On 13 September, the awards ceremony for the best design restaurants of 2022 selected by the American Institute of Architects in Los Angeles took place. The award, now in its seventeenth year, is dedicated to restaurants and bars, both outdoor and indoor, created in the last four years anywhere in the world. The competing projects are divided into three main categories plus two special prizes that are decided by the public.
A festive awards ceremony in Los Angeles marked the end of the 17th edition of the prizes that the AIA LA, the local branch of the American Institute of Architects, reserves for the best bar and restaurant designs from all over the world over the past four years. Big or small, indoors or outdoors, formal or informal, built with modest or large budgets, bars and restaurants are, as noted by architect Carlo Caccavale, Executive Director of AIA|LA, the main meeting places for our shared and collective experiences. They are places where form and function combine perfectly and perform an important role in our daily lives. They are, in fact, fundamental social aggregators for our communities, and their role was highlighted in all its importance and value when, in the months of lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic, it was not possible to visit them.
The awards given by the AIA-LA are only intended for those bars and restaurants that have been completed within the last four years (completed no earlier than 1 January 2018). Chef and cookbook author Jennifer Hill Booker and architect Anthony Poon of POON DESIGN, were part of the jury that was tasked with selecting and awarding the Honor, Merit and Citation titles for the three award categories. From the projects selected by the jury, the public was able to choose their favourites and award special prizes to the most popular bar and restaurant.
For the Café category, only the Merit was awarded to the Dripp Coffee Bar project by Abramson Architects in Costa Mesa, California, and the Audience Award to the Rykn Cafe in Los Angeles designed by M Royce Architecture. For the Best Al Fresco Restaurant/Café category, the title "Honor" went to Bulli's La Bottega Loui - Weho in West Hollywood - CA. In the Restaurant category, the Masaryčka Restauran designed by archicraft in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Kodō Restaurant in Los Angeles, designed by M Royce Architecture and also winner of the Audience Award, were tied for the Honor category. Also awarded in this category were the titles 'Merit', to the Yunomi Handroll restaurant in Los Angeles designed by Design Opera, and 'Citation', to the Prime restaurant in Chandler, Arizona designed by Preen Inc.
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(Agnese Bifulco)
Images courtesy of AIA Los Angeles
Captions
(01) Restaurant Name: Kodō
Firm: M Royce Architecture
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Instagram: @mroycearchitecture
Photographer Name: gry space
(02) Restaurant Name: Masaryčka Restaurant
Firm: archicraft
Location: Prague, Czechia
Instagram: @archicraft_cz
Photographer Name: Tomáš Dittrich
(03) Restaurant Name: BOTTEGA LOUIE - WEHO
Firm: BULLI
Location: West Hollywood, CA
Instagram: @designbulli
Photographer Name: Tim Hirschmann
(04) Café Name: Dripp Coffee Bar
Firm: Abramson Architects
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Instagram: @abramsonarchitects
Photographer Name: Michael Wells Photography
(05) Restaurant Name: Rykn Cafe
Firm: M Royce Architecture
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Instagram: @mroycearchitecture
Photographer Name: gry space
(06) Restaurant Name: Yunomi Handroll
Firm: Design Opera
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Instagram: @designopera
Photographer Name: Taiyo Watanabe
(07) Restaurant Name: Prime
Firm: Preen Inc.
Location: Chandler, AZ
Instagram: @preeninc
Photographer Name: Brandon Barré
