This book celebrates and honors the greatest architectural works from all over the world. It showcases the winning projects of the 2017 AAP Architecture Prize and 2017 Firm of the Year award.
View photos from the Winners Event at the New Museum on October 27, 2017 on the AAP Flickr. Over 250 guests celebrated innovation and creativity in architecture.
The AAP 2017 book will be available on Amazon, shipping globally in November 2017.
Gabelleni Sheppard Associates were honored with thePlatinum Prize for Hospitality Design in the 2016 AAP Architecture Prize. AAP sat down with the firm to learn more about their winning design of the infamous NYC Times Square Landmark, the Knickerbocker Hotel.
Firm Profile:
The work of the New York-based firm, founded in 1991, is distinguished by a sculptural command of space, light, and material. Organized as a multi-disciplinary atelier, Gabellini Sheppard Associates has designed buildings, interiors, furniture, urban places, exhibitions, and adaptive reuse projects in over 15 countries worldwide. From large-scale plans to exquisite details, the firm creates refined spaces and objects that elevate both functional and aesthetic value. Gabellini Sheppard Associates frequently collaborates with other designers as well as creative and technical specialists in exploring the potential of each project. Sustainable design and building practices are embedded into the firm’s holistic approach. The firm and its partners have earned dozens of awards and honors from the American Institute of Architects, the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the Municipal Art Society of New York, and other international design, lighting, and wellness journals and organizations.
What inspired your designs for the Knickerbocker Hotel?
Highgate Holdings and Felcor Lodging & Trust commissioned our firm to reimagine and re-vision the historic Knickerbocker Hotel, renovating the fifteen story, 175,000 SF landmark hotel for the next generation of guests while recapturing the legacy of the celebrated hotel. Fondly known as the “42nd Street Country Club”, the Knickerbocker was a long-term residence for some of the most prolific performers and businessmen of the era such as Enrico Caruso, Maxfield Parrish and George Cohen. The building, originally built as a hotel in 1906, had operated as an office building from 1920 to 2013.
The reconceived Knickerbocker Hotel recaptures the old-world glamour and luxury of the original hotel, while fostering an elevated scene for social networking and indulging in the very best of NYC. The programmatic narrative was developed to burnish the past within a tailored contemporary frame.
What obstacles did you meet? How did you overcome them?
The building itself is absolutely unique, comprised of brick and limestone masonry; it is truly a one of a kind landmarked structure, which simultaneously presented a number of design challenges. The gracious and unusual L-shaped plan provided unique opportunities for the programmatic flow of the hotel but also resulted in distinct layouts for nearly every single guest room. Currently, a retail space occupies roughly 8,000 SF of the ground floor, leaving 3,680 SF on the ground floor to create a reception and lobby area. As a result of this, the Fourth Floor was developed and acts as more dynamic public space for hotel guests.
Varying ceiling heights on some of the floors posed challenges in addition to sound proofing the building up to modern standards due to the hotel’s location in Times Square. We were able to do this by installing triple-glazed windows throughout the hotel, making the interior insulated from the sounds from Times Square.
The 330 guest rooms all have a unique layout with custom designed millwork, including vanities, wainscot, closets, and mini bars for each individual room type. We came up with different approaches to traditional millwork design in order to solve this challenge.
How have you integrated sustainability into the development of the Knickerbocker Hotel?
The restoration of the oxidized copper below the historic mansard roof enables the building’s iconic facade to continue to prevail as an historic architectural monolith for future generations. Along the roof line, three sky pods previously used to hold flag poles, were re-envisioned as individual VIP seating areas or “Sky Pavilions”. The Sky Pavilions are an example of adaptive reuse in its truest sense, salvaging the historic shell to create something that would generate supplemental income for the hotel, and give guests a one of kind experience perched above the cinematic glow of Times Square. The vertical garden wall adds an element of nature within Times Square while improving air quality for those enjoying the Rooftop.
Inspired by the aspirational character and vision embedded into the original Knickerbocker hotel, our renovation vision of this landmark building is premised on burnishing the past, and moving it forward through time. The traditional character and spatial lineage coalesce and converge to recapture a concept of old world glamour but with an unwavering contemporary eye to seamlessly incorporate an elevated bespoke environment, within a 5-star hospitality experience.
How did you push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in this project?
The hotel interiors were designed to act as a cocoon from the sights and sounds of Times Square but softly reverberate the glow of the illuminated screens within the public spaces, bringing a sense of the city’s energy indoors. Double glazed windows were installed throughout the fifteen floors in order to maintain a tranquil atmosphere from within. A neutral material palette of various marbles and ambient lighting throughout set the mood for an elegant watering hole for social networking or relaxing. Custom furniture and signature design elements are incorporated throughout the public spaces. An Illuminated, diptych mirror in the entry lobby augments the concentric design of the marble flooring. Illuminated stepped ceiling panels, develop a spatial motif throughout the ground floor public areas that are continued throughout other public areas as well. On the fourth floor, custom mica interlayered glass screens are illuminated partitions between the Salon, Library and Restaurant.
Contrary to many large business hotels, guests at the Knickerbocker can enjoy a “made to measure” experience. Each room is designed with a customized layout to elevate the functional needs of their stay; from sleeping, bathing, dressing, working and lounging. By positioning the closet in the middle of the space, the “floating armoire” concept permits enhanced room movement and amenity placement between the sleeping and bathing areas. Privacy glass in the bathrooms creates the feeling of a larger spatial environment and augments the overall serene aesthetic in the rooms.
How would you define Gabellini Sheppard’s signature style?
Gabellini Sheppard’s signature style is more about design approach, verses a signature style. The seamless integration of space, light, and materiality compose the foundation of all Gabellini Sheppard’s signature projects, allowing each project to reflect a site-specific outcome, led by the client’s vision statement.
For this project, the anticipatory and emotional aspects of the hotel were accentuated through the use of ambient light sources through glowing volumes and undulating ceilings. Bespoke elements were designed specifically for this project, honing in on the 4th floor public areas, such as the Frappuccino marble bar and the custom mica interlayered glass screens, that act as semi-private illuminated partitions, defining the spaces maintaining a “see and be seen” quality throughout.
Design details are a unique combination of materials and finishes that exude an old world glamour within the modern framework. The Signature Suites design concepts are derived from prolific guests that stayed at the hotel during the original opening in 1906, continuing the programmatic narrative throughout the hotel.
In honor of International Women’s Day, enjoy a selection of AAP winning projects from female architects.
Dean/Wolf Architects was commissioned by the design excellence initiative process implemented by the NYC Department of Design and Construction. The EMS station occupies the northern edge of the existing Queens Hospital campus facing onto the residential scaled Goethals Avenue. It is large in plan to address the scale of the hospital and small in section to achieve a residential scale as it faces the neighborhood. The sloping of the street is mirrored in the gentle slope of the low roof which relieves the height of the street wall on the low end of the site. Engaging this landform invigorates a dissipated site, respects the scale of the neighborhood, and expresses the restless energy inherent in emergency services.
Kathryn Dean has been an architect, scholar, and educator since the inception of her career. She first was selected for the American Academy Rome Prize Fellowship in 1987. Upon returning to New York, she took a position as a senior designer at Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, where she quickly established herself as an emerging talent, designing a series of large-scale projects for international markets. In 1991, Kathryn formed Dean/Wolf Architects with partner Charles Wolf, and achieved immediate recognition for her designs of the “Spiral House” and “Urban Interface Loft.” Since that time she has lead the design efforts of the firm, garnering recognition for the consistent level of quality in several award-winning projects for private and public clients at a variety of scales. The author of Dean/Wolf Architects: Constructive Continuum, as well as Constructive Practices: Between Economy and Desire, she is committed to both professional practice and teaching. She has been an assistant professor and taught advanced studios at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and was a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and the University of Florida. In addition to her role as design principal for Dean/Wolf Architects, she is currently the JoAnne Stolaroff Cotsen Professor of Architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Kathryn is the first woman to have held an endowed chair of their Graduate Program.
This new building welcomes the entire production of wine, from the grape to the bottle of Chianti Classico. Born from the embracing hill as it opens over the surrounding vineyards, the building harmoniously integrates with the aesthetics of the Tuscan landscape, sharing its poetry. The main facade is an arched stone wall that follows existing ground levels, with an overlook path on top. Production areas are all underground. The result is a hidden garden in between that hosts tasting and selling area in a glass pavilion.
It all began in 1980 when Isabella Invernizzi (1956), after graduating in architecture at Milan University (Politecinco di Milano), and following a collaboration with Marco Zanuso, set up IIAW, Isabella Invernizzi Architecture Workshop. The office, based in Milan, began to specialize in prestigious renovation jobs and, over the years, completed a large number of projects, both in Italy and abroad.
In 2009 Beatrice Bonzanigo (1984), freshly graduated from the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (CH), began her collaboration with the Studio. She brought to the firm a humanistic design culture, inspired by the teachings of architects such as Peter Zumthor, Manuel & Francisco Aires Mateus and Valerio Olgiati.
In 2014 IB Studio was born. A mother & daughter firm which combines love for preservation with passion for innovation, and succeeds to create an exclusive combination of two different generations.
Isabella’s passion for skiing, climbing, and outdoors and Beatrice’s lifetime devotion for ballet and tango add a unique effect to their international projects.
Sakura Social Housing is a sustainable and social urban concept located on a busy intersection in Vienna, Austria. The building utilizes flexibility and suitability for everyday use as one of the central components of the planning. This is possible through the ground plan design (flexible living-kitchen area, neutral living spaces, the ability to connect rooms, merging apartments) and the possibility of being able to be part of the designing process of the apartment by its future owners.
Nerma Linsberger, Arch.Mag.arch was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and studied architecture at Akademie of Fine Arts Vienna. She was in the master-class of Prof.Timo Pentillä and Prof.Massimiliano Fuksas. Past work includes a 2006 partnership with INNOCAD architecture and ICNL architecture. In 2010, she founded NERMA LINSBERGER ZTGMBH with a philosophy inspired from a variety of world influences, using research and curiosity to find innovation to provide the best solutions for all. The approach is open minded, analytical and pragmatic to create designs that have meaning and purpose but often go against the grain of conventionality. By thinking outside the box, the office achieves to install sustainable design, as well as atmospheric sceneries for residents and the urban context.
Sugamo Shinkin Bank is a credit union that strives to provide first-rate hospitality to its customers in accordance with its motto: “we take pleasure in serving happy customers”. The request was to create a bank where people wish to stay longer and naturally feel to come back again. The façade is designed to be rhythmical that changes expression as people see from different angles. Colors appear in and out from the rhythmical repetition of cubes, dancing like musical notes playing rainbow melody. The melody spreads happiness and comfort to visitors and to the people in the local community.
emmanuelle moureaux is a French architect / designer living in Tokyo. Inspired by the layers and colors of Tokyo that built a complex depth and density on the street, and the traditional spatial elements like sliding screens, she has created the concept of “shikiri”, which literally means “dividing (creating) space with colors”. Using colors as her signature, she designs wide ranges of projects from architecture, space design, and art installations such as “100 colors” series. Principal Architect at emmanuelle moureaux architecture + design. Associate Professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design.
This 5,000 SF loft was designed for a photographer who was seeking a serene live- work environment. A library/reception area immediately off of the entry vestibule allows her to meet with gallerists, present her work, and have her collection of research materials on hand for discussion. The reception area serves as a hinge for two distinct zones in the loft: the east zone flows directly into the ‘private’ domain of her photography studio and back to her private bedroom, while the south zone flows into the ‘public’ domain of her kitchen, dining, and living areas. We crafted raw steel, aluminum, solid oak, and white resin design features throughout the loft. They are designed as minimal art moments as much as they are functional elements for storage, dining and work areas. The wall planes in the photography studio are cleverly sheathed in white magnetic panels to allow the client to display and reposition her work. The bathrooms were designed as an immersive chamber of light and striated stone, a soothing respite from the intensity of the city. Custom resin sinks, shower areas, and niches for toiletries were fused into the bathrooms to create a seamless and fully integrated concept.
Katherine Chia is a partner and founder of Desai Chia Architecture. The firm’s award-winning work is grounded in a tradition of eloquent functionality and beauty that emerges from a well-tuned practice focused on bold design concepts, sustainable strategies, and the craft of building. Her projects include a wide range of residential and commercial commissions as well as collaborations with artists and product manufacturers.
Chia earned her MArch from M.I.T. and received her BA from Amherst College where she also served as a Trustee. She is co-chair of the Program Leadership Council of the Van Alen Institute. She has also been a faculty member in the architecture department at Parsons The New School of Design.
This 4 star family hotel situated in the heart of the Italian Alps features traditional buildings grouped in small clusters with the main side facing Mont Rosa. The area used to be inhabited by the ancient Valser population whose traditions heavily influenced the project of this hotel, leaving a strong legacy that encourages respect and preservation of these values both in managing existing buildings or in the development of new ones.
Lead Architect: Rita Cattaneo, Milan, Italy
Rita graduated from Milan Polytechnic with projects published in Casabella magazine. She collaborated with Gregotti Associati for eight years and participated in several significant projects: Grand Arc to the Defence in Paris, Olympic facilities and stadium in Barcelona, Milan Bicocca project, masterplan in Turin, recovery Fori Imperiali in Rome, and Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
In 1991, Rita opened her own studio in Milan. The current philosophy deals with the design and renovation of residential buildings and offices, including an office building in Agusta, the Aermacchi recovery area in Varese, a residential complex in Crema, apartments, villas, a cottage on Mount Portofino, a multipurpose building in Borgomanero, the award winning Mirtillo Rosso Family Hotel in Monte Rosa area, and the re-design of Xinchang urban, a historical village in the department of Shanghai.
In the interior of this country house neat forms are in harmony with softness and comfort. The work began with the adjustments of the original building layout. The garage on the ground floor was replaced by a guest room, and the public area was designed as a single space. The living room, kitchen and dining room composed an area of a regular square shape, which adjoins a glazed-in veranda. The integrity of the interior is emphasized by a structure of walnut veneer created as per the author’s blueprints. The wardrobe above the extended fireplace and the wall in the kitchen area merge with decorative wood paneling on the ceiling into a single unit and envelop the room with a warm honey color. The design materials characteristic of industrial design – concrete, metal plates and mirrors – do not interfere with this closeness. On the contrary, their use in combination with natural walnut and oak gives dramatic contrast.
Alexandra Fedorova founded her own award-winning architecture bureau based in Moscow in 2004 with a focus on residential and public buildings, as well as works in the field of interior design for residential and public facilities. The philosophy of the bureau is “TIMELESS” architecture and interior design which is up-to-date and relevant in any time create living environments for people in the form of volumetric and spatial compositions which may be supplemented by accessories, as and when necessary, but the essence of the space remains the same.
Hilgard Garden aims to provide the owners with an extended outdoor living space; a garden room. Due to the steeply sloping site, accessibility to an upper seating area requires navigating a considerable elevation change. To avoid taking up a large swathe of the smaller backyard square footage with a conventional stair, a ramping meandering path through aromatic ground cover and the outstretched limbs of sculptural Japanese maples was selected as a more experiential garden path.
The 2017 AAP Architecture Prize Nginx winners event will take place in New York City on October 27, 2017. The AAP winners event is presented in association with Archtober: Architecture and Design Month in New York City happening throughout October 2017.
The AAP 2017 Winners Cocktail Event
October 27, 2017
7-9PM
New Museum, Sky Room
235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002, United States
The winners of the AAP 2017 and the AAP Firm of the Year Award will be honored in the premier space of the New Museum, the Sky Room with floor-to-ceiling windows, a terrace and stunning panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline. Main category winners will receive the coveted coveted AAP trophy. Last year hundreds of guests from all over the world gathered to celebrate inspirational architecture, including some of the world’s best architects and designers, along with members of the AAP jury, media representatives and other esteemed guests.
Besides the invitation to the AAP Winners Event, winners of the 2017 AAP Architecture Prize will also get extensive publicity showcasing their designs to a worldwide audience.
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Nerma Linsberger, Arch.Mag.arch was born 
emmanuelle moureaux is a French architect / designer living in Tokyo. Inspired by the layers and colors of Tokyo that built a complex depth and density on the street, and the traditional spatial elements like sliding screens, she has created the concept of “shikiri”, which literally means “dividing (creating) space with colors”. Using colors as her signature, she designs wide ranges of projects from architecture, space design, and art installations such as “100 colors” series. Principal Architect at emmanuelle moureaux architecture + design. Associate Professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design. 
Katherine Chia is a partner and founder of Desai Chia Architecture. The firm’s award-winning work is grounded in a tradition of eloquent functionality and beauty that emerges from a well-tuned practice focused on bold design concepts, sustainable strategies, and the craft of building. Her projects include a wide range of residential and commercial commissions as well as collaborations with artists and product manufacturers.
