TEDxProvidence was a fantastic success! With an eye toward the imminent opportunities in the parcels vacated by the I-195 relocation in Providence’s Jewelry District, KITE’s Christine Malecki West, AIA spoke about how we can appreciate the City’s unique sense of place and influence new development with a positive, constructive approach. Entitled “This is the Place”, the video presentation will be available shortly on YouTube.

The day-long event on April 15, 2012 at the RISD Museum’s Chase Auditorium featured presentations from creative and innovative thinkers from around the region.  A trio of themes  –  Urban Renewal, World Solutions, and Entrepreneurship – structured the discussions.

The presentation also launched a new project and website entitled “195 Hopes”, which will invite citizens to share photos and stories of locations that they feel embody Providence’s unique sense of place and ultimately grow into a central information clearinghouse on development in the area with assistance from Jef Nickerson, founder of Greater City Providence.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

For more information, visit http://www.tedxprovidence.com/

KITE Architects is honored to have been nominated for consideration in the 2012 National Design Awards of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in the category of Architectural Design. The multidisciplinary design awards are bestowed in recognition of excellence, innovation, and enhancement of quality of life, and are recognized in an awards ceremony and gala to be held in New York City at Pier 60 on October 20.

For the submission materials, KITE has prepared and prepared a soft-cover book containing a portfolio representing 10 representative projects over the firm’s history. The book will be retained in the Smithsonian’s collection and features a range of the firm’s projects from university buildings to custom homes, from new construction to historic preservation.

KITE is pleased to announce that the first phase of Kingstown Crossings Apartments has officially received certification through the LEED for Homes program administered by the US Green Building Council at the Gold level.

It is the first affordable housing project and the first multifamily project in the state to earn the designation. Developed by Crossroads RI as housing for families facing homelessness, the energy savings are especially important.

The Gold level means the apartments are measurably more efficient as well as go above and beyond accepted practices in a range of sustainable building areas such as water savings, indoor air quality, and locally produced materials.

KITE was thrilled to receive an  Merit Award for their design for the Narragansett Bay Commission Operations Building at their annual AIAri Design Awards Gala at Ocean Cliff in Newport on December 2.

With a major addition and complete renovation, the proposal won in the “unbuilt” category since a KITE’s alternate scheme for new construction on the same site is nearing completion of construction.

The award-winning design used translucent walls to illuminate an office wing that hovered over a full compliance laboratory, and interior renovations to the existing offices knit the complex together. The site design incorporated low-impact stormwater design including raingardens and native plantings to emphasize the connection of wastewater treatment to the health of the bay.

Premiering May 22, 2011 at the Providence Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, KITE Architects’ work to create the Carter Center of Music Education has helped inspire an original orchestral work “Credo”,  by composer Roger Chichy and performed by the RI Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.  Following is the official statement:

“Music Director Alexey Shabalin and the student musicians of the Youth Orchestra/Symphony Division have been working with composer Roger Cichy throughout the school year on an original piece written to celebrate our musical community and the bridge the Carter Center provides between people and the community. It is a tribute to you, the donors and supporters who have given significantly to make the Philharmonic Music School a community treasure.

The 1st movement, “People” musically describes individuals as having passions and desires, the need for self-worth, purpose, meaning, energies and ambitions. Each family of instruments is featured in this movement. The 2nd movement, “Building” is about the Carter Center from planning to construction to use. Two very important aspects are incorporated in this movement. The melodic makeup of the motive is based on the internals 6-6-7 the address of the center. The movement is written as a bridge form (A-B-C-B-A) to represent the connec tion or bridge between people and community. The physical structure of the Carter Center is a necessity for our musical community to exist. The final movement “Community” is the celebration of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School and its impact in the greater Providence area.”

Reporting from the East Providence Patch also describes the impact that the Carter Center has had on area young peoples’ lives.

The Providence Preservation Society awarded the new building at 1577 Westminster Street designed by KITE Architects with a Neighborhood Revitalization Ceremony at their annual Preservation Awards on April 28, 2011.

Featuring a new organic and local food retail store on the ground floor, the upstairs featurse one bedroom apartments for adults with developmental disabilities. SpurwinkRI and WBNA partnered to develop this new mixed-use building in Providence’s historic Armory District using a variety of public and private grants and financing.

The building is intended to recall elements of its Victorian neighbors with a contemporary spirit. Green features include high-performance recycled insulation, solar panels, on-site stormwater retention, low-cost flooring that is made regionally without PVC or petroleum products, high-efficiency condensing boilers, and wood windows with a high-performance fiberglass outer face.

Albert Garcia, AIA appeared as an expert panelist at the March 24, 2011 seminar at AIAri headquarters on green roofs. Albert presented an in-depth case study on the extensive green roof systems now underway at the Narragansett Bay Commission, as well as the code issues affecting its installation in a high wind zone.

The West Broadway Neighborhood Association recognized the efforts of KITE to construct the new building at 1577 Westminster Street along with Barbara Sokoloff Associates at their annual meeting on January 11, 2011.

KITE’s design had won a neighborhood-judged design competition at the WBNA’s annual meeting in 2004. Despite a number of setbacks with financing of the project, it came to life with the sponsorship and involvement of Spurwink RI, which provides and manages housing for adults with developmental disabilities.

The project is nearing completion and will be ready for occupancy in Spring of 2011, and plans to open an organic grocery store for the neighborhood in the ground floor space are underway.

KITE is thrilled that their design for the Carter Center for Music Education for the RI Philharmonic and Music School has won a Merit Award from the American Institute of Architects Rhode Island Chapter in the Interiors category.

The jurors praised the complete renovation of a former industrial building that met its limited budget and aggressive schedule, noting spaces that are appealing and comfortable with forms that responded to sound and acoustic control.

Peter Diepenbrock’s sculpture in front of the newly renovated Lippitt Hall at the University of Rhode Island was dedicated with a well-attended ceremony on April 26th. KITE’s renovations were completed in early 2009 and the sculpture was funded by RI’s public art program.

Diepenbrock’s remarks at the event stressed how important the arts are for their ability to teach a process of establishing a vision, then setting goals and understanding one’s own capacity to reach them. As an example, he noted how the large bronze sculpture was built entirely by him and an assistant without special equipment: it is a 4,000 lb sculpture built 6 oz at a time.

Thanks are owed to RI Citizens for the Arts and the RI General Assembly for ensuring that funding is available for public arts and acknowledging their importance in our society.