The best architecture in San Diego
San Diego’s second annual Archtoberfest celebration of local architecture ended this week with top honors going to big and small projects.
The American Institute of Architects’ local chapter handed out its yearly Design Awards on Thursday in Balboa Park, passing along comments from a five-member, Seattle-based jury.
Words like “sweet,” “playful,” “fluidity” and “simplicity” were sprinkled throughout their critiques.
“The general overall quality of the work was really high,” said jury chairwoman Anne Shopf.
Best architecture in San Diego
Of the 62 entries judged by written background and emailed images, she cited in particular the Joseph Wong Design Associates’ approach to the first phase of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan. It won both an urban design honor award and a “divine detail” award.
“I think that was awesome that we could award a project for planning and detail,” she said. “It had that breadth of excellence and that really shone through.”
Honor award jurors
▪ Anne Schopf, Mahlum
▪ Susan Jones, Altelierjones
▪ Donald Horn, GSA Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings
▪ John Chau, LMN Architects
▪ Dawn Bushnaq, Bushnaq Studio Architecture + Design
Details: aiasandiego.org
Steve Shinn, the AIA’s program committee chairman, said the jury seemed to focus on how materials, from wood to concrete, were used. They also looked at how sustainable buildings were in their use of energy and environmental impact. Another factor — how design helped to foster a “sense of community.”
“The advantage of selecting a jury that is somewhat remote is you get a more impartial jury that probably will not recognize the buildings or the architects,” Shinn said, “ so it becomes more of a focus of design as opposed to firm recognition.”
More broadly, Shinn said the winners reflect a new found confidence bolstered by a growing economy in which architects and their clients can explore new directions.
Honor Awards
The North Parker, North Park, Jonathan Segal Architects; Palomar College Humanities Building, San Marcos, LPA
Guss Lodl Apartment, La Jolla
North Embarcadero Visionary Plan, downtown, Joseph Wong Design Associates; Urban Discovery Academy, downtown, AVRP Studios
UC San Diego Biomedical Research Facility Unit 2, ZGF Architects (honor award); Pitzer College Residential Life Phase 2 (merit award), Carrier Johnson + Culture
Other awards
San Diego Central Library major donor recognition via art and architectural interventions, by Luce et Studio Architects; North Embarcadero Visionary Plan roof cutouts by Joseph Wong Design Associates; Weightless Lounge at the Balboa Park Activity Center by Steven Lombardi Architects
Del Monte in Ocean Beach by Steven Lombardi Architects
Sage Creek High School, Carlsbad, by Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects; Cal Poly Pomona Student Recreation Center by LPA
Horton Plaza shopping center, Jerde Partnership
San Diego Board of Supervisors and the county Department of General Services
Maxine Ward
Merit awards
Palomar College Humanities Building, LPA; Sorrento, Steven Lombardi Architects; 801 Alma Family Housing, Rob Wellington Quigley; North Park Post Office Lofts, FoundationForForm Architecture & Development; Richard’s Grove Pavilion, A-Squared Studios; UC San Diego Audrey Geisel University House architectural rehabilitation; UC San Diego Medical Center central utility plant, Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design; UC San Diego Biological Research Facility Unit 2, ZGF Architects.
BKM Headquarters and Showroom, Hollander Design Group.
