Six to Receive the 2006 AIA’s Young Architects Awa

Washington, DC, January 30, 2006--The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the six recipients of the 2006 AIA Young Architects Award. Young Architects are defined as professionals who have been licensed 10 years or fewer regardless of their age. This award honors individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession early in their careers. This year’s recipients are impressive in their broad range of contributions--advocacy, innovation, sustainability, national leadership, and design excellence. The Young Architects Award will be presented to the recipients at the AIA 2006 National Convention and Design Exposition in Los Angeles in June. The winners: Michael Arad, AIA - New York City Arad is a partner at Handel Architects, LLP in New York City, and has worked in both the private and public sector. Previous experience includes Kohn Pedersen Fox and the New York City Housing Authority. Following the attacks of September 11, he developed a landscape art project that eventually led to his design for the Memorial at Ground Zero titled “Reflecting Absence.” The design, which was chosen from 5,201 submissions to interact with the Master Site Plan, will feature a field of trees with two large voids containing recessed pools. Visitors will be able to descend below ground where they will be behind a thin curtain of water and see a ribbon of names surrounding an enormous pool. In his nomination letter, 2005 AIA Gold Medal recipient Santiago Calatrava, FAIA, writes, “In addition to my admiration of the clarity and sensitivity of Michael’s design, I have also watched with high regard his commitment to preserve the integrity of that vision. These are signs of maturity and leadership seldom found in a young architect.” Jury Comments: “A real talent! Clearly going to be a star. His design concept is simple but powerful.” James Dayton, AIA - Minneapolis Dayton explained in his nomination statement, “Architecture is for me a first-person, empirical phenomenon. It is about making thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that serve clients well and contribute positively to the built environment in a creative and innovative way.” Dayton, who founded James Dayton Design in Minneapolis, works to combine innovative forms, curves, industrial materials, and use of daylight. With Dayton’s close ties to his mentor, Frank Gehry, FAIA, Dayton’s firm was the first in Minneapolis to use Gehry Technologies’ Digital Project software, establishing Dayton as a leading designer in the region. “I am very proud of Jimmy and his work,” writes Gehry in his letter of support, “and I am encouraged to see that the focus of Jim’s work is innovative, trying new ideas, pushing the concepts of design ahead. He has always shown a commitment to producing architecture of a very high quality.” Jury Comments: “He gives back to the community in a quiet and caring way. Interesting work.” John Sangki Hong, AIA - Cambridge, Mass. Although most are familiar with Boston’s “Big Dig,” the massive amount of discarded infrastructure material, and what to do with it, is rarely considered. Hong and his wife Jinhee Park, are principals of Cambridge-based Single speed Design, where their “Big Dig Building” proposal calls for re-use of the Dig’s materials as building components, ranging from cladding to structural members. The “Big Dig House” in Lexington, Mass., is now nearing completion and is made from over 600,000 lbs., of recycled materials. The firm also developed the “Mixed Use Building” that re-used an existing structure to form a new urban building that embraces the civic and economic evolution of Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge's main artery. In his letter of support, Kyu Sung Woo, FAIA, writes, “John is considered a role model for young architects. His work seeks continual innovation by bridging research and practice.

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