The American Institute of Architects Florida Chapter named the Jacksonville Public Library to the list of the Top 100 Buildings in its "Florida Architecture: 100 Years, 100 Places" competition.  The public will be invited to vote its favorite buildings on the AIA Florida website March 5 through March 31.    

Completed in 2005, the 297,000 square-foot Jacksonville Public Library, on Hemming Plaza on the corner of North Laura and West Monroe Streets, is a state-of-the-art facility that is also a great public space with intimate and grand rooms, garden courtyards, conference areas, and cafes.   The building continues Jacksonville's rich tradition of civic structures which speak in a version of the classical language adapted to the particulars of local climate and culture.

Two Robert A.M. Stern Architects projects have been recognized in the AIA New York State’s 2011 Design Awards program.

The East Hampton Town Hall, which takes a collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century timber-framed vernacular buildings—important evocations of local culture—and organizes them as a campus for municipal government, won a Citation for Design in the Adaptive Reuse category. The jury praised the design as “a clear and concise solution that seamlessly integrates old and the new resulting in perhaps one of the finest town halls in America.”

Comcast Center, a 58-story office tower in Center City Philadelphia, won an Award of Merit for Commercial/Industrial – Large Projects. The jury described the tower as “an example of a high rise that succeeds architecturally and urbanistically at the skyline and street.  The lobby, transit concourse level, and outdoor plaza/café activate a long neglected section of Philadelphia’s downtown.”

Instituted in 1968, the AIA New York State Design Awards celebrate, honor, and promote excellence in design by New York State architects for their creativity and imagination in solving design problems for their clients and to generate greater public interest in architecture.  The jurors reviewed more than 300 entries and selected 28 projects to receive a Design Award. The jurors were Chair, David Mark Riz, AIA, of KieranTimberlake; Robert M. Noblett, AIA, of Behnisch Arkitekten; Michael Ryan, AIA, of Michael Ryan Architects; Robert Shibley, FAIA, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, University of Buffalo; and Elizabeth Egbert, President and CEO, Staten Island Museum.

Robert A.M. Stern is featured in a filmed interview in the exhibition “The Presence of the Past Revisited,” curated by Aaron Betsky, at the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture. The exhibition revisits an earlier exhibition, La Strada Novissima, curated by Paolo Portoghesi for the 1980 Venice Biennale exhibition, in which RAMSA was a notable participant.

The 2011 Biennale “Architecture Creates Cities. Cities Create Architecture,” curated by Terence Riley, focuses on urbanism and considers the city as an active agent in contemporary culture. It will feature more than 30 exhibitions, symposiums, panel discussions, and performances. It will run from December 8, 2011 – February 18, 2012. More information can be found at the Biennale’s website.

In its January 2012 issue, Architectural Digest names Robert A.M. Stern Architects one of its “New AD100,” the magazine’s biennial list of the top talents in architecture and design. The firm has been included in the AD100 since 2002.

“We once again salute the creative talents and firms who represent AD’s distinctive point of view,” said Margaret Russell, editor in chief of Architectural Digest. “Design is a serious business, and though there may be an element of fantasy to many of the projects showcased on our pages, Architectural Digest’s focus is on buildings and interiors that will stand the test of time. The designers and architects of the 2012 AD100 exemplify that mind-set, with an understanding that it is not enough for their work to be eye-catching; it must be exacting too, embodying the finest skills, the most advanced techniques, and an uncommon attention to detail.”

The AD100 was announced at a November 29, 2011, reception at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Photo courtesy of Larry Busacca/Getty Images.

Today the City Plan Commission of New Haven approved the site plan for Yale’s 13^th and 14^th residential colleges.  The two new colleges will house more than 800 additional undergraduates, and each will include a common room, dining hall, library, academic offices, and recreational spaces.  Carrying forward the spirit of Rogers's Gothic, the colleges are designed as fraternal twins, similar in size and palette but each enjoying its own identity and organization. 

“Following this detailed plan approval by the city, the University now will work with its architects to complete the construction plans and specifications for the two new colleges, all of which is the normal course for any project,” Michael Morand, Director ofState Communications, Strategy and Special Projects wrote in an email to the Yale Daily News Thursday evening.

The two new colleges will be located north of the Grove Street Cemetery in the triangle comprised of Prospect, Canal, and Sachem streets. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012 and be completed before the fall term of 2015.  The project is seeking Gold LEED™ certification

The partners of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP, are pleased to announce that Josh W. Bull, Salvador Peña-Figueroa, and Kim Yap have been promoted from Associate to Senior Associate; and that Jennifer Bailey, Gerard J. Beekman, Brian F. Fell, Sean Foley, Christopher Heim, Trevor W. Laubenstein, Renaud Magnaval, Benjamin Salling, Eric Silinsh, Kaveri Singh, Caroline G. Statile, R. Craig Stevens, and William West are now associates of the firm. John Boyland has been named Director of Design for Robert A.M. Stern Interiors, LLC.

RAMSA extends congratulations to each of them.

The South China Morning Post features a profile of Robert A.M. Stern in the November 2011 issue of its "Style" magazine. Based on a recent interview, Pavan Shamdasani's article discusses Robert A.M. Stern Architects' approach to architecture and in particular how it applies to the firm's growing body of work in Asia.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects' Partner Paul Whalen presented The Clarendon, a 32-story residential tower in Boston, Massachusetts, at the 2011 World Architecture Festival Awards in Barcelona.  The Clarendon was a finalist in the Housing (incl. mixed use) category and competed against 14 other shortlisted projects.

The World Architecture Festival, held in Barcelona, Spain, is the world’s largest global architectural awards program. Festival events included three days of talks and seminars.  The 2011 WAF super jury included Michael Sorkin, Ben van Berkel, Jo Noero, and Odile Decq. 

Photo by Peter Aaron / Esto.