LVHRD

Assembling New York’s most chic creatives, last night’s  “Master Disaster Architect Duel III,” proved to be every bit the epic showdown of ingenuity, foresight, and all around creativity that LVHRD members anticipated. Approximately 400 spectators flocked to 41 Broad Street, deep in the financial district, only hours after receiving a text message disclosing the site of what might have been booked as the ‘Iron Chef of Architecture.’      

The battle for architectural bragging rights challenged Killian O’Brien and Sarah Wayland-Smith of Balmori Associates and Sierra Bainbridge and Maura Rockcastle from Field Operations to design and build a green-roof network across a 4 building span in a model section of Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan.

Forced to confront the poor decisions of our twentieth century predecessors, this post- global warming project also required the use of appropriate plant life, the ability to conserve energy and rainwater, provide a harvestable food source, and contain two bridges allowing for foot and vehicle traffic.  Oh, and through the wonders of science, a new product has recently been created to aid in the construction of this green-roof network – known
to us primitive folk as 25 pounds of cheese!

In the end, it was the ladies from Field Operation who prevailed – their clear presentation coupled with the on-site brewery they incorporated into their design sealed the deal with the audience, who declared a winner by text messaging their votes into central system.

Known for their outrageous contests and legendary challenges, LVHRD (pronounced simply Live Hard) has gained a reputation for staging some of the most innovative competitions by pitting professionals against each other in non-professional ways and challenging its members in equally non-traditional affairs.  In addition to the legendary “Master Disaster Duels,” and slightly more conventional contests like “Champion of Dance”– a bohemian response to So You Think You Can Dance– LVHRD members have been known to take the stage in a range of raucous competitions including the fairly self-explanatory “Striptease for Charity” and “Vending Machine Challenge.”

“Part private club, part flashmob, part creative salon, part social experiment," LVHRD’s bi-monthly gatherings provide a stimulating environment where new channels of creativity can be explored.  Frustrated by the lack of creative energy being shared among the arts, and perpetuated by what co-founder Doug Jaeger refers to as “the verticalization of creativity,” LVHRD has sculpted a space where creativity has no boundaries.  Showcasing a variety of cultural and artistic mediums, LVHRD hopes to de-lineate the homogeny that traditional disciplines have reinforced, allowing “people to be able to see new types of creative things in a more fun setting.”

LVHRD is a project that “gathers, supports, and inspires leaders, utilizing creativity in their respective fields,” says Jaeger.  In an effort to share the surplus of creativity that New York has to offer, LVHRD provides a setting where artists, designers, and other culture vultures can swap ideas and meet new people.  “We want to provide a place to network, while at the same time attempting to undermine the stereotypical and negative aspects of networking.” Keeping true to this philosophy, membership to the foundation is free and open to anyone, regular attendance being the only requirement for maintaining membership.

LVHRD