Works in Progress Category

Anchorage Museum Expansion - MERIT AWARD
Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture

Jury Comments:
This was the clear winner in this category, for two reasons. The jury debated at length what was being sought in a “works in progress” award winner, and generally felt that this was an award for conceptual thinking. The Anchorage Museum Expansion project not only best fits this definition (by displaying a strong, still-to-be-finalized concept), but also inspired the jury with the quality of the concept itself. It is, in a word, evocative. The grove of birch trees will be a bold, simple statement that is appropriate to its place and climate. The tidal Cook Inlet plaza has built-in year-round programming opportunities. However this project is implemented with regard to specific detailing and programming, the birch trees and tidal flats concept will create a memorable, appropriate, captivating space.