News:
stltoday.com | Tax credits work for Missouri
By Donald Rosemann
The Missouri legislative session ended in May without significant changes to how the state issues tax credits, which became a topic of considerable debate. Gov. Jay Nixon and some lawmakers had wanted to cut back on the credits while others vowed to keep them intact. The tax-credit program may need fine tuning, but it is too important for St. Louis and Missouri to scale back — especially in difficult economic times.
Tax credits are used as a powerful tool for economic development all across the state, not only creating a considerable number of jobs but also providing many social benefits. They promote developments that build up neighborhoods, provide affordable and safe housing for seniors and working families, help revitalize historic downtown areas and remediate contaminated properties, making them usable again.
As an editorial in the Columbia Daily Tribune stated, “Tax credits are popular because they are used for worthwhile projects.” But many of these developments would not be feasible without tax credits. According to a Missouri Department of Economic Development report issued in February, 41 of 78 affordable housing projects in 2009 would not have been done were it not for tax credits.
At a news conference, Gov. Nixon acknowledged that the state tax credit program is used “for good and solid purposes.” Last year, he was even promoting the expansion of tax credits for businesses, claiming it was essential for Missouri’s economy.
Revit Training to begin August 3rd
Stay current with state-of-the-industry Revit software training this summer. Learn the basics of Revit 2010 Architecture, from schematic design through construction documentation. Instructor, Vicky Borchers, Architectural Production Manager with Burns & McDonnell, will introduce professionals to the concepts of Building Information Modeling and the tools for parametric building design and documentation.
Students will gain the expertise to ask the right questions at the right stage of design development in order to gain the greatest productivity. By understanding the level of detail required to incorporate building and materials data during the design and documentation stage of the production cycle they will leverage the information collected in their BIM models.
Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning on August 3rd to 19th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm at MCC-Business & Technology, I-435 & Front St.
$599 fee includes text Commercial Design Using Revit Architecture 2010
American Institute of Architects AIA members Discounted price $499
Call 816.604.1600 for more information and to enroll.
Green House | Malibu house built from a Boeing 747 nears takeoff
On a 55-acre property in the remote hills of Malibu, Calif., an old Boeing 747 is taking on a new life as the “Wing House.”
David Hertz. the architect, stands on an aircraft wing, which forms the home’s roof, with owner Francie Rehwald.CAPTIONBy Laura DossArchitect David Hertz came up with the idea after his client Francie Rehwald said she wanted a curved, feminine-shaped home for her lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He started sketching shapes and aircraft came to mind.
The Boeing 747 was deconstructed into several pieces before being transported from the California desert to a 55-acre lot in the hills of Malibu, Calif.CAPTIONBy Laura Doss“Why not use an airplane wing?” he recalls asking her. Rehwald, who co-owns a Mercedes car dealership and loves to recycle, didn’t flinch.
This shows parts of the aircraft being transported to the site.CAPTIONBy Laura DossThat was about three years ago, and Hertz says the energy-efficient project — chosen as “This Week’s Green House” —- is now about six months from completion as builders finish interior work
Click here to read the entire article and see images from Green House.
Federal S - Corporation Issue | Letter from Martha John, AIA
As I said at our meeting today, I had an SGN conference call this afternoon during which we spent some time discussing the tax reform issues currently in the legislature and specifically the provisions for changing the taxing relationship on S-corporations. Briefly, the way it is currently written, it would require additional payroll taxes on the principals of very small S-corporation firms.
There is a very good summary of the issue in the latest issue of the AIA Angle, which you can see on the AIA’s website: http://www.aia.org/advocacy/AIAB082521
The AIA and other organizations have been lobbying hard against the offending Section 413 of the bill, and Senator Olympia Snowe has proposed an amendment dropping Section 413 altogether (a move that AIA supports). The issue is still very much in motion. It would be good to log on to the AIA’s advocacy site and sign in to the advocacy center (your AIA number and last name needed) to send messages to your legislators in Washington about this issue.
Thanks!
Martha
Martha K John, AIA
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Architectural Record | AIA Releases Tracking Tool For Sustainable Design
The American Institute of Architects has released an Excel-based tool that generates a report on predicted energy use and project modeling.
The tool, called the 2030 Commitment Annual Progress Reporting Tool, is part of the group’s push to get its members to design carbon-neutral buildings and practice architecture in a more sustainable way. Although the tool was designed for architecture firms only, it is being tweaked for use by structural engineers.
AIA released the tool at its 2010 convention in Miami.
Click here to read the entire article in Architectural Record.
Updates on the Proposed S-tax
Section 413 of the compromise jobs/tax extension legislation (H.R. 4213) includes a tax increase on small architecture firms and other small professional service companies.
The section would increase the payroll tax burden on S corporations “if the principal asset of such business is the reputation and skill of 3 or fewer employees.”
In other words, if an architecture firm organized as an S corporation has three or fewer principals – regardless of how many other architects or support staff they have – their taxes will go up. Firms of all sizes will be entrapped, if they have three or fewer principals, even though they are fully complying with the law.
Staff contacts at AIA National and a link for more details.
The S corporation tax increase proposal now before Congress continues to be in play. If you have any questions about:
• the proposal itself and the implications for architects and their firms, contact Andrew Goldberg (If your firm is an S corporation, please call Andrew directly at 202.626.7438; he’d like to ask you some questions and your responses will be kept strictly confidential.)
• grassroots/grasstops advocacy fighting the proposal, contact Adam Melis and/or
• press/media outreach, contact John Schneidawind.
Take the Green Commute Challenge | July 6 - August 30
This employer-based, metro-wide contest aims to remove motorized vehicles from the road during peak commute times and during ozone season in Kansas City.
From July 6–Aug. 30, 2010, use alternative forms of transportation to get to and from work — such as carpooling, biking, riding the bus and walking — and find other ways to reduce miles driven, like telecommuting or staying in for lunch.
WHY?
Save money – According to the American Automobile Association, it costs commuters about $56 per 100 miles to drive to work. Driving less equals saving money.
Keep our air clean – Leave your car at home twice a week during the two-month-long challenge, and you’ll prevent about 272 pounds of harmful ozone-forming and greenhouse gas emissions (for a 20-mile round-trip commute).
Win stuff – By tracking activities that reduce miles driven, you can qualify for weekly and monthly prizes.
Compete – Join your employer’s Green Commute Challenge team, and compete against other organizations in the Kansas City area to find out who can save the most “green.”
HOW TO SIGN UP
GETTING STARTED
Log in to your RideShare Connection account. If you don’t have an account, create one, and select your employer from the drop-down list.
ENROLL IN THE CHALLENGE
On the My Page tab, click on “enroll” next to the Commute Challenge heading on the left side. Complete the brief survey and click on “enroll” again.
TRACK YOUR ACTIVITIES
Start using your Commute Tracker calendar to report alternative transportation trips and become eligible for prize drawings.
Newsletter | AIA Central States Emerging Professionals
Click on the above document to read this edition of the AIA Central States Emerging Professionals Newsletter.
AIA Kansas City Awarded Bronze Art Through Architecture Achievement
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS-KANSAS CITY
TO BE AWARDED ART THOUGH ARCHITECTURE “BRONZE LEVEL” ART ACHIEVEMENT
FOR SITE-SPECIFIC COMMISSION BY KANSAS CITY ARTIST MARCIE MILLER GROSS
AT NEW AIA-KC OFFICES, DESIGNED BY HELIX ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN, 1801 MCGEE
PUBLIC RECEPTION: FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 6:30-9PM
WITH MUSIC BY LOW STANDARDS, FEATURING AIA-KC PRESIDENT KEVIN KLINKENBERG, AT 7PM
American Institute of Architects-Kansas City (AIA-KC) is being awarded Bronze level “Art Achievement” by Art through Architecture (AtA) for Recirculate, a new site-specific art installation by Kansas City based artist Marcie Miller Gross. Commissioned for AIA-KC’s new offices on the ground floor of 1801 McGee, a historic building in the East Crossroads district of Kansas City, Mo, Recirculate debuts with a public reception on Friday, June 4, 6:30-9:30 pm.
Through AtA, a partnership of American Institute of Architects-Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, new architectural projects may earn Gold, Silver or Bronze levels of Art Achievement by dedicating a percentage of the total construction budget to collecting artworks, commissioning temporary or permanent artworks, and/or including artists on design teams. AtA facilitates this process by providing a web-based database at http://www.ArtArch.org, featuring work by some 90 artists selected for the program through a competitive process, and by providing hands-on support for project implementation, from artist selection through completion.
Marcie Miller Gross was awarded this $5500 commission in early March, by a committee comprised of AIA-KC Executive Director Dawn Kirkwood; AIA-KC Board Member Kimball Hales, architect, Hufft Projects; and immediate-past AIA-KC Board Member Debra L. Smith, Architect and Planner, City of KCMO, Water Services Department. The committee selected Miller Gross through a two-phased process. First, they reviewed the work of artists featured on AtA’s website database, narrowing to a short-list of five finalists. These artists were then invited to develop rough proposals, which they presented to the committee during studio visits, at which point Miller Gross was selected.
“As an artist and maker, I am compelled with the dynamic dialogue between art and architecture, between objects and space,” said Miller Gross. “My work is often a response to the interplay among the spatial, conceptual, and architectonic conditions of a place.” In this case, Miller Gross was particularly inspired by the office space’s high, concrete ceilings, the “marks and traces of history” evident in the space, and by “the activity of cables and electrical wiring” that Helix Architecture + Design, which designed the recent renovation of the space for AIA-KC, opted to leave exposed overhead.
Identifying the electrical cable trays that carry telecommunications wires through the office as “an inherent element within the vocabulary of this utilitarian space,” Gross determined to employ these same metal trays as a key component of her artwork. Her installation incorporates a series of cable trays as the support structures for colorful, neatly folded stacks of discontinued fabric samples, which Miller Gross collected from architectural office libraries in the Kansas City area.
“Collecting and reusing these fabric memo samples is a means for me to connect with the architectural community and fabric manufacturers representatives, while recycling the material and documenting a part of the industry,” the artist said.
“Marcie’s use of common elements, wire cable trays and fabric samples, is particularly relevant and fitting for the AIA-KC Office,” said Debra Smith. “Architects will readily recognize these items…and it is the epitome of what designers typically try to achieve, making even the ordinary extraordinary and remarkable. In addition, the piece extends the life of the fabric samples in an innovative way, bringing color, pattern and texture into the space, while reusing readily available elements otherwise destined to be discarded.”
Miller Gross’ piece also provides a counterpoint to the signature element of Helix’s architectural design, a bold, “red ribbon” vertically “wrapping” and defining the office space’s central, public gathering area. Recirculate, instead, “suggests another path of movement” as it circulates horizontally through the core section of the space, suspended from the ceiling.
“Marcie’s approach was concise, interesting and fun, said Kimball Hales. “She has integrated the art with the architecture in a very meaningful way, while also adding an element of surprise.”
“I really appreciate how Marcie considered the space and worked with the volume of the space,” added Debra Smith. “This installation is a great example of how Art through Architecture helps to support the inclusion of art as an integral part of a space’s overall design, making the viewer’s experience of both the artwork and the space more multidimensional and unusual.”
“Through the process of working with AtA on this project, we met with several artists, all of whom are doing interesting and amazing work, said Hales. “The artists in the community are a very unique resource that we should be drawing upon more often to enrich the built environment.”
About the Artist
Marcie Miller Gross’ recent work has been exhibited at Review Studios, Cranbrook Art Museum, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Byron Cohen Gallery for Contemporary Art, and Charlotte Street Foundation’s Paragraph Gallery (an Urban Culture Project venue), including a solo exhibition at the Kemper Museum of Art in 2005. She has held academic appointments at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Kansas in the Sculpture and Fiber Departments, and received her Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Her work has been reviewed in Art in America, Sculpture, Art Papers, I. D Magazine, Review, and Kansas City Star with recent publications including Hothouse: Expanding the Field of Fiber at Cranbrook 1970-2007. She been the recipient of awards and honors including the Charlotte Street Foundation Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, ArtsKCFund Inspiration Grant, Review Studios Fund/Brad and Linda Nicholson Foundation, and Creative Capital Foundation Professional Development Workshop, and Allied Arts and Craftsmanship Award, KC/AIA with el dorado architects inc. for Moving In Moving Out, an exhibition at Flex Storage Systems.
Her work is found is in the collections of The National Center for Drug Free Sport, Andrews-McMeel Universal Publishing, Missouri Bank, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Helix Architecture and Design, Fishnet Securities, Inc., George K. Baum and Company, and in private collections in Los Angeles, Detroit and Kansas City.
About the Architect:
Helix / Architecture + Design is a recognized leader in the sustainable practice of re-positioning historic properties for productive, contemporary uses. The firm is architectural masterplanner for properties in the Brookside, Prairie Village and Corinth historic neighborhood shopping centers. For more information, visit http://www.helixkc.com.
About Art through Architecture:
The mission of Art through Architecture (AtA) is to support artists and the arts community in the Kansas City area and to enrich architectural practices and architect-client relationships by providing architects and clients with incentives and tools to collect, commission, place, and integrate artwork by Kansas City artists into their processes and projects. For more information about the Art program, visit http://www.ArtArch.org, or contact Kate Hackman, Administrator, Art through Architecture Art Committee/Associate Director, Charlotte Street Foundation (http://www.charlottestreet.org), at 816.994.7731 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Fifth District Green Summer Jobs Program
Congressman Cleaver and the Full Employment Council, in partnership with organizations from across the community, are organizing a summer youth employment program for youth 16 years old and over with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Your organization is encouraged to participate. The following requirements apply:
• Positions must be “green” jobs that provide a learning opportunity for youth in the fields of energy efficiency, water conservation, sustainable design, carbon footprint management, or other green fields.
• Adult supervisors will only be provided for each team of 10 youth. Organizations requesting fewer than 10 youth will need to provide supervision.
• The program will last 8 weeks beginning approximately June 21, with youth working 30 hours per week.
If your organization will participate, please provide the following information by Friday, April 30 by email to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by fax at 816-471-5215, Attn: Matt Orlovick. If possible, please attach a short list of the type of positions you might offer.
Please see attached document.