Seinfeld Visiting Critics Bernheimer and Della Valle to lecture at SU School of Architecture

Seinfeld Visiting Critics Bernheimer and Della Valle to lecture at SU School of ArchitectureMarch 13, 2008Mary Kate O’Brienmcobrien@syr.edu

Andrew Bernheimer and Jared Della Valle of the New York City architecture firm Della Valle Bernheimer will speak at the Syracuse University School of Architecture on Wednesday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the main auditorium of The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St. Following the lecture, which is free and open to the public, a reception will take place in the Architecture Gallery, where an exhibition of the firm’s recent work is on display through April 4.

Bernheimer and Della Valle are the Seinfeld Visiting Critics at the School of Architecture and in this capacity teach a design studio in collaboration with Timothy Stenson, associate professor at the school. This studio presents students with a project based in real-world parameters. Following a visit to the Hudson Yards development site in New York City, students are exploring issues of architectural design; dealing with issues of economics that drive the design; and investigating the possibility of accomplishing large-scale development with a greater sense of social responsibility. The studio challenges students to be critical about the difficult process of making architecture through the practical lens of real estate.

The studio, the second of three sponsored by the Seinfeld Foundation and SU Trustee Judith Greenberg Seinfeld, offers students the opportunity to learn about housing design options and commercial forms of development as they define our culture and revitalize our urban centers. The three-year Seinfeld Housing Initiative employs a case-study model, with a different building type and location selected each year as a specific focus. The inaugural site selected for study in spring 2007 was the former Case Supply Warehouse complex on Syracuse’s Near Westside, taught by Santa Monica architect Julie Eizenberg.

Della Valle and Bernheimer founded Della Valle Bernheimer in 1996. Their projects include diverse design work, including residential, commercial and public projects, furniture design, design competitions and art installations. Recently completed work includes affordable housing in Brooklyn through the city’s New Foundations program.

They were selected the winners of the first San Francisco Prize in Architecture, which resulted in their first commission, the renovation of the Federal Plaza at the U.S. Courthouse in that city, and were named a 2007 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York.