AIA Announces 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: With unremitting high-rise development threatening Foshan’s Old Town, city officials sought ways to conserve the ancient area while simultaneously creating a sustainable, modern central district able to meet the inevitable need for growth of a burgeoning metropolis of 3.5 million. The plan is built at a density able to support a new, transit-oriented, mixed-use downtown, while at the same time defraying the costs of preserving and restoring the vibrancy of the city’s historic Old Town and Temple. The Foshan Plan aims at providing a new model for historic conservation and revitalization that can be applied throughout China.
Image courtesy SOM

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: With unremitting high-rise development threatening Foshan’s Old Town, city officials sought ways to conserve the ancient area while simultaneously creating a sustainable, modern central district able to meet the inevitable need for growth of a burgeoning metropolis of 3.5 million. The plan is built at a density able to support a new, transit-oriented, mixed-use downtown, while at the same time defraying the costs of preserving and restoring the vibrancy of the city’s historic Old Town and Temple. The Foshan Plan aims at providing a new model for historic conservation and revitalization that can be applied throughout China.
Image courtesy SOM

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Orange County California's Great Park will bring over 1,400 acres of urban parkland to the city of Irvine and the surrounding region. Planned on the former site of El Toro Air Force base, this large tract of undeveloped land will include a man-made canyon that runs through the park and will support a diverse range of active and passive programs. A great lawn, sports park, botanical gardens, and several arts and cultural facilities, including a large outdoor amphitheater, will be programmed into the park.
Image courtesy TEN Arquitectos

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Orange County California's Great Park will bring over 1,400 acres of urban parkland to the city of Irvine and the surrounding region. Planned on the former site of El Toro Air Force base, this large tract of undeveloped land will include a man-made canyon that runs through the park and will support a diverse range of active and passive programs. A great lawn, sports park, botanical gardens, and several arts and cultural facilities, including a large outdoor amphitheater, will be programmed into the park.
Image courtesy TEN Arquitectos

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: This 43-unit Habitat for Humanity residential project is a pilot LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) to be built for $60 per square foot, plus infrastructure costs. The objective is to design a demonstration project that combines affordability with best environmental practices as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council. Porchscapes is a Low Impact Development (LID) project funded under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 319 Program for Nonpoint Source Pollution. LID is an ecological stormwater management approach that sustains a site’s predevelopment hydrologic regime with treatment landscapes distributed throughout the project.
Image Courtesy University of Arkansas Community Design Center

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: This 43-unit Habitat for Humanity residential project is a pilot LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) to be built for $60 per square foot, plus infrastructure costs. The objective is to design a demonstration project that combines affordability with best environmental practices as designated by the U.S. Green Building Council. Porchscapes is a Low Impact Development (LID) project funded under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 319 Program for Nonpoint Source Pollution. LID is an ecological stormwater management approach that sustains a site’s predevelopment hydrologic regime with treatment landscapes distributed throughout the project.
Image Courtesy University of Arkansas Community Design Center

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Located on Chicago's historic South side, the former South Works steel mill site is the largest vacant site for redevelopment in the city. At more than 600 acres and with 1.5 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, the site offers a milestone opportunity to create an innovative and sustainable new community that will be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and closely tied to transit, which will connect people to the lakefront for the first time in over a century.
Image courtesy Sasaki Associates

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Located on Chicago's historic South side, the former South Works steel mill site is the largest vacant site for redevelopment in the city. At more than 600 acres and with 1.5 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, the site offers a milestone opportunity to create an innovative and sustainable new community that will be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and closely tied to transit, which will connect people to the lakefront for the first time in over a century.
Image courtesy Sasaki Associates

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: The Central Park of the New Radiant City, a suburb of Shenzhen, covers 2.37 square kilometers. Here, families can enjoy open spaces and nature, which is noteworthy given that much of Shenzhen's natural environment was destroyed in the 1980s and 1990s due to industrialization. The park's design concept is sensitive to ecological conditions, reflects the culture of the region, and provides economic opportunities.
Image courtesy Lee + Mundwiler Architects

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: The Central Park of the New Radiant City, a suburb of Shenzhen, covers 2.37 square kilometers. Here, families can enjoy open spaces and nature, which is noteworthy given that much of Shenzhen's natural environment was destroyed in the 1980's and 1990's due to industrialization. The park's design concept is sensitive to ecological conditions, reflects the culture of the region, and provides economic opportunities.
Image courtesy Lee + Mundwiler Architects

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Bold moves set the framework for the redevelopment of Treasure Island. A complex and thoroughly articulated urban design and architectural plan establishes relationships among buildings, public open space, transportation, views, and natural forces, creating a compact, transit-oriented community with a commitment to sustainability unparalleled in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Image courtesy SOM

AIA 2009 Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
AIA commentary: Bold moves set the framework for the redevelopment of Treasure Island. A complex and thoroughly articulated urban design and architectural plan establishes relationships among buildings, public open space, transportation, views, and natural forces, creating a compact, transit-oriented community with a commitment to sustainability unparalleled in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Image courtesy SOM