When looking at the 2009 AIA Honor Awards as a whole, it is easy to comprehend why this year’s winners were chosen. From iconic new buildings in the Architecture category, including cathedrals and community centers, to projects in the Interiors category, such as a ballet school and offices, to a group of Urban Design winners, each of which creates a unique site for people to gather and ties place and person with environment, these projects strip away opulence and get us back to basics. There’s light, there’s sustainability, there’s a sense that we belong to this region, this world. The projects and people honored this year bring with them a new restraint. There’s no eccentricity here; instead, there are designs that favor clear circulation, orientation, technology, materials, and above all, connection.
The 2009 Honor Awards for Architecture winners represent a range of buildings with widely varying budgets, scales, and contexts.