ARCHIZINC Trophy

The ARCHIZINC Trophy, administered every two years by VM Zinc, rewards quality architecture, but it also "highlights zinc through appropriate new applications." Over 100 submissions from 19 countries were up for awards this year. Winners include a private house in Carquefou, France, designed by Fabien Chavignaud Architecte (Individual Housing category); the Historical Library at an Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt, Germany, designed by Junk & Reich Architecten (Public Buildings category); and Traction, an addition to an architect's office in Hoboken, New Jersey, designed by Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects (Commercial Building category). Special mentions and a few special awards in unique categories were also awarded.

Traction, the project pictured, is an addition to Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects' own office, which is actually housed in a renovated turn-of-the-century Norwegian church, a few blocks from the Hudson River and a ferry ride to Midtown Manhattan. The small addition has a curving, slightly irregular profile that makes it a suitable cap to one end of the old brick church. The zinc skin's shape and application overcome the technical challenges of the organic, wall-like form framed in curved steel tubes. This organic effect is furthered by the varied colors of the hexagonal skin, giving the addition a dappled appearance fitting with both the brick building and the surrounding trees.  jh