Architizer’s upcoming A+Awards is a study in intersections: between architecture and society, between design and function, between big, lofty theories and tactile real-world application. So why should the trophy, the very thing that all entrants are going before over 300 jurors in order to win, be any different?
The trophy was developed in partnership with Snarkitecture, a Brooklyn-based, collaborative art and architecture practice that’s been involved with everything from popup shops to choreographed performances — not to mention the world’s most surreal manmade “ocean.” The practice is concerned with intersections, as well, the spaces where it’s most able to, in its own words, “make architecture perform the unexpected.” That sentiment is echoed throughout the design of the A+Award.
“When you’re making an award, it could be anything,” David Moritz, the founder of Society Awards, also a partner in the trophy’s creation, says in the video. “It can be anything you can imagine.”
And he means it. The award begins its life as simple styrofoam, goes through a variety of casting phases and ends up as a cube of cultured marble with a hairline crack running around the side. It’s designed to be split in half to reveal its center, a black ‘+’ rising from a pixelated landscape of contours. This physicality makes sense: who says a prize has to be a static thing, intended to be handed over only to collect dust in an attic? Why not create a piece that can be forever transformed by its recipient, that’s as dynamic as the A+Awards itself?
The deadline to enter and win this fantastic trophy is fast approaching: all entries must be submitted by Friday, January 29th. Considering everyone already involved — from the jurors to the trophy designers — represents such a huge, excited, open-minded array of interests and spaces between, it is a wonderful chance to be part of something big. For the full story behind the A+Awards, read about how architecture broke out of the echo chamber, and to submit your project now, click here.