DESIGN STREET: The best buildings of the year

The Best Buildings of the Year

The American Institute of Architects announces its Honor Awards for architecture

The 11 projects recognized with this year's AIA Honor Awards for Architecture include several museums, as might be expected given the undiminished power of museum mania. But there are also an equal number of libraries and government buildings — a happy sign that municipal agencies are increasingly respectful of good design.

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh

Koning Eizenberg Architecture; Perkins Eastman Architects (architect of record)

A 1930 planetarium was adapted and merged with an 1897 post office to form 80,000 square feet of museum space. A new, three-story contemporary steel-and-glass structure joins them.

Washington State Legislative Building Rehabilitation, Olympia, Wash.

SRG Partnership; Einhorn Yaffee Prescott (associate architect)

An eye care institute and a bank are among the 11 recipients of this year's Interiors awards — given these clients' usual penchant for conventional designs this might surprise some observers, but these projects display an understanding of light and finishes on par with more cutting edge spaces.

Frieder Burda Collection Museum, Baden-Baden, Germany

Richard Meier & Partners; Freier Architekt (associate architect)

The jury praised this project as an example of how Modern architecture can fit within historic places, noting the harmonious scale of the new, 21,000-square-foot building in context with a nearby city park and adjacent building.

TRUMPF Customer and Administration Building, Ditzingen, Germany

Barkow Leibinger Architects

The client, a high-tech machine tool company, required a new, 100,000-square-foot building to be located in their existing office ensemble, designed in the 1970s.

Bigelow Chapel, New Brighton, Minn.

Hammel, Green & Abrahamson

On an 11-acre religious campus, the architects designed a 5,300-square-foot chapel that serves a multidenominational community. In this Modern structure, a curving wood frame wraps the interior of the sanctuary and allows sunlight to enter through maple veneer panels; the exterior cladding is composed of precast concrete panels that look like stone.

Joseph A. Steger Student Life Center,

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners; Glaserworks (associate architect)

By restoring a 1920s brick classroom and designing new spaces for administrative classrooms, computer labs, retail, and food service, the architect (this year's Firm of the Year Award winner) created a 114,700-square-foot building, functioning as a spine of campus activity organized along major pedestrian and topographical paths.

William J. Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock

Polshek Partnership Architects; Polk Stanley Rowland Porter Architects, Wistell Evans Rasco Architects & Planners, Woods Caradine Architects (associate architects)

In a radical departure from the more traditional presidential libraries, the bridge like form of this glass-and-metal building reflects a progressive approach to defining the eight-year tenure of its patron.

Ballard Library and Neighborhood Service Center, Seattle

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

The 15th branch to be built under Seattle's “Libraries for All” bond measure, this 15,000-square-foot library with a 3,600-square-foot neighborhood service center includes such sustainable design elements as a green roof, photovoltaics, and recycled materials for interior finishes.

Visiting Artists House, Geyserville, Calif.

Jim Jennings Architecture

A Record House of 2003, this 17,000-square-foot structure, located on a former sheep ranch, features two poured-in-place concrete walls that slice through a hill and serve as retaining walls.

Museo Picasso Malaga, Malaga, SpainGluckman Mayner

Architects; Camara/Martin Delgado Arquitectos (associate architect)

The historic city center of Malaga was Pablo Picasso's birthplace and is home to a new museum dedicated to his work. Consisting of six new buildings in addition to a restored 16th-century structure, the museum totals 80,000 square feet.

Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

TVS - D&P - Mariani; Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback (associate architect)

As the largest enclosed gathering place in our nation's capital, this project consists of 2.3 million square feet of building space sited on six contiguous vacant lots.

SOURCE: Images and Text - BUSINESS WEEK

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Om Namah Shivaya