University of Nebraska’s College of Architecture Among Awardees at AIA-NE Annual Gala

 

At this year’s Excellence in Design Gala, the American Institute of Architects, Nebraska Chapter (AIA-NE) presented five Honor Awards and eleven Merit Awards selected from Nebraska architects’ submissions and evaluated by Ohio jurors.
Faculty, students and alumni from the College of Architecture were among the honorees. 

Architectural Program Director Jeffrey L. Day (and his Omaha and San Francisco based architectural firm Min | Day) won two distinguished honors at the event. Min | Day was presented with the following awards on September 29th:

 

  • • Honor Award in the Architecture category for their project entitled “Blue Barn Theatre & Box Car 10” Omaha, Nebraska.  This project was conceived as a new arts hub in a rapidly changing district near downtown Omaha. The experimental theatre opens to the city outdoors through a public open space anchored with a mixed-use building.
  • • Merit Award in the Unbuilt Architecture category for their project entitled “Hexad” Lincoln, NE. 

Hexad is a caretaker’s house for a private estate in a sculpture garden. The 832 sq. ft. building separates the basic functions of home into living, eating, bathing and sleeping, into four 160 sq. ft. wings. Current M.Arch student Jacob Doyle also worked on the Hexad project while an intern at Min | Day in 2016.

 

College of Architecture recent graduates were recognized as well. David Alcala and Joshua Puppe, both currently employed in BVH’s Lincoln office, won a Merit Award in the Emerging Professionals category for their project entitled “Ephemerality – St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,” a project they designed in ARCH 410 under studio instructor Mark Bacon’s direction.

In this design, the church is strengthened through the employment of light, material logic and the concept of ascension through architecture. The project’s goals were achieved through designing spaces around light such as the main chapel and other areas in darkness such as the private chapel to reflect the program of the room. The project was previously recognized with an SGH / Dri-Design scholarship.

 

Several College of Architecture alumni had their work recognized with the AIA-NE Excellence in Design awards and the full award list may be accessed through www.aiane.org website. The Excellence in Design program is an annual event for Nebraska architects who submit built and unbuilt projects for consideration. Categories for consideration include Architecture, Interior Architecture, Unbuilt, Excellence in Masonry and Details. For Emerging Architects the categories are Unbuilt Design and Architectural Detail.

 

Projects were judged based on a variety of features, including unique design, originality, extended use attributes, sustainability, budget and use of environmental surroundings. More information about each of these projects can be found at

 

http://www.aiane.org/aia_design_awards/2016_excellence_in_design_awards/.