by ArchitectureWeek
Once a year, the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) takes a break from its serious work of providing technical assistance to architects, engineers, and builders. Through its Innovative Design and Excellence in Architecture with Steel (I.D.E.A.S.) awards, the institute honors a few projects that use steel and display an exemplary merging of architectural expression and structural form.
Topping the list of this year's national winners is The Kimmel Center for Performing Arts by Rafael Viñoly Architects. This building and the other award recipients feature structural steel as a prominent architectural feature and demonstrate creativity in combining steel elements with other materials.
Another of the national winners is a new building for the Des Moines (Iowa) Area Community College, by Renaissance Design Group with Dennis & Magnani Structural Consultants and KJWW Engineering.
An elliptical social realm at the core of the building is flanked by two expandable wings filled with labs, classrooms, and offices. A poured-in-place concrete bearing wall supports a structural steel roof, and a preassembled glass and aluminum curtain wall forms the skin. The jury was impressed with the building's simplicity and clarity of organization. They said: "The steel enables the forms and spaces to meet the visual concept for the building and its interior."
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