The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced today it is recognizing six exceptional design projects with its 2019 Innovation Awards. Complete details for each awarded project are available on AIA’s website.
The Innovation Awards recognize the exemplary use and implementation of innovative technologies and progressive practices among architects, designers, collaborators and clients. Awarded projects must support the design, delivery and operation of buildings or research in practice and academia.
This awards program is administered by the Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP), an AIA Knowledge Community. “TAP leaders monitor the development of computer technology and its impact on architecture practice and the entire building life cycle, including design, construction, facility management, and retirement or reuse.”
This year’s recipients for the 2019 Innovation Awards—which were selected by AIA’s Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community—are as follows:
Category A: Holistic Design
Buoyant Ecologies Float Lab | CCA Architectural Ecologies Lab
“The project consists of a floating breakwater structure that incorporates a digitally fabricated, ecologically optimized fiber-reinforced polymer composite substrate. Underwater, the hull’s peaks and valleys vary in size to provide habitats for different species of invertebrates. The project challenges conventional notions of “biofouling”—the unwanted accumulation of marine life on the underside of floating structures—and instead proposes controlled upside-down habitats as an ecological resource. The underwater landscape creates pockets of space for diverse species of marine invertebrates, helping to promote ecological diversity and supporting biological growth that can develop wave attenuation capacity. “(The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
Deployment Team: Port of Oakland, DC Marine
Design Lead: CCA Architectural Ecologies Lab – Adam Marcus AIA, Margaret Ikeda, Evan Jones
Design Team: Taylor Metcalf, Georine Pierre, Jared Clifton
Fabricator: Kreysler & Associates
Marine Ecology: Benthic Lab, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Naval Architecture & Engineering: Tri-Coastal Marine
Ecological Performance, Above and Below. Drawing by CCA Architectural Ecologies Lab
IIT Innovation Center (Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship), Chicago | John Ronan
“The design of the Innovation Center on the Mies campus at IIT is innovative in its own right, and forward-thinking in its approach to sustainability. The second floor of the building, which cantilevers over the ground floor to provide sun shading, is enclosed in a dynamic facade of ETFE foil cushions which can vary the amount of solar energy entering the building through sophisticated pneumatics. The ETFE foil is one percent the weight of glass and gives the building a light, cloud-like appearance.” (The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
General Contractor: Power Construction Company
Engineer – Structural: Werner Sobek Stuttgart
Engineer – MEPFP: dbHMS
Engineer – Civil: Terra Engineering
Landscape: Terry Guen Design Associates
Lighting: Charter Sills
Security: Jensen Hughes
Programming: Shepley Bulfinch
ETFE Subcontractor: Vector Foiltec Architects
View looking west. Photo credit: © Steve Hall
Category B: Development of Design or Design-Thinking
Baxter Parametric CMU Wall, Los Angeles | Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
“The Baxter Parametric CMU Wall shows that this humble material can be reinterpreted to be an elegant yet dynamic feature in the project.” (The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
Engineer – Civil: T Engineering Group, Inc.
Engineering – MEP: South Coast Engineering Group
Engineer – Structural: David H. Lau and Associates
General Contractor: DTK Builders
Landscape Architect – Terremoto
Masonry installer: Levon Construction
Masonry supplier: Angelus Blocks Co.
Close-up of Baxter Parametric CMU Wall, photo by Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, 2019
MIT Sean Collier Memorial, Boston | Höweler + Yoon Architecture
“Situated at the Vassal Street entrance to MIT’s campus, the Collier Memorial honors Officer Sean Collier who was shot and killed on April 18th, 2013, during the manhunt that followed the Boston Marathon Bombing. The memorial marks the site of tragedy with a timeless structure, translating the phrase “Collier Strong” into a space of remembrance with a form that embodies the concept of strength through unity.” (The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
Concrete Placement: G&C Concrete Construction
Construction Labor: Liberty Construction
Construction Manager: Suffolk Construction
Electrical Contractor: Gaston Electrical Co. Inc.
Engineer – Civil: Nitsch Engineering
Engineer – Electrical: AHA Consulting Engineers
Engineer – Geotechnical: McPhail Associates
Engineer – Structural: Knippers Helbig-Advanced Engineering
Engineer – Structural Engineer of Record: RSE Associates
Geotechnical Construction Company: Hayward Baker
Granite and Field Surveyor: Feldman Land Surveyors
Granite Erector: Phoenix Bay State Construction Company
Granite Supplier (Quarry): Virginia Mist Group
Landscape Architect: Richard Burck Associates
Lighting Designer: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design
Landscape Contractor: Valleycrest Landscape Development
MIT Research Assistants: William Plunkett (SMBT ’15), Corentin Fivet (Post Doc), Euipoom Estelle Yoon (BSA ’16), Anna Kaertner (BSA ’15), Cecile Lu (BSA ’16), Marianna Gonzalez (Wellesley BA ’16)
Paver Supplier: Hanover Pavers
Site Development Contractor: James W. Flett Co. Inc. (excavation work)
Specialty Masonry Consultant: Ochsendorf DeJong and Block Consulting
Stone Fabricator: Quarra Stone Company, LLC
Typographic Consultant: Francesca Bolognini
Photo credit: Iwan Baan
Overhaul the curriculum, not just a course | Faculty of the University of Tennessee School of Architecture
The B.Arch. technology curriculum at University of Tennessee School of Architecture was completely overhauled in response to a lack of concept understanding in the design work of students. “The faculty eliminated six stand-alone structures, technology, environmental, and materials courses, totaling 22 credit hours. These were replaced with a series of nine two-credit-hour half semester design/technology courses. Each of the half semester course generally aligned with the studio sequence and each containing a blended content related to climate, site, enclosure, materials, structures, building systems, design, and performance.” (The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
Faculty of the University of Tennessee, including: Katherine Ambroziak, Marleen Kay Davis, Mark Dekay, Hansjoerg Goeritz, Maged Guerguis, Tracy Moir-McClean, William Miller, Marshall Prado, James Rose, Ted Shelton, Kevin Stevens, Tricia Stuth, Jason Young
Team of two students analyzed and proposed a new long span structure for a campus aquatic center.
Performative Millwork: The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre, Atlanta | Trahan Architects
“There was constant sharing and updating of information at every step of the delivery process. This circular feedback allowed CW Keller to notify Trahan Architects and the contractor of potential clashes in the field, which in turn enabled the architects to adjust the geometry of the millwork layouts to prevent those clashes.” (The American Institute of Architects (AIA), 2019)
Project team
Acoustics: Talaske Group
Artist Collaboration: Matthias Pliessnig
Client Representation: The Winstead Group
Construction Manager: Hogan Construction Group
Engineer – MEP: DLB Associates Consulting Engineers
Engineer – Structural: Uzun + Case
Signage and Wayfinding: Thirst
Life Safety: Jensen Hughes
Lighting Designer: Fisher Marantz Stone
Millwork Fabrication: CW Keller Associates
Project and Cost Management: Cost+ Plus
Theater Planning: Theatre Projects Consultants
Vertical Transportation: Lerch Bates
Fit and Finish – Doubly Curved Millwork Installed. Photo credit: Greg Mooney
Visit AIA’s website for more information on the Innovation Awards.
References
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: Buoyant Ecologies Float Lab. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6203044-buoyant-ecologies-float-lab
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: IIT Innovation Center (Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship). Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6200299-iit-innovation-center-ed-kaplan-family-ins
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). )’s 2019 Innovation Awards: Performative Millwork: The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6202929-performative-millwork-the-coca-cola-stage-
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: Baxter Parametric CMU Wall. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6203356-baxter-parametric-cmu-wall-
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: Buoyant Ecologies Float Lab. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6203044-buoyant-ecologies-float-lab
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: MIT Sean Collier Memorial. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): https://www.aia.org/showcases/6202561-mit-sean-collier-memorial
The American Institute of Architects (AIA). (2019, October 9). The American Institute of Architects (AIA)’s 2019 Innovation Awards: Overhaul the curriculum, not just a course. Retrieved from The American Institute of Architects (AIA): 2019
