by: Daniel Fox
Yesterday, on 04.17.13, a record 900 members of New York’s architecture and related professional communities gathered in one of New York’s most distinguished spaces for its annual Honors and Awards Luncheon. In addition to celebrating the winners of the 2013 AIANY Design Awards, AIANY’s three most prestigious awards were presented by Jill N. Lerner, FAIA, 2013 AIA New York President.
The Medal of Honor was given to William Pedersen, FAIA, FAAR, Founding Design Partner of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; the Award of Merit went to Hon. Robert B. Tierney, Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; and the Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award was given to Suzanne Stephens, Deputy Editor of Architectural Record.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award conferred by the AIA New York Chapter. In addition to William Pedersen, previous Medal of Honor recipients include Louis Skidmore, FAIA (1949), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1958), Toshiko Mori, FAIA (2005), David Childs, FAIA (2010), and Daniel Libeskind, AIA (2011). In addition, the 100-year-old medal has itself been redesigned by the accomplished Portuguese sculptor, medalist, and professor João Duarte.
The Award of Merit, conferred since 1952, is awarded to those who are not registered architects but support design excellence and important urban projects. In collaboration with the AIANY Oculus Committee, chaired by Gerard “Guy” F.X. Geier, FAIA, the Stephen A. Kliment Oculus Award has been given since 2003 to journalists and critics who, through their writing, have shaped the practice of architecture and elevated its standards to a wider community.
Distinguished guests in attendance included AIANY Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, 2013 AIANY President-Elect Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, Luncheon Chairs Tomas J. Rossant, AIA, and Craig Schwitter, PE. Many New York City public officials also attended, including Patricia E. Harris, Robert K. Steel, Amanda M. Burden, David Burney, FAIA, Kate D. Levin, Robert LiMandri, Janette Sadik-Khan,and Edna Wells Handy.
In addition, Ambassador Jukka Pietikäinen, Consul General of Finland in New York, was accompanied by Hannu Penttilä, Mikko Aho, and Lauri Jääskeläinen of the City of Helsinki.
Other notable architects and professionals in attendance included Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel, Stephen M. Ross, Robert E. Selsam, Frank Sciame, Jonathan Rose, Jay Kriegel, A. Eugene Kohn, FAIA, Walter A. Hunt, FAIA, Joseph F. Tortorella, PE, Vishaan Chakrabarti, AIA, Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA, and the dancer Twyla Tharp.
Representatives of the firms that designed the 42 AIANY Design Awards winners were also in attendance. They included Ray Dovell, AIA, Roger F. Duffy, FAIA, Peter L. Gluck, Duncan R. Hazard, AIA, Richard M. Olcott, FAIA, Charles Renfro, AIA, Christopher Sharples, AIA, and Billie Tsien, AIA. AIANY Design Award Committee Co-Chairs Ronnette Riley, FAIA, and Karen Fairbanks, AIA, were also present.
A hearty congratulations and round of applause to all of our honorees and award winners! We hope you visit the 2013 Design Awards exhibition at the Center for Architecture, which is on view beginning tonight, 04.18.13. Additional photographs will follow in our next issue of e-Oculus on 05.01.13.