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“We’re not here to build for other architects, we’re here to build for all of humankind.”
Bjarke Ingels’ quote serves to remind everyone in the architectural profession about a universal but oft-forgotten truth. For this reason, Architizer’s A+Awards — the world’s largest awards program for architecture and products — gives everyone their say on the best buildings of the year, and winners of the popular vote stand alongside those selected by the jury in Architizer’s pantheon of great projects each year.
The question is: what factors will increase your chance of topping the public vote? Exploring the projects that emerged victorious in last year’s competition, it is possible to identify certain design elements and approaches that appeal to a wide demographic, and these can serve as a guide for creating great architecture for everyone, not only for the experts. Here are eight points to consider for architects looking to design for the crowds as well as the critics:
© Miran Kambic
1. Embrace the Landscape
Projects that embed architecture within dramatic natural environments are always popular, but you do not have to create a green-roofed bunker that blends seamlessly into the landscape. Take Abiro’s Ski Jumps Planica project in Rateče, Slovenia, which won the popular vote in the A+Awards for Recreation Centers: striking concrete forms are juxtaposed with cascading vegetation from Triglav National Park and appear as monumental sporting sculptures between the trees.
© pierer.net
2. Move in a Different Direction
Subverting the dynamic elements of architecture can transform a project — creating a memorable experience for inhabitants and attracting A+Award votes in the process. So it proved last year for PPAG Architects’ striking Steirereck, winner of the popular vote in the restaurants typology: instead of the usual pivoting motion, huge glass doors are fitted with an electronic sliding mechanism that allows them to rise up above the parapet, the transparent panels forming ethereal sculptures in between a multitude of plants on the rooftop.
3. Harness the Power of Great Engineering
Many of the most striking buildings around the world are not only the work of architects: close collaborations with engineers can result in daring and dynamic solutions, and bold structural moves appeal to people across the globe. A potent example comes in the form of the Óbidos Technological Park Central Building by Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda., winner of the popular vote in the Mixed Use category. Huge metal trusses, assembled to create four interconnected prisms, build a gargantuan floating cloister in which a series of startup offices are located.
4. Create an Atmosphere
People are naturally drawn to spaces with a powerful atmosphere, so it was no surprise that Fujiko Nakaya was victorious in last year’s A+Awards for his “Veil” over Philip Johnson’s Glass House, winner of the popular vote in the Architecture +Art category. The artist’s cloak of rising mist blends a mysterious opacity with Johnson’s transparent walls of glazing and produces an eerie but beautiful environment that brings new life to this modernist icon.
© Architectural photographer Mika Huisman
5. Be Bold With Color
Sure, most architects’ favorite color is not a color at all: black is best. Or — at a push — white. However, people around the world appreciate color when it is harnessed in a bold and playful fashion, and the multi-chromatic interiors of Seinäjoki Library netted JKMM Architects a 2015 A+Award in Architecture +Photography and Video. Bright cocoons of yellow and red carpet offer children warm and inviting nooks in which to read and relax.
6. Upend Programmatic Expectations
Projects can surprise and delight not only via the use of unconventional forms, but also by fostering unexpected functions that cause people to view their environment in an entirely new way. A particularly powerful illustration of upended expectation comes in the shape of ORE Design’s Riverpark Farm in New York, which the architects describe as an “uncommon oasis” in the heart of this frenetic city. A series of luscious allotments and al fresco dining spaces offers people a place to gather and fosters a strong sense of community in contrast to the corporate nature of the surrounding skyscrapers.
© Kyungsub Shin
© Kyungsub Shin
7. Find Beauty in Functionality
One might be forgiven for thinking that aesthetics are of the utmost importance to untrained eyes, but last year’s A+Award winner of the popular vote in the Stadium/Arena category proved that great functionality is vital to everyone. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC Clubhouse by Suh Architects is undoubtedly beautiful, but its primary quality lies in how well it functions as a sporting complex: an efficient layout, distinctive communal spaces, robust finishes, ideal lighting and ventilation, and rational circulation give this facility an architectural edge.
8. Celebrate Your Process
Everyone appreciates a good story, and the stories behind architecture can be some of the most inspiring of all. That’s why it pays to illustrate how your project was designed and constructed as well as the final product — as demonstrated by the Hello Wood International Architecture Camp, winner of the popular vote in the Architecture +Learning category. Photographs of these striking sculptural pieces are supplemented with brilliant images of collaboration between university students, who demonstrated great design skills as well as some serious craftsmanship.
