NEIL M DENARI ARCHITECTS

CONTENT:
•WHO IS HE?
•HOW DID HIS ARCHITECTURE JOURNEY
BEGAN?
•HIS MAJOR INSPIRATION – IMPACT ON HIS
WORK
•TO QUOTE FROM HIS INTERVIEWS
•ARTLESS DRAWINGS
•PROJECTS
HIGH LINE 23
NEW KEELUNG HARBOUR SERVICE
BUILDING
WHO’S HE?
•Neil Denari is an American architect, professor, and author.

•Based since 1988 in Los Angeles, Denari emerged in New York

during the 1980s with a series of theoretical projects and texts based
on the collapse of the machine aesthetic of Modernism.

•His office, Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA) is dedicated to

exploring the realms of architecture, design, urbanism, and all
aspects of contemporary life.

•As a teacher for more than 20 years, Denari has held visiting
professorships at UC Berkeley, Columba, Princeton, University of
Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas at Arlington. Since 2002,
he has taught at UCLA where he is a tenured professor
HOW DID HIS ARCHITECRURE JOURNEY BEGAN??
•Denari received a Bachelor's degree in Architecture in 1980 from the
University of Houston and in 1982,

•He earned a Master's degree from Harvard University.

•While at Harvard, he studied the philosophy of science and also art

theory with the expatriate Austrian artist Paul Rotterdam, whom
Denari has cited as his most influential teacher

•After graduate studies, Denari worked for five months as an intern in

Paris for Aerospatiale – now Airbus – one of Europe’s largest
aviation contractors.

•Following this, Denari lived and worked in New York from 1983 to
1988, first at James Stewart Polshek & Partners as a senior designer,
before beginning to teach at Columbia University’s Graduate School
HOW DID HIS ARCHITECRURE JOURNEY BEGAN??
Denari founded his firm in Los Angeles in 1988.

Denari has used the city of Los Angeles as a resource and laboratory for
urban and cultural experiments.

In 1990 and 1991, he worked on several small projects and taught

architecture in Tokyo.
This period of time, prior to the collapse of the Japanese bubble
economy, gave Denari the opportunity to study both the historical and
contemporary aspects of Japanese culture. These experiences have had a
continued impact on his work.

Gyroscopic Horizons, a book written by Denari documenting his

architectural projects as well as his ideas and theories on contemporary
culture, was jointly published in September 1999 by Princeton
Architectural Press and Thames and Hudson.
HIS MAJOR INSPIRATION – IMPACT ON WORK:
Japanese culture and architecture
Art theory – paul rotterdam

Culture and language

of architecture at los
angeles

•Monochromatic paintings
•Abstraction
•Three-dimensionality is an
important feature in his work
with forms often protruding Aviation
from the pictorial plane into
actual space
TO QUOTE FROM HIS INTERVIEWS

Your buildings have been described as "graphic,"

"contoured" and "aerodynamic." What term or phrase do
you think best describes your work?

ND: Formagraphic is a term I invented that attempts to place

in close proximity to one another the depth and fullness of
form and the immediacy and vividness of the graphic. Our
work is a unique merger between 2D and 3D, so really the
term tries to capture the essence of that world
TO QUOTE FROM HIS INTERVIEWS

“I think every architect deals with abstraction at one

level. Even though my work looks more complicated,
it’s deeply simple. It’s a pretty sophisticated form of
simple geometry in a way. I learned to edit and to have
the simplicity of color field painting find its way into my
work.
There’s something deep down that’s disciplining about
architecture. I like to think abstraction and scale allow
you to be rigorous and open-ended at the same time. You
can do it with hunches and guesses but at least you’re
governed by something. I know I have that kind of spirit
with how I approach work. I try to be free but I also
work within a set of hard and fast rules that are very
There’s a very graphic, abstract element to all your
loose”
work.
TO QUOTE FROM HIS INTERVIEWS

What are the values that inform your practice?

 
The context of a site is very important when designing large buildings.
You need to know the context well when generating ideas and processes
for the site. When I take on a project, I try to find out more about the
site, its history and the activities that have taken place there, which will
influence the final design. In this way, people don’t feel that this is just a
generic development that you can find anywhere. Using this approach,
we won the Keelung Harbor Building Competition because we came up a
design that responded well to the site context.
 
- See more at:
http://www.aude.sg/features_Neil_Denari.htm#sthash.qDkqsrSY.dpuf
ARTLESS DRAWINGS The Artless Drawing focuses on
the graphic work of Neil Denari
produced between 1982 and
1996, just before digital design
became ubiquitous. Although
painstakingly made by hand, the
perfectly rendered drawings
appear to have been generated by
a machine rather than by an
architect seeking artistic
expression.
ARTLESS DRAWINGS
The exhibition showcases
the extraordinary range of
manual techniques Denari
used to create what is now
his signature style and
reveals that Denari made
these drawings less in the
manner of an artist or
draughtsman than in that of
a human computer.
NEW KEELUNG HARBOUR SERVICE BUILDING - TAIWAN
NEW KEELUNG HARBOUR SERVICE BUILDING - TAIWAN
OVERVIEW:

•A multi-functional port
facility harmonious with the
city and the regional
environment
•Comprises of a passenger Architects: Neil M. Denari
and cargo terminal and a joint Architects
office building Location: Port of Keelung,
•Taiwan's largest port of entry Zhongzheng District, Keelung
serving peak hour flow of City, Taiwan 202
1,500 cruise ship passengers Principal: Neil Denari, AIA
•Up to International Air Project Architects: James
Transport Association (IATA) Black, Frank Weeks
standards of the C-class Project Manager: Yun Yun Wu
service Design Team: Jonathan
Denari's long held fascination with the streamlined forms of mid-
century automobile design and chrome-dipped Americana in
general here find resonance in the abstract steel basins, wind-swept
protuberances, and angled windows which all cast the complex in
forward motion.

Various structures, each containing different programs are linked

by soaring skybridges and vertiginous ramps--broad circulation
bands that are weaved throughout the dense collection of buildings.

A long horizontal wing will house the train terminal while the main
building will contain office and hotel spaces. A smaller, pavilion-
like tower at the water bank will accommodate the Harbor
authority and a police station.
MORPHOSIS AND A HALF
HIGH LINE 23

Architect: Neil M. Denari Architects

Location: New York, USA
Principal in charge: Neil Denari
Project Architect: Duks Koschitz
Project Designer: Stefano Paiocchi
Project team: Carmen Cham, Alex
Janowsky, Philipp Traexler, David Aguilo,
Steven Epley, Paola Vezzulli, Joe
Willendra
Land area: 352.5 sqm
Constructed area: 3,642 sqm
“The best part may be the archibabble that results from a
question about building luxury residences: "Okay, this is a
very high-end building, it's very expensive, but I think for
me, I just sort of think it's for the city. And the people who
live in this building, I think they know the building is for
the city. They're participating in the symbiosis of the High
Line and the shift in design culture”

Its design involved a broad knowledge of the site,

great understanding of construction details and
expansion of space. The building stand out in the
surrounding area, attract audience with its
exposed steel frames and create a great illusion of
height.
The building's east facade will have
the appearance of a monumental
public sculpture clad with a system of
custom-designed, three-
dimensionally curving stainless steel
panels. The pattern will move along
the dramatically shaped skin in much
the same way a printed pattern moves
across an avant-garde garment,
slipping into different visual effects
with the change of the body beneath.

The steel surface will also read

differently throughout the day and
during different weather patterns,
glowing and seeming to change color
with the movement of the sun and the
passing of clouds. At the center of
This interest manifests in the form and articulation of HL23,
which seems more machine than multi-unit dwelling. Contrary to
the typical high-rise form, which tapers from a wide base to a
narrower summit, HL23’s form swells upward and outward in
response to the zoning envelope and looms above the High Line.

In order to preserve open interiors free from the interruption of

columns, Denari designed the concrete and steel structure with
perimeter cross-bracing.

The north and south facades feature an aluminum curtain wall

with ultra-clear glass, revealing the structural latticework and
capturing coveted High Line and Hudson River views.

In order to maintain some privacy for residents, Denari clad the

west facade, which directly faces the High Line, with stamped
stainless steel panels. These panels were made in a factory in
Argentina that manufactures parts for Mercedes trucks