In their editorial accompanying last years Best of Design magazine, AN editor in chief Bill Menking and then-executive editor Matt Shaw observed a tendency toward muted color and understated form among the winners. They asked if this was evidence of a broader trend or if 2019 was just a quiet year.
As we close out 2020, we might flip the interrogative emphasis around. Do this years Best of Design honorees reflect the tumultuous events of the previous 12 months? The short answer is yes: Both the Project of the Year and the first runner-upthe Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia and the 1199SEIU member spaces in New York, respectivelyaddress Americas fraught history of race, albeit in different ways. The former circumscribes a space for mournful contemplation by making an earthly incision, while the latter emanates the moral optimism of another age.
And yet the answer could just as easily be no. The majority of the winning projects were completed in mid-to-late 2019 or early this year, just skirting the construction lockdowns of April and May and the street protests of June and July. These forcesexogenous, perhaps, to the AEC sectors but not to society at largewere most likely to affect the operations of the buildings and interiors compiled in the following pages, rather than their final form.
So, if we are unable to draw any determinative aesthetic trends, what can we say about these projects? What attributes connect these 47 discrete works, representing a total of 50 categories and culled from more than 800 submissions? To begin with, the quality of the submissions has rarely been stronger or, as mentioned above, more timely. A few were especially creative in the face of current constraints, particularly Outpost Offices Drawing Fields, the winner in the Temporary Installation category; the project employs roving robots to reimagine a performance venue for the COVID-19 era.
Meanwhile, Koning Eizenbergs MuseumLab in Pittsburgh and Adjaye Associates Webster retail store in Los Angeles underscores the importance of mood to interior spaces. Marlon Blackwell Architects Thaden School Bike Barn, which took the top prize in the InstitutionalKindergartens, Primary & High Schools category, is the cheeriestand, thanks to its wood slat enclosure, breeziestproject. And is there a more ideal locale for self-isolating than PRODUCTORAs Bautista House, whose residents are shielded by a Yucatan nature reserve?
In closing, wed like to thank our talented cast of jurors, who gave our submissions the discerning scrutiny they all deserve. Wed also like to point the reader to the 2020 Best of Product winners. While many are particularly well suited to the new normal, they certainly arent constrained by it. We hope that all the work contained in this issue inspires and provokes in equal measure.
We will be updating this list over the next few days with winner and honorable mention profiles (part 1 here). To see the complete feature, dont miss our 2020 Best of Design Awards Annual issue, out now!
Winner
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia
Howeler + Yoon Architecture in collaboration with Mabel O. Wilson, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Frank Dukes, and Eto Otitigbe
Charlottesville, Virginia
Finalists
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers EastAdjaye AssociatesNew York City
Winter Visual Arts BuildingSteven Holl ArchitectsLancaster, Pennsylvania
Winner
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia
Howeler + Yoon Architecture in collaboration with Mabel O. Wilson, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Frank Dukes, and Eto Otitigbe
Charlottesville, Virginia
Honorable Mention
Conference House Park PavilionSage and Coombe Architects
FDNY Rescue Company 2Studio Gang
Javits Center Medical Station & Temporary HospitalDi Domenico + Partners
MLK1101 Supportive HousingLorcan OHerlihy Architects
Editors Picks
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Concourse D AnnexHOK
High Line Section 3, Phase 2Sciame ConstructionDiller Scofidio + RenfroJames Corner Field Operations
DineOut NYCRockwell Group
GirlsInc. Of Memphis, Urban Centers-South Park & LFTarchimania
Winner
The Peninsula
WXY ArchitectureBody Lawson AssociatesElizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect
The Bronx
Honorable Mentions
Eastern market Neighborhood Framework and Stormwater Management Network PlanUtile
Moscone Center ExpansionLandscape architect: CMG Landscape ArchitectureArchitects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Mark Cavagnero Associates
Editors Picks
Essex market and The Market LineSHoP ArchitectsHugh A. Boyd ArchitectsFormactiv
Mulberry CommonsSage and Coombe Architects
Winner
Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green
Ten x TenMSR DesignR3A
Pittsburgh
Honorable Mention
Chicago Botanic Garden: Regenstein Learning CampusMikyoung Kim DesignJacobs/Ryan AssociatesBooth Hansen
Water Conservation Garden at Red Butte GardenStudio Outside
Editors Picks
Houston Botanic GardenWest 8 Urban Design & Landscape ArchitectureClark Condon AssociatesOverland PartnersDykema Architects
The Aga Khan Garden, AlbertaNelson Byrd Woltz Landscape ArchitectsDIALOG
Winner
The New St. Pete Pier
Rogers PartnersASD/SKYKen Smith WorkshopBooth Design Group
St. Petersburg, Florida
Honorable Mention
BrightlineSkidmore, Owings & Merrill with Zyscovich Architects
PG&E Larkin Street Substation ExpansionTEF Design
Editors Picks
Grand Avenue Park BridgeLMN Architects
Winner
MuseumLab
Koning Eizenberg ArchitectsPerfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel Architects
Pittsburgh
Honorable Mention
Preserve at 620Nelsen Partners
Rejuvenation of a Historic Powerhouse, San FranciscoMarcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
Editors Picks
122 Community Arts CenterDeborah Berke Partners
The MomentaryWheeler Kearns Architects
Winner
Victorian Music Box
CCY Architects
Aspen, Colorado
Honorable Mention
215-225 West 28th StreetDXA studio
Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School ExpansionWheeler Kearns Architects
Editors Picks
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall, University of OregonOFFICE 52 ArchitectureRowell Brokaw Architects
Enlace New OfficesCanopy/Architecture + Design
Winner
Atelier Cho Thompson
San Francisco and New Haven, Connecticut
Winner
West-Seattle Net Zero
SHED Architecture + Design
Seattle
Honorable Mention
DC Water HeadquartersSmithGroup
King Open/Cambridge Street Upper School and Community ComplexWilliam Rawn Associates with Arrowstreet Architecture & DesignLighting designer: HLB Lighting Design
Editors Picks
University of Victoria District Energy PlantDIALOG
Wheaton College Pine HallSGA
Winner
DPR Sacramento Headquarters
SmithGroup
Sacramento, Californi
Honorable Mention
The International WELL Building InstituteCOOKFOX Architects
University of Delaware The Tower at STAR CampusBernardonEcoWallsParker Interior Plantscape
Winner
The Reach at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Steven Holl ArchitectsBNIMHollander Design Landscape Architects
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Announcing the winners of the 2020 AN Best of Design Awards - The Architect's Newspaper
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