The World of Classicism from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art

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January 23, 2024

The ICAA is a nonprofit educational organization committed to promoting and preserving the practice, understanding, and appreciation of classical design.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS: NEW THIS ISSUE

New Heights, the ICAA's program for middle school students, which is hosted at schools throughout the country, is now in its ninth year in partnership with Marymount School of New York. In 2023's iteration of the program, New Heights IX: Conserving, Constructing, Creating, eighth-grade students dedicated an entire week to exploring the origins and evolution of New York's architecture in a series of hands-on activities, walking tours, and urban sketching sessions, culminating in a final project designing a structure in Central Park. Throughout the week, students particularly focused on the role that the architect plays in the construction of a building, and how those design decisions ultimately shape how a city's residents interact with their built environment.

As one of Marymount's eighth-grade students notes in the video above, "I learned more about the day-to-day life of an architect. I knew what an architect was, but learning how important they are for society and the changes they make behind the scenes was definitely such a great experience."

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On September 27th, 2023, the ICAA was honored to host award-winning Southern architect and ICAA Board Member Stan Dixon in the most recent installment of the "Book Club" series. Stan spoke about his influences and his firm's projects highlighted in his debut book Home: The Residential Architecture of D. Stanley Dixon, published by Rizzoli.

Stan Dixon’s edited approach to the classical elements of architecture creates an understated aesthetic that is historically based while embracing influences of modern design. Through contextually sensitive work of appropriate style, scale, and proportion, he crafts buildings of permanence and delight, while providing their occupants with a beautiful place in which to live their lives. Dixon takes risks in blending genres and styles, with results that are creative and original.

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Thank you to the ICAA's Book Club Sponsor:

Foster Reeve: Architectural & Ornamental Plaster

Thank you to our Interior Design Series Sponsors:

Allison Caccoma Inc., Tammy Connor Interior Design, Timothy Corrigan, de la Torre Design Studio, Donald MacDonald Interior Design, Lindley Martens Design, Tucker & Marks Inc.

Lead Annual Public Programs Sponsor: RINCK

Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Dell Mitchell Architects

Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Hyde Park Mouldings

Martin Burns of Fairfax & Sammons Architects in New York has been selected as the winner of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s (ICAA) 2024 Rieger Graham Prize, and will participate in a three-month Classical Design Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, Burns has previously worked for Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, and has frequently served as a teaching assistant, lecturer, and instructor for ICAA Continuing Education Courses, Workshops, Intensives, and the Christopher H. Browne Drawing Tours.

Burns plans to dedicate his time in Rome to an exploration and study of its many “places of rest,” the benches, little fountains, alcoves, niches, and more that offer respite to the pedestrian explorer of the eternal city. Perhaps less noted than many of the grand architectural edifices of Rome, these small and tranquil oases help to define and enhance the humanistic urbanism that makes Rome so welcoming to those who wander on foot. Burns will study these sites through careful hand-done measured drawing, photographic documentation, and 3D scanning, noting their composition, design detail, and relationship to the larger built environment. Burns hopes to apply lessons from these studies to help improve walkable infrastructure in the United States. He plans on publishing his drawings.

The centerpiece of the newly opened, highly-anticipated Moynihan Train Hall is a monumental Art Deco clock, designed by Peter Pennoyer Architects and inspired by the Jazz Age architecture of New York City and the golden age of railroad travel. The clock which has been praised by the New York Times, Architectural Digest and many others was a late addition to the development of the train hall and required intense work in the architects’ office and in the factories of Hyde Park Moldings and Americlock Inc. to meet the Governor’s New Year’s Eve deadline.

After winning the commission in an invited competition sponsored by the Governor and New York State’s Empire Development in June of 2020, Peter Pennoyer Architects learned they would have just six months to finish the design and fabrication. How does a team design, coordinate and create a 12 foot by 6 foot clock that will be suspended 25 feet in the air in six months? Originally presented to PLINTH, the ICAA's group of students and emerging professionals, this event features Peter Pennoyer, Steven Worthington and Colin Richardson - the team at Peter Pennoyer Architects that led the effort - in a behind-the-scenes virtual tour of the design and construction of the clock, from inception to installation.

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ARTICLES & VIDEOS: PREVIOUS ISSUE

The ICAA Rocky Mountain Chapter, in collaboration with the ICAA National Office, hosted a Regional Intensive from August 5th through 12th in Denver. This eight-day immersion in the ICAA’s core curriculum is designed for professionals and students with limited time who seek a methodical introduction to the language of classical architecture. Participants learned how to draw, identify, and compose with the classical elements to form an understanding of the basic tenets on which the classical tradition is founded, culminating in a studio project in which students use the classical canon in the design of a small building.

This video, produced by Cooper Productions for the ICAA Rocky Mountain Chapter, provides a look at the experience of the Intensive as shared by both participants and instructors. The Intensive was hosted at the historic Oxford Hotel, and included offsite measured drawing excursions to Denver Civic Center and Cheesman Park.

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The next ICAA Intensive will take place in Newport, Rhode Island on October 19th through 26th. Learn more.

On Thursday, October 26th, 2023, the ICAA welcomed AD100 designer Young Huh and fellow AD100 and Hall of Famer Alexa Hampton for a conversation about Young's design inspirations. Young discussed her thoughtful approach to architectural details and how she provides the groundwork for warm and welcoming interiors by finding harmony and dynamism through the application of classic and modern design principles.

The Annual Mark Hampton Lecture honors the legacy of renowned designer Mark Hampton and celebrates the highest caliber of interior design in the classical tradition.

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The ICAA thanks the Mark Hampton Lecture's Founding Sponsor:

S. Donadic Inc. Construction Management

Thank you to our Interior Design Series Sponsors:

Allison Caccoma Inc., Tammy Connor Interior Design, Timothy Corrigan, de la Torre Design Studio, Donald MacDonald Interior Design, Lindley Martens Design, Tucker & Marks Inc.

Lead Annual Public Programs Sponsor: RINCK

Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Dell Mitchell Architects

Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Hyde Park Mouldings

NATIONAL CALENDAR: MULTI-DAY PROGRAMS

May 25th-June 1st, 2024

2024 Christopher H. Browne Oxford Drawing Tour

45 credits towards the ICAA Certificate in Classical Architecture | 45 AIA CES Learning Units|Elective

Scholarships are available. The deadline to apply is March 4th, 2024. Dorothy LaPolla-Czarnecki Scholarship sponsored by John LaPolla and LaPolla Designs