The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Innovation Awards honor new practices and technologies that will further enable project delivery and enhance data-centric methodologies in the management of buildings for their entire lifecycle, from design, to construction and through operations. The AIA’s Technology in Architectural Practice (TAP) Knowledge Community has selected the recipients for the 2017 Innovation Awards.
Categories for the Innovation Awards include:
- Stellar Design
- Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence
- Project Lifecycle Performance (none selected this year)
- Practice-based or Academic Research, Curriculum or Applied Technology Development
- Exemplary use in a Small Firm (none selected this year)
Below are this year's winners. Click on the project name for more information and images.
Stellar Design
Bahá’í Temple of South America; Santiago, Chile
Hariri Pontarini Architects
Photo courtesy of Hariri Pontarini Architects.
Set within the Andean foothills, just beyond the metropolis of Santiago, Chile, the Bahá’í Temple of South America is a domed, luminous structure that echoes the rolling topography of the mountains. Its nine monumental glass veils frame an open and accessible worship space where up to 600 visitors can be accommodated. Looking up to the central oculus at the apex of the dome, visitors will experience a mesmerizing transfer of light from the exterior of cast glass to an interior of translucent Portuguese marble.
The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Chicago
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in collaboration with Theater Consultant CharcoalBlue, Construction completed by Bulley & Andrews
Rendering courtesy of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.
The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater introduces Chicago to a global trend in theater architecture that focuses on flexible, adaptive, and sustainable design. The year-round, flexible venue can be configured in a variety of shapes and sizes with audience capacities ranging from 150 to 850, defining the audience-artist relationship to best serve each production. The adaptive reuse of the project was an important aspect of the design. The new structure is artfully tucked beneath the existing signature tent structure and above an existing parking garage. Every discipline on the team had to be creative in threading the needle of space, structure, and mechanical systems.
Project Delivery & Construction Administration Excellence
Garden Village; Berkeley, California
Nautilus Group & Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects
Photo courtesy of Natoma Architects.
Garden Village is a 77-unit student-orientated apartment building located in Berkeley, California completed in August of 2016. Designed to echo the massing and rhythm of the community, the innovative design departs from the standard single-volume building. Instead, 18 distinct building volumes are spread out in a garden and linked by exterior walkways in a design that seamlessly integrates into the surrounding fabric of the community. The project was constructed using modular building technology. The entirety of the units were produced in an off-site factory that allowed for numerous efficiencies like waste reduction, quality control, and shorter schedules. This development was accomplished using only two large size modules: Type A, a living/dining/kitchen module, and Type B, two bedrooms/bathroom module, joined in two combinations to create only two unit types, four bedroom and two bedroom units.
Practice-based or Academic Research, Curriculum or Applied Technology Development
Reality Capture Workshop; Detroit
University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture
Photo courtesy of Wladek Fuchs, University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture.
Reality Capture Workshop is a long-term collaborative project to create a complete digital documentation of a historical city and a methodology for the information dissemination. The project is located in the city of Volterra, Italy. The main purpose of this workshop is to provide an International educational and research experience in which students and professionals learn to use innovative reality capture technologies and collaboratively produce three dimensional computer models of the ancient city of Volterra, its archaeological remains and some of its treasured artwork. The workshop provides the participants with hands-on experience in using laser scanning, drones and cameras to capture the city and some of its treasured artworks into digital models.
The jury for the AIA Innovation Awards include: Matt Krissel, AIA (Chair), Kieran Timberlake; Tyler Goss, Turner Construction; Paola Moya, Assoc. AIA, Marshall Moya Design; Jeffrey Pastva, AIA, Davis Architects and Brian Skripac, Assoc. AIA, CannonDesign.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Business Management
22. Commercial Properties Repositioned for University USE Tocci Building Companies is finding success in repositioning commercial properties for university use, and it expects the trend to continue. The firm's Capital Cove project in Providence, R.I., for instance, was originally designed by Elkus Manfredi (with design continued by HDS Architects) to be a mixed-use complex with private, market-...
| Aug 11, 2010
Nurturing the Community
The best seat in the house at the new Seahawks Stadium in Seattle isn't on the 50-yard line. It's in the southeast corner, at the very top of the upper bowl. "From there you have a corner-to-corner view of the field and an inspiring grasp of the surrounding city," says Kelly Kerns, project leader with architect/engineer Ellerbe Becket, Kansas City, Mo.
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Historic Masonry — Restoration and Renovation
Historic restoration and preservation efforts are accelerating throughout the U.S., thanks in part to available tax credits, awards programs, and green building trends. While these projects entail many different building components and systems, façade restoration—as the public face of these older structures—is a key focus. Earn 1.0 AIA learning unit by taking this free course from Building Design+Construction.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM adoption tops 80% among the nation's largest AEC firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 survey
The nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction's premier Top 50 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey. Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, half have more than 30 seats, and near...
| Aug 11, 2010
World's tallest all-wood residential structure opens in London
At nine stories, the Stadthaus apartment complex in East London is the world’s tallest residential structure constructed entirely in timber and one of the tallest all-wood buildings on the planet. The tower’s structural system consists of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels pieced together to form load-bearing walls and floors. Even the elevator and stair shafts are constructed of prefabricated CLT.
| Aug 11, 2010
Integrated Project Delivery builds a brave, new BIM world
Three-dimensional information, such as that provided by building information modeling, allows all members of the Building Team to visualize the many components of a project and how they work together. BIM and other 3D tools convey the idea and intent of the designer to the entire Building Team and lay the groundwork for integrated project delivery.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Healthcare
11. Operating Room-Integrated MRI will Help Neurosurgeons Get it Right the First Time A major limitation of traditional brain cancer surgery is the lack of scanning capability in the operating room. Neurosurgeons do their best to visually identify and remove the cancerous tissue, but only an MRI scan will confirm if the operation was a complete success or not.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Collaboration
9. HOK Takes Videoconferencing to A New Level with its Advanced Collaboration Rooms To help foster collaboration among its 2,212 employees while cutting travel time, expenses, and carbon emissions traveling between its 24 office locations, HOK is fitting out its major offices with prototype videoconferencing rooms that are like no other in the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
2009 Judging Panel
A Matthew H. Johnson, PE Associate Principal Simpson Gumpertz & HegerWaltham, Mass. B K. Nam Shiu, SE, PEVP Walker Restoration Consultants Elgin, Ill. C David P. Callan, PE, CEM, LEED APSVPEnvironmental Systems DesignChicago D Ken Osmun, PA, DBIA, LEED AP Group President, ConstructionWight & Company Darien, Ill.
| Aug 11, 2010
Inspiring Offices: Office Design That Drives Creativity
Office design has always been linked to productivity—how many workers can be reasonably squeezed into a given space—but why isn’t it more frequently linked to creativity? “In general, I don’t think enough people link the design of space to business outcome,” says Janice Linster, partner with the Minneapolis design firm Studio Hive.