2013 AIA Institute Honor Awards Recognize Excellence in
Architecture, Interiors, and Urban Design
Contact: Matt Tinder
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mtinder@aia.org
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For immediate release:
Washington, D.C. – January 14, 2013 – The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has
selected the 2013 recipients of the Institute Honor Awards, the profession’s highest
recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture and
urban design. Selected from over 700 total submissions, 28 recipients located throughout
the world will be honored at the AIA 2013 National Convention and Design Exposition
in Denver.
You can see images, jury comments and additional credit information by clicking on the
titles of the projects.
2013 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture
The jury for the 2013 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture includes: Mary Katherine
(Mary Kay) Lanzillotta FAIA, Jury Chair, Hartman-Cox Architects; Brian Fitzsimmons,
AIA, Fitzsimmons Architects; John Kane, FAIA, Architekton; William Leddy, FAIA,
Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects; Philip Loheed, AIA, BTA Architects, Inc.; Robert
Maschke, AIA, robert maschke ARCHITECTS inc.; Douglas L. Milburn Assoc. AIA,
Isaksen Glerum Wachter LLC and Becky Joyce Yannes, AIAS Representative, Drexel
University.
Art Stable; Seattle
Olson Kundig Architects
Art Stable is a seven-story mixed-use, urban infill project in the South Lake Union
neighborhood of Seattle. Built on the site of a former stable, the simple, low-to-nomaintenance design draws upon the warehouse typology of the formerly industrial
neighborhood. Both front and rear elevations of the building are active: 8-foot by 7-foot
doors—steel clad on the rear façade and glazed on the front façade—are strung on 40foot tall hinges which open by means of custom-designed hand wheels. Geothermal loops
integrated into the building’s structural piles and natural ventilation result in efficient
heating and cooling.
The Barnes Foundation; Philadelphia
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
The new museum replicates the galleries in the old Paul Cret designed facility but
provides visitors with a light-filled, contemplative space. Conceived as “a gallery in a
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garden and a garden in a gallery,” the new building honors the Merion facility and
provides visitors with a personal and contemplative experience. The legendary Barnes
art collection is presented in a 12,000-square-foot gallery that replicates the scale,
proportion, and configuration of the original Merion spaces. To emphasize the founder’s
commitment to education and the visual interplay between art and nature, the galleries
now include a classroom on each floor, an internal garden, and vastly improved lighting
conditions.
Boat Pavilion for Long Dock Park; Beacon, New York
Architecture Research Office (ARO)
This project for the Scenic Hudson Land Trust is a boat pavilion in a new park on the
Hudson River. One of two new structures created for Long Dock Park, the Pavilion is a
threshold to the Hudson River. The roof is a plane of corrugated steel that parallels a
wide cumaru wood deck where boats launch. Secure storage for up to 64 kayaks or
canoes, a changing room and storage area are enclosed by aluminum bar grating panels.
Enabling both contemplation and athletic activity, the project establishes an affirmative
relationship between the public and the Hudson River.
Centra Metropark; Iselin, New Jersey
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
Developed by The Hampshire Companies, CENTRA re-imagines an obsolete dated
existing structure into a state-of-the-art office experience. By strategically grafting a
10,000-square-foot addition to the top floor, the presence of the project not only doubles,
but it offers an urban room conspicuously absent within the local ‘sub’ urban context.
The new high-performance enclosure, the expressive structural asymmetrical tree-column
and truss supporting the fourth floor extension, and the new garden light wells all work in
concert to bring a third more rentable area, and a dynamic aesthetic that focuses on the
integration of the natural environment with new urban civic spaces.
Clemson University, Lee Hall College of Architecture; Clemson, South Carolina
Thomas Phifer and Partners
The addition to the Lee Hall College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities at Clemson
University is an ultra-energy efficient building. The 55,000-square-foot addition was
conceived to accommodate the expanding needs of the college which includes 12
professional degree programs. To cultivate this sense of community within the addition,
program elements are intermingled to generate an environment for “cross pollination”
between disciplines through adjacency, allowing students to learn from other students and
faculty though informal creative exchanges. Proximity and transparency are supported
with carefully detailed glazing between interior program elements.
Mason Lane Farm Operations Facility; Goshen, Kentucky
De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop
The project consolidates dispersed operations facilities for a 2,000-acre farm into a single
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centralized complex. Rooted in the simplicity of regional farm structures and local
building traditions, the project challenges accepted design constraints for conventional
kit-of-parts utility structures and explores possibilities for passive sustainable strategies
based on a nuanced understanding of site and climate. A particular focus on material
application, detailing and sourcing includes the use of locally grown bamboo to weave a
porous, impact resilient building skin, and cross-grain cut recycled paper pulp panels as
acoustical interior wall surfaces.
Milstein Hall, Cornell University; Ithaca, New York
OMA
Milstein Hall is the first new building in over 100 years for the renowned College of
Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) at Cornell University. Rather than creating a new
free-standing building Milstein Hall is an addition to the AAP buildings creating a
unified complex with continuous levels of indoor and outdoor interconnected spaces.
Enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass and a green roof with 41 skylights, this “upper plate”
cantilevers almost 50 feet over University Avenue to establish a relationship with the
Foundry, a third existing AAP facility.
Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges; New Haven, Connecticut
KieranTimberlake
Designed by Eero Saarinen, the Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges are part of Yale’s system
of residential colleges. Located on an irregular site at the western edge of the campus, it
has an organic geometry, with the two colleges bifurcated by an elevated walk. The
renovation focused on the transformation of the student housing mix from single rooms
into suites, the provision of 25,000 square feet of student activity space below grade, and
the transformation of outdoor hardscapes into a sustainable landscape. The addition is
conceived as being unified with the landscape, extending it through the architecture,
fusing inside and outside, new and old, and above and below.
The New York Public Library - Exterior Restoration; New York City
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
The New York Public Library is considered one of the most important works of the firm
of Carrère and Hastings. The design team investigated, recommended treatments, and
oversaw a $50 million restoration of the library’s exterior in preparation for its centennial
in 2011. The project addressed deteriorated marble facades, fine art sculptures,
monumental bronze doors and windows, Monel roofs, and the surrounding ‘approaches’
or plazas. Repairs included cleaning (with soap and water), repointing (using hydraulic
lime mortar), and various protective treatments. Over 2,000 carved in-situ marble
dutchman patch repairs were executed.
Saint Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church; Springdale, Arkansas
Marlon Blackwell Architect
This project is the result of a transformation of an existing metal shop building into a
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sanctuary and fellowship hall in anticipation of a larger adjacent sanctuary on the same
site. The simple original structure is enveloped by a new skin, obscuring and refining the
original gabled form. Although a small structure, its bold form makes it visible and
recognizable from the interstate which passes nearby.
Vancouver Convention Centre West; Vancouver, Canada
LMN Architects + MCM/DA
The new Vancouver Convention Centre West integrates the urban ecosystem at the
intersection of a vibrant downtown core and one of the most spectacular natural
ecosystems in North America. Certified LEED® Canada Platinum, the project weaves
together architecture, interior architecture, and urban design in a unified whole that
functions literally as a living part of both the city and the harbor. Urban spaces formed by
the building’s landforms mix with landscape and marine ecosystems, transportation
modes, retail activity, and civic gatherings. The glass perimeter enclosure provides strong
linkages with the urban and environmental context.
2013 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture
The jury for the 2013 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture includes: Andrew Wells,
FAIA, Jury Chair, Dake Wells Architecture; Susan H. Jones, FAIA, Atelierjones, LLC;
Carlos M. Martinez, AIA , Gensler; Ronald J. McCoy, FAIA, Princeton University and
Catherine M. Truman, AIA, Ann Beha Architects.
Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Abbey Church Pavilion--Modifications to Marcel
Breuer's 1961 St.John's Abbey Church Project; Collegeville, Minnesota
VJAA
The original Abbey Church complex by Marcel Breuer (1961) was modified to include a
new Blessed Sacrament Chapel, a two-level lobby addition (9,200-square-foot) and the
renovation of the existing Chapter House. The chapel space is focused on a modern reinterpretation of the 14th century reredos wall (an ornamental panel) that holds the
tabernacle. Designed to shield the view of an existing window, the wall diffuses natural
light into the space. Platinum leaf is used on the ceiling to distribute light and echo
Breuer’s discreet use of precious materials in the Abbey Church. A new stair uses latticelike steel railings to bring light to the lower level of the addition.
BNIM Iowa; Des Moines
BNIM
Located in a former bank lobby on the southeast corner of an active street intersection,
the space includes full-height glazing to the north and west, building lobby to the south,
and a new demising wall to the east. The fundamental design objective for this project
was to create an environment of collaboration in a space that engages the surrounding
urban core. The space is organized around a central wall lined with cork panels and
designed for critiques, display, and spontaneous collaboration. Shared daylight,
acoustics, and multiple levels of planned and unplanned interaction are vital parts of
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achieving the spirit of collaboration set forth as the key design objective.
Charles Smith Wines Tasting Room and World Headquarters; Walla Walla,
Washington
Olson Kundig Architects
Inspired by the client’s rock-and-roll style, the space is capable of transforming from
office and retail to dining and entertainment. Fit within a former auto shop (built in
1917), the design highlights the patina and aesthetics of its former life, featuring a large
shape-shifting element dubbed the Armadillo, as well as large hand-cranked pivoting
window walls that merge the interior with the exterior. Prefabrication of substantial
components including the Armadillo and mobile furniture including seating, tables and
stages contribute to the fluidity of the space.
Chicago Apartment; Chicago
VJAA
The new 5,500-square-foot apartment is located in a new high-rise in the Midwest. The
main social spaces are lined by warm wood surfaces conceptually set within larger,
brightly lit and open circulation areas. Rather than walls shear lines of material divisions
define rooms and separate the living spaces. The display of a collection of contemporary
Asian art plays a central part in the development of the spaces. Sculpture is used for its
silhouette and to create an element of surprise. Digitally designed and fabricated
reflective aluminum plate screens create a layered effect while moving natural daylight
into the center of the plan.
Doc Magic; Torrance, California
RA-DA
For a technology company that deals in highly sensitive information transmitted over the
internet, RA-DA’s unique play of light and careful sculpting of passageways contrasting
open work areas succeeded in creating a powerful physical presence to reflect the
company’s strong virtual presence. The success of this project is not only in the
commitment to the study of a single paradigm that so eloquently embodies an obscure
goal, but also in the flawless follow-through from concept to reality.
Lamar Advertising Corporate Headquarters; Baton Rouge
Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
This adaptive re-use of a 1970’s era data center transforms what most considered a
‘throw away’ building into an unexpected and exciting corporate headquarters for a
billboard advertising company. To counteract the expansive, largely windowless floor
plate of the existing building, the design removes a portion of the structure to create an
outdoor court – or ‘garden room’ – that brings a captured landscape and daylight into the
middle of the office environment. Elsewhere in the building, additional structure was
removed to connect the multiple floors into one communicating whole, promoting
employee interaction and reinforcing the culture of the company as a single creative
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community.
McAllen Main Library; McAllen, Texas
Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. (MS&R)
In need of a new library and understanding that the greenest building is one that already
exists, the City of McAllen, Texas, decided to convert an abandoned Walmart big box
store into its new main library. The primary design challenge was to create a functional,
flexible library of 125,000 square feet on a single level. To meet this challenge, forms,
materials, patterns, and colors create elements that organize the space, provide landmarks
for visitors, and modulate the scale of spaces within the largest single-story library in the
U.S.
PACCAR Hall (interior), Foster School of Business, University of Washington;
Seattle
LMN Architects
The design responds to the business school program’s strong emphasis on social
connectivity and its active central campus site with a high degree of porosity—in terms of
both visual and functional relationships. The 4-story central atrium works as a collector
of community activity and social heart of the school, spilling into a vibrant daylit cafe.
Common areas throughout the school are organized as a series of interconnected spaces
that function in many different combinations—creating opportunities to cross paths,
casually encounter, interact and engage outside of instructional rooms and offices.
Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity; Kansas City, Missouri
BNIM
Relocating the Kansas City Ballet (KCB) involved preservation and adaptive reuse of the
52,000-square-foot historic Power House at Kansas City’s Union Station, a former coalburning plant completed in 1914. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in
2004, the building sat abandoned from the 1970s until 2006. The project team had the
daunting task of turning generator rooms into dance studios, coal bunkers into dressing
rooms, and fire pits into usable space, all while adhering to the Secretary of the Interior’s
Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
2013 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design
The jury for the 2013 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design includes:
Mark Shapiro, AIA, Jury Chair, Mithun, Inc.; Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, Georgia
Institute of Technology; William A. Gilchrist, FAIA, Place Based Planning; Toni L.
Griffin, AIA, The City College of New York and Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA, U.S.
Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.
Burnham Place at Union Station Master Plan; Washington, D.C.
Shalom Baranes Associates, PC HOK
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Placing 3 million square feet of new mixed-use construction above the active rail yard
behind Washington, DC’s historic Union Station, Burnham Place stands as a model of
innovative and sustainable urban development. Connected to Daniel Burnham’s
landmark structure and vertically integrated with a proposed multi-level station
expansion, the master plan incorporates a street grid, public plazas, train hall and linear
greenway to create a vibrant new neighborhood. Burnham Place mends the urban fabric
of the city while maximizing its relationship with an intensely multi-modal transportation
hub.
Coal Harbour Convention District; Vancouver, Canada
LMN Architects + MCM/DA
This CAN$883 million civic district succeeds by connecting Vancouver’s expanded
convention center with the public realm, acting as the city’s “front porch to the world.”
The urban design integrates many layers of built and natural components –landscape and
marine ecosystems, transportation modes, retail activity, and civic gathering spaces – into
a holistic, ecologically productive whole. The excitement of major civic events mixes
with the daily life of the city, while architectural landforms and living systems link with
the harbor ecology to create a regenerative ecotone of the region.
The Great Lakes Century – a 100-year Vision; Great Lakes Region, United States
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
The Great Lakes Century is a pro-bono initiative of SOM’s City Design Practice to
promote a comprehensive 100-year vision for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River
Basin. It establishes common measures for cities, industry and agriculture across the binational watershed, with ongoing research to uncover opportunities for the region. Since
2009, SOM has engaged scientists, politicians, environmentalists, businesses, and public
policy advocates from over 35 organizations. The vision has been unanimously approved
by the 73 mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative as a guiding
framework.
Nanhu New Country Village Master Plan; Nanhu District, Jiaxing, China
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Nanhu Country Village addresses agricultural goals and environmental problems through
the introduction of modern farming technologies and sustainable design practices. The
design coalesces the agrarian setting with urban amenities to create a compact village
while maximizing local farming production. Of the 1,100 hectare site, over 700 remain
working farms. Within an intricate canal network, the traditional regional character is
reinterpreted to create a village integrated with environment while treatment wetlands
improve water quality. Together, the village and its adjacent farmlands form a 21stcentury sustainable community and serve as a model for future rural-to-urban
development throughout China.
National September 11 Memorial; New York City
Handel Architects
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The National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center in New York is a verdant and
vibrant urban plaza that marks the site of the former Twin Towers with emptiness. A pair
of voids – deeply recessed reflecting pools – are ringed by waterfalls and bronze panels
etched with the names of the deceased. The Memorial Plaza creates a clearing in the
dense urban fabric of Lower Manhattan and stitches the site back, physically and
emotionally, into the life of the city.
Parkmerced Vision Plan; San Francisco
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
The Parkmerced Vision Plan is a pioneering neighborhood revitalization program that
holistically integrates best principles of environmental sustainability and neighborhood
livability. The project will create a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use neighborhood that
radically reduces automobile dependency; provides much improved connectivity to
transit; creates larger, more usable open spaces; and relies upon rapidly evolving green
technologies in infrastructure to reduce energy and water usage. The project would
protect existing residents at Parkmerced from displacement, and help address the City’s
and Bay Area Region’s current housing shortage for households at all income levels.
Rock Street Pocket Housing (RSPH); Little Rock, Arkansas
University of Arkansas Community Design Center
RSPH is an affordable housing project that serves as a catalyst for redevelopment of
Little Rock’s struggling Pettaway neighborhood. Once a vibrant 20th-century streetcar
neighborhood, Pettaway has since taken a turn for the worse. By clustering 4–16 homes
around shared outdoor commons and infrastructure, pocket housing is ideal for
leveraging quality in an affordable housing setting. Pocket housing provides desirable
housing options between the scales of the single-family house and mid-rise flats—what
planners call the “missing middle,” because such housing has not been built since the
1940s.
Superkilen; Copenhagen, Denmark
BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
At almost a mile long, this urban park is positioned through one of the most ethnically
diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Denmark. The project possesses all
that typically makes up a modern park with trails for pedestrians and cyclists, outdoor
recreation spaces, a market space and games areas. Superkilen is divided into three
zones: the red square, the black market and the green park and is conceived as a giant
exhibition of urban best practice - a collection of global objects from the 60+ home
countries of the local inhabitants.
About The American Institute of Architects
Founded in 1857, members of the American Institute of Architects consistently work to
create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and
communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public
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policies that promote economic vitality and public well being. Members adhere to a code
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members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as
engaging civic and government leaders, and the public to find solutions to pressing issues
facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit www.aia.org.
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