Virginia Society AIA Prize Announced

Robert Lingo of Virginia Tech  submitted the winning entry.
Robert Lingo of Virginia Tech submitted the winning entry.

The annual Virginia Society AIA Prize competition was held over the weekend of Feb. 1-4, 2013.  This year’s competition has a new partner and Corporate Sponsor, the Virginia Housing Development Authority, who collaborated with faculty from Virginia Tech’s Washington Alexandria Architecture Center to develop the competition program brief.  Students in Virginia’s architecture schools were given the program Friday at 5 p.m.  The students worked over the weekend to create a board presenting their design solution by 9 a.m. Monday morning.

The 2013 Prize program asked the students to propose a design for a mixed-use fire station combined with dwelling units for the Beauregard neighborhood in Alexandria.

From the program:

“The building should consider the well-being of the community, enhancing a sense of place by designing this mixed use building for dwelling and fire protection. Mixed-use/mixed-income developments are important in the revitalization of older communities, complementing existing communities, traditionally designed in proximity of housing to goods, services, transportation and jobs. Giving new life to older communities such as Beauregard will come about by introducing new dwellings and protections (such as a fire station) to these communities. In this design competition you are asked to consider the powerful qualities of both fire and dwelling as you devise a design that reaches beyond pragmatic and efficient means. Your design should emphasize the power of home and fire while creating a potential for happiness, comfort, and security within this new community.”

Faculty from the schools (Hampton University, Virginia Tech WAAC, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, and the University of Virginia) reviewed all the submitted boards and selected ten finalists from each school to send to the Society.  The jury, chaired by Mary Patton Cox, FAIA, met in April to select this year’s winner as well as Best of School boards from each of the remaining schools.

The 2013 Virginia Society AIA Prize Winner is Robert Lingo of Virginia Tech

From the jury:

“We liked the way this entry takes the program from the abstract to the real, all in one board.  We liked the use of the foundry, combining a positive use of fire with a firefighting facility.  We also liked the varying scales, both macro and micro.  This entrant clearly thought beyond the scope of the problem, incorporating a community outreach component, into their solution.  The board is also a nicely designed composition.  Anyone can understand the presentation techniques.”

Best of School WAAC – Liz M. Fibleuil

From the jury:

“We liked the bold expression of fire, and the bold strokes of the presentation.  The entry takes an intangible and gives it three-dimensional expression in the forms and floor plan.  The use of color in the board is very vivid, as is the use of text in the descriptions of the design concepts.  The concept was conveyed well and well executed; we understood what they were trying to say.”

Best of School Hampton University – Alvin L. Mendoza

From the jury:

“This was a project that truly integrates the sense of community into the complex.  Not a traditional fire station per se, but that is partly what makes it remarkable.  It’s an iconic structure which is tied into the community and integrates the programmatic elements.  We liked the lyrical illustration of licks of flame, which is a creative interpretation.”

Honorable Mention – Kevin Gerrity, Virginia Tech

From the jury:

“We understand that this is not really a practical solution, but we liked the strong conceptual design, especially the components that can be plugged in as needed… very adaptable! The design of the board is lovely, very striking. The imagery is quite alluring, it draws you to it. Even the text box lines up with the residential floor plans. The section and floor plans describe it very well. A strong idea.”

The Virginia Society AIA Prize is sponsored by the Virginia Housing Development Authority.

Call for Entries: Prize for Design Research & Scholarship

Compelling architectural research happens in universities and firms across Virginia every day. The VSAIA Prize for Design Research & Scholarship was created in 2008 to encourage a healthy dialogue between researchers in the universities and the firms.

The Prize will be announced in July and recognition will be given by the Virginia Society AIA at Architecture Exchange East, the annual conference and expo, held Nov. 6-8, 2013, in Richmond.

DEADLINES

Entries: 5 p.m., Friday, May 3

Submissions: 5 p.m. Thursday, May 30

Eligible papers or articles include those that have been submitted but are pending acceptance, or those that have been published in a journal or conference proceedings within the past two years. Research projects or innovative project case-studies completed within the past three years and summarized in a paper or article are also eligible.

The 2013 Prize for Design Research and Scholarship is sponsored by MTFA Architecture.

Download the entry form or see more information>>

2012 WINNER
The 2012 jury unanimously selected “New Directions in Design Research: The Role of School Architecture in the Prevention of Childhood Obesity” as the 2012 Prize for Research and Scholarship. This paper was submitted by Robert Moje, FAIA, of VMDO Architects in Charlottesville.

VHDA Sponsors Virginia Society AIA Prize

The Virginia Housing Development Authority, a self-supporting, non-profit created by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1972, helps Virginians attain quality, affordable housing. Their goals include increasing affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income households; under-served minority populations; people with disabilities; and the frail elderly. They also work to ensure an ongoing inventory of affordable housing.

Recognizing that architects can provide the solutions they seek, the VHDA is sponsoring the 2013 student prize. The Virginia Society AIA Prize presented by Virginia Housing Development Authority is held annually near the start of the year. Students will spend the weekend of Feb. 1–3 designing a response to a problem created by faculty from one of Virginia’s architecture schools in collaboration with the VHDA.

Each school’s faculty reviews the submissions and sends up to 10 finalists to Richmond for final judging, which is expected to take place in early March.

Fellows Accepting Submissions for $100K Latrobe Prize

The AIA College of Fellows is now accepting first-stage submissions for the Latrobe Prize. The prize is awarded to a research proposal that has the long-range potential to resolve one or more 21st century architectural and built environment challenges. The prize provides the recipient with $100,000 to conduct research and develop a solution that enhances the current practice of architecture.

Full details are available in the Call for Proposals.

Registration Open for 21st Annual Inform Awards

As the markets begin to thaw, now is the time to position your award-winning talents before the eyes of your clients, potential clients, colleagues, and public through the 2012 Inform Awards, which recognize outstanding work in landscape architecture, interior design, and object design. The program is open to anyone in the Inform magazine primary circulation area, including architects, interior designers, landscape architects, furniture designers, industrial designers, students, and faculty.

Entrants must have a business address in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or North Carolina, and submitted work must have been completed after January 1, 2007. And for members of the Virginia Society AIA, there is a special entry-fee discount.

Award winners in both the Honor and Merit categories will be featured in a special section of Inform magazine and announced to the public. The registration deadline is March 9, 2012, and you can enter online or via email, fax, or mail using the PDF registration form.

The Inform Awards fee structure for 2012 is $135 per project for members of the Virginia Society AIA, and $175 per project for entrants who are not members of the Virginia Society AIA. Note that the fees are due upon registration, non-refundable, and non-transferable.

As a clarification, the Object Design category covers furniture, appliances, fixtures, and building components and systems, as opposed to full-building design. For more details, click on one of the registration links above.

Virginia Society AIA Prize Announced

Students from Virginia’s architecture schools competed in January in the 2011 Virginia Society AIA Prize competition, sponsored by The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

Students were given one weekend to create a solution to a design problem: design a new Amtrak station in the town of Clifton Forge, Virginia. The current passenger train stop at this location is equipped with minimal facilities, consisting of a very small waiting room and bathroom, and is housed in a structure that is primarily a freight yard office building.

Program elements included a waiting room for approximately 25-30 people, a ticket counter with attached office, a small room for office and custodial storage, bathroom facilities, and onsite parking for 24 cars. There is a vacant one-story building on the site, which formerly housed a diner, but the competition assumed that it could be removed and/or replaced at the competitor’s discretion. Competitors could also alter or adjust the configuration of existing parking areas and driveways on the site.

The site is located along the main commercial street in downtown Clifton Forge, and competitors were encouraged to consider both pedestrian and vehicular connections to the street, such that the project could improve both the quality of passenger service as well as make a positive contribution to the town.

Each entry was required to be the work of one individual — no collaborative projects were allowed.

The jury was comprised of Timm Jamieson, FAIA (chair), Michel Ashe, FAIA, Joe Atkins, AIA, and Steven McCurdy of Norfolk Southern Railroad. They met March 30, 2011, to deliberate and select honorees.  Those honorees and the jury’s comments follow.

Congratulations to all those students who competed and a special thanks to our competition sponsor The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

2011 VSAIA Prize and Jury Comments

All the honorees had clear and complete communication of the elements and the plan.  Those honored had the strength of an idea, coupled with representation that lifted the idea up and made it clear.

Noteworthy original thought was characterized in a number of entries.

2011 VSAIA Prize Winner

Siim Tiisvelt, Virginia Tech Washington Alexandria Architecture Center
Said the jury:

Click to enlarge

This entry made an interesting pedestrian connection to the town, providing a view of the river and trains.  A simple, straightforward, and elegant solution.  One simple gesture provided a drop-off for people coming by car and a straightforward procession to the platform, with an extension of the street above for anyone to view trains and river beyond.  Civic minded seat steps reflected back to the main street.  This entry clearly understood the topography of the site well, as the whole sense of arrival seems more in scale than any other scheme.  This was the best implementation of the concept of giving people a place to watch trains.

 

Best in School Virginia Tech Blacksburg

Garrett Reynolds
Said the jury:

There was good recognition of the topography.  The site section at the bottom grabbed our attention.  The civic scale canopy was reflected in the mountains and to the town, almost as Saarinen did with Dulles Airport.  Tucking the parking under was nice solution to a tricky problem.  This is almost too much architecture for the town, but the resolution of the design was strong.  The double acting canopy is very nice, however, the sense of arrival is not very sophisticated.

Best in School Hampton University

Biyengo Lwandiko
Said the jury:

Nice neoclassical set of pieces.  In scale with the site; the entrance addresses the street and allows entry from the sidewalk into the building and progresses nicely as you get onto the train.  The town would love it.  Very nice presentation.  Complete…we fully understood all the parts. The jury wished the two building components had been better connected somehow.

Honorable Mention

Gui Talarico, Virginia Tech WAAC
Said the jury:

This is a wild and wonderful concept.  We laughed out loud at “Why the hell are we stopping a 750-ton, 800 foot long train for 180 pound people?” In all seriousness, we like that someone devoted thought to ecology and saving fuel.

Michael Smyles, Virginia Tech Blacksburg
Said the jury:

Very nice portal, with good imagery of the procession from platform to train.  A container that has an object — it’s a nice miniature version of larger train station a la Grand Central.  Special note: the jury members all mentally moved the newer building to be in harmony with the old building.

Recognition for Artistic Merit

Natalie Mutchler, Virginia Tech Blacksburg
Said the jury:

Very nice graphic representation.  We would have liked to see more addressing of the site plan. It is Hopper-esque, almost a frame-able poster.

Call for Entries: VSAIA Prize for Design Research and Scholarship

VSAIA board members tour Va. Tech's campus and the award-winning Lumenhaus
VSAIA board members tour Va. Tech's campus and the award-winning Lumenhaus.

Compelling architectural research is conducted in universities and in practitioners’ firms all over Virginia. Firms pursue research to further the interest of staff, develop innovative ideas, and as a means to maintain productivity for staff during down periods.  The VSAIA Prize for Design Research & Scholarship was created in 2008 as one means of encouraging a healthy dialogue between researchers in the universities and the firms. Last year’s prize was awarded to Eclipsis System: An Innovative Sun Control and Insulation Fenestration submitted by the team of Robert Dunay, FAIA, Joseph Wheeler, AIA, Robert Schubert, Associate Dean for Research, and Jonathan Grinham from Virginia Tech.

The VSAIA Prize for Design Research & Scholarship will be awarded to a licensed, practicing architect in Virginia OR a faculty member at a Virginia institution of higher learning for outstanding design research and/or scholarship in the field of architecture.

Eligible papers or articles include those that have been submitted but are pending acceptance, or those that have been published in a journal or conference proceedings within the past two years. Research projects or innovative project case-studies completed within the past three years and summarized in a paper or article are also eligible.

Entry forms and payment are due by 5 p.m., Friday, June 10. Submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 1. The winner will be announced in September. Download the registration form for more information or to register.