Other Resources

Solar RoofPod and Harlem Garden for Urban Food

Yuriko Jewett harvests honey on the Solar Roofpod of the sustainable Spitzer School of Architecture.
Photo: Albert Vecerka, ESTO

Atop the Spitzer School of Architecture sits a solution to NYC’s energy and emission problems. The Solar Roofpod is a plus-net-energy roof pavilion designed to provide local green energy for urban buildings.

The 800-sf building prototype was designed and built by students under the supervision of Professor Christian Volkmann and was runner-up for People’s Choice Award at the Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington D.C. It was installed on the rooftop of the Spitzer School of Architecture in 2014, where it serves as a living classroom, an urban lookout, and a hub for sustainable design. It is also used for various special events and meetings. The rooftop setting overlooking New York’s skyline speaks to the different architectural scales involved in sustainable living.

With its 10 kWp of electricity and 12 kWp of additional thermal energy production, the Roofpod can provide much of its surplus to the host building beneath it.

It also can serve as an urban resilient back-up system in case of power outages, as experienced when Superstorm Sandy struck in fall 2012.

The newer, adjoining Harlem Garden for Urban Food provides the vital link among STEM studies, our local food system, and health. Spitzer School faculty are working with teachers and students at the on-campus High School for Math, Science and Engineering to create an urban farm and offer joint interdisciplinary programs for high school and college students.

For more information visit: http://solarroofpod.com

Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Lab
The ABC Lab explores new methods of structural form-finding used to design efficient structures on small and large scales. We investigate natural resources to provide building solutions that result in low carbon emission and reduced environmental impact.
Robotics Lab
The Spitzer School Robotics Lab has two ABB IRB 120 small but powerful, scalable, industrial-grade six-axis robotic arms, as well as a third, larger arm, an ABB IRB 15000. Two very large arms are also planned for, pending infrastructure development. Students in robotics-focused courses, including special edesign studios, use the lab to critically explore robotics and examine their potential to transform, and perhaps disrupt, modes of present and future design practice. At Spitzer, robotics is viewed as a design tool, not just a conventional fabrication device. Robots are approached as broadly applicable general-purpose motion devices. The number, scope, and elaboration of functions, processes, and tasks each arm can carry out are nearly endless. One determinant of this flexibility, and a source of great potential, is the physical interface a robotic arm presents to the world -- the tools or effectors that, when attached to the end of the arm, allow work to be carried out. The movable end of the arm -- the “wrist” -- is “open” and flexible and to which can be attached an unlimited number and variety of tools, objects, and small systems. Possibilities include all manner of drawing instruments, scribing tools, light sources, image capture devices, grippers, virtually any hand or power tool, extruders, grinders, and milling equipment. Harnessing robots’ precise programmed motion control, connection to robotic arms of cameras, video screens, and other visual production devices opens an entire realm of possibilities for architectural conceptualization, representation, documentation, expression, and even entertainment. The lab utilizes several software tools including HAL, Robots GH plug-in, and Mimic. These interface with familiar design applications such as Rhino, Grasshopper, and Maya, providing a bridge to Robot Studio, an industrial-grade comprehensive robot control and simulation suite. The lab also has available advanced 3-D printers and a host of tools to serve students and faculty working in the Spitzer Robotics Lab.
I-Bean Café
The iBean Café, the Spitzer School of Architecture’s in-house coffee shop, is located on the second floor.
Digital Fabrication
The Model Shop boasts four large-bed laser cutters, two CNC machines, and MakerBot 3-D printers. Additionally, the M Arch studios house a Stratasys uPrint SE Plus, a 3-D printer, and a Roland MDX-540 Milling Machine.
Architecture Library
Architecture Library Resource Updates
Fabrication Shop
Located in a large dedicated space on the concourse level of the Spitzer School, the model shop is fully equipped with a wide variety of hand and power.
Digital Media Labs and Printing
The school’s digital media resources are many and varied. Based primarily on ‘win-tel’ technology, two labs, open extended hours, are equipped with advanced workstations, large format plotters and scanners, a variety of printers and other equipment for open student and faculty use. One lab and another dedicated instructional space are also available for teaching each with eighteen advanced work stations, digital projection, audio capability and other a/v equipment. Available software includes AutoCAD, Revit, 3DS Max, Rhino, all Adobe products, Microsoft Office, and a variety of other applications. Plotters and public-access workstations are available in many studios along with building-wide wireless access and other facilities for portable (laptop) computing in all spaces. Four digital laser cutters and two large cnc machines are available in the model shop along with 3D printers and other digital fabrication equipment. Supporting these resources are a group of servers with extensive storage capacity, along with other capabilities including advanced print serving, applications distribution, and license management. In addition to the labs and model shop facilities, many studios are equipped with plotters, workstations and printers. Wireless access is available throughout the entire SSA building along with wired access in numerous locations including studios, classrooms and offices.

Other Resources

Solar RoofPod and Harlem Garden for Urban Food

Calendar

Architecture Undergraduate Open House

Graduate Architecture Info Session

CCNY Spitzer School Tour

Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Lab

Robotics Lab

I-Bean Café

Digital Fabrication

Architecture Library

Fabrication Shop

Digital Media Labs and Printing