|
The second phase of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s (LACMA) dramatic transformation project was honored with the top prize at the Los Angeles Architectural Awards, one of 33 projects deemed “premiere examples” of the region’s cutting-edge design.
 |
|
© 2010 Museum Associates/LACMA |
| Grand Prize: Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
The 42nd annual Architectural Awards, hosted by the Los Angeles Business Council, celebrated a diverse range of innovative architecture and design projects from around the Los Angeles County area.
The awards program “celebrates the very best in forward-thinking design that enhances economic vitality and quality of life throughout Los Angeles County,” said Los Angeles Business Council President Mary Leslie. “We congratulate all the winners that help make Los Angeles an engine of creativity and dynamism on both the national and international stages.”
Grand Prize
LACMA’s Transformation Phase II, completed in spring 2011, added three new buildings to the eastern and western edges of the museum’s grand entrance—the Resnick Pavilion, Ray’s Restaurant and Stark Bar.
The 71,000-square-foot project was directed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Gensler Architects. General contractor MATT Construction also shared in the award, which recognized the entire project team.
Said Michael Govan, LACMA director: “Renzo Piano Building Workshop and our team in L.A. put tremendous effort into this project, which has greatly expanded our exhibition space and created a dynamic town square for museum-goers from all areas of this diverse city.”
The Resnick Pavilion, in particular, added some 45,000 square-feet of “beautiful cavernous exhibit space flooded with natural light, advancing LACMA’s ideal of the encyclopedic museum,” according to project details provided by the Los Angeles Business Council.
Range of Projects Honored
Other architecture awards were given to a wide range of project types, including renovation project (Indian Paint Brush Productions in Santa Monica); building interior (LACMA’s “California Design: 1930-1965” exhibit and Gensler headquarters in downtown L.A.); landscape architecture (The Pointe in Burbank); design concept (the LAPD Metropolitan Division Facility); and others. Green and sustainable projects were also highlighted.
The business council said educational institutions were well-represented among the winners, with awards going to Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, the University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology, California State University, Northridge, and St. Thomas the Apostle School.
In addition, the awards program featured a high-profile student competition for eight major design schools in the L.A. area, each vying for the Julius Schulman Emerging Talent Award and a $5,000 prize.
Over an “intensive weekend” in February, student teams developed concepts to overhaul and enhance the Ports O’ Call complex at the Port of Los Angeles, the council said.
The team from the University of Southern California won the honor, with a design that envisions a boardwalk retail area along with water park, skate park and exercise areas.
The council also presented separate Community-Impact Awards, which honored three projects for their “transformational impact” on the community—Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and Westfield Culver City for major improvement projects and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for its beautification project.
A jury of 20 noted building and design professionals selected the winners from hundreds of entries. Except in special categories, winning projects were completed in 2010 or 2011.
More information: www.labusinesscouncil.org.
|
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
