The American Institute of Architects named 15 recipients for the 2013 AIA Young Architects Award, an honor served for architects licensed 10 years or fewer.

The winners include Virginia Elaine Marquardt, AIA, an architect at DLR Group in Santa Monica, Calif.; Andrew Caruso, AIA, head of intern development and academic outreach for Gensler in Washington, D.C.; and Derwin Broughton, AIA, an architect for Garland, Texasbased Ron Hobbs Architects, local Board of Adjustments member, and member of the AIAs Young Architects Forum.

Former Young Architects Forum communications adviser Deepika Padam, AIA, of San Franciscos Blend Architecture, was also named a Young Architect Award honoreeas was 2012 Young Architects Forum chair Jennifer Workman, AIA, of Good Fulton & Farrell Architects in Dallas.

Two of the honorees head their own studios in Minneapolis: John Dwyer, AIA, of John Dwyer Architect, and Alissa D. Luepke Pier, AIA, founder of A.D.L. Pier design and a commissioner on the Minneapolis Planning Commission. Another honoree, Susannah Drake, AIA, is the founding principal of New Yorks dlandstudio. Eric R. Hoffman, AIA, is a professor of practice at Washington University in St. Louis.

Other 2013 award-winners are Matthew Dumich, AIA, project manager at Chicagos Valerio Dewalt Train Associates; disaster-response specialist Rachel Minnery, AIA, of Seattles Environmental Works; and Katherine Darnstadt, AIA, of Latent Design in Chicago.

Three of the winners of this years Young Architects Award winners hail from Chicagos Skimore, Owings & Merrill office, where they serve as associate directors: Thomas Hussey, AIA; Brett Charles Taylor, AIA; and Lucas Tryggestad, AIA.

The architects will be recognized by the AIA at a celebration in Washington, D.C., on March 20 and at the AIA National Convention in Denver on June 22.

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2013 AIA Young Architects Awards

University administrators are under fire from a group of Harlem-based black architects that claims that Columbia unfairly shut its members out of a job on the Manhattanville campus because of their race, despite their high qualifications.

After receiving the go-ahead to construct the new campus in 2009, administrators signed the Community Benefits Agreement with neighborhood residents. The agreementin addition to promising $76 million for economic development and community projectsmandated that 35 percent of all non-construction contracts go to minority-owned firms.

Administrators maintain that they are working toward that goal, but the architects group, Arch527, claims that minorities have not been given sufficient opportunities to participate in the expansion.

Its a not-so-subtle, insulting slap in face, Zevilla Jackson Preston said. Preston, a member of Arch527, is a licensed architect with almost 20 years of experience. The project administrators had a lot of nerve to tell us that they were flying architects down from Europe to work on the project when there were equally qualified Harlem architects right down the street.

Although Arch527 architects did not receive contracts for larger projects on the Manhattanville campus, Kevin Barnes, another Arch527 member, said he was offered a variety of smaller projects, all of which were on sites smaller than 200 square feet.

Despite feeling snubbed, Barnes said he then submitted another proposal to renovate a Manhattanville storefront, but never heard back from administrators.

According to Preston, the pattern of offering these smaller projects began when Arch527 started collectively lobbying for Manhattanville contracts in 2011. After University administrators told a group of her colleagues that they would not participate in the expansions more lucrative projects, Preston said they were offered a number of smaller projects between 500 and 550 square feet.

They offer a project on Broadway that is worth $20,000, which is a drop in the bucket for professional architects like us, Preston said. Even after we have offered to work collectively and pair up with architects already hired for the project, the administrators still turned us down.

Both Barnes and Preston also accused Columbia of having them think they would be working collectively with other black architects, while secretly pitting them against one another.

Barnes said he was never told that only one architect would be selected for each smaller project, and called the hiring process exclusionary. Columbia spokesperson Victoria Benitez said in an email that the University was building robust commitments with firms owned by minorities, women, and locals, which Columbia abbreviates to MWL.

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Black architects claim that they were passed over for Manhattanville

The companies that built London's iconic Olympic Park are now allowed to boast about their work, after the government paid 2m to the British Olympic Association (BOA) to get around a promotion ban.

The architects, engineers and construction firms which designed and built the infrastructure that allowed the Olympics to happen had been forbidden from advertising their work in promotional materials before, during and after the games, as part of the general restrictions that were placed on advertising in the UK to safeguard the exclusivity deals of the event's official sponsors. The ban even extended to architecture firms submitting their work for industry awards.

Even after the Games were finished the ban remained, and the government was in no rush to lift it -- a decision that the Royal Institute of British Architects' president Angela Brady derided at the time as "totally wrong". The problem hinged on the fact that companies needed to pay the International Olympic Committee to be allowed to advertise themselves as being directly involved in the Games, but the government's payment of 2m to the BOA resolves this with the creation of a "supplier recognition scheme". Companies can now apply to for a free license to, in the words of the BOA, bask in the "stardust" of the Games.

The legislation that prevented companies from associating themselves with the Olympic Games unless they were official sponsors had to be passed for London to get the Games, but it was met with strong criticism from those who felt it was overreaching and draconian. The ban had proven so unpopular with architects that it had even spawned a protest movement, led by Peter Murray of New London Architecture. The "drop the ban" campaign came about as British firms realised that even after the Games had finished the government was in no rush to repeal it and allow them to promote their work.

Responding to the news, Brady issued a statement saying: "The majority of the architects and designers we were standing up for in the campaign were young small businesses who just wanted to be able to promote their work. It's great that they are now able to speak freely about their contribution to the success of the 2012 Games and get the recognition they deserve."

For several of the most high-profile buildings, their architects will have no need for the extra exposure. Everyone knows that Zaha Hadid's firm was responsible for the Aquatics Centre, for example. However, there are myriad unsung heroes behind the Olympic Games who were prevented from making the most of their work, such as STL Communications -- the Guardian reports that the company was restricted to issuing an 150-word statement about their providing phones for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Maria Miller, secretary for culture, media and sport, said: "By lifting these restrictions we will be able to maximise the economic benefits from the Games. Now we have removed the barrier, companies can capitalise on the role they played at home and abroad by really selling their involvement in one of the biggest and most successful projects this country has ever put on."

The BOA also claims that this will help "tens of thousands" of companies, which now "have the potential to win significant contracts from future host nations". Many of the contracts for Rio 2016 have already been allocated, however, to the frustration of many.

Image: pcruciatti / Shutterstock

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Olympic architects, engineers and builders have advertising ban lifted

As part of the annual Celebrate Architecture event this year, architects and designers will use the 2013 Parade of Homes as the basis for a design competition.

The idea for the competition came from Brian Johnson, a principal with Collaborative Design Architects and treasurer of the Billings Architectural Association.

In past competitions held in conjunction with Celebrate Architecture, architects came up with designs for a Habitat for Humanity House and plans for "pocket parks" in downtown Billings.

Johnson said he conceived of the Parade of Homes competition as a way of encouraging designers and architects to work more closely with builders and contractors.

He worked on the project with the Home Builders Association of Billings, which persuaded four contractors to place their building lots in the competition.

Each lot will have its own requirements for the house in question, in terms of style, budget, size and so on. Architects and designers can create plans for any or all of the houses.

The entries will be judged by a panel consisting of two professors from the Montana State University School of Architecture, two people from thehome builders groupand an advanced appraiser.

Based on that panel's selections, the Billings Architectural Association will award a $1,000 prize for the best design for each lot.

That doesn't necessarily mean any of the designs will be used to build a house for the Parade of Homes. But Johnson said the builders who own the lots will have the option of awarding a $5,000 prize for any of the submitted designs.

The builders could then use the design to create a house for next fall's Parade of Homes.

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Architects will compete for Parade of Homes designs

Architects of Air - Exxopolis - Jan 27th 2013
Architects of Air was so Awesome this year. I went early to catch them blowing the exhibit up. I got there just in time. Enjoy. This was shot at 9am on Jan 27th. Architects of Air - Exxopolis - Jan 27th 2013

By: MrMadalynsDad

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Architects of Air - Exxopolis - Jan 27th 2013 - Video

Thirupathi view Anuradha Architects

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Thirupathi view Anuradha Architects - Video

A user-submitted petition has gone up on the White House website that calls for the chief architects of Chinas censorious Great Firewall to be denied entry to the US. If the petition reaches 95,160 signatures by February 23rd, then the White House will, under this new suggestions scheme open to US residents, be obliged to comment and perhaps take action. So far, this appeal to block the GFW builders from US soil has garnered 4,840 signees.

The petition comes with a link to a list of three individuals who were instrumental in Chinas complex system of web censorship. Top of the list is Fang Bingxing, who is thought to have begun work on the GFW at the behest of authorities in 2000. Initially only blocking smaller dissident websites, the web filtering system was taking down major sites like YouTube by 2007. In 2011, Fang, a PhD in computer science, was the victim of a George Bush-style shoe attack that, according to the pranksters involved, was on target.

In full, the petition reads:

People work on information technology always need to communicate and exchange knowledges between countries. If some of them use their skills and technology for blocking people to use internet for certain governments, all the other countries should boycott such behavior.

If they apply to enter US, for example to attendant technology conference, as a responsible government has always valued freedom, it reasonable to deny it.

The list of GFW suspects is up on Gitgub, the social coding site that was briefly blocked by the GFW last week, only to be mysteriously made accessible again a few days later.

Do you think the petition is a valid idea? Let us know in the comments.

(Hat-tip to @majunspace for spotting this on Twitter)

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White House Petition Calls for Architects of China's Great Firewall be Denied Entry to the US

NEW YORK Sam Neuman jokes that he doesnt casually throw off his coat when he gets home at night it would take up half his apartment.

Such is life in his walk-up studio a few blocks from Manhattans bustling Times Square. At 280 square feet, the apartment is barely the size of a one-car garage, with just enough space for a bed, a desk, a TV stand on one wall and a kitchen against the other.

Ive developed this weird Stockholm syndrome, which you identify with your captors, said the 31-year-old publicist. When I go to other peoples apartments, I think, Why do they need more than one bedroom? Im really very happy here. Theres not really time to let things accumulate because ... where would I put them?

The Big Apple is legendary for its legions of residents who live in really, really small apartments. Many of them are fiercely proud of it and can even find the humor in their cramped quarters. Now the city is about to see just how small New Yorkers are willing to go.

With the population and rents expected to keep climbing, city planners are challenging architects to design ways to make it tolerable even comfortable to live in as small as 250 square feet.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced the winner of a competition to incorporate those designs into an apartment complex to be built on Manhattans east side next year featuring 55 micro units.

To make up for the shoebox dimensions, the building will offer residents common spaces like a rooftop garden and lounge area on nearly every floor. The aim is to offer more such tiny apartments throughout the city as affordable options for the young singles, cash-poor and empty nesters who are increasingly edged out of the nations most expensive real-estate market.

If the pilot program is successful, New York could ultimately overturn a requirement established in 1987 that all new apartments be at least 400 square feet.

Smaller living is already endorsed by some cities. San Francisco has approved construction of apartments as small as 220 square feet. Tokyo and Hong Kong have long had tiny units.

As a way to get New Yorkers to think small, a new Museum of the City of New York exhibit features a fully furnished, 325-square-foot studio that incorporates the latest space-saving designs. Theres the bed that folds out over a couch, a padded ottoman containing four nesting chairs, a foldout dinette table tucked under the kitchen counter and a TV that slides away to reveal a bar.

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NYC challenges architects to design comfort in 250-square-foot apartment

The New York based design team at CODA has won this years Young Architects Program (YAP) prize awarded by the Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1. CODA's Caroline ODonnell submitted the winning Party Wall proposal a freestanding pavilion and "flexible experimental space" which uses water filled fabric containers for ballast and is clad in off-cuts from the manufacture of skateboards.

The competition brief challenged emerging architectural talent to develop "creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water." Environmental issues such as sustainability and recycling must also be considered in the designs.

The Party Wall installation will provide shifting shaded areas for music enthusiasts by using a vertical steel structure in contrast to traditional horizontal shading. The freestanding structure that will be ballasted by water bladders suspended on the inside. These bladders are called pillows which will be filled on site and lit up at night to give the entire structure a luminous glow.

The frame will be clad using manufacturing off-cuts from eco-friendly, Ithaca-based skateboard manufacturer Comet. Dubbed "bones," these off-cuts will be woven together to form an imperfect and porous facade.

A shallow stage of reclaimed wood will be featured around the base of the wall, whilst 120 panels can be detached from the vertical structure to form benches and tables that can used for various scenarios: "not only the pool party, the dance party and some architectural tourists, it can also accommodate lectures, classes, discussions, dining, performances, film screenings and even, perhaps, a wedding," says CODA.

The wall spells out its function as part of its design when viewed from the outside, but the interior will serve as an aqueduct for the MOMA PS1 visitors. Water ducted via the third floor of the PS1 building will replenish a series of pools and cooling stations through a gravity-operated system. A stream of water will flow along the top of the wall and be projected out into a fountain that feeds the pools and a misting station using a pressure-tank. Like the movable benches and tables from the Party Wall skin, the pools can be adapted and covered according to function.

Located in Long Island City, MOMA PS1 has been hosting a YAP installation at in its courtyard for fourteen years. The latest offering is set to open in late June and will feature as part of the temporary urban landscape for the 2013 Warm Up music series.

The other finalists for this years MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program were: Leong Architects (New York, NY, Dominic Leong, Chris Leong); Moorhead & Moorhead (New York, NY, Granger Moorhead, Robert Moorehead); TempAgency (Charlottesville, VA, and Brooklyn, NY, Leena Cho, Rychlee Espinosa, Matthew Jull, Seth McDowell); and French 2D (Boston, MA, and Syracuse, NY, Anda French, Jenny French).

Sources: CODA, MOMA PS1

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"Party Wall" wins MOMA Young Architects award

2013 BRCC AWARDS: WBRC Architects Engineers
2013 BANGOR REGION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AWARDS WBRC ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS Business Of The Year Sponsored by Eaton Peabody Produced by Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications

By: Sutherland Weston

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2013 BRCC AWARDS: WBRC Architects