flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Winners of the 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize announced

Architects

Winners of the 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize announced

The AAP recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide across three disciplines: architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.


By AAP | October 24, 2016

The 2016 winners of the inaugural AAP American Architecture Prize have been announced. The AAP recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide across three disciplines: architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.

 

Architectural Design of the Year

Shanghai Tower

Lead Designer: Dan Winey

 

 

As the tallest building in China Shanghai Tower, designed by Gensler, has had an immediate and profound impact on the country’s perceptions of how a skyscraper can contribute to a city, a country, and a culture. Not only does it rise over Shanghai as a new symbol for its modern emergence on the global stage, but also points the way forward for technical innovation accomplished within the parameters of a Chinese cultural identity. Powerful in form yet delicate in appearance, Shanghai Tower would be a graceful addition to any skyline, but its function, identify, and symbolism are firmly rooted in the needs of its specific site.

 

Interior Design of the Year

The Infinity Centre, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School

Lead Designer: McBride Charles Ryan

 

 

The Infinity Centre, the new campus for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School senior students, is derived from the initial idea that the library is central to the school. The building reflects the ethos of the school in delivering spaces for heightened educational outcomes with an image that strongly reflects its identity. At a practical level, the Infinity Centre provides all the structured areas required of such a facility: arts, sciences, mathematics, languages, a library, a formal lecture theatre, administration and staff facilities. Beyond this, the building is developed as an abstraction of the infinity symbol; an emblem that appears on the school’s logo. The symbol represents the school’s approach to continued learning, as well as the interconnectedness of activities within its organisation. Importantly, the key quality of the symbol is its connectivity; a recognisable topology that allows its meaning to withstand formal deformation. At the centre of the infinity plan, where all the wings cross over, is the library: it is itself an infinite resource, a place to which one continually arrives and returns. Concepts of fluidity and connectivity are evident in the building’s exterior form. Clad in gloss-black-and-silver-banded brickwork, the Infinity Centre rises like a medieval walled city. Sweeping ‘gateways’ maintain the continuity of this form and provide access into the school’s sheltered inner courtyards; one for formal and the other for informal gathering. The consistency of this external architectural treatment is in direct contrast to the richly expressive variety of internal spaces. Internal materials and colours provide the discipline-precincts with identity and diversity within the continuous form of the building. The coexistence of these contrasts is emblematic of the school’s pedagogical approach. With the Infinity Centre, PEGS has a tangible manifestation of their unique identity in which structure and individuality work in concert and optimism is the product.

 

 

Landscape Architecture of the Year

Sydney Park Water Re-use Project

Lead Designer: Turf Design Studio & Environmental Partnership with Alluvium, Turpin + Crawford Studio, Dragonfly Environmental and Partridge

 

 

Much has been achieved over the past two decades to transform the Sydney Park site from its former post-industrial history and waste disposal, into 44 hectares of parkland and a vital asset for the growing communities of Sydney’s southern suburbs. This project forms City of Sydney’s largest environmental project to date, built in partnership with the Australian Government through the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan. It is an integral component of Sustainable Sydney 2030; targeting 10% of water demand to be met through local water capture and re-use in the park. The City seized a once in a lifetime opportunity to use what was essentially an infrastructure project to breathe new life into the park - as a vibrant recreation and environmental asset for Sydney. The City engaged a design team led by landscape architects Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership who orchestrated an intense and multi-disciplinary collaboration intersecting design, art, science and ecology - in a ‘roundtable’ of creatives shared between water experts Alluvium, artists Turpin + Crawford Studio, ecologists Dragonfly Environmental, engineers Partridge and the City’s own Landscape Architects. The result is an interwoven series of community infrastructures and ‘made’ systems - water re-use, recreation, biodiversity and habitat all integrated within the physical fabric of Sydney Park. The bio-retention wetlands not only capture and clean the equivalent measure of 340 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth per annum, but will successfully improve local water quality, habitat and reduce potable water consumption in the area. Sydney Park now offers an enhanced recreational experience to the Sydney community, going beyond the picturesque; creating instead a revitalised, multi- faceted waterscape that celebrates the connection between people and place.

 

In addition to the Architects of the Year, many other projects were awarded titles of Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention across 41 categories. Projects were evaluated based on characteristics of form, function and innovation.

For a full list of the 2016 winners, click here.

Related Stories

| Feb 23, 2011

The library is dead, long live the library

The Society for College and University Planning asked its members to voice their thoughts on the possible death of academic libraries. And many did. The good news? It's not all bad news. A summary of their members' comments appears on the SCUP blog.

| Feb 23, 2011

Data center trends: green design, technology upgrades

While green data centers will continue to be a trend within the industry, technology is also driving infrastructure upgrades that have never been seen before, according to the 2011 Data Center Technical Market Report from Environmental Systems Design. The report also includes an overview of the national data center market, construction costs, blackouts and disaster prevention, and site selection.

| Feb 23, 2011

“School of Tomorrow” student design competition winners selected

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Kawneer Company, Inc. announced the winners of the “Schools of Tomorrow” student design competition. The Kawneer-sponsored competition, now in its fifth year, challenged students to learn about building materials, specifically architectural aluminum building products and systems in the design of a modern and creative school for students ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Ball State University’s Susan Butts was awarded first place and $2,500 for “Propel Elementary School.”

| Feb 23, 2011

Barbie's newest career: Architect

Mattel is introducing Architect Barbie this fall, following a campaign that started in 2002 to give the iconic blond a design job. The doll comes in a signature pink outfit, but if she's truly hoping to pass an an architect, shouldn't she be wearing all black?   

| Feb 23, 2011

Green building on the chopping block in House spending measure

Bryan Howard, Legislative Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, blogs about proposed GOP budget cuts that could impact green building in the commercial sector.

| Feb 23, 2011

Architecture Billings hold steady after two months of improving conditions

After showing positive momentum during the fourth quarter of 2010, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) slipped almost four points in January. The January ABI score was 50.0, which is down from a reading of 53.9 the previous month, but still reflects stable demand for design services. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.

| Feb 22, 2011

LEED Volume Program celebrates its 500th certified Pilot Project

More than 500 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program since the pilot launched in 2006, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED Volume Program streamlines the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers, from commercial real estate firms, national retailers and hospitality providers, to local, state and federal governments.

| Feb 22, 2011

HDR Architecture names four healthcare directors

Four senior professionals in HDR Architecture’s healthcare program have been named Healthcare directors.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021