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R&D Awards

 
 
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2011 R+D Awards

The fifth annual R+D Awards jury chose 12 winners that exemplify innovation in architectural systems technology.

 

Awards

the series of instructional drawings outlines the steps to create the bundles of cattail, phragmite, and turkeyfoot that create the final result: a digitally fabricated thatch pavilion.

Hair, Spikes, Cattail, and Turkeyfoot

Designer: Wei-Han Vivian Lee


stormglass closeup.

Stormglass

Designers: Ply Architecture


 
 
 
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Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse

Designers: Center for Architecture Science and Ecology


china world trade center: glass fins

Performative Envelope Lab

Designers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill


 
a completed home in yucca valley, calif., built using the blue sky frame, a light-gauge, pregalvanized steel moment-frame system.

The Blue Sky Frame

Designers: Blue Sky Frame Systems


the 110-story fluidic tower in seoul, south korea.

Tree Trunk Towers: Cantilevered Floor/Super Core Structure

Designers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill


 

Citations

the solar sandwich roofing system contains a solar thermal system in an otherwise ordinary roofing system.

Solar Sandwich

Manufacturer: Englert

the led handrail system at the per c waterfront park in hoboken, n.j.

LED Handrail System

Designers: James Carpenter Design Associates

the sanicubic classic is a grinder system that reduces solids in the wastewater system.

Sanicubic Classic

Manufacturer: Saniflo

 
 
 
accoya wood is softwood that is given the properties of tropical hardwood.

Accoya Wood

Manufacturer: Accsys Technologies

chamfered pointsix durastand flooring solves the problem of swelling in weathered flooring.

PointSix Durastand Flooring

Manufacturer: Ainsworth Engineered

taktl is an ultrahigh-performance concrete formula that uses local materials for a range of applications.

Taktl

Manufacturer: Taktl

 

Previous R+D Awards

2010 R+D Awards

  • Fourth Annual R+D Awards

    This year's jury selected 11 winners—ranging from sustainable housing to steam-bending and rubber sinks—based on a combination of performance, aesthetics, and progressive thinking.

     
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    Award: Digital Steam-Bending

    A University of Michigan research group has revisited the 19th century technique of bending wood through steam with 21st century tools.

     
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    Award: R-House

    Designed by two New York architecture firms, the compact R-House offers a prototype for low-energy housing that’s also affordable and adaptable.

     
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2009 R+D Awards

  • Light is also directed by the curved shape of the fixture's housing, one of the object's distinctive aesthetic features.

    LED Streetlight

    The Office for Visual Interaction designed a prototype LED streetlight for New York to cut down on energy use.

     
  • The design for the staircase is centered on folded stainless steel. Hung from a structural steel support on the top level of the townhouse, vertical folded pieces create a continuous screen that encloses the two above-grade flights of stairs. Tabs on the bent risers are fitted into slots on the vertical pieces, which created an easy setup for on-site construction and spot-welding.

    Dynamic Descent

    Dean/Wolf Architects designs a folded stainless steel staircase for a Manhattan townhouse.

     
  • A mock-up of the SFIS with bundled plastic bottles. Most plastic water bottles are discarded with the caps on; capped, empty bottles are airtight and can be placed within a concrete structure to create a void. Hydrostatic pressure from wet concrete will only nominally reduce the air volume inside the bottles.

    Sustainable Form-Inclusion System

    Skidmore, Owings & Merrill design a prototype system that uses plastic bottles, bags, and other compressed waste to lighten and fill spaces in concrete slabs.

     
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2008 R+D Awards

  • Denver Filter

    What began as an exercise in designing a new recycling kiosk for downtown Denver became a larger meditation on the solid waste collection systems of modern cities, resulting in the design of a large-scale system for moving waste.

     

  • Carbon Fiber Grid Reinforced Precast Concrete

    The problem of corrosion in precast concrete is often attributed to the steel rebar reinforcement; steel being a corrodible material, it is especially vulnerable during the curing and drying process, when it is locked into an environment that is very wet.

     

  • Slide Library, Columbia University

    One of Columbia University's newest facilities has a very specialized purpose: the storage and conservation of projection slides, a staple of art history and archaeology instruction. In this project, architects Marble Fairbanks created an enclosure for th

     
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2007 R+D Awards

  • 12 Blocks

    The Challenge: How can the standard concrete masonry unit be re-examined, renewed, and ultimately improved?

     

  • Soft House

    Kennedy & Violich Architecture took a radical first step in designing the Soft House, replacing many of the hard wall surfaces of a standard prefabricated house with movable curtains that contain embedded nanotechnology and thin-film photovoltaics.

     

  • Riddled Furniture

    The concept of porosity has been a favorite point of exploration in the buildings of Steven Holl Architects, so applying that concept at the scale of furniture seems like a natural progression for the firm.

     
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R+D Symposium

2010 R+D Virtual Event

This free online event shows you what’s new in architectural technology.

 
 
 
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