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The American Institute of Architects New York gave out its annual design awards Monday night. The awards are granted for “outstanding architectural design” in New York City, or by NYC-based architects.

Many winners are the type you’d expect to receive an architecture award — this year’s top honors included glitzy, high-profile projects like the new Perelman Performing Arts Center in Lower Manhattan

Others are less obvious. The top honor in the “projects” category, for example, went to a series of new benches, just past security, at Newark Airport’s Terminal C.

“Design excellence is the purpose of this program,” said Jesse Lazar, the executive director of AIANY, who was not on the independent jury that chose the awards.

“Design is of course about making something beautiful, but it’s also about solving problems," Lazar said.

Founded in New York in 1857, the American Institute of Architects organized into local chapters 10 years later — AIA New York remains the oldest and largest in the country.

The jury described the Terminal C benches, by the Missouri-based firm HNTB, as solving a problem that anyone who flies will understand — getting past security with your shoes off, things strewn about, and finding nowhere to sit and get it all together.

“It’s not a huge social problem,” Lazar said. “But it’s a problem people experience in space, and the jury felt this project addressed it in a way that was sensitive, beautiful, attentive to detail, and effective. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.”

The jury also appreciated the design of the bench base, which rhymes visually with the columns of the new terminal itself.

“What comes across as simplistic unpacks a lot of richness to it,” the jury said.

Other honorees at this year’s event reflect how the field’s focus is widening beyond big-budget “starchitecture.”

Bedford Green House I, an affordable housing project in the Northwest Bronx by the Manhattan firm ESKW/Architects, won a “merit” award in the..Read More Here

A Polish architect has been awarded the title of world’s best architect for his James Bond-style mountain-top ski centre in Silesia’s Beskid mountains.

Przemek Gawęda clinched the title of Architect of the Year 2023 at the prestigious international Architecture Community awards for his multifunctional Biathlon Stadium in Kubalonka, which once  completed  will provide Poland with the opportunity to host World Cup and even Winter Olympic events.

According to the international jury, the Biathlon Stadium represents a harmonious blend of modern architecture and functionality.

The plans aim not only to create an excellent venue for athletes but also an appealing facility for fans and architecture enthusiasts.

The state-of-the-art ski center in Istebna, near Wisła, is poised to become a hub for comprehensive training in cross-country skiing and biathlon, offering athletes unparalleled comfort and cutting-edge amenities.

To conceptualize the design, Gawęda and his team of architects embarked on several international trips, studying similar facilities and conducting a thorough analysis of the infrastructure needs.

Gawęda explained that the design includes "a built-in hotel function with approximately 100 beds, a large underground car park with approximately 240 parking spaces, regeneration and wellness facilities, gyms, training rooms, social and conference facilities, along with facilities for organizing sports events such as the World Cup or the World Championships and Olympic Games in the future."

Simultaneously, Gawęda received the "Sports and Leisure Facility of the Year 2023" award for his cutting-edge design of a shielded tunnel on the inrun of the Wielka Krokiew ski jump in Zakopane, addressing the problem of icy and snow-covered tracks for jumpers.

The delighted architect who is the owner, and chief architect of the Archigeum studio in Zielonka said: “This award is a nice distinction not only for me, but above all for the entire design team that we form. [...]

“The design topics that we implement result from our interests, which is an advantage, but also a value in itself. Architecture, that we create is not the result of plebiscites or surveys - it is an.. Read More Here

Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban studies, has announced that Miami-based architect and urban planner Chad Oppenheim has been selected as the 2023 Laureate of The American Prize for Architecture^®, the prestigious award that is regarded internationally as the highest honor for architecture in the United States.

Oppenheim’s built works, spanning over two decades, are expansive in typology and geography, including works ranging from cultural and hospitality buildings to residences and urban master planning throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America.

“Subtle, powerful, elegant, and deeply romantic” states Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, architecture critic and Museum President/CEO of The Chicago Athenaeum, “he is a prolific American architect who is radical in his restraint, demonstrating his reverence for history and culture, as well as time and space, while honoring the preexisting built and natural environments, as he reimagines a more beautiful and poetic world with modern, meaningful buildings that relate to their context and reinvigorates the landscape and places in which his designs exits.”

“His monumental, immutable architecture enhances the lives of its occupants, realizes a site’s full potential, and protects and celebrates the natural environment.”

“From the serene Jordanian desert to the lush Bahamas, he shapes buildings and places to achieve the optimal balance between creativity and pragmatism, function and experience, construction and aesthetics.”

“He treats his buildings and projects with sanctity as he unlocks the mystical and metaphysical essence of the power of architecture.”

“Oppenheim’s buildings engage and harness their surrounding land and seascapes and showcase the designer’s dedication to sustainable practices and materials.”

“He believes that buildings and their environment should be deeply symbiotic, where projects ‘belong’ to their site and form follows feeling. Guided by three philosophical pillars—spirit of place, silent monumentality, and the essential—he has spent decades creating landmark architecture that is highly sensitive and responsive to its context and climate.” Read more here

Esteemed architect Santiago Calatrava is being honored by the Florence Biennale of Art and Design for his contributions to the world of design. In October, the Spanish architect will receive the Leonardo da Vinci Lifetime Achievement for being “one of the most influential architects of our time.”

It was a sweet repeat for Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, which saw its Canon Americas corporate headquarters voted the “Best Office Building” on Long Island by readers of the Long Island Business News in their annual Reader Ranking Survey. The announcement marked the second straight year Canon earned the honor and third overall after it also secured first-place honors in 2018.

The Canon Americas headquarters has garnered a top-3 finish every year for the past six years in the rankings.

“Winning this award for the second consecutive time and third overall is a great honor and we thank the readers of Long Island Business News for recognizing our Canon Americas headquarters,” said Seymour Liebman, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "We strive to meet the needs of both our customers and our community and it is rewarding to know our efforts to contribute to sustainability efforts continue to make a positive impact.”

Located at One Canon Park in Melville, New York, Canon Americas opened the building more than 10 years ago – in February 2013 – and continues to serve as the headquarters for Canon’s business in North and South America.. Read more here