Building Codes 2001

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Building codes stand between diverse realms, cultures, and disciplines. They act as formal go-betweens for politics and architecture, provide the terrain for struggles between landlords and tenants, and act as formalizations of society's minimum conditions of living. The field of building regulation stitches design into a much broader social fabric. Through a series of exhibitions, public forums, walking tours, web-based projects, and films, CUP, Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and a broad array of collaborators and contributors will document and speculate about the nature and contemporary roles of such codes in shaping the world.
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By staging these events, the collaborators take up a deep tradition of engagement with the rules that govern the arrangements of space. One hundred years ago, Lawrence Veiller (1872-1959) and other activist designers took up the cause of housing reform with the goal of improving living conditions in places such as Manhattan's Lower East Side. Today, the majority of designers do not view the realm of codes as a promising zone for intervention. While the organizers share criticisms of some approaches and aims of last century's reformers, Building Codes is presented with hopes of returning critical interest to the administration of architecture.
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Today, while basic housing remains a pressing global issue, the field of building codes has become complex and fragmented, the arena of specialists and full-time experts. Different agents act on different scales, with oftentimes conflicting outcomes. By presenting a limited tour through this often mystified subject, Building Codes intends to contribute to a broader appreciation, understanding, and democratization of the material world.
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List of projects
SFAA = Storefront for Art and Architecture (July-August 2001)
LESTM=Lower East Side Tenement Museum (July-September 2001)
1. The coding community—Video interviews and office portraits featuring selected representatives of the design, development, administrative, activist, and cultural communities speaking about their work and personal relation to codes. (SFAA, LESTM)
2. 20th century design legislation timeline—A series of exemplary regulations illustrated by photographs, models by Mari Fujita and Oliver Neuman, and drawings focusing on the connections between politics, legislation, and built reality. (SFAA, LESTM)
3. Annotated photographs—A series of analyses of specific aspects of the code through annotated images of the urban environment, from trip hazards to fire escapes. (SFAA)
4. Speculative projects—A collection of speculative proposals submitted by architects, artists, academics, and activists detailing alterations, reinterpretations, or new investigations of codes. (SFAA)
5. Walking tours—A series of pamphlet guides for various parts of New York City focusing on the ways in which codes can be read in the urban environment. (SFAA, LESTM)
6. Code lexicon—A primer of vocabulary, concepts, and administrative structures laid out by codes. (SFAA)
7. Media archive—A collection of written and photographic clippings dealing with codes and the built environment. (SFAA)
8. Public forum—A public forum at the Gotham Center in early October brought together a panel composed of a for-profit developer, a community activist, a BID official, and an urban historian.
9. Films & discussions—A series of films and public discussions on themes pertinent to the project, held in the theater at the Tenement Museum.
10. The Other Half—A photography project by Oscar Tuazon tracing the history of the present in the photographs of Jacob Riis.
11. Excerpts from "Civil Disturbances"—Street signs produced by the group REPOHistory documenting legislative battles for justice associated with specific places in New York City.
12. ADA 10—A project by the Institute for Advanced Architecture looking at the Americans with Disabilities Act and its decade-long influence on architecture.
13. Sukkot—A project by Francisca Benitez exploring the confluence of Brooklyn apartment buildings and Old Testament construction instructions.
14. Basic rules for housing—A poster project by Rosten Woo and graphic designer Stella Bugbee displaying and illustrating basic housing rights in New York City.
15. Siting the public—A project by Damon Rich, Dan Wiley, and Rosten Woo relating siting of public housing in New York City to major legislative and judicial actions.

Participants

Damon Rich, Project Manager, Lead Designer
Stella Bugbee, Designer
Jason Anderson, Designer
Sam Stark, Writer
Tamara Sussman, Photographer
Francisca Benitez, Artist
Oscar Tuazon, Artist
Mari Fujita, Designer
André Knights, Educator
Oliver Neumann, Designer
Dan Wiley, Technical consultant
Rosten Woo, Designer
Dave Powell
Andrea Meller

Resources & Links

Books

Lower East Side Tenement Museum (LESTM)

LESTM provides exhibits and programs about the immigrant and migrant experience on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Organizations

Storefront for Art and Architecture	Founded in 1982, Storefront for Art and Architecture is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing innovative positions in art, architecture and design. Storefront was an early supporter of CUP and was the venue for our shows The Programmable City and Urban Renewal: The City without a Ghetto.
Metropolitan Council on Housing	The Metropolitan Council on Housing, one of New York City's oldest housing advocacy organizations, was founded in 1958.
Tenant.net	An on-line resource, Tenant.net provides housing advice and discussion focusing on New York City and State.
The Rent Stabilization Association (RSA)	The Rent Stabilization Association represents 25,000 property owners/agents in New York City.

Other

A History of the Tenant Movement in New York

A great history of New York's Tenant Movement edited by Ronald Lawson and hosted online by tenant.net.

Downloads

Finding the Civic in the Situation (PDF, 809.4 KB)	A paper by Damon Rich on some of CUP’s techniques
Finding the Civic in the Situation (PDF, 809.4 KB)	A paper by Damon Rich on some of CUP’s techniques
Finding the Civic in the Situation (PDF, 809.4 KB)	A paper by Damon Rich on some of CUP’s techniques

Press

	‘Spread the Word’ Residential Architect February 06, 2007 “Architects have some explaining to do.” Website Download PDF
	‘Designing For Urban Education and Activism’ DESIGNER/builder December 01, 2006 “The organization is asking - and trying to answer - questions about democracy, civic participation, and social justice.” Download PDF
	‘Civic Boosters: Q&A with Damon Rich’ Metropolis February 01, 2002 “With lively exhibitions and a tongue-in-cheek walking tour, the Center for Urban Pedagogy urges individuals to actively shape their city.” Website Download PDF
	‘Building Codes on the Wall’ Oculus October 01, 2001 “The exhibition also put a human face on the issues - lots of human faces...” Download PDF
	‘Deciphering the City’s Hidden Code’ The Village Voice August 28, 2001 “We wanted to disseminate information and to provide a sense that these things are in fact knowable. This is about the whole history of political struggle that has changed the built environment.” Website Download PDF