Last night’s Design Commission Awards for Excellence, like in years past, was held at a recently completed architectural superstar. This year that distinction went to Frank Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street, aka New York by Gehry. The presentation was held in the tower’s base at the Spruce Street School. The school is part of the familiar give and take between the city and developers, where a developer agrees to provide a public amenity in exchange for more floor area and height. The awards are intended for city-commissioned projects on city-owned land, so Gehry’s tower does not qualify. Still, with so much criticism leveled at the tower’s functional brick base where the public school is located, one couldn’t help but wish that the Design Commission had a say in the design, particularly in light of the high quality city-built work shown last night.
Squibb Pedestrian Bridge
Brooklyn
A Project of Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Department of Parks & Recreation
HNTB
CityPoint Retail Facility and DeKalb Market
Brooklyn
A Project of the Economic Development Corporation, Acadia Realty Trust, and Washington Square Partners
Architecture/Design Team: Cook + Fox Architects, Lee Weintraub Landscape Architecture, ORE Design + Technology
Three Carriage Houses for the Staten Island Historical Society
Staten Island
A Project of the Department of Design and Construction, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Staten Island Historical Society
Architecture/Design Team: Rice+Lipka Architects
East Elmhurst Community Library
Queens
A Project of the Department of Design and Construction and Queens Library
Architecture/Design Team: Garrison Architects
Installation of The Passage: A Moving Memorial by Mary Miss
Staten Island
A Project of the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art Program, the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services
Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning
Bronx
A Project of the Department of Parks & Recreation and the New York Junior Tennis League
Architecture/Design Team: Peter Gluck and Partners Architects
Flatbush Avenue Entrance and Terrace Café
Brooklyn
A Project of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Architecture/Design Team: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Architecture Research Office
Governors Island Park and Public Spaces, Phase I
Including the Installation of Day Is Done by Susan Philipsz
Governors Island
A Project of The Trust for Governors Island and the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Percent for Art Program
Architecture/Design Team: West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, Pentagram, Tillotson Design Associates, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Susan Philipsz
Riverside Park South, Phase V
Manhattan
A Project of the Department of Parks & Recreation and Extell Development Company
Architecture/Design Team: Thomas Balsley Associates, Sage and Coombe Architects
Special Recognition Award to the Central Park Conservancy’s Plan
Manhattan
Planning, Design & Construction Division
