AZURE's First Ever AZ AWARDS Celebrate Excellence in International Design

On June 16, the top players in Canada’s architectural and design community gathered at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre as AZURE Magazine revealed the winners of its first annual AZ AWARDS. Following the announcement, guests were invited into the gallery to preview the display of winning projects; an exhibition produced by AZURE and presented by Harbourfront that opened to the public last weekend and runs until September 25.

These awards are the first of their kind: the only international, multi-disciplinary design competition in Canada. Representing a global snapshot of the world of design, submissions were open to designers, architects and firms of all disciplines, as well as students in these fields. To be eligible, designs and concepts had to be realized by 2010.

The high-caliber international jury included landscape architect Claude Cormier of Claude Cormier Landscape Architects (Montreal), architect Craig Dykers of Snøhetta (Oslo/New York), designer and consultant Patty Johnson of Patty Johnson Design (Toronto), architect and product designer Eero Koivisto of Claesson Koivisto Rune (Stockholm) and interior designer Glenn Pushelberg of Yabu Pushelberg (Toronto/New York).

In March, the expert panel conferred at Toronto’s Hotel Le Germain, narrowing the field from an impressive 600 entries arriving from 25 countries to a shortlist of 52 finalists.  From there, they selected the 14 outstanding winners.

“The AZ AWARDS shows the high caliber of Canadian design by pitting it against the best in the world,” said Nelda Rodger, editor-in-chief of AZURE. “This competition is the next step in AZURE’s mission to provide our readers with visionary and engaging coverage of the international contemporary design scene.” 

During the month of April, the public was also given the chance to vote online for their favorite designs in the People’s Choice Awards. Winners are noted below.

Winners:

• Furniture Design: Ply Shelves, by Matter Design and CW Keller (USA)*
• Furniture Systems Design: Invitrium Recyclable Kitchen, by Valcucine (Italy)*
• Lighting Design: Softlight, by Molo (Canada); People’s Choice: Canopy, by United Visual Artists (UK)
• Interior Product Design: SensoWash Stark, by Duravit (Germany)*
• Residential Architecture: Linear House, by Patkau Architects (Canada); People’s Choice: 60 Richmond East, by Teeple Architects (Canada)
• Commercial and Institutional Architecture: Long Studio, by Saunders Arkitektur (Norway)*
• Landscape Architecture: Ballast Point Park, by McGregor Coxall (Australia); People’s Choice: Trinity College Quadrangle, by gh3 (Canada)
• Temporary and Demonstration Architecture: NY-11-18-02-10, by Campaign (UK); People’s Choice: Ontario Pavilion, by Hariri Pontarini Architects (Canada)
• Residential Interiors: Surry Hills Warehouse, by Ian Moore Architects (Australia); People’s Choice: Crosstown Loft, by Campos Leckie Studio (Canada)
• Commercial and Institutional Interiors: Scandinave Les Bains, by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes (Canada); People’s Choice: DRU Cultural Factory, by M&R Interior Architecture (The Netherlands)
• Unbuilt Concepts: Musée National des Beaux-Arts, by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes (Canada); People’s Choice: Openair, by Jet Architecture, CXT Architects and Archasia Design Group (Canada/China)
• Other Unrealized Concepts: Metropolitan Vertical Amusement Park, by Ju-Hyun Kim (USA)*
• Student Work: Temporary Mosque, by Alex Josephson, University of Waterloo (Canada); People’s Choice: Visions of Settlement, by Katherine Kovalik, University of Waterloo (Canada)
• For the Jury Award: Hydroelectric Lamp, by Hierve (UK); People’s Choice: OMS Stage, by 5468796 Architecture (Canada)

*Indicates both jury-selected and People’s Choice Winner