Miami SoundScape wins 2012 AIA Institute Honor Award

Washington, D.C. – January 9, 2012 – The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected the 2012 recipients of the Institute Honor Awards, the profession’s highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture and urban design. Selected from over 700 total submissions, 27 recipients located throughout the world will be honored at the AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition in Washington, D.C.

Miami Beach City Center Redevelopment Project; Miami Beach (by Gehry Partners, LLP; West 8; Hines Interests Limited Partnership) has won an Honor Award for Regional & Urban Design.

This 5.86-acre project consist of New World Center, an innovative facility for music education and performance; Miami Beach SoundScape, an adjacent 2.5-acre public park and event space; and a 556-space municipal parking structure. The project is located on two city blocks previously used as surface parking lots. New World Center is a unique performance, education, production, and creative space with state-of-the-art capabilities, owned and operated by the New World Symphony (NWS). Miami Beach SoundScape is a multi-use park that serves as an urban oasis and a gathering place for cultural and special events.

Jury comment: “Compelled with this small project with big impact, the building and its public park space has developed an extremely vital and dynamic cultural space within the city.”

“The inventive use of cultural programming by the symphony hall; the outdoor concert projections in the park, have made culture accessible to everyone.”

“The project makes good use of existing buildings and creates a strong connection back to the city, energizing and activating Miami Beach.”

The jury for the 2012 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design includes: Bruce Lindsey, AIA, (chair) Washington University in St. Louis; Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, AIA, Catherine Seavitt Studio and Martha Welborne, FAIA, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

For more information: check: AIA.