The first phase of the inaugural Architizer A+ Awards is over, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the response from you guys! Since launching the awards program in mid-October, we received a phenomenal number of projects by architects from all over the world, all vying for the top prize in 50 categories.

We’re now onto Phase Two:  every single one of the projects you submitted to us has already been sent to our illustrious jurors, who have 2 weeks to spend with the entries before selecting their top picks. That means architects like Steven Holl and Jeanne Gang, innovators like Neri Oxman and Aaron Koblin, designers like Rem D. Koolhaas and Eckart Maisse, developers like Ian Schrager and MaryAnne Gilmartin, curators Barry Bergdoll and Paola Antonelli, and even celebs like Moby and Elle Macpherson are looking at your projects right now. They’ll choose the top 5 buildings and spaces from each category (both architectural typologies likes “Residential Housing” and Plus typologies like “Urban Transformation”), and we will announce their shortlist on February 14. The jury’s final selections will be kept under wraps for one month, just until phase three of the awards has concluded.

Phase Three might be the most fun of all: public voting. The shortlisted projects will all be posted to the A+ Awards site, where starting February 14 you can vote for the Public Choice winners! Voting is open to everyone and will run through March 8. The best architecture of the last 3 years is in your hands, so don’t forget to vote!

After the public voting period is closed, we’ll tally the numbers and announce both the jury award winners and the public choice winners on March 19. We’ll continue to roll out A+ content thereafter, but that date will mark the end of the first year’s awards. All of the winners are invited to a big gala event on May 16 to celebrate with the architectural community. That’s smack dab in NY Design Week, so we expect a lot of people to be there. We’re still working out the deets, so stay tuned for more.

Finally, thanks to you architects, designers, and fans for making the first annual Architizer A+ Awards such a great success!

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One Hudson Yards. Photo: courtesy of Extell

In case you haven’t heard, the final entry deadline for the A+ Awards is just days away (nine, to be exact!). We’ve spent weeks, even months, touting our amazing jury and our media partners, including the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, GOOD, and Cool Hunting. And we’ll of course be featuring the finalists and winners right here on Architizer.

But wait: There’s more! Yesterday we highlighted a number of esteemed journalists from international publications who are serving on the A+ Awards jury. In addition to those great minds, you’ll have some of the industry’s leading developers and clients seeing your work too. From boutique hotels to sky-high towers, these jurors know a thing or two about good design. Click through to see the developers and clients who are serving on the A+ Awards jury.

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For those lollygaggers out there who haven’t yet entered the A+ Awards, get on it! There are ample reasons why it’s well worth your time—including getting some serious media exposure. Of course, we’ll be featuring the finalists and winners on our own site, viewed by millions each month. We also have partnerships with the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, GOOD, and Cool Hunting.

If that’s not enough, consider this: Your work will be judged by a number of esteemed journalists from international publications! Click through to see the editors, writers, and photographers who are serving on the A+ Awards jury.

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Studio Gang Architects, the Chicago-based firm led by MacArthur fellow and Architizer A+ Awards’ juror Jeanne Gang, has opened a new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, immersing visitors in the studio’s creative process. The exhibit, titled “Building: Inside Studio Gang Architects,” is the first solo show dedicated to the work of Studio Gang, showcasing the stream of ideas that populate the firm’s growing body of work. Read more.

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Image (c) nori*, via Flickr.

Back in November we brought word of a great design competition hosted by Cembrit, the Danish manufacturer of fibre cement. Cembrit’s 2012 Bullhorn Design Competition focuses on Helsinki – an appropriate choice, given the city’s title of the World Design Capital 2012! Specifically, Cembrit is asking designers of all ilk to address the city’s largest suburban commuter station, in Malmi, and propose a redesign to invigorate the station and the urban fabric surrounding it. It’s a great brief, one that asks designers to intelligently redesign a pre-existing building, rather that creating more unnecessary waste through design.

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After deliberating in NYC yesterday, our international jury, chaired by Juergen Mayer H, chose Dubai-ing as the winner of the Competition Competition 2010! The winning design, submitted by Mickael Papin, David Neil, Magali Lamoureux, Pierre Sillande, and Nicolas Lombardi, beat out over 600 other entries! Congratulations to the winning team and to the honorable mentions!

In the words of our jury:

- [The winner is] Heavy on thought, light in matter -  Juergen Mayer H, Jury Chair (Principal, J. Mayer H. Architects)

- In this time of economic crisis this project comments on what happened in Dubai by pushing it even further to an ironic extreme – Andres Lepik (Curator of Contemporary Architecture, MoMA)

- We wanted to go with something that has guts – Ada Tolla (Principal, LOT-EK, New York)

- The winner understands the problems associated with Dubai?s development and created a satirical play off of it – Jared Della Valle (Partner, Della Valle Bernheimer) – Jared Della Valle (Principal, Della Valle Bernheimer)

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