AIA Iowa Showcases Minimalist Designs

AIA Iowa Showcases Minimalist Designs

Stark, rectilinear forms and materials mark the 2011 edition of AIA Iowa’s Design Excellence Awards, with projects from across the state (and beyond) in urban and rural settings. Merit Award: Private Residence in Iowa City, Iowa, designed by Neumann Monson Architects. Images courtesy of Farshid Assassi. Jury comments: A thoroughly modern house that honors its vernacular context. The scale of the house is beautifully resolved among the other farmstead buildings. The inventiveness of program manipulation assists in breaking down the house’s overall volume to fit its context.

Merit Award: Carnegie-Stout Public Library in Dubuque, Iowa, designed by OPN Architects. Images courtesy of Wayne Johnson, Main Street Studio. Jury comments: A beautiful renovation project that recovers what was lost and allows for clarity between the original structure and a 1984 addition. Subtle details and material restorations augment the user’s experience.

Merit Award: The Iowa Utilities Board Office of the Consumer Advocate in Des Moines, Iowa, designed by BNIM Architects. Image courtesy of Assassi Productions. Jury comments: In addition to its obvious mastery of the sustainable environmental profile, this government office building presents a beautifully detailed, light-filled structure, whose interior would be a great place to work.

Iowa Prison Industries Outlet in Des Moines, Iowa, designed by ASK Studio. Image courtesy of Cameron Campbell. Jury comments: A well considered building that makes the most of its budget through clever detailing and the use of standard metal building systems. The simple geometry and material palette are contrasted well by the delicate brick patterning.

Merit Award: High Trestle Trail Bridge in Madrid, Iowa, designed by RDG Dahlquist Art Studio. Image courtesy of Kun Zhang of Dimension Images. Jury comments: Resting somewhere between architecture and public art, this reuse concept creates a playful spatial sequence that, especially for a cyclist at night, must be like riding through a kaleidoscope.

Honor Award: Northeast Iowa Community College Industrial Technologies Building in Peosta, Iowa, designed by INVISION Architecture. Image courtesy of Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio. Jury comments: The project excels on all levels, from the intelligent site plan organization to the restrained use of materials and careful detailing. There is an intentional economy to this project that demonstrates a clear design rigor and a sense of purpose in every programmatic element.

CyRide Ames Transit Authority in Ames, Iowa, designed by ASK Studio. Image courtesy of Cameron Campbell, Integrated Studio. Jury comments: The monochromatic tones and delicate textural qualities of the exterior material palette are well tailored. The architect has taken the simple transit system program and translated it into a sleek embodiment of these functions, creating a more interesting place to work and putting a new face on bus ridership.

The Garland Center in Fayetteville, Ark., designed by HLKB Architecture. Image courtesy of Timothy Hursely Photography. Jury comments: A well executed example of what a parking garage can be. The unique use of terracotta as a porous, light filtering screen works harmoniously within the context of the surrounding brick buildings. The utilitarian function of this garage has been transcended by its creative exterior façade.

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