Brooklyn, New York
James Hartford, Project Assistant for Rogers Marvel Architects
Rogers Marvel Architects were selected to reconstruct Higgins Hall after it was severlely damaged by a four alarm fire in 1996.
The fire left a roofless brick enclosure with 100 years’ history of previous fires, alterations and rebuilding. The design intent was to reveal the poetic within the ruin, and make a workplace for architecture.
The design of the new School of Architecture functions as a laboratory for schools by exposing building systems, structure, and history. It offers to its occupants a lesson in appropriate intervention and improvement without compromising the elegance of the existing masonry structure.
James’ responsibilities included design development based on user-analysis, structural surveys, and space planning. He was responsible for all of the project’s phases-surveying, structural stabilization, programming, detailing, and the production of construction documents.
