Nine risk-taking projects, products and technologies were recognized by a distinguished jury in this year’s R+D Awards program, including three Canadian design projects: Bar Raval by Partisans, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum by Teeple Architects, and Queen Richmond Centre West by Sweeny &Co Architects.
Research can be hard to justify, even in an industry that prides itself on results. Regardless of whether success is measured in portfolio-perfect pictures or kilowatts of energy savings, innovation in architecture wouldn’t happen without individuals willing to put themselves out there.
It is this dogged spirit of purpose-driven risk-taking that jurors Marc Fornes, Joyce Hwang, AIA, and Steven Rainville, AIA, chose to celebrate in this year’s R+D Awards. From 120 submissions, they identified nine projects—one first award, two awards, and six citations—crafted by teams that are blazing trails in the built environment, with little more than conviction as their guide.
The winners are as follows:
First Award: Pulp Pavilion by Ball-Nogues Studio
Award: Bar Raval by Partisans
Award: Pure Tension Pavilion by Synthesis Design + Architecture
Citation: Bands by Eric Owen Moss Architects
Citation: Breathe Brick by Both Landscape and Architecture
Citation: Co-Robotics and Construction: OSCR 1–4 Prototypes by Rust Belt Robotics Group
Citation: Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum by Teeple Architects
Citation: Queen Richmond Centre West by Sweeny &Co Architects
Citation: Radical Railbanking by Master of None
French architect Marc Fornes is the principal and founder of TheVeryMany in New York; Joyce Hwang, AIA,is associate professor of architecture and the director of professional studies at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, and the director of Ants of the Prairie, an architectural practice and research office in Buffalo, NY; and Steven Rainville, AIA, is a principal at Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects.
For more information, please visit www.architectmagazine.com/awards/r-d-awards/the-2015-r-d-awards_o