The results of the 2011 Emporis Skyscraper Award are now in: 8 Spruce Street in New York City is the winner of the renowned architecture prize for new skyscrapers. Every year, Emporis' international jury (www.emporis.com) rewards ten skyscrapers completed in the previous calendar year. The award is being given for the 12th time.
The winners were chosen from over 220 skyscrapers completed in 2011. 8 Spruce Street, the first skyscraper by the architect Frank Gehry, and also known as The Beekman or New York by Gehry, won over the jury with its magnificent undulating stainless steel facade.
The sculptured form of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Al Hamra Tower earned it second place in the ranking. Despite its great height, the skyscraper fits harmoniously into Kuwait City's urban landscape. The tower is engineered to take account of climate conditions: the south facade, with limestone elements cladding a concrete wall, protects the building from the searing desert sun and impressed the jury from both architectural and functional points of view.
DBI Design's Etihad Towers were voted into third place, the jury praising the complex as a particularly harmonious ensemble of buildings. Critical to the decision were the soft, curving contours of the towers: these suggest the shape of sails and are intended to evoke Abu Dhabi's history as a port. The jury of experts also singled out the exceptional facade of silver and blue glass.
8 Spruce Street is now the third New York tower to win the Emporis Skyscraper Award. The very first award (2000) went to Sofitel New York Hotel, while Hearst Tower won the coveted architecture prize for 2006. That makes New York City, the world capital of high-rise architecture, the city to which the Emporis Skyscraper Award has most often been awarded.
Click here to view photos of the winning projects. +
Related Stories
| Sep 22, 2014
Biloxi’s new Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum is like a ship in a bottle
Nine years after the Museum of Maritime and Seafood Industry in Biloxi, Miss., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina’s 30-foot tidal surge, the museum reopened its doors in a brand new, H3-designed building.
| Sep 22, 2014
Swanke-designed Eurasia Tower opens in Moscow
The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center.
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.
| Sep 19, 2014
8 hot healthcare projects win interior design awards
Winners of IIDA's 2014 Healthcare Interior Design Competition include Perkins+Will, AECOM, Buffalo Design, and SmithGroupJJR, for projects from Cincinnati to Toronto.
| Sep 18, 2014
Final designs unveiled for DC's first elevated park
OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 17, 2014
The doctor is in: New consortium to fund research of design's influence on public health
The AIA Design & Health Research Consortium has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches.
