2008 Winners of AIA New York Design Awards

NEW YORK CITY, February 28, 2008 – The AIA New York Chapter announced today this year’s recipients of the organization’s coveted Design Awards. The winners represent exceptional work in three categories for architectural excellence: interiors, architecture, and projects (unbuilt). Given either “honors” or “merit” citations, each winner has been recognized as “unique and exemplary in its originality” by the distinguished jury including David Adjaye, Ada Karmi-Melamede, and Pamela Babey.

“The AIA New York Chapter’s Design Awards program is intended to increase awareness of outstanding design by New York architects, as well as projects within the city,” says James McCullar, FAIA, 2008 AIA New York Chapter President. “The awards also honor the architects, clients and design consultants who work together to improve New York’s built environment.”

Judged by this year’s panel of eminent jurors (listed below), the award recipients were selected out of a record crop of 400 submissions from architects across the United States and 12 foreign countries. Winning projects are by well-known designers such as Steven Holl and Tod Williams Billie Tsien as well as emerging talents including WORK Architecture Company and Zakrzewski + Hyde Architects. “Collectively, these award-winning projects show that design excellence matters,” said Rick Bell, FAIA, Executive Director of the AIA New York Chapter.

New Honors for Building Types

For the first time this year, AIA New York Chapter has established here in New York, an additional set of awards to recognize excellence and innovation in the specialized design fields of Educational Facility Design, Sustainable Design and Urban Design, collectively known as “The Building Type Awards.”

Co-sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects, the Building Type Awards recognize exemplary work done by both established and new practitioners from New York City and Massachusetts, regardless of project size, budget, or style. Separate teams of field experts will judge the contest, and winners will be announced in March.

“Our expansion of the Design Awards to include the different categories of Building Types reflects the wide breadth of projects that deserve attention,” commented James McCullar, FAIA, 2008 AIA New York Chapter President. “There are wonderful advancements in each of these new award categories, and we are thrilled to have the ability to showcase them,” he continued.

Winning projects from both the Design Awards and the Building Type Awards will be recognized at the Design Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, April 30th. All work will be exhibited at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place. The Design Awards Exhibition runs from Thursday, May 1st through July 2008.

A full listing of the 2008 AIANY Design Award Winners can be found here (PDF).