Recipients of the AIA N.Y. Chapter's Design Awards selected

By Joseph Aliotta, AIAThis year's recipients of the AIA New York Chapter's Design Awards were selected March 5 at 6 p.m. The announcement was followed by a discussion of winning projects by distinguished jury members, including architects Carme Pinós and Bernardo Fort-Brescia. Twelve eminent architects, educators, critics, and designers convened at the AIANY headquarters at the Center for Architecture to select the winners of the 2012 AIA New York Chapter's Design Awards. The winning projects were publicly announced at a symposium, and the conversation was moderated by architecture critic and journalist Alexandra Lange. The thirty-six selected projects represent exceptional work by AIA New York chapter members and other architects practicing in New York in four categories: architecture, interiors, un-built work, and urban design. Each winning project, granted either an Honor or Merit award, was chosen for its exemplary qualifications. Criteria considered by the juries included design quality, program resolution, innovation, thoughtfulness, and technique. Under the rules of the Design Awards program, projects had to be completed by architects/designers practicing in New York, or be New York City projects designed by architects/designers based elsewhere. Three hundred ninety-one entries were submitted in four catego­ries, including 178 submissions in the architecture category. The juries gave 36 awards, including two Honors Awards in architecture, three in interiors, three in un-built work, and two in urban design. All winning work will be exhibited at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, beginning April 19, with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. The Design Awards exhibition will remain on view at the Center through May 31. In addition to the Jury Symposium, winning projects will be recognized at the Design Awards Luncheon, April 18 at Cipriani Wall Street. The Architecture Honor Award winners are: Allied Works Architecture for the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, CO; and Handel Architects LLP and Peter Walker Partners for the National September 11 Memorial here in New York. The Architecture Merit Award winners include: Studio SUMO and Obayashi Design Department for the Mizuta Museum of Art in Sakado, Japan; Davis Brody Bond for The Frick Collection Portico Gallery, also here in New York; Ennead Architects for the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens, N.Y.; Bernard Tschumi Architects and Hugh Dutton Associates for their Pedestrian Bridge in La Roche-sur-Yon, France; Architecture Research Office for Structure for Long Dock Park in Beacon, N.Y.; Fiedler Marciano Architecture for 219 West / Subcat Studios in Syracuse, N.Y.; Andrew Berman Architect for the MoMA PS1 Entrance Building in Queens, N.Y.; The Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J. and Beyer Blinder Belle for the TWA Flight Center, JFK International Airport in Queens, N.Y.; Pencil Office and ARYA Architects for A Simple Factory Building Singapore; NBBJ for the Massachusetts General Hospital, Lunder Building in Boston, MA; Neil M Denari Architects for High Line 23 here in New York; and CR Studio for the Marine Company 1 Firehouse, also here in New York. The Interiors Honor Award winners are: N H D M/Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon for Nam June Paik Library in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; Formactiv and SO-IL for Logan, here in New York; Lord, Aeck & Sargent in collaboration with Office dA for the Hinman Research Building at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. The Interiors Merit Awards went to: Ryall Porter Sheridan Architects for a Greenwich Village Townhouse here in New York; 1100 Architect for a Manhattan Triplex, also here in New York; Slade Architecture for Barbie Shanghai in Shanghai, Gage/Clemenceau Architects for NICOLA'S, New York; Brian Gillen and designer: de-spec inc. for Xocolatti, likewise in New York; and EASTON + COMBS for the Ohne Titel Concept Store in New York. The Urban Design Honor Award winners are: Frederic SCHWARTZ Architects for the Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza in Santa Fe, N.M.; and Cooper, Robertson & Partners, Kieran Timberlake, OLIN Partnership for the Master Plan for the Central Delaware, Philadelphia, Penn. The Urban Design Merit Award winners include: LTL Architects for Water Proving Grounds: Rising Currents, New York, N.Y.; and Interboro Partners for Holding Pattern, Queens, N.Y. Lastly, the Un-Built Work Honor Award winners are: Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Kling Stubbins for the Hirshhorn Museum Seasonal Inflatable Pavilion in Washington, D.C.; NADAAA, Bidard & Raissi Agence, and François Vieillecroze for Dortoir Familial for Ramatuelle, France; and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for the USAFA/Center for Character & Leadership Development, Colorado Springs, CO. The Un-Built Work Merit Award winners include SLCE and designer BIG Bjarke Ingels Group for West 57th, New York; 1100 Architect and RicciGreene Associates for the Brooklyn Detention Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; UnitedLAB for Magok Waterfront: INTER-CITY, Seoul, South Korea; Perkins+Will for Sabah Al-Salem University College of Education, Shadadiyah, Kuwait University City, Kuwait; Bernheimer Architecture, LevenBetts, and Guy Nordenson Associates for The House on Chicken Feet: Fairy Tale Architecture; and the collaboration between SOM and RPI for the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology, New York, NY. I extend special thanks to the AIANY Design Awards 2012 Patrons, Ennead Architects and Porcelanosa Architectural Tiles & Finishes, and look forward to welcoming many of my esteemed colleagues at Cipriani Wall Street on April 18 as we fete all of the award winners. Joseph Aliotta, AIA, is the 2012 president of the N.Y. chapter of the AIA, New York, N.Y.