FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2009 Design Award Winners Announced

AIA Pittsburgh presents 17 Design Awards and the prestigious Gold Medal

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 27, 2009 – The Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects presented the 2009 Design Awards on Thursday, October 22 at the annual Design Awards Ceremony held at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Attended by more than 400 AIA Pittsburgh members, staff, Board of Directors, sponsors and supporters, the event marked the culmination of Design Pittsburgh 2009 “where architecture, design and community converge” - a month long celebration of architecture and design, and recognition of the best architectural achievements in the past year. From eighty-nine design award submissions juried, seventeen design awards were presented in five categories. In addition to the juried awards, AIA Pittsburgh announced the 2009 People’s Choice Award selected by popular public vote, and its Board of Director’s awarded the prestigious Gold Medal.

AIA Pittsburgh hosted one evening-three celebrations at Design Pittsburgh 2009 with the first award of the evening – the presentation of the Gold Medal to Rebecca Flora, Senior Vice President of the United States Green Building Council, and former Executive Director of the Green Building Alliance. Created by the AIA Pittsburgh Board of Directors, the Gold Medal is given at the discretion of the Board to recognize a community leader for his or her efforts in generating policy, raising public awareness, or leading a specific effort regarding quality architectural design in the Pittsburgh region. More than 200 gathered at the Gold Medal reception to recognize and honor Ms. Flora for her outstanding leadership, ongoing commitment, and vigorous advocacy to support sustainable design and green building.

The Design Awards Ceremony is the last and most anticipated event of Design Pittsburgh. The purpose of the Design Awards is to recognize and promote excellence in the craft of architecture, as created by the members of the AIA. Given annually at the close of the Design Pittsburgh celebration, the Design Awards are judged by an out of town jury and submissions are open to any member of AIA Pittsburgh, AIA Middle Pennsylvania or any member of any AIA chapter across the country who has a project in the 22-county area represented by AIA Pittsburgh and AIA Middle Pennsylvania.

This year’s jury was led by Allison Williams, FAIA, design principal and Design Director with Perkins+Will of San Francisco, and architect of the August Wilson Center, and included Byron Kuth, FAIA of KUTH-RANIERI, and Bryan Shiles, AIA of WRNS Studio also from San Francisco. The jury presented awards in five categories, Timeless, Architecture, Architectural Detail & Craftsmanship, Open Plan, and Regional & Urban Design.

One design submission received two awards, a Certificate of Merit in the Architecture category, and a Green Design Citation made possible by SOTA Construction which recognizes projects that have integrated green building strategies and practices into the design to reduce environmental impact. This award also recognizes the growing impact that buildings have on human health, worker productivity, and environmental and regional prosperity.

Architecture- Certificate of Merit and Green Design Citation
Project: Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media and Conference Center
Client: St. Vincent College and Archabbey
Architecture Firm: FortyEighty Architecture

Seven additional Certificates of Merit which recognize outstanding aspects of a project such as detailing or adaptive reuse were awarded in the Regional and Urban Design, and Architecture categories:

Regional & Urban Design- Certificate of Merit
Project: East Liberty Green Vision
Client: East Liberty Development, Inc.
Architecture Firm: Perkins Eastman

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: Yale University Chemistry Research Building
Client: Yale University
Architecture Firm: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson/Cannon Design

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: Eastside Phase 2 – Building B
Client: The Mosites Company
Architecture Firm: The Design Alliance Architects

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: Eastside Phase 2 – Building D
Client: The Mosites Company
Architecture Firm: The Design Alliance Architects

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Allegheny
Client: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Architecture Firm: Loysen + Kreuthmeier

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Hill District
Client: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Architecture Firm: Pfaffmann + Associates, PC

Architecture- Certificate of Merit
Project: Penn at 29th
Client: Rothschild Doyno Collaborative
Architecture Firm: Rothschild Doyno Collaborative

Five Awards of Excellence granted for overall excellence to projects in Architectural Detail/Craftsmanship and Open Plan categories:

Architectural Detail/Craftsmanship – Award of Excellence
Project: Warhol Reception Desk
Client: Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Architecture Firm: EDGE studio

Architectural Detail/Craftsmanship – Award of Excellence
Project: Monastery Street Park
Client: South Side Local Development Company and South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association
Architecture Firm: Loysen + Kreuthmeier Architects

Open Plan- Award of Excellence
Project: A Civic Renewal
Client: Preservation Pittsburgh / DOCOMOMO
Architecture Firm: Pfaffmann + Associates, PC

Open Plan- Award of Excellence
Project: London Barge Gallery
Client: Arquitectum Design Competitions
Architecture Firm: Renaissance 3 Architects, PC

Open Plan- Award of Excellence
Project: Point Park Public Space Competition
Client: Point Park University
Architecture Firm: Strada

Two Honor Awards where presented in the Architecture category:

Architecture- Honor Award
Project: Tepper West Addition
Client: Carnegie Mellon University
Architecture Firm: EDGE studio

Architecture- Honor Award
Project: South Side Courtyard House
Client: Client Name Withheld
Architecture Firm: Studio D’ Arc

In the Timeless category which recognizes built projects that are at least twenty-five years old for projects completed prior to January 1, 1984, one award was presented:

Timeless Award
Project: Schenley High School
Client: The Board of Education (currently the Pittsburgh Public Schools)
Architecture Firm: MacLachlan, Cornelius, & Filoni Inc., on behalf of their founder Edward Stotz

And, finally, the 2009 People’s Choice Award selected by popular vote was presented to IKM Incorporated for the West Virginia Alumni Center. This year, more than 1,200 votes were cast by the public at AIA Pittsburgh’s new Design Pittsburgh website http://pittsburghsfavoritearchitecture.com

AIA Pittsburgh’s 2009 Design Awards ceremony honored outstanding accomplishments of architects and architectural design firms in the region. “On behalf of the organization and our Board of Directors, we are delighted with the jury’s results and think the 2009 Design Awards represent the best in architectural achievements from within our professional association”, said Chip Desmone, AIA, President of AIA Pittsburgh’s Board of Directors.

Background: Held every October, Design Pittsburgh, a signature program of AIA Pittsburgh, and highlights excellence in architecture and design in the Pittsburgh region. It’s both a celebration and showcase to honor the best architectural achievements of the past year. Design Pittsburgh is recognized as the industry’s opportunity to promote the great influence and impact of quality architectural design, as well as healthy and sustainable communities through environmentally conscious building and design practices. AIA Pittsburgh presented Design Pittsburgh 2009, with support made possible by Media Partners, Pittsburgh Magazine and WDUQ, and our generous sponsors.

EDITORS NOTE:
Visit AIA Pittsburgh’s Design Pittsburgh website
http://pittsburghsfavoritearchitecture.com to view digital images of the 2009 Design Award winning submissions.

2010 AIA Gold Medal Awarded to Peter Bohlin, FAIA

Profession’s highest honor goes to architect known for exceptional contextual use of materials

For immediate release:
Washington, D.C. – December 3, 2009 – The Board of Directors of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) voted today to award the 2010 AIA Gold Medal to Peter Bohlin, FAIA. Bohlin, founder of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which has five U.S. offices, is renowned for his versatile, contextual use of materials.
The AIA Gold Medal, voted on annually, is considered to be the profession’s highest honor that an individual can receive. The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Bohlin will be honored at the 2010 AIA National Convention in Miami.
AIA President Marvin Malecha, FAIA, notified Bohlin by telephone immediately after the Board made its decision. “I’m so pleased and I’m surprised,” said Bohlin. “We all believe in architecture. It is our life to a great extent. Like athletes, we all know that it’s hard work to make it look easy, and we’re all constantly striving to do that.”
Over the course of his long career, Bohlin has designed superlative rural houses, nature centers as well as excellent urban buildings. The key to success for both building types is their contextual use of materials. “He moves from the log cabin to the glass box with the same unassailable ethic that has for hundreds of years defined and shaped an architectural tradition rooted in the exercise of knowledge and made unique only by the personal will, character, and imagination of its creator,” wrote Mack Scogin, FAIA, of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, in a recommendation letter.
“His architecture clearly communicates that buildings are not just placed on the landscape, but are part of the landscape and indeed enhance the experience of nature,” wrote Ed Feiner, FAIA, former General Services Administration chief architect, in a letter of recommendation.
Examples of Bohlin’s work include:
• The Ledge House, which builds a serene, natural light-bathed retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain region by arranging a series of timber and stone pavilions in a horseshoe pattern.
• The William J. Nealon Federal Building and US Courthouse in Scranton, Pa., which subtly integrates a new courthouse building into the original 19th century Neo-Classical facility with a multi-story, sky-lit atrium.
• The Apple Store Fifth Avenue in New York City, a pure, pristine glass cube absent any structural steel that takes visitors below ground, away from its busy urban milieu, and into one of Apple’s flagship retail destinations.
• The Pocono Environmental Education Center in Dingmans Ferry, Pa., which distills Bohlin’s approach to nature center design to its essence with basic shed massing, a broad, overhanging roof, natural materials, and a luminous, lantern-like glow from within.
• Seattle City Hall; its varied curtain wall facades of steel and glass uniquely reflect the solar orientation and urban fabric of each face.
Bohlin and his 200-person practice, which has offices in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco, have shown a deference to site context and a tendency for design humility that is becoming rarer and rarer among the top tier of practitioners. Again and again, his work demonstrates that great cities, towns, and buildings are created by designers looking to further the story of their place in a collaborative and contextual way, not by singular architecture that calls for heedless and self-serving attention. Awarding the Gold Medal to Bohlin, wrote Scogin in his recommendation letter, would communicate that “architects can in fact address all the complexities of our present day world with the grace and humility that privileges the best of human aspiration.”
Bohlin’s projects have earned 14 national AIA Awards, including nine Institute Honor Awards, COTE Top Ten Green Project Awards, AIA Committee on Education and AIA Housing Awards. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson was the recipient of the 1994 AIA Firm Award. Bohlin is the 66th AIA Gold Medalist. He joins the ranks of such visionaries as Thomas Jefferson (1993), Frank Lloyd Wright (1949), Louis Sullivan (1944), LeCorbusier (1961), Louis Kahn (1971), I.M. Pei (1979), Frank Gehry (1999), and Renzo Piano (2008). In recognition of his legacy to architecture, his name will be chiseled into the granite Wall of Honor in the lobby of the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
About The American Institute of Architects
For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. By using sustainable design practices, materials, and techniques, AIA architects are uniquely poised to provide the leadership and guidance needed to provide solutions to address climate change. AIA architects walk the walk on sustainable design. Visit www.aia.org/walkthewalk.