Many people have been asking us when construction will begin on Hotel Vermont. Well, the wait is over. After a winter hiatus, construction has resumed on the new hotel that will occupy lower Cherry Street in Burlington.
With the foundations completed last year, the crews from PC Construction are now on site moving this project forward. The building is designed by Smith Buckley Architects, with Interior Design by TruexCullins. Our work on the interiors will continue throughout construction, as we develop the design for both the first floor public areas and the guestrooms above.
The hotel is on track to be open to guests in April 2013, so get ready for Hotel Vermont. To learn more about what you can look forward to, take a look back at last fall's announcement event:
There is one book that has been making the rounds at our office, adopted as a sort of unofficial guide to architectural style and beauty. It has been recommended at office gatherings, shared between coworkers, and gifted to interns when they leave our firm to prepare for the next stage in their design career. This is The Architecture of Happiness, by the Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton.
The book is built on the premise that our moods are directly affected by the nature of the furniture, buildings and streets that surround us. In fact, we are influenced so much so by our built environment that it actually shapes us into the person we become.
You may recognize The Architecture of Happiness from the feature role it played in the 2009 boy-meets-girl movie 500 Days of Summer. The book was favored by the film’s protagonist, a young architect-in-training who eventually gives it to his elusive love interest, the quirky hipster played by Zooey Deschanel.
Just as these two were searching for true happiness in life, De Botton sets out on his own search in the pages of this book, exploring the history of architectural style and uncovering what it is that makes a building beautiful. The answer comes into focus about a third of the way in, when De Botton quotes the 19th-century French writer Stendhal in saying, “Beauty is the promise of happiness”:
His aphorism has the virtue of differentiating our love of beauty from an academic preoccupation with aesthetics, and integrating it instead with the qualities we need to prosper as whole human beings. If the search for happiness is the underlying quest of our lives, it seems only natural that it should simultaneously be the essential theme to which beauty alludes. … To call a work of architecture or design beautiful is to recognize it as a rendition of values critical to our flourishing, a transubstantiation of our individual ideals in a material medium.
This is the main argument of the book. When we think of a building – or a chair, or a door, or a fence post – as beautiful, it is because we see in it the promise of happiness. Or to put it another way: the promise of living the good life. So how is a set of human ideals translated into the abstract artform of architecture? In the past, it was easy. You would follow one of the classical orders, with precisely tapered columns and carefully proportioned pediments. It was all thoroughly prescribed in the widely accepted books of architecture by masters such as Vitruvius, Alberti and Palladio.
Later, in the 20th century, the science of engineering eclipsed the master Architect. Minimalism and functionality ruled the day. A bridge was seen as beautiful if it made a graceful span with the lightest of materials, without any extraneous ornament or decoration. The prevailing belief was that for a structure to be honest, it would perform its mechanical functions efficiently. This philosophy was promoted by the Godfather of modernism, Le Corbusier, and epitomized by his most notable residence, Villa Savoye. The fact that the roof leaked incessantly and rendered the place inhabitable did little to affect the architect who famously professed that a building was a machine for living.
Le Corbusier, living room, Villa Savoye, Poissy, 1931
From here, De Botton presents a different perspective which is not restricted to the tenets of classicism or modernism. His argument is that the beauty of architecture manifests itself when a building communicates the idea of happiness. But how does this happen?
It may be anthropometric – when buildings exhibit an often literal representation of a living form – or psychological – when the human spirit itself is interpreted in bricks and mortar. Examples abound. The rounded arches of a Roman loggia convey serenity and poise, while the pointed arches of Gothic cathedral speak of ardour and intensity. “We can be moved by a column that meets a roof with grace, by worn stone steps that hint at wisdom and by a Georgian doorway that demonstrates playfulness and courtesy in its fanlight window.” De Botton goes on to describe the virtues of buildings that facilitate this conversation: order, balance, elegance and coherence.
Ducal Palace, Urbino
Thomas Leverton, fanlight window, Bedford Square, 1783
The Architecture of Happiness is organized as a sequence of ideas which eventually build into a recipe for reading our built environment. In the end, De Botton presents examples of contemporary architecture from Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands that embody many of these characteristics. These buildings succeed in carrying the valuable lessons of the past while leading us into a “restless, global future”. They respond to the past without being nostalgic. They adapt to the local vernacular while exhibiting a universal appeal. And now I know why they make me happy.
posted by Diantha S. Korzun, AIA Vermont President
Diantha recently returned from the American Institute of Architects' 2012 Leadership and Legislative Conference, held March 7-10, 2012 at the Grant Hyatt in Washington, DC.
For three days in Washington DC, the AIA executive components convene in the nation’s capital. The goal is to express a collective voice to members of Congress about the importance architectural design has on our communities.
Through design, architects can enhance the quality of life for the public. There is also a responsibility to enforce the health, safety, and welfare of our communities. The theme of the conference this year was Leadership, Advocacy, and Communication. All are qualities an architect should possess in order to promote public awareness of the importance of architecture. This year that is what our contingent from AIA VT set out to do. Carol Miklos (Executive Director), Thomas Bachman (President Elect), Michael Hoffman (AIA NE Secretary/Treasurer) and I went to Washington DC this spring to not only promote the profession to the Congressmen, but also improve our own skills in effectively advocating the profession in our region.
In Washington, the four bills that we found applicable to Vermont architectural firms and therefore discussed with our Congressmen included:
Remove Barriers to the Private Sector Lending. (HR 1356) The AIA supports legislation that will continue to improve the commercial lending market and allow worthwhile projects to have access to capital.
Save Energy, Create Jobs. (1798 Deduction) AIA encourages the support of a bipartisan effort to expand the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction. This should incentivize energy efficient new construction projects through increasing the tax deduction for Green Buildings.
Help Small Business Thrive. (HR 3987) Since 95% of AIA member firms are under 50 employees, AIA wants to ensure these firms are protected under the Small Business Protection Act so that they still have funding under the SBA program.
Pass a Transportation Bill to Get our Communities Moving Again. The Senate has created a bill to support a variety of transportation spending. AIA encourages Congressman to pass a bill to authorize and reform federal transportation programs to maintain current funding, support all modes of transportation, and recognize many long term benefits of well-designed and well planned projects.
We are fortunate our current Congressmen support these issues and therefore do not need to be persuaded to back them. However, it was productive to discuss local examples of projects and firms that are directly impacted by these bills so they have a better understanding of their constituents.
At a local level, this year, AIA Vermont will advocate architectural design through programs that address the theme for the year, Design of Place. Programs include the AIA New England Conference hosted in Burlington this fall and the AIA VT/NH Annual Meeting/Tours at Bennington College this spring. (See relevant articles about both events in the current issue of AIA VT.)
In addition, the AIA Vermont Public Policy Subcommittee is already enthusiastically discussing ways to advocate the profession to our Vermont legislature. They have held several meetings, including a gathering of interested members earlier this month to survey the membership about current issues.
Through Advocacy, Leadership and Communication AIA VT will promote architectural design and issues at a national level as well as a local level this year. If you are interested in joining the effort, please contact Carol Miklos, AIA VT Executive Director.
Are you looking for the perfect table? In the Perspectives column of the latest issue of New England Home magazine, Kim Deetjen was asked to share her recommendations for tables in three different rooms of the house: the entry, dining room and living room. For the entry table and coffee table, Kim picked two pieces by Maxine Snider that have classic detailing with a slight modern or whimsical touch.
For the dining room, Kim picked a round table by the Martin Group with pie-shaped veneers and ebonized inlays. This table expands concentrically, with leaves that attach to the perimeter, so the table is just as beautiful when you need to expand your surface to accommodate the extra guests at your holiday meal.
Read more in the March/April 2012 issue of New England Home, or visit them on their website. The Perspectives column can be found under "Designer Picks" in the Art & Style section.
As a dedicated reader of the TruexCullins Blog, you must know we are big fans of the Solar Decathlon, the biennial competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that pits 20 collegiate teams against each other to design and build a fully self-sufficient solar powered home. After all, we wrote about the event here, here, here, here, and, oh... here.
Last year was the fifth Solar Decathlon competition since its inaugural run in 2002. And last year a Vermont school was admitted for the first time: Middlebury College, a small liberal arts school that has no professional architecture program to speak of. In fact, since the Solar Decathlon began 10 years ago, Middlebury was the first liberal arts college to ever enter alone, without teaming up with a larger architecture or engineering University program. Despite this underdog status, Middlebury managed to come in an impressive fourth place overall. And of the 10 competitions, they scored first in 3 of them: Market Appeal; Communications; and Home Entertainment (which was partially based on a dinner party featuring a home-cooked Vermont meal).
The plans are being drawn up now for the next Solar Decathlon, being held October 3-13, 2013. For the first time, the event is moving away from the National Mall and heading west, where it will make a new home in California, at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, just south of Los Angeles.
The 20 student teams chosen to participate have just been announced, and we are happy to see that two Vermont schools will be competing this time. Middlebury College will be returning to build on their successes from last year, and they will be joined by Norwich University. Norwich has a bachelor’s and Master’s program in Architecture, and we know they have been planning for the Solar Decathlon for a while now.
It will be exciting to see Vermont so well represented in the field of renewables on this national stage, and we wish the best of luck to both schools!
Mark your calendars for the Third Annual HowardCenter Curling Challenge, the only curling fundraising event in Vermont. On Saturday, March 31st, up to 48 teams will be competing for the prestigious Curling Challenge Trophy while raising money for the HowardCenter, a private, non-profit human services agency here in Burlington.
The HowardCenter cares for families and individuals dealing with mental illness; alcohol and substance abuse; and intellectual disabilities, including autism. The Curling Challenge is a fun way to support an organization doing great work in our community.
This year, TruexCullins is doubling our efforts and fielding 2 teams for the challenge. We are counting on this increased manpower to sweep our way to victory.
Wondering what this is all about? Check out this video from last year's event:
There is still time to join! Visit firstgiving.com/howardcenter to register your four-person team. Never curled before? No worries! A training session is offered on Friday night before the championship event that will teach you everything you need to know to become a ruthless curling competitor. By Saturday you will be ready to hit the ice and compete against the other teams for the Curling Challenge Trophy. If sliding rocks on the ice and wearing funny hats is not your thing, then you can always support one of the teams that have already signed up. Visit firstgiving.com/howardcenter/teams to see a list of teams and post a donation for your favorite one.
In the end, be sure to stop by Cairns Arena in South Burlington to cheer us on. The public is invited free of charge to watch the semi-finals and finals, beginning at 6pm on Saturday March 31st.
TruexCullins recently teamed up with Sodexo, one of the nation’s largest food service companies, to submit a proposal for the renovation and operation of the dining facilities of the Vermont State College system. After a four-month RFP process, the proposal was approved and Sodexo was awarded the contract to be the exclusive food service vendor for Vermont State College. The schools include Castleton State College, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College, and Vermont Technical College. Sodexo will begin providing food service for the VSC students at these schools at the beginning of the 2012 fall semester, with new menus and greater variety. The new menus will prioritize locally sourced foods, providing students with a true farm-to-plate experience. The renovations to the dining facilities will support these new culinary initiatives with comfortable dining and gathering areas. Students will walk into completely transformed residential dining restaurants, with new food preparation areas and enhanced seating.
TruexCullins is an architecture and interior design firm located on the shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. For over 40 years, TruexCullins has developed lasting relationships with public and private clients, providing design leadership and creative solutions that enhance lives and improve landscapes. Today, TruexCullins provides the expertise and creativity of five distinct design studios in the disciplines of education, workplace, home, resort and interiors.
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