Mancini•Duffy/TSC Wins 2012-2015 IDP Firm Award




We're thrilled to announce that Mancini•Duffy/TSC is one of eleven firms nationwide to receive the 2012-2015 Intern Development Program Firm Award.

Our firm especially values this award because it demonstrates our commitment to our interns by making their path to licensure an integral part of our firm’s culture – giving our clients a team of professionals “at the top of their game.”

The IDP is a joint effort of the American Institute of Architects and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. To read more about the award, visit the AIA’s website.

We owe a huge thanks to Cassandra Straub, Associate AIA, who assembled our application. 
  








The alarm rang at 4:45 a.m.  Of course we all snoozed and one of us simply slept right through, but here we were, getting up earlier than on any weekday in preparation for a 5K.  To be noted, and of utmost importance, is that this was no ordinary 5K.  Nope, this was a 5K Color Run.  The rules: no time, have fun, and of course, EMBRACE THE COLOR!

The group was made up of eleven MD|TSC participants, and two outside friends.  Some of us ran and for those of us who opted out of the Red Bull provided and simply didn’t have time to properly caffeinate, we were part of the walk/slowly run crew (which looked more pathetic than it reads...hey, by that time it was 8 a.m.).  So back to the Color part of the run.  Located in the far-off Aviator Sports Center on Flatbush Avenue (hence the early wake-up time), the race consisted of a 3.1-mile stretch with color stations located every ¼ of the way (see map below).  Whether you were running or walk/running, each of these stations provided an opportunity for a punch of energy and color embrace, which we certainly participated in!  At one moment I found myself being chased with a bucket of red/fuchsia/pink color and the next coughing up pink!  It was fun!  The finish line welcomed us with water, frozen yogurt treats and a live band and dj show and yet more color, this time in buckets.  Time check: 9 a.m.!


Though the race was a blast, in my opinion the most enjoyable aspect was the pre-race preparation and the group work executed.  Thank you to my teammates for the collaboration!  Be it simply organizing the group, setting up meeting times, picking up registration packets, ensuring we all had matching shades, or arranging the ever-cumbersome How on earth do we get to Flatbush?!, we all executed and collaborated brilliantly!  I’d say it was a testimony to our project management skill set, brought to this year’s Color Run!  Next race:
The Mud Run?!?!



6:15AM   Carpooling out to Brooklyn       



7:45AM   We’ve had our bagels...we’re ready for COLOR!


                                           

   8:00AM       Lining up at the start...      
    
        


8:05AM       ...and we're off!!   




 9:00AM       We made it to the finish!!  
                                          

    


9:30AM       Live Concert & After-Party 








by: Johanna Devia + Layla Safiani

MD|TSC Runners (and run/walkers): Katie Barons
Amanda Colonna
Rui Ye
Nikki Morgenthaler
Mary DeLaurentis
Herby Joseph
Kristi Bernick
Krista Merrill
Missing in Action: Scott Hines

Mancini•Duffy/TSC on AIA Broadcastr


Image of New York at Night by Aris Carlot.

This past spring a number of our firm members recorded interviews for AIA Broadcastr, an app now being piloted that, in the words of the AIA, allows listeners to “learn more about New York City’s architecture through the voice of practicing architects and AIA members.”

The interviews are up! If you go to this link, you’ll find them organized by neighborhood. Click on images to hear Senior Associate Ed Calabrese talk about Bloomingdale’s and Saks, Principal Alan Dandron on the Time Warner Conference Center, Chairman & CEO Tony Schirripa on AOL at 770 Broadway, and President Dina Frank on Dorsey & Whitney in the CBS Building, as well as discussions of Starbucks Times Square and OppenheimerFunds’ broadcast center.

The pilot also covers projects in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. As the AIA urges: “Take advantage of this immersive experience.”

Thanks for listening.

Run & Walk for the American Heart Association



Hurray for Scott Hines, who’s been busy organizing a Mancini•Duffy/TSC team to participate in the American Heart Association’s 2012 Wall Street Run & Heart Walk on Thursday, May 31st. Participants start the three-mile race at the World Financial Center, and weave their way through the streets of the Financial District, raising money for the organization, which is dedicated to “building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

As part of Scott’s efforts, he organized a T-shirt design contest, which got a lot of worthy contenders. The ultimate winner was Hendy Bloch’s smart take on the running man Olympic pictogram – it’s made up of little hearts, if you look closely – which edged out the cartoon running dot designed by Scott Harrell (with an assist by Aris Carlot). Amanda Colonna, Herby Joseph, and Filippo Paccagnella also contributed great designs to the contest.

Hendy Bloch’s winning design.


Scott Harrell’s running dot – a close second.

As for the actual run, good luck to everyone on the 31st!

Mancini @ ICFF


Quite the Mancini crew navigated through the crowds yesterday at ICFF.  One of our favorite plumbing fixture exhibitors had us smitten with their fantastic "Sofa Tubs".  Here we are taking a break from our extensive furniture hunt at the brightly designed Kohler booth.




Being a new mom, I recently found myself talking with a group of friends about lack of sleep. From there the conversation quickly turned to how to get the best sleep, and then to the best places to sleep. Some of the more interesting crowd favorites included:  the library, the theatre, on the train, or at church/temple/place of worship…  But the one that caught my attention the most was: in the office, during meetings!  It was also concluded by common consensus that such sleep-worthy meetings were always the ones that involve a large group (10+ people) and that last a long time – factors that generally mean that only some of the people present get to contribute.  As for the others?  They simply get some shut-eye.

Now, being a workplace consultant constantly finding ways to make the places where we do our work more productive – especially collaborative spaces, which are seen as the most important part of a physical office space – I was forced to ponder this phenomenon.

Even though we might be seeing an increasing need for small, informal, and dynamic collaborative spaces, the need remains for presentation rooms and enclosed meeting rooms able to host larger groups. Apart from the fact that meetings of such size and nature should be carefully planned by the facilitator to maximize engagement, how can we, as designers, lend a hand? There’s a lot of research, buzz, and momentum behind the design of incidental, informal collaborative spaces, but it seems that the spaces for planned collaboration/meeting aren’t given as much attention.

Maybe we should approach the design and utilization of meeting spaces differently.  Instead of a meeting space being designed based only on the capacity it can seat – which is the usual practice – what if it’s based on the type of collaboration and nature of the meeting? That is, what if spaces were designed with a specific function in mind?  For example, a presentation room would have shorter sight-lines to the presenter, while an interactive brainstorming room might have reconfigurable furniture, and multi-directional screens and whiteboards. And then a room could be chosen by users not by its description (“12-person,” etc.), but whether it’s a presentation room, a brainstorming room, a work session room, a review room, etc.

Of course, this would mean that the conferencing needs of the user group would have to be profiled in as much detail as possible at the onset of a project in order to successfully provide the right mix of such specifically designed collaborative spaces. Also, since these meeting spaces would most likely be shared by various groups rather than be “dedicated,” their location would have to be carefully planned in relation to the floor plate and main circulation paths – they would have to be easily accessible and able to work with changing business requirements and team sizes. And maybe we could also take a few cues from biophilic design principles in order to make the collaborative spaces more productive.

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this topic, and I’m certainly open to more discussion. Feel free to respond to this or email me separately. In the meantime, here’s to a good night’s sleep.

Partners in Preservation



Only one of 40 worthy contenders: the Museum of the American Indian.
Partners in Preservation, a community-based program that provides grants for the preservation of local historic places, is coming to NYC. What does this mean for us? Well, it means that up through May 21st, everyone can vote for their favorites among 40 historic places throughout our five boroughs to receive preservation funding. There are many worthy institutions on the list, from the Caribbean Cultural Center to the Henry Street Settlement to the Louis Armstrong House Museum to the Brown Memorial Baptist Church, and you get one vote a day, so vote early and often! Registration is quick and easy. The total giveaway (which is funded by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation) is three million dollars – so help spread the cheddar.

Retail Design NOW!



Compliments of Interior Design, by Teresa Kruszewski
I've been a member of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) since 2007 after I passed my NCIDQ exam. Recently, I started volunteering for the organization, and soon after became a co-chair, along with Heather Kane of Pallas Textiles, for the Retail Forum. It's one of ten specialty forums, each focused on a particular market, whose goals are to enhance its members’ professional experience and advocate for better design and greater expertise in the field by planning two events per year offering continuing education units to attendees.

Our inaugural event held on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 was a smashing success! It was an engaging conversation on the changing culture of retail and the built environment with visionaries who are changing the world of retail design. Moderated by Annie Block, Articles Editor at Interior Design, the event featured panelists David Ashen of d-ash design whose recent work with Godiva has gained international acclaim, Faris Al-Shathir and Gregory Sparks of Boffo whose Fashion's Night Out collaborations became the talk of the town, and Diana Revkin, Managing Retail Director at TPG, who shared her work at Eataly. Our host House of Bumble was an amazing venue with catering worthy of the amazing crowd!

To see some of the evening’s highlights, go here.

The 2012 Floor Focus Vision Awards, Retail Style


Photo by Grey Crawford

We’re pleased to report that our design for Bloomingdale’s Santa Monica took home the Retail category prize in the 2012 Floor Focus Vision awards.

This will be our fifth (!) award for the Santa Monica store. In 2010, the project won First Place in RDI’s International Store Design Awards in the New or Renovated Specialty Department Store category and an Honorable Mention in the Department Store category in Chain Store Age’s Retail Store of the Year Design Competition. In 2011, Bloomingdale’s Santa Monica was recognized by the A.R.E. Retail Design Awards with the Grand Prize in the Specialty Department Stores over 25,000 square feet category, and it also took home First Place in DDI’s 2011 Portfolio Awards for the Best Designed Store of the Year.

The team, which included Edward Calabrese, RDI, Senior Associate, Creative Director; Marian Crawford, IIDA, FRDI, Senior Associate, Project Director; George Winsper, Assoc. AIA, Associate, Job Captain, 1st Floor; and Alex Mai, Job Captain, 2nd Floor, are probably a little exhausted from being congratulated so many times. 

The award carries with it a prize of $2000, which Mancini•Duffy/TSC plans to donate to God’s Love We Deliver. In 2012, the inaugural year of the Vision Awards, our project for Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto took home the Grand Prize, which carried a prize of $4000, which we donated to Americares in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Skip Lunch Fight Hunger



Mancini•Duffy/TSC is thrilled to be participating in City Harvest’s Skip Lunch Fight Hunger for our third year in a row. In the words of City Harvest, “Each summer, thousands of New York City children who depend on school lunches the rest of the year may face hunger – Skip Lunch Fight Hunger raises funds to provide those children and their families with food, by asking New Yorkers to donate what they would normally spend on lunch to help feed our city’s hungry.” We’re further thrilled to join the august company of so many of our clients in this endeavor – go here to see the teams contributing, or here if you'd like to do us the honor of joining our team.

The event will run a full workweek this year, from May 14th through May 18th, in honor of its tenth anniversary. We'll be focusing our fundraising efforts on that Wednesday – and so that no one faints from low blood sugar, Mancini•Duffy/TSC will be buying everyone pizza that day.

Starbucks Times Square gets an A.R.E Award





Photograph by Ari Burling.

In the 2012 Association for Retail Environments’ Design Awards program, Starbucks took home an In-Store Communications Award in the Individual Element category for the Times Square flagship redesign. Mancini•Duffy/TSC worked alongside Starbucks’ team on this 3,000-square-foot location.

In the words of the A.R.E., “The Times Square Starbucks flagship makes customers feel like they are backstage at a Broadway show. Stage lighting and set backdrops help create the look, while nine-foot plasma screens present Twitter and Facebook posts made from within the store from customers in real time. In addition, a photo booth features two touchscreens where customers can take pictures and beam them to screens or save them as souvenirs. The end result is a multimedia-driven way of connecting the company’s coffeehouse customers socially.”

As of early 2012, we've completed seventeen projects for Starbucks across the country, with another twenty-five currently underway by our hardworking Mancini•Duffy/TSC Starbucks project team. Congratulations to our team on the Times Square project, which included Carlos Carrasco; Jacqueline DiBernardo; and Ira Sanchick, AIA.



Tony at his AIA NY Chapter inauguration in 2009. Photo by Sam Lahoz.

Congratulations to Mancini•Duffy/TSC’s Chairman and CEO Tony Schirripa, who was elected to the National Board of Directors of the AIA. Tony will serve on the Board from the close of the 2012 annual meeting of the Board until the close of its 2014 meeting.

Previously, Tony served as a Director on the AIA New York State Board of Directors, as well as President of the AIA New York Chapter in 2010.

Of the appointment, Executive Director of the AIA New York Chapter, Rick Bell, FAIA said: "Tony Schirripa was elected to represent the architects of New York on the AIA National Board because of the depth of his understanding of the profession and his articulate advocacy of the value of design. As President of the AIA New York Chapter, Tony led our strategic planning effort, envisioning the future of how we work together to improve our practice, our city and our world. An activist, thinker and doer, Tony Schirripa joins the AIA Board as someone who knows how to make things happen."
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