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AIA announces 2013 Small Project Award recipients

AIA announces 2013 Small Project Award recipients

The American Institute of Architects has announced the winners of the 2013 Small Project Awards, a program dedicated to promoting small-project designs. Since 2003 the AIA Small Projects Award Program has emphasized the work and high standards of small-project architects, bringing the public’s attention to the significant designs of these small-projects and the diligent work that goes into them. This year’s ten winners are grouped into four categories: projects completed on a budget under $150,000, projects with a budget under $1.5 million, projects under 5,000 square feet, and theoretical design under 5,000 square feet.

CATEGORY 1: These three recipients had to complete small-projects constructions, objects, an environmental art, or architectural design with a budget of $150,000.

Bemis InfoShop
Min | Day
Omaha

From the AIA: “More than a new entry and reception area for a contemporary art center, the InfoShop is a social condenser and transition space between the city and the galleries. With increasing emphasis on social and environmental issues, the art center is becoming a laboratory for ideas rather than a repository for artifacts.”

The jury commented: “This is such a remarkable process! It represents a designer’s victory as opposed to an ideologically born, experientially rich element. … A context is built on triangular patterns cut into a wall of panels and beautifully engages a sculpturally reception desk that double as a bar for entertaining. The reception space looks great, effortlessly orients the visitor and functions very practically. It is playful without being whimsical. This project is an exemplary demonstration of craft in the digital age.”

Cemetery Marker
Kariouk Associates
South Canaan, PA

From the AIA: “Before dying, a woman left a note for her children to be read after her death. This note was less a will (she had nothing material to leave her children) than several abstract wishes for them. The sole request on her own behalf was that her gravesite becomes a garden.”

The jury commented: “This is a design that embodies the idea of ‘remembrance’. The bronze plates, graced with a deeply personal and poetic message, are organized beautifully—pushing and pulling you through the space as you engage it. This is respectful, celebratory work that gracefully merges with its landscape and poignantly reveals the spirit of a woman.”

Studio for a Composer
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Spring Prairie, WI

From the AIA: “An unassuming structure nestled into a rural Wisconsin hillside, this intimate retreat serves as a studio for a Country Western musician to write his work and reconnect with nature.”

The jury commented: “The wood detailing, the use of color, and the simplicity of this retreat for a musician is inspiring. An inspiring place in which to create music and commune with nature. The color palette is at once animated and subtle.”

CATEGORY 2: These three recipients had to create small-project constructions with a budget of $1,500,000.

Nexus House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Madison, WI

From the AIA: “This compact home for a young family occupies a small site in a historic residential district in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. Successfully contesting the local preservation ordinance and its narrow interpretation of stylistic compatibility, the house is an unapologetically contemporary building, its formally restrained volume discreetly placed in the back of the trapezoidal site to minimize direct visual competition with its historic neighbors.

The jury commented: “This is absolutely beautiful. It is well detailed and not overwhelming. It fits fantastically into the surrounding neighborhood and doesn’t take away from the other architecture. As the name Nexus suggests, this house is very well connected. Composed of a brick podium and a wood clad block on top, it masterfully accomplishes a variety experiences in a compact footprint.”

Pavilion at Cotillion Park
Mell Lawrence Architects
Dallas

From the AIA: “Commissioned by the Dallas Parks Department, this new shade structure bridges the gap between two groups of trees at a natural gathering place in the park.”

The jury commented: “This is such a fantastic way for the public to be able to experience architecture in a park setting. The whimsical pop of red draws the eye and leads to you walk in and experience the space. It plays with light and provides a shading experience. An exquisite filigree steel structure, that is at once shade pavilion and large environmental art piece.”

Webb Chapel Park Pavilion
Cooper Joseph Studio
Mission, TX

From the AIA: ” We were asked by the Department of Parks and Recreation to create a picnic pavilion to replace a decaying 1960s shelter. Given Texan heat and humidity, climate control was a priority.”

The jury commented: “Cleverly integrated into the site the side berm and concrete overhead create a thermal cooling mass the way sustainable design traditionally did. This pavilion project is unlike anything we have seen before. A beautiful public work that will surely inspire those that experience it to embrace architecture in a new way.”

CATEGORY 3: The three recipients in this category had to complete a small-project construction, object, an environmental art, or architectural design under 5,000 square feet. These projects had to be designed as well as constructed, fabricated, and/or installed majorly by the architect.

308 Mulberry
Robert M. Gurney, FAIA
Lewes, DE

From the AIA: “The starting point for this project is small house at 308 Mulberry Street, originally constructed in the early nineteenth-century in the heart of the historical district of Lewes. In the redesign, the exterior of the original structure is meticulously restored.”

The jury commented: “A demanding redesign that respectfully preserves the original architecture, while artfully transforming the home.”

Nevis Pool and Garden Pavilion
Robert M. Gurney, FAIA
Bethesda, MD

From the AIA: “Located in a neighborhood bordering Washington, DC, this suburban site has the advantage of being located adjacent to woodlands. A contemporary house surrounded by mature trees and manicured gardens anchors the site. A new swimming pool, stone walls, and terraces behind the house organize the rear yard and establish a dialogue between the existing house and a new pavilion.”

The jury commented: “A suburban backyard is transformed with a new panoramic awareness of water, forest and sky.”

Tahoe City Transit Center
WRNS Studio
Tahoe City, CA

From the AIA: “The Tahoe City Transit Center (TCTC) represents a vital step toward achieving a more sustainable transportation network within the region.”

The jury commented: ” This is first class design and craftsmanship that works on many levels. The scale of the bus is tamed. The project is reminiscent of the approachable architecture of the early century. The wood siding and trees in the background integrate very well. The design is modern and vernacular at once. This profound piece of public infrastructure serves a very important civic function with a low impact modest foot print.”

CATEGORY 4: The recipient in category 4 was challenged to draft a completely original architectural design that is purely hypothetical and theoretical, and less than 5,000 square feet.

Four Eyes House
Edward Ogosta Architecture
Coachella Valley, CA

From the AIA: “A weekend desert residence for a small family, the Four Eyes House is an exercise in site-specific “experiential programming”. Rather than planning the house according to a domestic functional program, the building was designed foremost as an instrument for intensifying particular onsite phenomenal events.”

The jury commented: “The imagery is expertly rendered and communicated. Both rational and lyrical and possessing excellent spatial quality. Architectural towers and horizontal lines modulate the viewer’s experience and connection with an elemental landscape. It redefines how a home should be built. … This project takes the experience of place and via an ‘architectural amplifier’ of thoughtful movement (ascension into each bedroom space) and choreographed view capture / light receiver (well-placed windows), makes it a triumphant celebration of humankind situated in the center of the natural universe.”

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