GSA Design Awards Ceremony: Justice O'Connor is Keynote Speaker

GSA # 9808

March 26, 2001
Contact: Anne Hartzell (202) 501-1231
anne.hartzell@gsa.gov

GSA Design Awards Ceremony:
Justice O'Connor is Keynote Speaker

WASHINGTON, DC - The new Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix, along with Federal courthouses in Central Islip, N.Y., and Las Vegas, all built by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), have won three of the 18 GSA Design Awards that will be presented at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Thursday, March 29, 2 p.m.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court will deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony.

"The Design Awards provide a wonderful opportunity for GSA to shine a spotlight on the many talented firms and people who are making significant contributions to what the Federal government designs and builds," said GSA's Acting Administrator Thurman M. Davis Sr."The 2000 Design Awards recognize outstanding projects in 17 states. But, the caliber and breadth of the entries we received tells us that the lives of citizens from every geographic region of the country are being enriched in some way by the work of all the design professionals, hired by GSA."

In 2000, GSA added two categories, construction excellence and security and openness, to the traditional list, which includes architecture, architecture on-the-boards, engineering/technology/energy, landscape architecture, preservation/conservation, art and graphic design.

Architect Charles Gwathmey of New York City chaired the jury of private-sector design and construction professionals who selected this year's honorees.

The 2000 Design Awards ceremony marks the 10th anniversary of the biennial awards and includes the first projects completed under GSA's Design Excellence Program. Since 1994, the Design Excellence Program has made substantive changes to GSA's selection process for architects, engineers, and other professionals who design and build Federal courthouses, office buildings, laboratories, and border stations. The resulting projects reflect some of the best civic architecture in the United States.

Jurors for the 2000 Design Awards included David Driskell, Hyattsville, Md.; Julie Eizenberg, Santa Monica, Calif.; Samuel Y. Harris, Philadelphia; Douglas Kelbaugh, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Debra Lehman-Smith, Washington, D.C.; Guy Nordenson, New York; Kiku Obata, St. Louis, and Michael Rotondi, Los Angeles. Construction Excellence jurors were Kenneth Grunley of Rockville, Md., and Joseph Lawton of Arlington, Va. There were 145 Design Awards entries.

HONOR AWARDS

Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, Phoenix: Richard Meier, Richard Meier & Partners, Architects. Jury Comment: "In the tradition of place making, inspirational spaces, and memorable architectural experiences, this building is exemplary. It is a visionary civic achievement that engenders both wonder and respect." (Architecture Award)

Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse, Las Vegas: Mehrdad Yazdani, CannonDworsky. Jury Comment: "It is surprising to find such urbanity and such elegant restraint in Las Vegas. The giant articulated column is a powerful totem that will no doubt become the courthouse's signature in a city of signs and symbols." (Architecture Award)

U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Central Islip, N Y.: Richard Meier, Richard Meier & Partners, Architects. Jury Comment: "This courthouse has the visual intelligence of the finest contemporary architecture; yet it embodies the genetic code of significant historical buildings. The light-filled, grand public spaces of the interior openly welcome you to a place where important human matters are deliberated." (Architecture Award)

U. S. Geological Survey Chiller Replacement, Reston, Va.: J. Vicente Pedraza, JVP Engineers, P.C. Jury Comment: "The professionals and the owner are commended, firstly, for their willingness to question the need for replacement and, secondly and more nobly, to go about answering the question in a thoroughly unbiased and rigorous manner. This award is as much for the integrity of the parties as it is for the ingenuity of the solution." (Engineering/Technology/Energy Award

Jurisprudents, at Melvin Price U.S. Courthouse, East St. Louis, Illinois: Ralph Helmick, Stuart Schechter, Helmick & Schechter Sculpture. Jury Comment: "The notion of jurors conferring with one another makes the work an even more inventive, creative statement, one that speaks to the environment of a courthouse that invites discourse among the citizenry. The design of the sculpture complements a modernist building with classical origins." (Art Award)

Charles Evans Whittaker U.S. Courthouse, Kansas City, Mo.: Steve Hamline, J.E. Dunn Construction. Jury Comment: "Exceptional craftsmanship throughout considering the complex and highly stylized detailing of stonework, millwork, and terrazzo." (Construction Excellence Award)

U.S. Port of Entry, Blaine, Wash.; Derek Wright, Intermountain Construction, Inc. Jury Comment: "Completed ahead of schedule and under budget with an innovative use of simple materials and an extraordinary problem-solving partnership on-site." (Construction Excellence Award)

CITATIONS

William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Scranton, Pa.; Peter Bohlin, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Architects. (Architecture)

U.S. Courthouse, Hammond, Ind.; Henry N. Cobb, Ian Beder, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP. (Architecture On the Boards)

U.S. Port of Entry, Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan; Carol Ross Barney, Ross Barney + Jankowski, Inc. (Architecture On the Boards)

U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Shalom Baranes, Shalom Baranes Associates, P.C. (Architecture On the Boards)

Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse Plaza, San Francisco, Calif.; Jared Della Valle, Andrew Bernheimer, Della Vale + Bernheimer Design, Inc. (Landscape Architecture/Security)

David Skaggs Federal Building, Boulder, Colo.; Jerry H. Deal, E. Cube, Inc. (Engineering/Technology/Energy)

Restoration of George Segal's sculpture, The Restaurant, Buffalo, N.Y.; Dona Warner, Johnson Atelier. (Preservation/Conservation)

Urns of Justice at U.S. Courthouse, Lafayette, La.; Diana K. Moore, Artist. (Art)

Print Materials for Dedication of Tom Otterness sculpture, Rockman, Minn.; Katherine Sechler Stephenson, GSA - PBS Business Development. (Graphic Design)

IRS Computing Center Works of Art Brochure, Martinsburg, W. Va.; Kurt Thesing, C.I.A. Creative Intelligence Agency. (Graphic Design)

*****
U.S. Courthouse, Fort Myers, Fla.; Robert A. Koenig, Centex Rooney Construction Company, Inc. (Construction Excellence)
Federal Design Now! GSA 2000 Design Awards, will be on view at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, March 29 through July 8.