Release Date: March 12, 2014 This content is archived.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A sculptural wall and minimalist dining set designed by University at Buffalo architects are finalists in the international Architizer A+ Awards competition — a prestigious recognition in the world of architecture and design.
The public can help the local projects win by voting online in a Popular Choice Award contest until March 21.
The projects, and how to vote for them:
The high-profile global Architizer A+ Awards program recognizes projects in more than 60 categories.
Last year’s contest drew more than 1,500 entries from more than 100 countries, and one winner was Elevator B, a tower that UB architecture and planning students built to house a colony of bees in Silo City. That structure took home the Architizer A+ Jury Award in the Student Design/Build Project category.
UB’s record of success in the Architizer competition demonstrates the innovative research taking place in the university’s School of Architecture and Planning.
Bruscia and Romano’s free-standing wall showcases the visual qualities of patterned and textured metal manufactured by local company Rigidized Metals. The project tests the structural limits of the thin-gauge materials.
The Architizer A+ recognition is the third international honor for Project 2XmT since the faculty members and their students erected the wall in the summer of 2013. Last fall, Bruscia and Romano earned first place in the TEX-FAB SKIN competition. The project also won The Architect's Newspaper 2014 Best Fabrication award.
Romano’s and Bruscia’s research is the result of a partnership between the Department of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Planning and Rigidized Metals, which fabricated the textured metal, assisted in the wall's construction and has sponsored related design studios and directed research at the school as a way to explore new uses for its materials.
Students have been engaged in the research since its start in spring 2012. Master of Architecture students Daniel Vrana and Philip Gusmano, both graduates of the undergraduate architecture program, have spent the past several months taking the project from concept to production.
The partnership is one result of Department of Architecture Chair Omar Khan’s efforts to cooperate with local manufacturers — outreach that has led to new courses and research on materials from metals to terra cotta.
Rachel Teaman
Communications Officer
School of Architecture and Planning
Tel: 716-829-3794
rmansour@buffalo.edu