AIA|LA Urban Design Committee presents
From Santa Monica to Sweden and China: Selected Residential Projects by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
Wednesday, November 14 (6:30pm - 8:30pm)
AIA Los Angeles
3780 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90010
RSVP to Will Wright at Will[@]aialosangeles.org
From Santa Monica to Sweden and China: Selected Residential Projects by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
James Mary O'Connor, AIA
Principal
Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
In its 35-year history, Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Partners has been an innovator to environmentally responsible design that is grounded in a philosophy that respects the natural and cultural character of a place and builds upon the most basic responses to site, context, and community. This presentation by Principal James Mary O'Connor, AIA focuses on selected, relevant residential projects that are located on different sites and regions around the world. They provide diverse design approaches while addressing a variety of urban contexts and residential building typologies.
The projects range from Tango Housing Complex in Malmö, Sweden, created as part of the 2001 Bo-01 European Housing Exhibition and offering an array of state-of-the-art sustainability and information technology features-to the Chun Sen Bi An Master Plan & Housing Development in Chongqing, China, where the dominant transitions from river to sky and earth to mountains inform the shaping of the open spaces, landscaped footpaths, and the stepped, curving, alternately low and high massing of the buildings. The Serendra Master Plan & Housing Development in Manila, Philippines establishes this project as a modernized, well-equipped center that will serve as an excellent precedent for future residential development in the region, while the Nei-Hu High End Residential Towers in Taipei, Taiwan is animated by an interplay of prefabricated concrete panels with shifting windows that accommodate the structural and view requirements of the units.
Closer to home are three projects in Santa Monica, California. The master plan for the Santa Monica Civic Center Village housing development addresses this spectacular context by optimizing the configuration of the housing mix, retail use and open spaces to foster a sense of neighborhood. The six-story mixed-use infill development at 606 Broadway creates a memorable, upscale presence in a revitalized urban area. 2802 Pico Housing provides 100% affordable housing for the nonprofit organization Community Corporation of Santa Monica. This mixed-use urban project accommodates 33 units above active retail and community space organized around an engaging courtyard.
Although they may have different specific programs, sites and contexts, all these projects demonstrate Moore Ruble Yudell's passion to shape environments that celebrate human activity, and to create a strong sense of place and synergistic relationships. At the core of its practice, the firm continues to evolve an inclusive process resulting in humane, beautiful, and evocative places that reflect real needs and desires.
James Mary O'Connor, AIA
Born in Dublin, Ireland, James Mary O'Connor came to Charles Moore's Master Studios at University of California, Los Angeles in 1982 as a Fulbright Scholar. James received his Diploma in Architecture from the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and his Master of Architecture from UCLA. He joined Moore Ruble Yudell in 1983.
As Principal-in-Charge, James has provided design leadership for numerous large-scale, innovative Master Planning projects throughout the United States and the world. The current Grangegorman Urban Quarter Master Plan in Dublin, Ireland provides world-class, innovative primary care and psychiatric facilities for Ireland's national healthcare service (the HSE) on a new campus in the historic core of the city. It represents the largest higher-education campus development ever undertaken in the history of the state of Ireland, and is likely to set an influential standard for future campus and urban development projects. The Master Plan design for the COFCO Agricultural Eco-Valley Project outside Beijing envisions a state-of-the-art sustainable project that will become the first net zero-carbon project of its kind in the world. James also led the Göttingen Station Master Plan in Germany which included planning a new town around an existing rail station.
James has a special interest in projects with a strong sustainability component, as reflected in his work on the award-winning Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure, one of the first buildings of its type to be LEED-Certified in the United States, and the "Village" housing development nearby, which is on track for LEED-Silver certification. The highly-sustainable Tango Building for the innovative Bo01 Housing Exhibition in Malmö, Sweden has received numerous awards for design excellence, and was selected as The Year's Building 2001 in Sweden.
For over twenty years, James has taught design studios, lectured, and been invited as guest critic at universities and institutions in the U.S. and throughout the world. He has received the Distinguished Faculty Award at UCLA's Interior and Environmental Design Program. He has also guest taught and lectured at the University of Southern California, Southern California Institute of Architecture, and Harvard University Graduate School of Design. International institutions where James has lectured include the University of Calgary-Alberta, the Dublin Institute of Technology, the Institute of Architects in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hong-Ik University-Department of Architecture, Seoul, Korea, and numerous institutions in China including Tongji University School of Architecture in Shanghai and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Architectural Department.
For more information, please contact:
Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA
Director, Government & Public Affairs
AIA Los Angeles
(213) 639-0764
email: Will[@]aialosangeles.org
In April, Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmember Huizar announced an international design competition for the design of the replacement of the 80-year-old Sixth Street Viaduct. Over the past four years, Councilmember Huizar worked with the Bureau of Engineering to ensure that substantial community outreach and input took place before last November’s City Council vote to replace the viaduct as the safest and most cost-effective alternative.
