13TH ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DESIGN AWARDS DINNER
Under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty people gathered for the Society of American Registered Architects/New York Council’s 13th Annual Professional Design Awards Dinner. Once again the location was the southern-most tip of Manhattan at the Battery Garden Restaurant that afforded a spectacular panoramic view of New York’s Harbor.
Drinks were served both inside and outside on the patio as the weather was magnificent, people milled around as they viewed the winning entrant’s designs on the presentation boards.
The setting was so ideal that when it came time to make way up to the second floor for dinner most people lingered behind and when they did go up they immediately gravitated towards the two decks so as to soak in every last image of the majestic views of the water.
Finally seated and in place and with one-hundred and twenty people on hand, the festivities took off. New York Council President Jeff Vandeberg, ARA was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and after a brief introduction presented the five Jurors that had the task of selecting the design winners from over one-hundred and twenty submissions. They were: Shelley Smith, Arpad Baksa, Donald Cromley, Scott Duncan and Martin Holub. Their selections were impeccable and each and every one of the winners was most deserving. There were twenty-four jurored selections along with the four honorees.
Multiple award winners were FXFowle Architects, Scarano Architects, Marble Fairbanks and Handel Architects. Student winners came from Pratt Institute, Penn State University, New York City College of Technology and the National University of Singapore. This marked the second time in three years that award winners from Singapore were selected and also traveled to New York so as to personally receive their award.
The Council’s highest award: the Medallion of Honor was bestowed upon Susan Szenasy, Editor in Chief of Metropolis Magazine for her relentless dedication to the pursuit of excellence in design. Hom+Goldman earned the Firm of the Year award for their prolific compilation of superb work here in the metro area. The ubiquitous and ultra-colorful Brooklyn Children’s Museum was selected for the Project of the Year and Professor Percy Griffin of the New York Institute of Technology was given the Educator of the Year award for his service to the up and coming young professionals that are so vital to the stimulation and growth of our esteemed profession.
As the night drew to a close and people began to make their way out, only one conclusion could be drawn by the event: that design is alive and well and that the night was a success and that it yet again underlined the Society of American Registered Architect’s credo: Architect helping Architect.
