Vishaan Chakrabarti of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland | Improving the Work of a Legend | Part 1
Courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism
Improving the Work of a Legend
Today we will be speaking with Vishaan Chakrabarti, a licensed architect and the founder of the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). His professional portfolio is diverse, expanding from creating a master plan for the surrounding area of Michigan Central Station in Detroit to creating a social housing neighborhood in East New York. In this week’s episode, we will be speaking to Vishaan about his latest project for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, originally designed by I.M. Pei. His firm has brought its vision for creating sustainable and equitable designs to this project in order to create more accessible spaces. We will also be discussing how his firm's design will seamlessly integrate with legendary architect I.M. Pei’s geometric forms and shimmering glass pyramids.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located on Lake Erie and has been an essential driver for the local economy. It was no surprise that after securing a plot of land that the institution would immediately start looking towards expansion and renovation. From all across the world, twenty-two leading architects submitted their proposals and eventually, eight were shortlisted. Vishaan’s firm was selected as the winning design -- a 50,000-square-foot triangular building made of steel. Join us on this week’s episode as we learn more about Vishaan’s journey as well as how his firm is dedicated to crafting a careful balance of the cutting edge and the conservative.
“We felt very strongly that the building should be an addition that attaches itself to the Pei building, and like rock itself is both irreverent and reverent. It had to not just kowtow to the Pei building, but also understand you are adding to an I.M. Pei building.”
Courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism
About Vishaan Chakrabarti
Vishaan Chakrabarti is a licensed architect and the author of two books, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America and NYC 2040: Housing the Next One Million New Yorkers. Previously, he held senior roles at SHoP Architects and New York City Department of City Planning. Vishaan also serves on the board of the Architectural League of New YOrk and the Regional Planning Association. Vishaan lectures internationally and has made several media appearances on CBS, MSNBC and NPR. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of City Planning degree from MIT, and dual bachelor’s degrees in art history and engineering from Cornell University.
Courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism
Episode Timestamps
2:22 – Your path to architecture started with Art History and Engineering at Cornell. How did you go about choosing your majors and what did you take away from that coursework?
7:02 – Could you talk about the work path that you took and what organization there may or may not have been in that part of your life as well?
12:01 – Tell us what you want readers to take away from your first book, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America, that you spent so much time and effort putting together.
22:02 – Eric Adams is officially in the major elect of New York City. Given your sweep of professional experience, what advice would you have for him?
30:56 – What was your first impression of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame site or any observations that you were struck by?
Connect with Vishaan Chakrabarti:
Courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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