Dueling Architects

What happens when a global-giant design firm is matched up against fledgling architects, armed only with foam, wire, glue and iPods? CBSNews.com's Gina Pace and Christine Lagorio find out.

The crowded Canal Room in NYC served as a backdrop to the dynamic duel, March 21, 2006. The evening had a water theme: a pirate radio station ran the DJ booth and seafaring hats floated in the sea of spectators.

Meet the Underdogs.

Matthew Grzywinski and Amador Pons are Grzywinski Pons, the small firm competing in the architect duel hosted by LVHRD (pronounced "live hard").

Despite being relative newcomers to the world of architecture, these guys have led their firm in recently completing a shiny, posh new hotel in Manhattan's hip Lower East Side, the Hotel on Rivington.

Meet the Establishment.

Eric Hoffmann and Daniel Colvard are part of the notorious Arquitectonica, and are self-described "corporate iconoclasts." Their giant firm has designed condo buildings across the globe, but is best known for the bright and angular Westin Times Square.

Round one: Matthew Grzywinski says he hasn't built an architectural model in more than a decade. But here he's forced to sketch out a plan for a massive, floating entertainment center.

Information is scarce, but the MCs have told architects to pretend it's the year 2056. They are to assume much of urban America is under water and to model a structure that will float above it.

The sweat is pouring and the hot glue is dripping. So are the beers, and Arquitectonica is taking advantage of the duel's location: a Lower Manhattan hot-spot bar and party space called The Canal Room.

Get it, the Canal Room? Nautical theme? Get it?

Architecture critic and author Philip Nobel was invited to LVHRD's architect duel to Podcast the event. "I'm here to explain what foam board is to people who might not know," he told CBSNews.com.

"Architects are famously fun people who get their good spirits beat out of them by school and harsh jobs," said Nobel. "Things like this -- it's good for them to have fun."

These ladies strictly followed the advice of a text message from earlier in the day to wear "nautical themed" ensembles -- especially hats.

From right to left, Becky Beahm, 27, Peggy Roecker, 31, and Stephanie Basom, 25, enjoy the show and create the ambiance.

Grzywinski Pons proves, during breaks from constructing futuristic models, that stepping out of the office and partying like it's 2056 impresses the ladies.

Competition heats up and the foam board shapes start to resemble buildings as they might look in the future -- but very small.

For most of the two, 45-minute construction rounds, it appeared that Grzywinski Pons (pictured) was lagging behind Arquitectonica, in both progress on their structure and ideas.

On the other side of the stage, by the beginning of the final round of competition, Arquitectonica's structure resembled a hollow disc on stilts -- some people's idea of a spaceship. Boat docks lined the bottom of the floating "legs," and both iPods rested safely inside.

Many spectators, such as 30-year-old Lisa Sundeeck, left, are connected to the art-networking group LVHRD. They watch intently as competition winds down to its last minutes.

The evening of March 21, 2006, was the second architecture duel for LVHRD, but count on more matchups -- it has even hosted a models vs. scientists trivia night.

The Happy Corp., the brand-managing group who set up the LVHRD Master Disaster Architect Duel, set up tables on stage for the architects to work on. But how would the audience get in on the action, if the action was above their heads? A simple solution: angled mirrors.

"I like to think of it more as an archipelago than islands," said Matthew Grzywinski of Grzywinski Pons, explaining his creation of a foam board model "floating" on blue cardboard. The mock auditorium holds a video iPod upright, to represent performance space, and separate angular structures represent artists' quarters.

And the winner is ... the underdog!

Grzywinski Pons won more random audience votes than the 400-member firm Arquitectonica.

The prize: water wings (to fit the nautical theme) and the iPods used in competition. Don't mind the extra layer of hot glue on that dial, Matthew and Amador.

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