by: Linda G. Miller
Event: Design Awards Symposium — Architecture Winners
Location: Center for Architecture, 05.06.09
Moderator: Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen — Assistant Professor of Design, History, and Theory of Architecture, Yale School of Architecture
Speakers: Kevin Rice — Associate, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Alice Tully Hall, Honor); Kyle Lommen — Principal, Allied Works Architecture (Dutchess County Residence — Guest House, Honor + The Museum of Arts and Design, Merit); Stephen Dayton — Partner, Thomas Phifer and Partners (Millbrook House, Honor) + Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University, Honor); David Mallott — Senior Designer, Kohn Pedersen Fox (Shanghai World Financial Center, Honor); Carlos Arnaiz — Associate Partner, Stan Allen Architect (Chosen Children Village Chapel, Merit); Joel Sanders, AIA — Principal, Joel Sanders Architect (House on Mount Merino, Merit); Marc Leff, AIA — Partner, Deborah Berke & Partners Architects (Irwin Union Bank, Creekview Branch, Merit); Nicholas Leahy, AIA — Principal, Perkins Eastman; William B. Fellows, AIA — Principal, PKSB Architects (TKTS Booth and Revitalization of Father Duffy Square, Merit)
Organizer: AIA New York Chapter
Sponsors: Benefactor: ABC Imaging; Patrons: Cosentino North America; The Rudin Family; Syska Hennessy Group; Lead Sponsors: Arup; Dagher Engineering; The Durst Organization; HOK; Mancini Duffy; Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; Sponsors: AKF Group; Building Contractors Association; FXFOWLE Architects; Hopkins Foodservice Specialists; Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti; JFK&M Consulting Group; KI; Langan Engineering & Environmental Services; MechoShade Systems; New York University; Pei Cobb Freed & Partners; Rogers Marvel Architects; Steelcase; Studio Daniel Libeskind; Tishman Realty & Construction; VJ Associates; Weidlinger Associates; Zumtobel Lighting/International Lights
Honor Award-winning Design Awards in Architecture (clockwise): Alice Tully Hall by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFOWLE Architects; Millbrook House by Thomas Phifer and Partners; Dutchess County Residence by Allied Works Architecture; Susan and Raymond Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University by Thomas Phifer and Partners; Shanghai World Financial Center by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.
Courtesy AIANY
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen was preaching to the choir when she said that, in this economic climate, getting anything built, let alone creating a building at the level of design excellence, is “a heroic act.” Acknowledging her bias towards prevailing European ideas of making architecture a part of the cultural and social agenda, as well as setting aesthetic and environmental standards, she lamented that buildings as good as the 10 Architecture Design Award-winning projects are accessible to few in this country — the roster of projects consist of three private houses, a bank, skyscraper, museum, university building, urban plaza, and performing arts center.
Honor award-winning Alice Tully Hall, by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFOWLE Architects, is the first realized piece of the master plan at Lincoln Center. The renovation has made the theater more open and accessible to urban life, said associate Kevin Rice. “Even If you don’t have money to buy a ticket, you can peek into the lobby and the concert-goers become actors… One does not need to be an architect to comprehend the building.”
The TKTS Booth and the Revitalization of Father Duffy Square by Choi Ropiha, Perkins Eastman, and PKSB Architects, and recipient of a Merit award, started when the Van Alen Institute held a design competition. “We knew Times Square could become a town square for New York,” said Nick Leahy, AIA, of Perkins Eastman, and that was the concept they pitched to a plethora of city agencies and clients. The result is an urban public space and outdoor theater — a place to watch and be watched, William Fellows, AIA, principal at PKSB Architects, observed. The glowing red steps that top the TKTS booth were based upon the idea of a flying carpet.
KPF Associates’ Shanghai World Financial Center, which won an Honor Award, was in the works for more than 15 years. At 101 stories, the building’s footprint is just under an acre and has a total of four million square feet. “We wanted to make it not just an icon,” said Senior Designer David Mallot, “but part of the city.” The design team also wondered how they could get the public to interact with the building and its components — retail, offices, conference spaces, a hotel, and several observation decks. During the planning stages, according to Mallot, the public had some input — the proposed circular shaped void at the top of the building reminded the Chinese too much of the Japanese flag, and to be “politically correct,” it was changed to the shape of an upside down trapezoid.