As part of the 2023 AIA Awards, the American Institute of Architects revealed the winners in the 2023 AIA Regional and Urban Design category. The 2023 AIA Regional & Urban Design program honors remarkable urban design, city planning, and community-building contributions.
2023 AIA Regional and Urban Design Award Winners
The finest planning reflects the design’s promise and genuine worth to communities by focusing on the overall building design, local culture, and resource availability.
1) Completing the Loop ( PITTSBURGH, EVOLVE ENVIRONMENT:: ARCHITECTURE)
©evolveEA
The first 2023 AIA Regional & Urban Design award winner in our list, “Completing the Loop,” is a master plan that outlines Riverlife’s vision for revamping 15 miles of Pittsburgh’s riverfront land and helps the organization move closer to its goal of bridging the divide between the city’s neighborhoods and its world-class riverfront.
The plan showcases the outcome of a community-driven initiative that lasted 18 months, laying out how to use abandoned industrial land to re-establish a link between Pittsburgh’s famous three rivers and neighborhoods that have been cut off from them by road and railways.
2) East End Transformation (ST. LOUIS, KIERAN TIMBERLAKE, TAO+LEE ASSOCIATES, BNIM)
©James Ewing
With the help of a 2014 master plan, this project will convert over six acres of parking lots into a landscaped area with grass, trees, and other plants. There is now a vast park, and five new academic buildings surrounding the university’s landmark Brookings Hall since hundreds of parking spots were moved underground.
The Saint Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and other cultural landmarks are all located within Forest Park, a 1,300-acre space that the project has considerably improved.
3) Van Leesten Memorial Bridge (PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, INFORM STUDIO)
©Steve Kroodsma
The Van Leesten Memorial Bridge is a repurposed section of Interstate Highway 195 that links five of the city’s most valuable communities and landmarks.
The bridge is more than just a thoroughfare; it is an attraction in its own right, with various interactive programming modes designed to bring city dwellers together and encourage them to get to know one another.
A striking representation of Providence’s revitalization, the bridge accepts its role as a connector between the eastern and western ends of Waterfront Park by creating a public area that balances the needs of people and nature.
4) Thaden School Master Plan (BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS, ESKEW DUMEZ RIPPLE)
©Timothy Hursley
This strategy supports establishing an independent school in quickly developing Bentonville, Arkansas, and challenges standard education paradigms. Thaden School’s three-pronged curriculum emphasizes on-site practical learning while maintaining the connection to nature and the community.
The team, the community, and the leadership at Thaden School worked together to establish the overarching strategy, which investigates how a school can support a developing urban environment while also introducing its students to the region’s longstanding agricultural identity.
The team’s original idea was for a campus with an “urban pastoral” feel that combines the revitalizing effects of city growth with a nod to the region’s agricultural heritage and, in particular, its traditional homesteads.
5) Railyard Park (Rogers, Arkansas, Ross Barney Architects, AFHJ Architecture/Planning)
©Kate Joyce Studios
Rogers’ downtown area has been revitalized thanks to the initiative, which was guided by a thorough community involvement process that streamlined and linked new activities.
The project began with numerous workshops and open days incorporating several interactive and visual technologies. Along with live events, the team also used an online poll to reach out to the community and gather feedback, which they then used to analyze the park’s top objectives.
The overwhelming amount of information collected influenced the park’s final design and gave locals a genuine and vital voice in its creation.
