In their editorial accompanying last year’s Best of Design magazine, AN editor in chief Bill Menking and then-executive editor Matt Shaw observed a tendency toward muted color and understated form among the winners. They asked if this was evidence of a broader trend or if 2019 was “just a quiet year.”
As we close out 2020, we might flip the interrogative emphasis around. Do this year’s Best of Design honorees reflect the tumultuous events of the previous 12 months? The short answer is yes: Both the Project of the Year and the first runner-up—the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia and the 1199SEIU member spaces in New York, respectively—address America’s fraught history of race, albeit in different ways. The former circumscribes a space for mournful contemplation by making an earthly incision, while the latter emanates the moral optimism of another age.
And yet the answer could just as easily be no. The majority of the winning projects were completed in mid-to-late 2019 or early this year, just skirting the construction lockdowns of April and May and the street protests of June and July. These forces—“exogenous,” perhaps, to the AEC sectors but not to society at large—were most likely to affect the operations of the buildings and interiors compiled in the following pages, rather than their final form.
So, if we are unable to draw any determinative aesthetic trends, what can we say about these projects? What attributes connect these 47 discrete works, representing a total of 50 categories and culled from more than 800 submissions? To begin with, the quality of the submissions has rarely been stronger or, as mentioned above, more timely. A few were especially creative in the face of current constraints, particularly Outpost Office’s Drawing Fields, the winner in the Temporary Installation category; the project employs roving robots to reimagine a performance venue for the COVID-19 era.
Meanwhile, Koning Eizenberg’s MuseumLab in Pittsburgh and Adjaye Associates’ Webster retail store in Los Angeles underscores the importance of mood to interior spaces. Marlon Blackwell Architects’ Thaden School Bike Barn, which took the top prize in the Institutional–Kindergartens, Primary & High Schools category, is the cheeriest—and, thanks to its wood slat enclosure, breeziest—project. And is there a more ideal locale for self-isolating than PRODUCTORA’s Bautista House, whose residents are shielded by a Yucatán nature reserve?
In closing, we’d like to thank our talented cast of jurors, who gave our submissions the discerning scrutiny they all deserve. We’d also like to point the reader to the 2020 Best of Product winners. While many are particularly well suited to the new normal, they certainly aren’t constrained by it. We hope that all the work contained in this issue inspires and provokes in equal measure.
We will be updating this list over the next few days with winner and honorable mention profiles (part 1 here, part 2 here). To see the complete feature, don’t miss our 2020 Best of Design Awards Annual issue, out now!
Project of the Year
Winner
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia
Höweler + Yoon Architecture in collaboration with Mabel O. Wilson, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Frank Dukes, and Eto Otitigbe
Charlottesville, Virginia
Finalists
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Adjaye Associates
New York City
Winter Visual Arts Building
Steven Holl Architects
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Public & Social Impact
Winner
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia
Höweler + Yoon Architecture in collaboration with Mabel O. Wilson, Gregg Bleam Landscape Architect, Frank Dukes, and Eto Otitigbe
Charlottesville, Virginia
Honorable Mention
Conference House Park Pavilion
Sage and Coombe Architects
FDNY Rescue Company 2
Studio Gang
Javits Center Medical Station & Temporary Hospital
Di Domenico + Partners
MLK1101 Supportive Housing
Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects
Editors’ Picks
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Concourse D Annex
HOK
High Line Section 3, Phase 2
Sciame Construction
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
James Corner Field Operations
DineOut NYC
Rockwell Group
GirlsInc. Of Memphis, Urban Centers-South Park & LFT
archimania
Urban Design
Winner
The Peninsula
WXY Architecture
Body Lawson Associates
Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect
The Bronx
Honorable Mentions
Eastern market Neighborhood Framework and Stormwater Management Network Plan
Utile
Moscone Center Expansion
Landscape architect: CMG Landscape Architecture
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Mark Cavagnero Associates
Editors’ Picks
Essex market and The Market Line
SHoP Architects
Hugh A. Boyd Architects
Formactiv
Mulberry Commons
Sage and Coombe Architects
Landscape
Winner
Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green
Ten x Ten
MSR Design
R3A
Pittsburgh
Honorable Mention
Chicago Botanic Garden: Regenstein Learning Campus
Mikyoung Kim Design
Jacobs/Ryan Associates
Booth Hansen
Water Conservation Garden at Red Butte Garden
Studio Outside
Editors’ Picks
Houston Botanic Garden
West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture
Clark Condon Associates
Overland Partners
Dykema Architects
The Aga Khan Garden, Alberta
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
DIALOG
Infrastructure
Winner
The New St. Pete Pier
Rogers Partners
ASD/SKY
Ken Smith Workshop
Booth Design Group
St. Petersburg, Florida
Honorable Mention
Brightline
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Zyscovich Architects
PG&E Larkin Street Substation Expansion
TEF Design
Editors’ Picks
Grand Avenue Park Bridge
LMN Architects
Adaptive Reuse
Winner
MuseumLab
Koning Eizenberg Architects
Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel Architects
Pittsburgh
Honorable Mention
Preserve at 620
Nelsen Partners
Rejuvenation of a Historic Powerhouse, San Francisco
Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
Editors’ Picks
122 Community Arts Center
Deborah Berke Partners
The Momentary
Wheeler Kearns Architects
Facades
Winner
Victorian Music Box
CCY Architects
Aspen, Colorado
Honorable Mention
215-225 West 28th Street
DXA studio
Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School Expansion
Wheeler Kearns Architects
Editors’ Picks
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall, University of Oregon
OFFICE 52 Architecture
Rowell Brokaw Architects
Enlace New Offices
Canopy/Architecture + Design
Young Architects
Winner
Atelier Cho Thompson
San Francisco and New Haven, Connecticut
Green Building
Winner
West-Seattle Net Zero
SHED Architecture + Design
Seattle
Honorable Mention
DC Water Headquarters
SmithGroup
King Open/Cambridge Street Upper School and Community Complex
William Rawn Associates with Arrowstreet Architecture & Design
Lighting designer: HLB Lighting Design
Editors’ Picks
University of Victoria District Energy Plant
DIALOG
Wheaton College Pine Hall
SGA
Interior-Green
Winner
DPR Sacramento Headquarters
SmithGroup
Sacramento, Californi
Honorable Mention
The International WELL Building Institute
COOKFOX Architects
University of Delaware The Tower at STAR Campus
Bernardon
EcoWalls
Parker Interior Plantscape
Cultural
Winner
The Reach at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Steven Holl Architects
BNIM
Hollander Design Landscape Architects
Washington, D.C.
Honorable Mention
Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture
Olson Kundig
Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center
nARCHITECTS
Editors’ Picks
New Campus for the Rothko Chapel
Architecture Research Office
Nelson Byrd Woltz
Oklahoma Contemporary Arts center
Rand Elliott Architects
Exhibition Design
Winner
Machine Hallucination
Refik Anadol Studio
New York City
Honorable Mention
Baleinopolis
Studio Gang
The Polaroid Project: At the Intersection of Art and Technology
IKD
Editors’ Picks
Architecture Arboretum
Besler & Sons
Haus Scallop, Haus Sawtooth
MALL
Temporary Installation
Winner
Drawing Fields
Outpost Office
Lake Forest, Illinois
Honorable Mention
Chapel for Luis Barragán
Robert Hutchison Architecture
Society’s Cage
SmithGroup
Single-Unit Residential
Winner
Bautista House
PRODUCTORA
Quintana Roo, Mexico
Honorable Mention
Casa Cosmos
S-AR
Highland Park Residence
Alterstudio Architecture
Editors’ Picks
3609-13 S. Saratoga
OJT (Office of Jonathan Tate)
Three Chimney House
TW Ryan Architecture
Multi-Unit Residential
Winner
The Louisa Flowers Affordable Housing
LEVER Architects
LRS Architects
Portland, Oregon
Honorable Mention
MIRA
Studio Gang
Barcelon Jang Architecture
Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Monterrey 55
Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados
Editors’ Picks
Celestina Garden and Fetters Apartments
MBH Architects
Jon Worden Architects
MidPenHousing
RISD North Hall
NADAAA
Mixed-Use Residential
Winner
Adohi Hall
Leers Weinzapfel Associates
MODUS Studio
Mackey Mitchell Studio
OLIN
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Honorable Mention
The Essex at Essex Crossing
Handel Architects
Westgate 1515
Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects
Editors Picks’
Pier 4
SHoP Architects
CBT Architects
Restoration and Preservation
Winner
Miles C. Bates House
Stayner Architects
Palm Desert, California
Honorable Mention
Mount Auburn Cemetery-Bigelow Chapel Renovation and New Addition
William Rawn Associates, Architects
SMUD HQ Rehabilitation
Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture
Editors Picks’
Fire Island House
Andrew Franz Architects
Upper West Side Townhouse
Architecture in Formation
Renovation
Winner
Rooftop Prim
PRODUCTORA
Colonia Juárez, Mexico City
Honorable Mention
One Embarcadero Center Lobby
Gensler
The Century Project at the Space Needle
Olson Kundig
Editors’ Picks
Seattle Asian Art Museum
LMN Architects
Stanford School of medicine 1651 Page Mill Road Renewal
HOK
Interior Residential
Winner
Hill Country Wine Cave
Clayton Korte
Hill Country, Texas
Honorable Mention
16 Desbrosses Street
David Bers Architecture
Unit 2808
Vladimir Radutny Architects
Editors’ Picks
Meridian Residence
ROBERT KERR Architectural Design
Tribeca Duplex
Ted Porter Architecture
Interior Retail
Winner
Capital One Café
Leo A Daly
Washington, D.C.
Honorable Mention
BLDWN LA
Montalba Architects
Eyeconic
Perkins&Will
Retail and Mixed-Use Commercial
Winner
The Webster
Adjaye Associates
Neumann/Smith Architecture
Los Angeles
Honorable Mention
Birkenstock Abbot Kinney
TPG Architecture
Blu Dot Showroom
Waechter Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Kurlmanzutto New York
David Bers Architecture
Workplace Commercial
Winner
Sideyard
Skylab
Portland, Oregon
Honorable Mention
Catalyst Building
MGA | Michael Green Architecture
Katerra
Headspace SM Campus
Montalba Architects
Editors’ Picks
Pipefitters Local 537
SGA
Okland Construction Headquarters
WRNS Studio
Interior Workplace
Winner
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Adjaye Associates
New York City
Honorable Mention
225 Polk
Hastings
Steelcase WorkLife DC
BLDGS
Editors’ Picks
Autodesk Boston Workspace Expansion
Utile
335 Madison Avenue
SHoP Architects
Institutional Interior
Winner
Schiff House Daycare Center at The City College of New York
Michielli + Wyetzner Architects
New York City
Honorable Mention
Bay Area Children Center
March Studio
King Open/Cambridge Street Upper Schools and Community Complex
William Rawn Associates with Arrowstreet Architecture & Design
Lighting designer: HLB Lighting Design
Editors’ Picks
Grace Church School Athletic Center
MBB Architects
Institutional Library
Winner
Billie Jean King Main Library
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Long Beach, California
Honorable Mention
Hunters Point Library
Steven Holl Architects
River Center Branch Library
Schwartz/Silver Architects
WHLC Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Arizona State University Hayden Library Reinvention
Ayers Saint Gross
Columbus Metropolitan Library Martin Luther King Branch
Moody Nolan
HKI Associates
Institutional Higher Education
Winner
Winter Visual Arts Building
Steven Holl Architects
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Honorable Mention
Beloit College Powerhouse
Studio Gang
Angus-Young Associates
Kansas City Art Institute Paul & Linda DeBruce Hall
Hufft
Editors’ Picks
Isttaniokaksini/Science Commons at University of Lethbridge
KPMB Architects
Stantec Architecture
The Commons at Tulane university
WEISS/MANFREDI
Waggonner & Ball
Institutional Religious
Winner
14th Shamarpa Reliquary Building
Poon Design
Natural Bridge, Virginia
Honorable Mention
Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Elkus Manfredi Architects
Mount Auburn Cemetery Bigelow Chapel Renovation and new Addition
William Rawn Associates, Architects
Institutional K-12
Winner
Thaden School Bike Barn
Marlon Blackwell Architects
Bentonville, Arkansas
Honorable Mention
Little Tiger Chinese Immersion School
Murray Legge Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Deerfield Academy Athletics Complex
Sasaki
Lisle Elementary School
Perkins&Will
The Barn at Belmont Day School
Utile
Commercial Sports
Winner
Bromont Summit Chalet
Lemay
Bromont, Quebec, Canada
Honorable Mention
Chase Center
Pure + FreeForm
Commercial Hospitality
Winner
The Society Hotel Bingen
Waechter Architecture
Bingen, Washington
Honorable Mention
CO-OP Ramen
Marlon Blackwell Architects
Comedor Restaurant
Olson Kundig
McKinney York Architects
Editors’ Picks
Bay Point Landing
OFFICEUNTITLED
Woods Architects
JHL Design
Verve Roastery Del Sur
Design, Bitches
Interior Hospitality
Winner
Asset
Bates Masi + Architects
New York City
Honorable Mention
1700 Broadway Club
Fogarty Finger Architecture
W Montreal Common Spaces
Sid Lee Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Politan Row Houston
Bell Butler Design and Architecture
ASD|SKY
Tilda California Natural Wine
Stayner Architects
Healthcare
Winner
Tribeca Pediatrics Bushwick
OPerA Studio Architecture
Brooklyn, New York
Honorable Mention
Center for Health & Wellbeing
Duda Paine Architects
Curative Project Kiosk
One Hat One Hand
Editors’ Picks
OrthoSouth
Archimania
University of Virginia, University Hospital Expansion
Perkins&Will
Interior Healthcare
Winner
Norwegian American Hospital, First-Floor Transformation
JGMA
Chicago
Honorable Mention
Beverly Clinic
Merge Architects
Cedars-Sinai Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion Outpatient Surgery
CO Architects
Editors’ Picks
Modern Animal
Design, Bitches
Yale Child Study Center
Svigals + Partners
Architectural Lighting – Outdoor
Winner
Constellations
FUTUREFORMS
Pensacola, Florida
Honorable Mention
Belvedere Castle Renovation, Central Park
Central Park Conservancy
Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
PG&E Larkin Street Substation Expansion
TEF Design
Horton lees Brogden Lighting Design
Architectural Lighting – Indoor
Winner
Catoptric Surface
Open Source Architecture
St. Louis
Honorable Mention
Goldring/Woldenberg Complex Expansion, Tulane University School of Business
Pelli Clarke Pelli
Manning
Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design
Hunters Point Library
Steven Holl Architects
L’Observatoire International
Editors’ Picks
King Open/Cambridge Street Upper Schools and Community Complex
William Rawn Associates with Arrowstreet Architecture & Design
Lighting designer: HLB Lighting Design
Digital Fabrication
Winner
Stereoform Slab
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Chicago
Honorable Mention
Hobbs State Park Monument Trail Campsite and Trailhead Structures
Hufft
London Timber Pavilion
Schiller Projects and Novak Hiles Architects
Editors’ Picks
Rocke Mortgage Field House in Cleveland
Gensler
Eventscape
Research
Winner
New River Train Observation Tower
Virginia Tech
Radford, Virginia
Honorable Mention
The DW (The Dwelling on Wheels)
Modern Shed
Fetch House
CallisonRTKL
Editors’ Picks
GET WELL! Educational Design Ideas for the Post-Pandemic Era
Lubrano Ciavarra Architects
Immersive Space Series
Office of Things
Student Work – Group
Winner
Volland House No. 1
Design+Make Studio, a partnership between El Dorado and Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning & Design
Volland, Kansas
Honorable Mention
The Bend
Kent State University
Kaw Pavillion and Trail Markers
University of Kansas Architecture
Student Work – Individual
Winner
Clearlake Wellness Retreat
Samuel Bager, Savannah College of Art and Design
Clearlake, California
Honorable Mention
The Asheville Museum of Algorithmic Art
Amanda Ridings, Savannah College of Art and Design
Recovery
Sam Bager, Savannah College of Art and Design
Unbuilt Educational
Winner
John Deutsch University Centre, Queen’s University
HDR + MJMA
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Honorable Mention
The Lawrenceville School Tsai Dining and Athletics Center
Sasaki
University of Pennsylvania Meeting and Guest House
Deborah Berke Partners
Editors’ Picks
University of Hawaii Value-Added Agricultural Product Development Center
University of Arkansas Community Design Center with urban Works Architecture
Wonderland ES Kindergarten Classroom Building
John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
Unbuilt Green Building
Winner
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Hoover Street Power Yard
HDR
Los Angeles
Honorable Mention
Orange County Sanitation District Headquarters Complex
HDR
Suburban Transformations: The Community Solar Farm market
John Amatruda
Unbuilt Residential
Winner
Urban Awning
Gensler
Los Angeles
Honorable Mention
East Vancouver Integrated Health and Social Housing
HDR
House Five
Studio Ames
Editors’ Picks
Hawaii Residence
Stayner Architects
Plum Creek Valley Farmhouse
Clark Thenhaus/Endemic Architecture
Unbuilt Interior
Winner
Next Workspace
West of West
Honorable Mention
Illume: looking to the Future of Restaurant Design
Aria Group Architects
Innovation Center
Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Unbuilt Cultural
Winner
Lauritzen Gardens Horticulture Complex
HDR
Omaha, Nebraska
Honorable Mention
San Diego State University | Main Stage, Second Stage, and Amenities Pavillion
HGA
Silo City
Studio V Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Helsinki Hamam
Büro Koray Duman Architects
Persak & Wumfeld Marine
Unbuilt Commercial
Winner
Houston Endowment Headquarters
Kevin Daly Architects with PRODUCTORA
Houston
Honorable Mention
New England Mixed-Use Development
Trahan Architects
Terminal Warehouse
COOKFOX Architects
Editors’ Picks
2105 Keith Drive
DIALOG
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Business Innovation Hub
HDR
Unbuilt Public
Winner
Mental Health Cloister
Studio Ames
New Haven, Connecticut
Honorable Mention
Frisco Public Library
Gensler
Make the Road New York Community Center
TEN Arquitectos with Andrea Steele Architecture
Editors’ Picks
Nunavik’ Multifunctional WArehouse for Housing
Blouin Orzes Architectes
Mystic River Boathouse
Anmahian Winton Architects
Unbuilt Landscape
Winner
Railyard Park
Ross Barney Architects
AFHJ Architects
Rogers, Arkansas
Honorable Mention
Downtown Cary Park
OJB Landscape Architecture
Machado Silvetti
Greenwood Community Park
Sasaki
Editors’ Picks
Red Fence Pastoral, Tri-Point Industrial Park and Food Processing Center
Cliff Garten Studio
TMC 3 Innovation park
Mikyoung Kim Design
Elkus Manfredi Architects
Unbuilt Master Plan
Winner
La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum Master Plan
WEISS/MANFREDI
Los Angeles
Honorable Mention
L.A. River
Ballman Khapalova
Buffalo Bayou Master Plan East
Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Editors’ Picks
Estuary Commons: Resilient by Design
CMG Landscape Architecture
All Bay Collective
AECOM
The Phoenix Co-op
Elizabeth Golden
Unbuilt Urban Design
Winner
The Great Bridge: Path to Equilibrium
DXA Studio
New York City
Honorable Mention
Double Park: Reimagining NY’s Flatiron & NoMad District as a Network of Open Streets and Parks During the COVID Period
OSD Outside and Project for Public Spaces
The Washington Alley Project
EL Studio and UrbanSEED
Editors’ Picks
Greater Corktown Neighborhood Framework Plan
Perkins&Will
Lake Street Corridor
Habitat Workshop