The boathouse is part of the City of Chicago’s plan to open up access to the Chicago River. It comprises two separate structures, a boat storage facility and field house that form a portal to the water’s edge. Inside the field house, an indoor rowing tank, workout room, and afterschool study space accommodate year-round use. Working within a modest budget, the roof form uses simple linear structural elements and bendable interior plywood panels to translate the motion of rowing into a dynamic surface. Conserving energy through passive systems and keeping 100% of rainwater out of the city’s storm sewer, the project works to improve the quality of the river, supporting its ecological and recreational revival.

2016 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture

The 2016 AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture jury includes: Rand Elliott, FAIA (Chair), Elliott + Associates Architects; Ruth Baleiko, AIA, The Miller Hull Partnership LLP; Barbara Bestor, AIA, Bestor Architecture; James Slade, AIA, Slade Architecture and Lisa Smeltzer, State of Louisiana Facility Planning & Control.

Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies; Washington, D.C.
STUDIOS Architecture

The architects created a space that is light and, thanks to a set of series of hanging staircases in a new four-story atrium, abundantly open for the free flow and spontaneous interactions that a more traditional grassy campus yields. An emphasis on light or transparent materials enhanced the brightness and conviviality that a campus center requires. It helped make the atrium the vital hub of the space, as well as to mitigate the lack of outdoor views from the two lower levels. A perforated metal wall treatment mounted four stories high on one side of the atrium is a contemporary curtain, alternating openness with opacity. In spaces that radiate out from the atrium, angular ceiling treatments and cutouts, horizontal piping in the wood paneling and some exposed utility lines create a visual sense of motion and lightness.

Milton Academy Pritzker Science Center; Milton, Massachusetts
William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.

Two goals guided design of the Milton Academy Pritzker Science Center; make science visible and make science exciting. Floor-to-ceiling glass lines the interiors on two levels, allowing students from all grades to see activities in classrooms and dedicated “inquiry labs” where students pursue individual projects. Translucent glass zone provides privacy in front of the seminar tables, while clear glass at the lab areas emphasizes the variety of science activities. Classrooms also face the main campus green, showcasing and emphasizing the importance of science on campus.

PivotApartment; New York City
Architecture Workshop PC

This single 400-square-foot studio apartment has multiple identities. The changes in personality are accomplished with the movement of a wall of meticulously designed custom cabinetry that can stand flat as part of a seamless main wall or pivot out from there to create a new wall that divides the studio. Expertly crafted, the pivoting wall contains drawers, cabinets and openings. A bed concealed in the rear wall can be pulled down into the space or left hiding, to make the space a dressing room or study. With the wall folded flat, out of the way, the studio opens up as one room amply day-lit from the vintage building's big windows. The client, who likes to entertain, can set up a large table for dinners, but when not entertaining a group, folds the table down to a smaller size for its spot next to the galley kitchen.

The Strand, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.); San Francisco
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

The transformation of an abandoned century-old movie house into a highly visible, alternative performance space for San Francisco’s preeminent nonprofit theater company is a major milestone in the regeneration of mid-Market Street. The redefined space incorporates intimate theaters, educational facilities, rehearsal space, and public lobby and cafe. The program is inserted within the building’s shell, overlaying modern architectural and theater elements on top of the raw backdrop of the original cinema. The design creates inspiring civic theater and dramatically opens the lobby to the sidewalk, energizing the building and neighborhood.

Windhover Contemplative Center; Stanford, CA
Aidlin Darling Design

The Windhover Contemplative Center is a spiritual retreat on the Stanford campus to promote and inspire personal renewal. Using Nathan Oliveira's Windhover paintings as a vehicle, the chapel-like center provides a refuge from daily life and a space for quiet reflection. The extended progression to the sanctuary’s entry allows visitors to shed the outside world before entering. Inside, the space opens to the oak glade beyond while louvered skylights wash the paintings with natural light, unifying art, architecture and landscape. Rammed earth walls, wood surfaces, and water heighten the visitor's sensory experience acoustically, tactilely, olfactory, and visually.

2016 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design

The jury for the 2016 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design includes: Robert Herman, FAIA (Chair), EDA Architects; Christine Dunn, AIA, Sasaki; Mayor Nelda Martinez, City of Corpus Christi; Joel Tomei, FAIA, Joel Tomei, Architect, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C and Christine Vina, AIA, VIA Metropolitan Transit.

Fayetteville 2030: Food City Scenario
University of Arkansas Community Design Center

More than 28 percent of Arkansas children live in food-insecure situations, compared to 14.5 percent nationally. The Food City plan, which is being funded by the Clinton Global Initiative, aims to build in to Fayetteville a sustainable approach to combating hunger while permeating new development with productive green spaces. The project team envisioned a way to reduce hunger in the city by integrating a network of mid-sized agricultural sites into the urban grid as it expands. The intent is to “re-localize” food production at a scale that is larger than isolated home garden plots and smaller than the nation's current industrial scale. Future development would include not only the traditional sidewalks, parks and other public amenities, but an infrastructure that supports agriculture with spaces for growing food, distributing it, and turning waste into compost.

Smithsonian Institution South Campus Master Plan; Washington, D.C.
Architect: BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group; GHT Limited; Robert Silman Associates; Stantec; EHT Traceries; GHD; Atelier Ten; VJ Associates; Wiles Mensch Corporation; Kleinfelder; Surface Design, Inc.; FDS Design Studio

A comprehensive plan for enhancing the visitors' ability to flow through and among the Smithsonian Institution's South Campus museums, this project lays out a 20 year program of building updates and enhancements to 15 acres on the rim of the National Mall. The visual centerpiece of the project is a clever revamp of the garden adjacent to the Smithsonian's beloved castle, designed by James Renwick, Jr., in which the garden, which is the rooftop of below-ground museum space, comes to look like a carpet with its corners flipped up. The project also promises more openness within the castle, built in 1849 as the sole vessel of what is now the world's largest complex of museums. In particular, the castle's lavish Great Hall will be restored to its full grandeur with the removal of modern partition walls that reduce floor area by 40 percent.

About The American Institute of Architects
Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit www.aia.org .