Turnaround Your Downtown

Most places fall short of their potential. This fast-paced session will provide visual examples of transformations from storefronts, to streets and sidewalks, to public spaces demonstrating successful strategies to achieve revitalization results. Participants will be engaged in a conversation to build shared knowledge around vital concepts and leave  equipped to make places better. Our presenter, Isaac D. Kremer, is a nationally recognized expert in the Main Street Approach to commercial district revitalization. He has successfully led revitalization programs throughout the country.

The Little Island : From Dilapidated Pier to Urban Oasis

Little Island provides over 2 acres of public park and outdoor performance space on an undulating landscape, rising up to 62 ft above the Hudson River. An ambitious design, the landscape is supported by 132 irregular pentagonal shape precast concrete “pots,” each on a large precast concrete column and pile driven down to as much as 200 ft below the waterline. Fabian Jabro, founding principal of Standard Architects, Yong-Wook Jo, structural engineer from Arup/New York and Michael Parrella, theatre planning consultant from Arup/New York will take us through the design and construction of this innovative reuse.

Preserving Community:
Saving Historic Buildings and Neighborhoods When Revitalizing a City

Urban revitalization has many positive aspects but has also gained a reputation as detrimental to historic neighborhoods and their buildings. In this presentation, we’ll explore how urban revitalization has negatively impacted a city’s historic resources as well as specific examples of urban revitalization which has embraced its historic resources. Our presenter is Katherine Good, the Historic Preservation Practice Leader for Michael Graves Architecture and a Commissioner for Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.

Historic Districts on the Water  

Historic Communities in the eastern part of New Jersey exhibit some of the most pristine Victorian architecture of the 19th century. However, carefully crafted wooden details of these structures are under constant threat from storms, salt-spray, sand, and some of the highest rental ratios in the state. Economic interests are often in opposition to thoughtful material rehabilitation – plastic lasts longer than wood. How do local policy makers account for dipartite interests in the guidelinesfor a historic community? Matt Pisarski, Planning Director of Cumberland County and principal of Pine Mount Consulting, Courtenay Mercer, Principal of Mercer Planning Associates, and Barton Ross, preservation architect and planner and president of Barton Ross & Partners will share their experience and viewpoints on these issues.

Save Ellis Island

“Our goal is to preserve the south side of Ellis Islands for future generations to experience the hopes and sorrows of those who came before them.” 

America’s historic front door, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, sit in the harbor a stones throw from the shoreline in Jersey City. The Hospital Complex, comprised of 29 buildings on the south side of Ellis Island, housed one out of every 10 immigrants as they arrived needing medical attention. The complex was the most modern, comprehensive hospital in the nation when it was built in 1900. Efforts to stabilize and preserve the buildings began in 1990. Matthew Funk, Senior Project Architect with DIGroup Architecture, with 23 years of experience and a strong background in building envelopes and architectural detailing, has always had a passion for history and has been a volunteer docent with “Save Ellis Island” since 2009.

Emerging Technologies for Indoor Air Quality

Dense urban environments and reuse/redevelopment of existing infrastructure place special requirements on designers to provide a healthy building for the users. Gain an understanding of what Indoor Air Quality is and why it is important. Learn modifications that can be made to existing mechanical systems and identify opportunities for use of “emerging” technologies to improve our living and working spaces in urban centers. Presented by GPI engineers.

In the Wake of the Flood

Severe flooding can endanger life, but even moderate levels of flooding can lead to extensive damages to buildings and operations. Due to climate change and revisions to FEMA flood maps in 2016, many buildings and sites not previously categorized as being at risk are now subject to flooding. This presentation will discuss how to identify vulnerable areas of facilities and the options and systems available to protect properties from catastrophic damage. Often a hybrid solution incorporating barriers, flood gates, deployable flood walls, backflow devices, storage tanks, ejector pumps, upgraded stormwater systems, and more are required. Envelope specialist Brian Neely, AIA, CDT, BECXP and civil engineer Peter Spanos, P.E., CFM, LEED AP of Gale Associates will lead this discussion.

Embankment – The Urban Appalachian Trail

The Harsimus Branch Embankment is the vestige of a rail economy that once dominated Jersey City. The masonry and earth structure possesses a remarkable physical integrity and monumental qualities; “the everlasting solidity of Egyptian pyramids and Inca roads”. The Embankment was erected 1901-1905 to replace an existing elevated rail line. The stone structure ranged from 27 feet to 13 feet in height. The land atop the Embankment provides a natural open space connecting corridor through Jersey City. The Embankment Preservation Coalition formed in 1998 as a working group of more than a hundred neighbors concerned about a proposal to demolish it and develop the site. The groups research on the historic, environmental, aesthetic, and cultural aspects of the structure led to a consensus that the Embankment is an important and irreplaceable historic, environmental, and transportation resource that must be preserved.

Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings

Reducing embodied carbon is critical to meeting our sustainbility goals for 2030 and beyond, and architects cannot do this alone. We must collectively make this a priority. Members of Skidmore Owings and Merrill’s design and specification team will discuss their approach to materials selection to work toward carbon-zero buildings. This session will incorporate a panel discussion wih product manufacturers to learn what companies are doing to reduce embodied carbon in building materials and manufacturing and provide an opportunity to explore how designers and producers can do more. Project examples will be used to highlight how progress on this front is being made.