmark Construction Company, from Brownstown, Pennsylvania. We are pleased to announce that Robert (Bob) Brandt, III, the project manager for Benchmark, will be leading the tour through the building. The 80,000 square foot building was originally designed for the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, and features a state of the art 370 seat recital hall renowned for its acoustical design. The acoustical engineer was the recently deceased (2011) Cyril Harris; in addition to the PAM, Mr. Harris was best known for his involvement with the Metropolitan Opera and Avery Fischer Hall, both in New York City. The LA Times noted that this was the last building designed by Philip Johnson prior to this death in 2005, contrary to local myth; perhaps Mr. Brandt will shed some light on this. Mr. Brandt will offer a unique perspective on the project and we should anticipate a few anecdotal stories that architects will find of interest.
Key Note Speaker
We are very fortunate to have the first President and CEO of LancasterARTS, Elizabeth Todd Lambert as our Key Note Speaker; who will be speaking at 4:00 PM. LancasterARTS is a non-profit organization, founded in 2007. The organization markets the arts and Lancaster City as an arts destination, conducts research about the economic impact of the arts, works with artists, art organizations, community leaders and the media on arts related issues, and facilitates and plans art related events. Lancaster City's success, in large part, has been driven by the Arts, and has been recognized as a thriving urban center. Ms. Lambert will be discussing the role of the arts as an effective catalyst for economic development; and her experience working for LancasterARTS in the City. Having worked in the international arena, Ms. Lambert will bring a particularly unique and global perspective on this topic. The success of the Arts in the City has provided opportunities for Architects to work on a number of interesting and vital projects; such as the Ware Center.
Continuing Education Units:
We have four presenters lined up for this year's event. You may have an opportunity to earn FOUR AIA Learning units throughout the day. Two seminars will be held at 1:00 PM; and two more at 2:30 PM. In addition to these learning opportunities, we hope to be able to provide AIA Learning Units for Benchmark's building tour and our Key Note Speaker.
Exposition/Vendor Exhibits:
We are excited about the positive response from vendors this year. The Expo will be held on the third floor of the Ware Center in the atrium space filled with natural light. The other events will be held in adjacent spaces around the atrium, which will provide our vendors with greater visibility. We have a number of affirmative responses from vendors, and have finalized arrangements with Modernfold, Glen-Gery Brick, Langan Engineering, and Pella Windows and Doors. Please check in with our exhibitors; they have valuable design and technical knowledge, and offer an array of interesting products and services; and they do play an important role in making the event possible.
Design Awards:
A BIG thank you to the nine firms who submitted projects for the 2012 AIA Central PA Design Awards. The jury is currently reviewing the 36 entries and we should receive the results in the next few weeks. Thank you again to all the firms who spent time forming their submissions.
Our jury chairman, Greg Papay, is a partner at Lake/Flato Architects in San Antonio, TX. Lake/Flato Architects has been recognized by Architectural Digest as one of the Top Designer's for 2012. The company has earned great notoriety in recent years and has earned numerous awards for its work. In June, a Lake/Flato Architects residential project was featured in Residential Architect and in 2011, the company received four AIA awards for its projects. We are thrilled to have this esteemed group of architects serve as our jury this year.
We partnered with the Central Penn Business Journal for a second year to produce a special edition of the 2012 Design Awards. The publication was well received last year and we need your help to bring this year's edition to fruition. We believe this is an effective tool in communicating to the public the value of architectural services and good design. Central Pennsylvania AIA Chapter members have been contacted regarding advertising in this magazine and we would like to encourage your participation to support this effort.
Bring your client, friend, spouse, or sibling to the Design Awards on at 7:00pm. During the event you will learn more about the jury members and see the award winning projects from our Central PA Firms. The cost for the whole day is only $30 which includes CEUs, food, and beverages. Click here to register! |
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2012 National Convention Review |
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By: Rich Gribble, AIA, President
With an estimated attendance of 17,000 people and nearly 800 exhibitors, this year's AIA National Convention and Design Exposition was a great success. Wendy Tippetts, President Elect, and I attended the three day event in Washington DC.
 | | Rich Gribble and Wendy Tippetts in DC. |
We were there serving as official delegates representing AIA Central Pennsylvania, and were asked to vote for candidates running for AIA National Offices as well as to consider, discuss and vote on amendments to the national by-laws and resolutions put forward for our consideration. We also had the opportunity to join with thousands of other architects from across the country to listen, learn and admire some of the brightest minds our profession and our nation has to offer.
The 2012 National Convention Election resulted in Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, being elected as First Vice President / 2014 President. Donald Brown, FAIA, and Susan Chin, FAIA, were also elected as Vice Presidents. Our Central Pennsylvania chapter nominated Richard DeYoung, AIA, from AIA Pittsburgh, for the Secretary position, and we were all very happy to see him win that election.
The delegates at the AIA 2012 Convention also approved amendments to the Institutes bylaws to change the eligibility requirements for Emeritus membership requiring an Architect member to have at least 15 years of good standing and be at least 70 years old and retired. A second bylaw change was made to allow the Board of Directors to establish a new International Region, including all geographic areas outside the United States and its territories. For more detailed information on these changes please see the National AIA website at www.aia.org.
There were many excellent educational seminars presented during the convention. My interest in old buildings had me up very early on Thursday to attend a seminar on Historic Preservation History through the Prism of Washington D.C., but of course it was the Keynote Presentation's that I found to be the most inspirational. On Thursday we heard Pulitzer Prize winning author, and Presidential Medal of Freedom
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Rich and Wendy enjoying diversified
architecture in DC. |
winner David McCullough speak about his love for architecture and the influence the highly acclaimed educator Vincent Scully had on him while he was a student at Yale. On Friday we celebrated the work of architect Steven Holl, FAIA, who was honored with this year's AIA Gold Medal. We listened as Mr. Holl described how art and architecture has the "unspoken power to inspire and transform the quality of our day to day lives." (This reminded me of the night before, when I stood outside of the Hirshhorn Museum, on the National Mall, watching the 360-degree display of projected light and moving images by artist Doug Aitken on the curved fa�ade of the building, if you had a chance to see it, you know it was amazing). We also saw the AIA's Architecture Firm Award go to the Minneapolis firm VJAA, and were introduced to the leaders of their office, and listened to their philosophy of highly researched and well crafted design.
At Saturday afternoons closing keynote presentation, all of the architects involved in the rebuilding of the world trade center and the pentagon as well as the 9/11 memorials were recognized and honored for their work. Memorable remarks were made by Daniel Libeskind, FAIA, Michael Arad, AIA and David Childs, FAIA as well as many others, but it was Craig Dykers, AIA, who I found most compelling. He told his own personal story of 9/11 to us. Maybe it was because I had a chance to meet and talk with him when he gave a lecture for the AIA Central PA lecture series last year that I found his remarks to be so moving.
The host chapter party was held at the Freedom Forum's new Museum for News -the Newseum, designed by the Polshek Partnership in 2008, -the firm is now known as Ennead Architects. I attended the party to have the chance to meet some of the DC chapter AIA members, but found myself very interested in the museum's collection of news artifacts as well as the design of the building itself, particularly the three hydraulic elevators in the main atrium space. These holed hydraulic elevators, which were provided by Otis Elevator, have a structural glass car enclosure, a single 17 inch diameter piston, and are capable of lifting 18,000 pounds, while traveling more than 100 feet at 150 feet per minute. Yes, I checked the Otis specs on this. If you are in DC and have a chance to stop by this building I highly recommend it.
This was the fourth National AIA Convention that I attended since becoming a registered architect, and I have found it to become a better and better experience for me each time. There is always so much to see and do, and it is always a great opportunity to explore a new city. The 2013 AIA Convention, will be held from June 20-22, 2013, in Denver Colorado. If you have a chance to make it out there, I am sure you will have a great time. |
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Don't forget to check out the Lending Library. Click the image to see what materials are available!
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