CannonDesigners in the NYC Office are showing their support for National Bike Month and Bike to Work Week 2016! Meeting up in different parts of the city and riding to work in “caravans,” the participants are gaining safe urban commuting knowledge, getting exercise (especially going over bridges!), living out our sustainability goals, and helping to grow the community of bikers here in NYC. Congratulations to a successful first day team of Heather Clinger, Elisa Feng, Ryan Koella, Siobhan Lee,Heather Rosen, Sarah Ruel-Bergeron, and Aysu Unal! Here’s to a great coming week: Thursday 5/19 – Central Park Snack and Ride picnic after work. Friday 05/20 – National Bike to Work Day “Meeting”…

Better Learning. Engaged Students A fundamental component of advancing our nation’s higher education system is enriching the community college experience for students. With 45% of all undergraduate students in the U.S. enrolled in community colleges, these institutions are critical to our country’s long-term success. Community college leadership teams recognize their key role in America’s education system and are working hard to provide the resources, degree programs and technologies these students need.  Despite their best efforts, community colleges are often challenged to bring key, properly-sized community spaces to their campus due to current funding models for capital projects that prioritize the planning and design of core learning spaces. This prioritization is…

In anticipation of the announcement of this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate our team in New York City held a good old-fashioned guessing game that sparked conversation, debate and research around the great living architects and speculation on who would receive the profession’s highest honor for 2016. 24 guesses were made, including Steven Holl, David Adjaye, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, David Chipperfield, Jeanne Gang, Moshe Safdie, Baumschlager+Eberle, Kengo Kuma, Bijoy Jain, Bjarke Ingels, Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, Ricardo Bofill, Sou Fujimoto, Peter Eisenman, Francine Houben, Santiago Calatrava, and this year’s recipient, Alejandro Aravena. We extend our congratulations to Mr. Aravena and are grateful for his distinctive contributions to the profession.

Our New York City team kicked off 2016 by participating in the Design Within Reach Champagne Chair ChallengeTM — an annual competition to create the most original miniature chair design out of materials (except glass) from no more than two champagne bottles, with glue as the only permitted adhesive. CannonDesigners came up with 15 amazing ideas, but an internal vote ruled the landslide winner as #15, the Game of Thrones-inspired “Winter is Coming.” Check out all of our designs below, and cheers to a happy, healthy 2016. #1 Bourgeois Lounge & Table // #2 Way Back Recline // #3 Heatherwack // #4 Troll Chair // #5 RockingKing #6 Curvy Chair // #7…

Laboratory Design Newsletter has published a new piece from Eric Jaffe entitled, “Innovative Design vs. Innovative Process,” focused on how while it has been nearly 30 years since the last innovation in physical lab space, designers are constantly innovating their tools and approaches. As Jaffe puts it, “Isn’t innovative laboratory design today a mix of both research connectivity and paradigm change within an organization coupled with the physical environment?” The full article can be read online here. Here is a brief excerpt from the piece: What has changed over the last 30 years is the way planners and designers bring new ideas to the organization of activities and people. The…

CannonDesign’s John Reed has published a new piece for ArchDaily entitled, “4 Reasons Architecture Firms Should Engage in Design Competitions” that focuses on how these efforts can help design firms find new creative paths, increase collaboration and strengthen firm culture. As John notes in the captions of the many images included, design competitions have helped mark his career – from his first build work: The Hastings Tapley Insurance Building in Cambridge, MA; to a Canary Wharf project that led him to moving to London and leading a design office; to recent work with Dickinson College and St. John’s University. The full piece can be read online and below are two…