Categories
The Typology and Plus Categories
The A+ Awards consist of two categories. The Typology Categories celebrate traditional building types. The Plus Categories acknowledge the link between global issues and the structures that society builds.
THE TYPOLOGY CATEGORIES
Architects do a lot of things - signage, branding, presentations, conferences - but at the core of our profession, we make buildings and spaces. The Typology Awards honor this core function. Categories broadly include residential, office, commercial, transportation, cultural, institutional, landscape, and student projects. To be recognized amongst the best is an incredible achievement worthy of praise - and perhaps a bit of bragging. Entries must be built projects completed within the past three (3) years.
Residential
- Single Family Home
- Residential Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
- Residential Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
- Residential High Rise (16+ Floors)
- Residential Interiors
Office
- Office Building Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
- Office Building Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
- Office Building High Rise (16+ Floors)
- Office Interiors
Commercial
- Retail
- Pop-ups
- Hotels & Resorts
- Restaurants
- Bars & Nightclubs
Transportation
- Airports
- Bus & Train Stations
- Parking Structures
- Port Facilities & Boat Piers
Cultural
- Museums
- Theatres & Performing Arts Centers
- Art Galleries
- Libraries
Institutional
- Health Care & Aging Facilities
- Kindergartens, Primary & High Schools
- Higher Education Institutions & Research Facilities
- Government & Municipal Buildings, Police & Fire Stations
- Memorials
- Religious Buildings
- Sports & Recreation Centers
Landscape
- Public Parks
- Private Gardens
Student
- Student Design/Build Project (Only student work that has been built. This could be through a formal academic course, or as a self initiated project.)
THE PLUS CATEGORIES
Architecture is everywhere and touches nearly every person on earth every day. The Plus Awards are designed to celebrate architecture's relevancy through categories that highlight the issues confronting the world. The newness of these issues means that these awards are open to built and unbuilt projects conceived in the past three (3) years.
- Architecture +Aging - The world's population is living longer and the demographic wave of elderly people will have great consequences for the built environment. Submit projects that deal with this seismic shift in population. Only the topic of architecture and aging will be judged in this category.
- Architecture +Branding - It did not start with the Apple store, but this innovative retail environment has changed consumer brand's perception of the power of architecture. Submit projects that deal with the built environment and branded experiences in innovative ways. Only a project's relationship to branding will be judged in this category.
- Architecture +Collaboration - Architecture is an inherently collaborative field, but some projects push this remarkable attribute to new heights by reaching out of our own field to professions far and wide. Submit projects that are the result of new types of collaborations - only the collaborative element and its result in the project will be evaluated for judging this category.
- Architecture +Communication - From the cellphones that we carry with us to social media that we access daily, communication technology is changing the way we live and occupy spaces. Submit projects that take on the broad phenomenon of communication. Only the submission's approach to communication will be considered in this category.
- Architecture +Economic Crisis - The burst housing bubble in the United States and subsequent global economic downturn have been acutely felt in the architecture and design world, but these professions have answered with innovation and resilience. Submit projects that deal with the economic downturn, its consequences and opportunities. Only a project's relationship to the economic downturn will be judged in this category.
- Architecture +Fabrication - From building sized robots to industrial scaled laser cutters - new means of fabrication are changing the architect's tool-set with stunning results. Submit projects that use cutting edge fabrication techniques at any scale. Only the fabrication methods will be considered in judging this category.
- Architecture +Farming - There is a revolution afoot affecting how humans regard food production. Farm-to-table, urban farming, victory gardens and much more are changing how we think about what we eat and where it is grown. The growing/raising/processing of food will be the only component judged for this category.
- Architecture +Learning - Great experiments are underway that are changing the way we learn outside of formal education. Submit projects that respond to changing means of exchanging knowledge.
- Architecture +Light - Projects that deploy light in a substantive and innovative manner. Only the use of light and its effects will be considered in judging.
- Architecture +Living Small- The world is urbanizing and as a consequence cities are looking for new models of density. Submit projects that take on the idea of life within a small footprint. The judges will be looking for innovation within this area for judging.
- Architecture +Materials - There is no architecture without materiality and architects are always looking for new types of materials, and new uses of existing ones. Submit projects that have a particularly innovative use of material for this category. Only the issue of materiality will be judged in this category.
- Architecture +Mobility - The way we get around cities is changing. Car sharing, bike rentals, and new forms of public transportation are having an impact on the buildings we build. Submit projects that deal with this phenomenon. Only the aspect of how architecture is responding to mobility will be considered for this category.
- Architecture + Modelling - New ways of drawing means architectural projects that were inconceivable just a few years ago. Programs like Grasshopper and its parametric classmates are just one example of these new technologies. Submit projects that are the direct result of these new drawing techniques - they will be judged only on the application of this new technology.
- Architecture +Self Initiated Projects - Online crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter are changing the traditional role of the architect by putting the designer into the driver's seat. Submit projects that were incepted by architects and designers and demonstrate how the architecture and design fields are impacting the larger discourse around design. Only the entrepreneurial aspect of entries will be considered for judging in this category.
- Architecture +Sound - Architecture effects all of the senses, but increasingly there is experimentation with how it impacts the way we hear the world around us. Submit projects that take on the topic of sound and architecture. Only this aspect will be considered in judging this category.
- Architecture +Sustainability - Projects that tackle the issue of sustainability. Only the project's sustainability performance will be judged in this category.
- Architecture +Urban Transformation - Cities across the globe are revitalizing abandoned infrastructure, creating new public spaces out of neglected areas and building new ways for the world's citizens to live more densely within existing urban fabric. Submit projects that highlight this trend - architectural projects that spur new occupation and lively places. Only the transformative aspect of projects will be eligible for this category.
- Architecture +Weather - Changing climate and rising seas are just a few of a new set of variables that are challenging the built environment. Submit projects that deal with architecture's response to natural crises - only this component of the project will be considered in this category.
- Architecture +Workspace - The way we work is changing with the advent of shared work spaces, open offices, live/work setups and much more. Submit projects that take on the concept of 'new workspace'. Only the project's innovative design of the workspace will be considered for judging.
back to top
