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Event: New Practices New York 2012 — Winner Announcement and Juror Discussion
Location: Center for Architecture, 01.23.12
Jury: Stan Allen, FAIA — Principal, Stan Allen Architect; Kit von Dalwig, AIA — Principal, Manifold (New Practices New York 2010 winner); Billie Tsien, AIA — Principal, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Mahadev Raman, PE — Chairman | Americas, Arup; William Menking — Editor-in-Chief, The Architect’s Newspaper Introductions: Russ Wheeler — President, Hansgrohe North America; Philipp von Dalwig, Assoc. AIA, & Marc Clemenceau Bailly, AIA — Co-chairs, AIANY New Practices Committee
Organizers: AIANY New Practices Committee
Sponsors: Underwriters: Axor/Hansgrohe; NRI; Sponsors: Forest City Ratner Companies; Perkins Eastman; STV Group, Inc.; Supporters: Cameron Engineering; DeLaCour & Ferrara Architects; Ennead Architects; FXFOWLE; Ingram, Yuzek, Gainen, Carroll & Bertolotti; Jack Resnick & Sons, Inc.; Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Langan Engineering and Environmental Services; Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; Syska Hennessy Group, Inc.; Viridian Energy & Environmental/ Israel Berger & Associates; Media Sponsor: The Architect’s Newspaper
Courtesy AIANY
Established in 2006, the biennial New Practices New York competition is especially pertinent this year as it echoes the theme of 2012 AIANY Chapter President Joseph J. Aliotta, AIA, LEED AP: “Future Now.” The winning firms this year include: Abruzzo Bodziak Architects; Holler Architecture; formlessfinder; Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY; SLO Architecture; The Living; and Christian Wassmann.
The jury selected the seven firms, all which have been established within the last five years, from a total of 51 submissions. Stan Allen, FAIA, said the portfolios exhibit a “real sense that this generation is redefining practice on the fly.” Billie Tsien, AIA, described a prevalence of “horizontal practice,” featuring collaboration within a variety of different disciplines.
The winning portfolios display a range in scale, from small and intimate projects, to larger, boundary-pushing propositions. Sustainability and digital technology are integral to their practices. According to the jury, however, what make these particular firms stand out is their use of technology to create tactile, inviting designs that relate to the human scale.
Here are some of the jury comments:
· Abruzzo Bodziak Architects — “A very consistent portfolio that is really convincing… A good dialogue among ideas, practice, architecture, client, builder, and consultants.”
· Holler Architecture — “The range of ‘systems approaches’ to sustainability is evident in their work.”
· formlessfinder — “Material experiments are performed with authentic spirit of exploration; the results are rich and experientially suggestive.”
· Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY — “The work is digitally driven, but differentiated by a strong sense of 3-D, materials, and tactility.”
· SLO Architecture — “The combination of formal precision, structural inventiveness, and engagement of found materials ties into larger ecological issues.”
· The Living — “A blend of invention, humor, and conviction that work done should make the world a better place.”
· Christian Wassmann — “A coherent sense of exploration and ideas pursued with a range of scales and mixed media.”
Work by the winning firms will be featured in an exhibition opening 06.14.12 at the Center for Architecture. For more information on the competition, click here.
Murrye Bernard, LEED AP, is a freelance architecture writer and a contributing editor to Contract magazine and e-Oculus.