The AIA named the 2013 Honor Awards, selecting 28 projects from more than 700 submissions. Eight of the winning awards were granted to regional and urban design projects. The 2013 Honors Awards for Regional and Urban Design are as follows:
Burnham Place at Union Station Master Plan, by Shalom Baranes Associates and HOK (Washington, D.C.): A 3 million-square-foot addition to Washington’s historic Union Station connects Daniel Burnham’s landmark structure with its surrounding neighborhood via bike lanes and public amenities beneath a rippling green roof.
Coal Harbour Convention District, LMN Architects and MCM/DA (Vancouver, Canada): Capitalizing on local marine ecosystems, the Coal Harbor Convention District creates a layered atmosphere capable of hosting civic events in public gathering spaces with built and natural site improvements beside the convention center.
The Great Lakes Century – A 100-year Vision, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Great Lakes Region, United States): SOM's framework for establishing a century-long plan for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin aggregates research from more than 35 organizations and looks ahead for opportunities to preserve the environment.
Nanhu New Country Village Master Plan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Nanhu District, Jiaxing, China): In looking ahead at the Nanhu Village's transition from rural to urban, SOM aims to maintain a focus on farming and wetlands improvement while developing into a modern, sustainable community.
National September 11 Memorial, Handel Architects (New York): A pair of square reflecting pools commemorates the locations of the former Twin Towers, bringing public space into Lower Manhattan as a thoughtful counterpoint to its hectic urban surroundings.
Parkmerced Vision Plan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (San Francisco): Ensuring stability for existing residents of Parkmerced is just one component of a neighborhood revitalization plan that will encourage pedestrian activity and public transportation while reducing energy and water consumption within the district.
Rock Street Pocket Housing, University of Arkansas Community Design Center (Little Rock, Ark.): The Rock Street Pocket Housing project seeks to redevelop the Pettaway neighborhood of Little Rock by inserting small-scale, affordable housing clustered around shared infrastructure.
Superkilen, BIG (Copenhagen, Denmark): At the edge of Nørrebro, Copenhagen, a former rail yard has been reclaimed in an effort to bring together the surrounding communities. BIG’s design for the 323,000-square-foot site, completed on an extremely limited budget, delineates distinct zones through color coding, splashing every surface with its own hue, from murals on buildings, down to the gravel surrounding tree roots.
The jury for the 2013 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design includes: Mark Shapiro, AIA, Jury Chair, Mithun; Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, Georgia Institute of Technology; William A. Gilchrist, FAIA, Place Based Planning; Toni L. Griffin, AIA, the City College of New York and Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.
Please visit ARCHITECT's Project Gallery to view all of the 2013 AIA Honor Award winners in Regional & Urban Design.
