Articles by Joann Gonchar, FAIA

Cambridge Public Library

Legible and Luminous: William Rawn’s pristine glass box for the Cambridge Public Library quadruples the size of the original historic building.
Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
October 16, 2010
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Anyone who doubts the relevance of libraries in the age of e-readers, amazon.com, and the iPad should visit the new central branch of the Cambridge Public Library (CPL), in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


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Dow Jones

Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
September 16, 2010
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Ask any seasoned journalist, and he or she will likely confirm that the office environment for a news and media organization needs to support several seemingly incompatible activities, often occurring simultaneously. At any given moment, reporters are gathering information on the phone, impromptu meetings are happening in aisles and corridors, while writers and editors are trying to complete stories on tight deadlines. STUDIOS Architecture grappled with these demands when it designed offices for Dow Jones, the news and financial information provider best known as publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Soon after Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate, News Corporation (News Corp.),
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Beijing's Water Cube Reopens

Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
August 23, 2010
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Photo courtesy Forrec Related Links: Inside Beijing’s Bubble Box National Swimming Center Earlier this month, after almost a year of reconstruction, what is being touted as Asia’s largest water park opened inside the bubble-like ETFE walls of Beijing’s National Aquatics Center. The building, commonly known as the Water Cube, was designed by Australian architecture firm PTW and China Construction Design International as the site of aquatics events during the 2008 Olympic Games. It still contains pools for recreational swimming and competition, but now it also houses a 140,000-square-foot leisure hall created by Toronto-based planning and design firm Forrec. The park
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CityCenter

A mega-development wagers that urbanism and architecture can trump flamboyance and kitsch.
Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
August 16, 2010
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Even before the economy tanked, few would have called the scope of CityCenter anything less than incredibly ambitious.


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MIT Media Lab

Fumihiko Maki skillfully combines sectional complexity and transparency to create a fitting new home for MIT's Media Lab.
Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
June 19, 2010
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In the world of architecture, it isn’t unusual for projects to fall victim to shifting priorities or changing financial circumstances and subsequently stall or be shelved indefinitely.


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LEED Wood Credit up for Review'.Again

Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
March 9, 2010
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Almost since its inclusion in LEED in 2001, the materials and resources credit pertaining to certified wood products has been controversial. The credit recognizes only wood products that meet the standards of one organization—the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). But last week, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) moved a step closer to adopting new credit language that, at least in theory, could open up the rating system to other wood-certification schemes. The revamped credit, available for review and comment at usgbc.org, is the third set of revisions released since 2008. At the heart of the proposed changes is the elimination of
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Continuing Education: Copenhagen Concert Hall

Joann Gonchar
Joann Gonchar, FAIA
February 19, 2010
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Performing Arts Centers: Dallas Arts District Winspear Opera House Wyly Theatre Copenhagen Concert Hall Copenhagen, Denmark Ateliers Jean Nouvel Model behavior: A not-so-miniature version of the real thing helps tune a design From the earliest stages of the project, the client for Jean Nouvel’s Copenhagen Concert Hall, the Danish Radio, had decided that the building’s main auditorium should have a so-called “vineyard configuration,” or one in which stepped blocks of seating surround the stage. Even though there are many shoebox-shaped halls with excellent acoustics, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw (Adolf Leonard van Gendt, 1888) and Boston Symphony Hall (McKim, Mead & White,
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