Each year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) selects the best projects that receive the Honor Awards for Architecture. According to the AIA, the award recognizes the best contemporary architecture, regardless of style and budget. Our tips site will tell you which projects were highlighted this time.
Let’s start in order. The 2019 AIA award went to Arlington Elementary School located in Tacoma, Washington. The architect was Mahlum Architects. The institute noted that this school rethought the concept of a student, abandoned the generally accepted basic foundations. A survey was conducted, on the basis of which the project was created. Arlington Elementary School has no classrooms. Only mobile training stations and space-sharing furniture. Writing is allowed on the walls, and the indoor playground allows you to go outside even in the rain. At the same time, as noted in the AIA, the school project itself turned out to be very inexpensive..
Casey House or “Casey House”. Hariri Pontarini Architects. This is not just a building in Toronto, Canada. It’s a hospital! Moreover, with additional services for people with HIV and AIDS. The decor is designed to remind you of home, to be as comfortable as possible. By the way, this is a converted mansion from 1875, which is unusual in itself, juxtaposing history and modernity. A beautiful courtyard is visible from all rooms of the hospital, inside there is a two-story atrium and a fireplace.
This is Confluence Park or “Confluence Park”. A very unusual project created by Lake | Flato Architects. It is located in San Antonio, Texas, on the banks of the river of the same name. This park is not only for learning but also for recreation, its purpose is to restore the environment and study the influence of the modern world on watershed.
Interestingly, the building was previously a construction warehouse, but now reflects the idea of a merger – specifically of two local rivers and people in general. Pay attention to the petal arches of the central pavilion! This is not just a decoration. Rainwater from them is drained into a special reservoir. Saving water in action. Nowadays various non-profit organizations hold educational events in the Park of Fusion.
Crosstown Concourse. Looney Ricks Kiss is the architect of this huge mixed-use center in Memphis, Tennessee. This is also a rework. The building has been abandoned since the 1980s and only now has again turned into a center connecting locals and visitors to the city. According to AIA officials, the Crosstown Concourse lifted the entire Memphis area and became the prototype for the entire city of the future. It houses a high school for 400 students, a fitness center, a radio station, the largest private dental clinic in the United States, an art gallery, and 300 apartments..
AIA’s attention was also paid to a project to restore the rotunda of the University of Virginia. It was worked on by John G. Waite Associates, Architects, PLLC. The institute noted that the University of Virginia center is the most important architectural achievement of Thomas Jefferson. It is truly a temple for teaching, besides having a ceremonial significance. The rotunda, which is already 200 years old, was restored after studying the drawings, original design, historical records. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the building burned down to brick walls back in 1895. So the project was complex and significant..
This is a Smart-factory or “Smart Factory”. Based in Illinois and owned by Trumpf, Inc. Barkov Leibinger became the architect. AIA noted that the factory occupies a strategically convenient plot of land, and the architecture of the building itself has improved workplaces. The upper part of the factory overlooks a busy highway and features a hall with laser cutting machines. The sloping roof slope allowed the building to be integrated into the surrounding landscape.
The award also went to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Located in Washington, DC, Freelon Group, Davis Brodie Bond, Adjaye Associates and SmithGroup worked on the project. The museum has been called the culmination of the long history of Africans in America. The museum is three-level, the walls are sloping, very unusual. The building is literally enveloped in 3,600 bronze-colored panels. The museum is equipped with escalators, there is an underground part.
This AIA-awarded project is named Launch House # 4-15 St. Thomas (after the owner’s name). The ninth house was marked. The OJT bureau worked on the project. The complex was built in New Orleans. The institute clarified that the project continues the theme of urban renewal, the inclusion of new houses in historic quarters, in particular, in this case, the Irish Quarter. The architects decided to increase the height of the houses so that they took up less space on the site, but at the same time were spacious enough. Every square meter was taken into account. As a result, according to AIA, it turned out to be a very successful project, favorable for families..
The last nominee for this year’s Honor Awards for Architecture is the TIRPIC Museum in Denmark. The building is located in a very interesting historical place – on the Danish west coast. A German bunker was turned into a museum. At the same time, the structure fits perfectly into the landscape, it turned out to be very light, although it is located underground. From a distance, the museum looks like a sand dune. It is dedicated not only to the events of World War II. There is a hall with an exhibition of amber, which this area is famous for, a gallery and a local history museum..
All the projects listed by the site, according to AIA, were created by prominent architects and are designed to improve people’s lives with unique buildings and properly designed spaces..
Who were the winners of the Honor Awards for Architecture in 2019?