Top players in the international architectural and design community, from Canada, the U.S., Denmark and beyond, gathered at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works tonight as Azure announced the winners of its fifth annual AZ Awards.
From affordable housing in France that borders on minimalist luxury, to Kickstarter-funded tiles made from old television sets and computer monitors, the 19 winners of the AZ Awards demonstrate an expansive spirit of innovation. At tonight’s event, many of the winners took to the stage – some coming from as far away as Denmark and Dubai – to receive their trophies, which were designed by last year’s guest of honour, Karim Rashid. All 66 of the finalists, which were also up for People’s Choice awards, were applauded by a standing-room-only audience.
Taken together, all of the submissions – from designers, architects, firms and manufacturers, as well as students of design and architecture – represent a global snapshot of the world of architecture and design. Our international jury was also made up of some of the very best in their fields: architect Winka Dubbeldam of Archi-Tectonics (New York, US), architect Brendan MacFarlane of Jakob + MacFarlane (Paris, France), designer Anwar Mekhayech of the Design Agency (Toronto, Canada), landscape architect Janet Rosenberg of Janet Rosenberg & Studio (Toronto, Canada) and designer Philippe Malouin (London, UK).
In March, the panel conferred at Toronto’s Thompson Hotel to narrow down an impressive 720 entries from 43 countries to a shortlist of 66 finalists. From there, they selected the 19 outstanding winners, which are featured below.
ARCHITECTURE WINNERS
Best Residential Architecture – Single Family: PARA-Project: Haffenden House, Syracuse, USA
Best Residential Architecture – Multi-Unit: Antonini Darmon: Oiseau des Îles Social Housing, Nantes, France
Best Commercial ⁄ Institutional Architecture Over 1,000 Square Metres: John Wardle Architects and NADAAA in collaboration: Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne, Australia
Best Commercial ⁄ Institutional Architecture Under 1,000 Square Metres: SchilderScholte Architecten: Pani Community Centre, Rajarhat, Bangladesh
Best Landscape Architecture: GH3: June Callwood Park, Toronto, Canada
Best Temporary / Demonstration Architecture: Philip Beesley Architect: Epiphyte Chamber, Seoul, Korea
INTERIORS WINNERS
Best Residential Interior: Francesco Librizzi Studio: Casa G, Sicily, Italy
Best Commercial ⁄ Institutional Interior: Burdifilek: Galleria Luxury Hall West, Seoul, Korea
DESIGN WINNERS
Best Furniture Design: Arper: Kinesit, by Lievore Altherr Molina
Best Furniture System: Randers + Radius: Grip Tablesystem, by GrumDesign
Best Lighting Fixture: Vibia: Wireflow, by Arik Levy
Best Lighting Installation: Licht Kunst Licht: Art Museum Ahrenshoop
Best Interior Product: Fireclay Tile: CRT Glass Tile, by Paul Burns
CONCEPT WINNERS
Best Unbuilt Competition Entry: Steven Christensen Architecture: Liepaja Thermal Bath
Best Concept / Prototype: Andrei Gheorghe: Robotic Infiltrations
STUDENT A+ WINNER
Danny Karas (SCI-Arc, Los Angeles, USA): M&N
SOCIAL GOOD AWARDS
H&P Architects: Toigetation, Cao Bang, Vietnam
Saunders Architecture: Fogo Island Inn, Newfoundland, Canada
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP AWARD
Sofia Ceylan, Katharina Laekamp and Leonie Otten: Memory of the Arctic
For more images, visit v2com.
All winners and finalists are featured in the Annual Awards Issue, on newsstands today in Canada and June 29 in the U.S.
