WORK Architecture Company (WORKac) was founded in 2002 by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood. Now a 16-person firm based in New York City the office is engaged in projects at all scales.
From their studio on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Wood and Andraos work together with employees from Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Korea, Spain, and Australia. “We see difference as a strength, as a source of ideas,” says Wood.
Senior Associate Sam Dufaux received a M.S. in Architecture from Columbia University after earning his professional architecture degree in Switzerland, where he is a licensed architect. He was also a visiting scholar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok as well as at the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau, Germany working on urban research projects.
Defaux has led a number of projects and competitions for WORKac, including the Anthropologie building in Corona, CA from design concept through construction. This 1,000 m2 store was awarded a AIA NY Chapter Merit Interior Architecture Award in 2008. The White Street loft, a 557 m2 three-storey residence in TriBeCa for fashion designer Lela Rose is under construction and will be completed in 2009.
Prior to joining WORKac, Sam was a designer at Studio Daniel Libeskind in Berlin, Germany working on the large scale WESTside leisure and commercial center in Bern, Switzerland. As part of this 14 ha mixed-used project, Sam was the designer for the 9,300 m2 swimming recreational center from schematic design to construction documents. The building includes fitness, saunas, restaurant and swimming facilities.
PF1, New York, USA
Public Farm 1 (PF1) was the winning entry for the 2008 MoMA/PS1 Young Architect Program. Built in the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center’s courtyards, the temporary installation introduced a 1000m2 fully functioning urban farm in the form of a folded plane made of structural cardboard tubes. PF1 combines infrastructure with public space, engaging the visitor to re-imagine the city’s infinite possibilities.
Built entirely of biodegradable and recyclable materials, PF1 was powered by solar energy and irrigated by a rooftop rainwater collection system that kept the project off the city’s grid. Throughout the summer, the farm produced over 50 varieties of organic fruit, vegetables and herbs that were used by the museum’s café, at special events, and harvested by visitors.
PF1 was a testament to the possibilities of rural engagement in urban environments and proposed that cities be reinvented to become more complete and integrated systems capable of producing their own food, producing their own power and re-using their own water while creating new shared spaces for social interaction and public pleasure.
Kew Gardens Hills
The project is an 275m2 expansion of an existing 1966 building into the front and side yards, and a complete renovation of the interior. The bookshelves in the central perimeter zone function as structure for the new roof; their radial layout – stretching outwards – emphasises the open character of the public library. Capping the addition with a green roof creates a continuous loop of green with the existing gardens on the sides of the library.
The geometry of the roof slopes allow for views of the green roof from the surrounding streets. Made from glass fibre-reinforced concrete panels, the custom facade creates a rippled, curtain-like pattern of vertical folds. Natural daylight is provided directly by the large exterior windows and indirectly by the clerestory windows facing south and east, which will bounce off of the opaque interior surfaces.
Photos: WORK Architecture Company
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