For 29 years, the American Institute of Architects, California Council has celebrated outstanding architecture through the AIACC Design Awards program. Once again, the AIACC last week announced recipients of this year�s competition.

According to the council, architects realize that design is about relationships, not just �looks.� �It�s about how look and feel, use and comfort, stability and durability come together to support one another,� the council says. �How light shapes space and space shapes light -- and how light and space together suggest where we would most like to sit. There are less tangible benefits, too, like the delight that people find in good buildings.�

The council says that design is only one component of architecture, but a very important one, from many view points. As a community, citizens utilize and enjoy the structure through all the amenities it offers. Design matters to the architect, as well as to those it serves, often for generations to come.

More than 325 submittals were reviewed by the Design Awards jury, which this year was comprised of Annie Chu, AIA, Principal, Chu + Gooding Architects, Los Angeles; Peter H. Dodge, FAIA, Consulting Founding Partner, EHDD Architecture, San Francisco; Robert Ivy, FAIA, Editor in Chief, Architectural Record, New York; Stephen Kieran, FAIA, Kieran Timberlake, Philadelphia; and Maryann Thompson, FAIA, Maryann Thompson Architects, Cambridge, Mass.

The seven Honor Awards bestowed for architecture design include the following structures and respective architects and/or architectural firms:

� Apple Store Boylston Street (Boston), Architect Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
� C. V. Starr East Asian Library (University of California, Berkeley), Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects; Associate Architect: Tom Eliot Fisch Architects
� 41 Cooper Square (New York, NY), Morphosis Architects; Associate Architect: Gruzen Samton, LLP
� Inner-City Arts (Los Angeles) Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc.
� Pittman Dowell Residence (La Crescenta, Calif.), Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc.
� Adaptive Reuse of Ford Assembly Plant (Richmond), Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
� 3641 Holdrege Avenue Building (Los Angeles) Lynch / Eisinger / Design (LED); Associate Architect: HPA

Fifteen Merit Awards were given for design of Architecture:

� Oakland Museum of California Renovation (Oakland), Mark Cavagnero Associates
� Price Center East (University of California, San Diego), Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design
� United States Embassy (Beijing), Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP
� Triskelion (The Presidio, San Francisco), Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects
� Sonoma Retreat (Sonoma County), Aidlin Darling Design
� Formosa 1140 (West Hollywood), LOHA
� Palms House (Venice, Calif.), Daly Genik
� Sapphire Gallery Extension (Encino), XTEN Architecture
� Step Up on Fifth (Santa Monica), Pugh + Scarpa Architects
� Hancock Mixed-Use Housing (West Hollywood), Koning Eizenberg
� New Carver Apartments (Los Angeles), Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc.
� Gallery House (San Francisco), Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects
� Bubeshko Apartments (Los Angeles), DSH
� Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure (Santa Monica), Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
� LAPD Memorial to Fallen Officers (Los Angeles), Gensler

Two Honor Awards were given for Interior Architecture:

� Performance Capture Studio (Novato), LOHA/Kanner Architects
� Sand Residence and Offices (San Francisco), Sand Studios

Three Merit Awards were given for Interior Architecture:

� FIDM (San Diego), Clive Wilkinson Architects
� The Conga Room (Los Angeles), Belzberg Architects
� LA County Elections Operations Center (Santa Fe Springs), Lehrer Architects

Five Merit Awards were given for Small Projects:

� Aortic Arc (California College of the Arts, San Francisco), Visible Research Office / Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
� Century Building Bicycle Commuter Center (Pittsburgh, Penn.), Koning Eizenberg
� GREENskin (San Francisco), INTERSTICE Architects
� Kokoris Residence (San Francisco), Jensen Architects / Jensen & Macy Architects
� Camp Emerald Bay Eco-Cabin (Catalina Island), Gensler