The AIA New York State, Inc. (AIANYS), the state organization of AIA, presented its 2002 excellence in design awards at the association’s annual convention October 11 at the celebrated Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. From 108 entries, the jury chose to present four Awards for Excellence in Design, two Awards of Merit, and three Citations.

Awards for Excellence in Design

Global Crossing Corporate Headquarters, New York City, by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership.

“For corporate interiors, this is off the charts,” said the jury of the Global Crossing Corporate Headquarters. Ixnet, a leader in the field of global dedicated extranet communications, took several floors of office space as their new headquarters at 88 Pine Street, an award-winning 1970s office building designed by I.M. Pei. (Ixnet has since merged with the communications giant, Global Crossing, and the space now serves as Global Crossing’s New York headquarters.) The vision of the company’s dynamic CEO was to project an extremely forward-looking identity embodying the baseline tenets of the company: connectivity, speed, security, and cutting-edge technology. The architect stripped all extraneous information from the space—partitions, hung ceilings, standard lighting, floor coverings—and added back only what was needed to provide the appropriate workspace for the spirit and function of Ixnet. A pronounced juxtaposition results: a 21st century process-oriented enterprise in a classic 20th century corporate envelope. “There’s innovation in the lighting, in the ceiling. There’s a consistent aesthetic from the furnishings to the architecture . . . quite sophisticated. It’s also iconographic because this is a fiber cable company,” concluded the jury. (ESTO Photographics, Peter Aaron)

Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, by Polshek Partnership Architects LLP.

The design for the renovation and expansion of the Hayden Planetarium boldly redefines the image of the American Museum of Natural History while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the landmark structure designed and built incrementally over the course of a century. A cubic volume, approximately 120 feet on a side, encloses a hollow sphere 87 feet in diameter. The sphere is the programmatic and iconic heart of the architectural concept—it is both a universal symbol of astronomy and a resonant Platonic form. Critical to the design concept is the sphere’s apparent disengagement from the enclosing structure and from its transparent curtain wall and the cantilevered spiral ramp encircling the sphere. The jury pronounced the project “truly a legacy-quality building that is consistent with a degree of quality that is resident in the great museums in the City of New York. It would be exciting to imagine all public buildings in New York being this appealing to its citizens . . . and especially a building that has so much pull for children, letting them have an experience of architecture.” (Jeff Goldberg/ESTO)

Queens Borough Public Library, Flushing Branch, Flushing, N.Y., by Polshek Partnership Architects LLP.

“A challenging site, and the building responds to each side in a different manner that reflects what’s going on around it—very nicely done,” said the jury in assessing the Queens Public Library in Flushing. “The detailing is really quite, quite good. It has a very nice scale that is inviting as a public space.” Located in a vibrant multilingual, multicultural neighborhood, this 76,000-square-foot, four-story public library is the largest branch of the nation’s busiest library system. The design emphasizes the asymmetrical qualities of its triangular site, which results from the intersection of two urban thoroughfares. The architects employed transparency as a metaphor for accessibility: the architecture demystifies the library experience by making the facility’s collections and functional organization visually accessible from the street. The public art that is integral to the architecture further affirms the building’s accessibility to its many and varied users. “It’s a real public building . . . it’s extraordinary . . . an exceptional building,” the jury concluded. (Jeff Goldberg/ESTO)

Portes de la Defense Paris, France, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP, in association with Mas et Roux Architects.

The architects designed Portes de la Defense to express an appropriate corporate identity for the client and attract premium international business tenants. The new Parisian home for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and the Oracle Corporation, the building’s amenities include three interior reception halls, auditorium, conference facilities, fitness center, restaurant, private dining salons, cafeteria, and a 27,000-square-foot garden courtyard. Portes de la Defense integrates technology for high performance. For instance, conduits allowing access to wires, cables, and other information infrastructure enable tenants to upgrade to new technologies immediately and inexpensively. “The concept of the combination of the boxes is quite simple, and the roof brings everything together and makes the composition exciting,” according to the jury. “It’s a very sophisticated approach that uses a highly systematic façade, but tweaks it here and there to make it more interesting.” (Photo courtesy of HRO)

Awards of Merit

The Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, N.Y., by Davis Brody Bond, LLP.

The Jacob Burns Film Center, which opened to the public in the summer of 2001, is housed in the historic Rome Theater. Once a thriving venue, it now features foreign and independent films, revivals, children’s specials, and documentaries, as well as lectures, jazz concerts, educational programs, and panel discussions. Architect Davis Brody Bond strove to return the Spanish Mission-style façade to its original splendor, renovate the interior, and create a new addition to house additional theater space. The preserved façade is reminiscent of the town’s architectural and cultural history while the new addition contributes a contemporary aesthetic. The new addition is simpatico to the original façade and seeks to complement rather than mimic its architectural character. The jury characterizes the project as “an exciting revitalization of a historic movie theater. The open quality of the new façade reveals the interior spaces yet maintains the streetscape. A real gem for the local performing arts community.” (© Elliott Kaufman Photography)

Toys “R” Us, New York City, by Gensler.

Gensler has created “a fabulous solution for the site . . . great for Toys “R” Us for bringing some innovation to this skin and to the ‘big box retail,’” the jury said. “When you see the building up close, it’s integrated very beautifully within the façade.” The media-dense neighborhood of Times Square presented a competitive venue in which Gensler strove to revamp the Toys “R” Us image for a digital age. The solution comprises an exterior signage system covering the entire façade of the four-story building. Just inside the clear, structural glass curtain wall, 165 individual scrolling panels display up to eight different images, forming a series of dynamic art displays. Combining innovative retail design, entertainment architecture, and groundbreaking graphic communication, the flagship offers a unique experience for visitors. (Paul Warchol Photography Inc.)

Citations

Axis Theater, New York City, by Messana O’Rorke Architects.

This new theater provides an experimental platform for performance and gives architectural expression to the assertive character of an avant-garde institution. Architecture is ultimately integrated as another stage for the delivery of Axis content, on stage and off, according to the architect. “They did a lot with a little here—it’s like the mini version of the Paris Opera,” the jury said. “It’s really quite remarkable that they’ve created such an attractive environment in a basement space; it would be a lot of fun going to that theater.”

Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City, by Polshek Partnership Architects LLP.

“Wow! The interior is a surprise and a delight,” said the jury of the new Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall. An important component of the city’s redevelopment plan, the hall is an entirely new and acoustically ideal theater within the envelope of an existing, 270,000-square-foot, 1938 “Midwest Moderne” civic building. Renovation of old space allows the 2,500-seat hall to function both as a concert hall and a full proscenium theater with fly tower, wings, and backstage facilities. By using the entire volume of the original building, the architects were able to create a flexible new space and offer a dynamic public area around it for patrons to use before, during, and after events. “The palette and forms create a total experience for the patron,” according to the jury. (©2002 Robert Reck)

United States Embassy, Ontario, Canada by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.

The architect deployed a strong, unifying form to anchor this new office building to its unusual site and tie together many diverse site and planning concerns. The center tower and spire unite the two entrances to the new building—one on the ground and one on the second level—with an atrium housing vertical transportation and other building core functions. “It’s definitely a very good urban response to an extremely difficult site, and there are some very skillful aspects to it urbanistically,” the jury concluded. “It has a great deal of natural light for a building that had to be particularly closed for security.” (Eduard Hueber/SOM)

Honor Awards

AIA/NYS also presented its 2002 Honor Awards at the state convention:

Matthew W. Del Gaudio Award, recognizing outstanding and valuable service to the profession through promoting of architecture, to:
• Mark Ginsberg, AIA, AIA New York Chapter
• Orlando T. Maione, AIA, AIA Long Island Chapter

President’s Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to architecture by AIA/NYS member in nontraditional areas of architectural practice, to:
• J. Delaine Jones, PhD, FAIA, AIA Eastern New York Chapter
• Barbara Nadel, FAIA, AIA New York Chapter

Legislator of the Year Awards, recognizing outstanding legislative contributions to the profession and the practice of architecture by New York State legislators, to:
• Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari, New York State Assembly
• Senator Michael A.L. Balboni, New York State Senate

Honorary Member of AIA/NYS, recognizing outstanding and significant accomplishments of people outside the profession of architecture, to:
• Richard E. Leckerling, Esq.,Whiteman Osterman & Hanna
• Mayor David Kapell, Village of Greenport, Long Island

President’s Citation, conferred on individuals and organizations whose contributions have enhanced architecture and the built environment. AIA/NYS President Susan B. McClymonds, AIA, awarded citations to:
• AIA New York Chapter, with deep appreciation for their concern and compassion for all those affected by the tragedy and devastation of September 11, and for their energy and commitment to place the profession of architecture in the forefront of the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.
• New York City Department of Buildings, New York City Department of Design & Construction, and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, with deep appreciation for their courageous, heroic, and humanitarian efforts in protecting the public’s health, safety, and welfare in the aftermath of the tragedy and devastation of September 11.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.