Crystal City BID Wins DESIGNArlington Award

Crystal City BID Wins DESIGNArlington Award

The BID is Given the Award for Excellence for ECO-Art Statues

ARLINGTON, VA – The Arlington County Board yesterday named eleven winners of the inaugural DESIGNArlington ’09 awards. In naming commercial, residential and government buildings across Arlington, the Board sought to capture the County’s architectural diversity, and create role models of architectural and design excellence.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District won one of four Awards of Excellence for the ECO-Art Statues that were in the Crystal City Water Park from June through October, 2009. Local artist Sergio Martinez used sustainably- and locally- grown and harvested bamboo to mimic and reflect the dynamic characteristics of water through varying lengths, orientations, and heights. The pieces sought to represent water in varying states of its liquid form including through the natural energy of waves, the geometry of a drop of water, or the rippling effect of water moving past an old wooden post of a pier.

The BID was not the only winner in Crystal City. Vornado / Charles E. Smith received the Award of Merit for 220 Twentieth Street. Vornado, along with architect Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, Balfour Beatty, HOK, and Hartman Design Group transformed the former Patent and Trademark Office into one of the area's preeminent luxury apartment buildings in the region.

The panel of distinguished judges for the competition included: Roger K. Lewis, FAIA, Washington Post columnist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland; William Spack, AIA, Principal, cox graae + spack architects and former member of Arlington’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB); Robert Sponseller, AIA, Principal, Shalom Baranes Associates; and Jonathan Fitch, ASLA, Landscape Architecture Bureau. The winning submissions received either Awards of Excellence or Awards of Merit.

“This award is meant to signal that quality design is no longer a luxury in Arlington, it is a priority,” said County Board Chairman Jay Fisette. “Arlington is already known as a leader in Smart Growth planning and transit. It is time to set higher expectations in building design and reach for some truly great buildings – both commercial and residential.”

The County received a total of 50 entries, ranging from traditional and modern construction in single-family neighborhoods, to residential infill and multi-family housing projects, to adaptive reuse, preservation, and public art projects.

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About the Crystal City BID
Established in April of 2006, the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is creating a soul for Crystal City. A public-private partnership, the BID is providing a higher level of service to visitors, workers, and residents in Crystal City--driving to become a world-class destination in both Arlington and the greater DC region. For more information, visit www.crystalcity.org.

DESIGNArlington was inspired by the popularity and success of Arlington’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board’s former annual design awards program. That program recognized historic preservation projects and sensitive new construction in the County. The Board also established DESIGNArlington as a follow-up to its recent Architecture Initiative. The new, more inclusive program captures the disciplines of architecture, historic preservation, open space, and public art.