New York Exhibit Celebrates Best New Architecture Practices

The exhibition will remain on view through January 3 at the Center for Architecture.

by Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 8/29/2008

Fresh architecture talent will be on the agenda when an exhibition showcasing the winners in the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter's New Practices New York competition kicks off on September 5.

The exhibition serves as a platform for the six winners of the second biennial portfolio competition, which was designed for firms that were founded after 2002 and are located in one of the city's five boroughs. The panel of jurors, including legendary architects Peter Eisenman of Eisenman Architects and Charles Renfro of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, selected the winners from 52 submissions.

Urban A&O earned the competition’s highest honor for the design of the Johnson & Johnson Olympic Games Pavilion in Beijing. The remaining champs are Baumann Architecture, Common Room, David Wallance Architect, Matter Practice, and Openshop Studio.

The exhibit, which runs through January 3 at the AIA NY Center for Architecture in New York, will feature large-scale installations designed by each honoree, along with a video and a booklet describing their practice. The winners will present their work and discuss the organization of their architectural practices during a Winners Symposium on October 15.

"The six winning firms, while diverse in their approaches to both the work they showed and the portfolios they presented, all shared a consistent ability to produce architecture that expressed their interests, attitudes and research," says AIA NY New Practices committee co-chair Matt Bremer. "Our committee was encouraged by the breadth of opportunity that technology, economic vitality, and public interest in architecture have offered the fresh talent in our city."

From top: Winning firm Common Room designed this staircase gallery in a residence at 497 Greenwich Sreet in New York. 

Image courtesy of AIA New York Chapter.