Picking up the National, Loving Boston

May 20, 2008November 9, 2009 | mjneal

girl2

As y’all know and have heard to death, at least from our end, we were awarded a National Institute Honor Design Award this year for the Anthony Nak Jewelry Flagship Store by the American Institute of Architects

Ok, so we went to Boston and picked up the thing.

We were the only Texans at the design awards, but MJ made sure he was wearing his boots.

This project has won almost every award I can think of so, although the National was a surprise, it didn’t surprise me as much as you’d think… Nevertheless, out of curiosity, I went and researched a bit to see how rare this really was for Austin and wow, as far as I could find here, or here there have only been three other projects in Austin, TX ever awarded a national AIA award… it’s really kinda freaky, actually, they are:

– Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity House by Lundgren and Maurer in 1954. (We think it was demolished, can anyone confirm?)

– The Oaks by R. Gommel Roessner in 1965. (Sadly demolished when the University acquired a vast tract of land east of Memorial Stadium. This guy’s work would be interesting to see, anyone wants to go with me to these archives and see what’s there?)

– Lake Austin Residence by Lake | Flato Architects, Inc., San Antonio, 2005 (hopefully this one is still standing)

– Anthony Nak Flagship Store, by yours truly, M. J. Neal Architects, 2008

That is not a lot of projects for a whole CITY, F-O-U-R??? It just doesn’t sound right to me… C’mon guys the work in Austin is GOOD, I’m I missing something? Texas architects in general fared a tad better, but besides Lake Flato, not so well, actually…

MJ still can’t believe it, but it’s real, I got in on camera! Slide show to follow, surprise, surprise!

Boston is now officially one of my favorite US cities, and they do have the best fish!!! We had lobster at the no name restaurant one rainy night after enjoying an afternoon at the ICA.

The most wonderful thing about Boston was seeing Reese Schroeder, one of mj’s oldest and best friends. In the slide show you’ll see us at the opening of the Apple store where strangely and appropriately, we ended up celebrating the win after a dinner at Aquitaine that knocked our socks off. We enjoyed the Metropolis as well, and manager Tim is just too cute!

On the slide show, you’ll find also some pics of the only Corbu building in the USA at Harvard and the Office da’s McAllen building (worth the walk.) plus some bonus material!

We stayed at the Clarendon Square and I HIGHLY recommend the place, quiet, flawless, beautiful, comfortable, it’s all that and more!

On with the show!

Vodpod videos no longer available. from picasaweb.google.com posted with vodpod

WoW, National AIA, WoW

January 8, 2008July 11, 2008 | mjneal

[We (Oooooohhhhhhhhh)Won]

Can you BELIEVE it???

M. J. Neal Architects just won the 2008 Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

It’s a great day, it’s a great, big, fat, new…. year!!!!

This project had already won an Austin AIA Design Award and the Texas Society of Architects (TSA) Honor Design Award, and let’s not forget the International IIDA Award (my favorite, see previous post)

The anecdote? We almost didn’t submit the project! Farley Studio was doing so well at competitions that when we were done submitting it, MJ, who was hungry and tired, said, “ah, let’s blow it off and go to Asti to eat… I was hungry and tired too…but something told me to submit Anthony Nak, so I stayed on and BAM! You never know, do you?:-)

Yey for being dogheaded when I’m hungry and tired and double yey for MJ’s design excellence!!!!

Here’s the video the TSA made for the 2005 State Design Honor Award.

Awards the Interior Designers Way

August 28, 2006July 11, 2008 | mjneal

I get bored stiff at some of the award parties that we’ve had to go to. But Chicago was fun, fast, and furious. The Interior Designers kicked some butt. This was the IIDA awards party last year… And we got to sit at the same table with Her Highness Eva Maddox. I’ve been dying to post these, but we didn’t have a blog then, so here they are. M. J. in a tux, was almost too much for me, and all the quasi-naked boys and girls didn’t cool things down any.

Interior Design Magazine Publishes us! So Much More is Happening

June 5, 2006June 30, 2012 | mjneal

JUNE 2005 /LOOK FOR INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINE
Interior Design Magazine features M. J. Neal Architects in their current (June) issue, now in the stands. You can read the article online
But buy the magazine to look at the incredible pictures by Jett Butler and Kenny Braun and peruse all five winners of the 2005 IIDA award.

JUNE 2005 / TOP INTERIOR DESIGN AWARD
M. J. Neal Architects has been awarded the prestigious International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Award for 2005 for its Anthony Nak project. This competition is held annually by the International Interior Design Association. This is their 32nd edition.

From hundreds of projects submitted from around the world, only five awards were given this year. The winners will be featured at the COOL 2005 IIDA’S NEOCON GALA in Chicago in June 2005 and the projects will be published in Interior Design Magazine. IIDA’s press release.

“The selected winners represent a wide range of project types. The common thread lies in their clarity of idea and the designers ability to develop that concept through the details in a clear and consistent way,” stated John Mack, IIDA, AIA, IIDAs Vice President of Communications.

Also, keep an eye out for the next issue of Residential Architect featuring M. J. Neal and his take on the materials he prefers to use in his projects.

more about “untitled“, posted with vodpod

June 2005 / THE ANTHONY NAK STORE WINS TOP JEWELER RETAIL DESIGN AWARD
The Anthony Nak project, designed by M. J. Neal Architects, receives first place in the 2005 Couture International Jeweler Retail Design Award by the National Jeweler and Couture International Jeweler publications. The award was presented to Anthony Camargo and David Nakard, the famed jewelry designers and owners of Anthony Nak, at the jewelery convention in Las Vegas. The Anthony Nak flagship store was chosen by an independent panel of design professionals as demonstrating excellence in design, inventive use of space, and overall quality of concept execution.

This is an elegant, subtle, space created to show exquisite designer jewelry.

Existing non-structural arches and windows were removed. These openings were altered to form new rectilinear windows and entry, enabling a dynamic street presence.

The palette is white surfaces with very subtle changes in texture. Venetian plaster on a complex curved wall, smooth gypsum board on the remaining walls and ceiling, and a Lonseal floor. A sandblasted glass wall acts as a screen for rear-projected movies of the client’s jewelry that run 24 hrs a day.

All case-work was designed by the architect: window cases are of stainless steel and glass. Free-standing floor cases, “pods,” are cherry wood, stainless steel, and glass. When open, the glass top of the pod becomes a surface to rest the jewelry on. Adjacent to the front door, a bench flows out of the ceiling.

From design work to end of construction, including case work , this 800 sq. ft. project was completed in twelve weeks.

This project also received the 2004 Citation of Honor from the American Institute of Architects, Austin and the prestigious IIDA Design award for 2005.

So Much to Tell

May 24, 2006May 22, 2008 | mjneal

so little time! We’re back from a memorable trip to Mexico. MJ and I love Mexico DF and its people. We were treated by Guillermo Plazola and co. with such warmth and gallantry that we didn’t want to come back. The lecture went very well, and after it, MJ and I felt like rock stars, being asked to pose for pictures, give interviews, invites for dinner, huy!!!!

We figured that architecture presentations are so boring and dry as a norm that we would spice it up a bit and I created two little movies, one for each project, that were very well received. It also helped that I spoke Spanish and made them laugh. M.J. had a simultaneous translator that must’ve been good, because no one seemed too bored and we had more questions than anyone at the end of our lecture…

Another highlight of the trip was meeting Neil Denari, yes THE very one and only. The guy’s work is out of this world! It’s great to see that he’s finally getting to build his amazing stuff. VV

06 peeking at us

January 9, 2006July 11, 2008 | mjneal

We are grateful for the year peeking at us with a kind eye.

1. New Featured Project, Szeto/Shum Residence renderings at mjneal.com
2. New Curra’s Restaurant starts construction
3. Challenging Remodel in Rollingwood
4. Steep-site Remodel in Balcones Drive
5. University of Texas Arlington Revisited
6. Exhibition in Mexico
7. Books and Magazines: Japan, Mexico and Bulgaria publish work by M. J. Neal, AIA
8. Sponsorship. M.J. Neal Architects and Barcelona Films support Sri Atmananda Memorial School

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1. Check the “Featured Project” on our website for the new renderings for the Szeto/Shum Residence! This project is nearing its final construction documents phase and is on an “lean and mean” budget.

mjneal.com

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2. Curra’s North has started construction.
We are pleased to announce that the new Curra’s Restaurant – North, designed by M. J. Neal, has started construction. The new Curra’s will feature perforated plywood, a big ass fan and polished concrete floors. We are very excited about a new system for finishing concrete floors. They look incredible and you never have to redo them again!

Curra’s new location is at Parmer and McNeill in Austin. If you’ve never tried their delicious interior Mexican food, well, most likely, you just moved to Austin!

curra’s

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3. Remodel project in Rollingwood, a complete remodel and addition of a house with dramatic views of downtown. Bringing it up to date, adapting it to the needs of the new owners, and connecting the house back to the land makes this a challenging and exciting project.

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4. Another remodel of a 50’s house, this one on Balcones Dr, that presents interesting opportunities as we are dealing with a steep site, an old house, and a landscape that has gone back to a semi-wild state. Volume will be added to the house to create a library and a new master bedroom. All the other rooms will be opened up to the new private, and semi-private, gardens that will be created by taking advantage of the overgrowth.

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5. M. J. Neal, AIA returns to the University of Texas, Arlington to teach a graduate design studio. There may be more news on the universities front, come next winter… check back for updates. In December, M. J. was invited to the University of Texas, Austin, to UTA, and to Texas Tech for final student critiques. He was also one of the jurors for the 2005 AIA, Lubbock awards.

UTA

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6. M. J. Neal, AIA invited to the Third International Exhibition of Contemporary Interior Design – Bienal Mexico
M. J. Neal, AIA has been invited to exhibit boards of the Ramp House residence and the Anthony Nak flagship store at this prestigious exhibition in Mexico city and other cities, as a traveling exhibition. The Ramp House previously won the Miami Bienal 2003 Silver Medal for Interior Design, the Texas Society of Architects Honor Design Award and the AIA, Austin Citation of Honor Award. Anthony Nak was the IIDA 2005 winner, a TSA Honor Design Award, an AIA, Austin Citation of Honor Award and the Store Concept of the year by Couture International, Jeweler. (This last award was presented to store owners Anthony Camargo and David Nakard)

The Third International Exhibition of Contemporary Interior Design will open on April 2006 at the Claustro Betlemitas, Mexico, DF, the leading museum of contemporary design in Mexico City. This event is organized by the IIDA México City Chapter, Plazola Editores and the Colegio de Arquitectos, Ciudad de México.

The first and second events had more than 33,000 visitors in Mexico City during 5 weeks, with the principal works of architects, interior designers and industrial designers from all over the world (Mexico, USA, Spain, Ireland, Brasil, Corea, South Africa, Canada, Germany, etc). Some other firms exhibiting this year are Karim Rashid, Jorge Penzi, Legorreta Legorreta, KMD, and Cini Boeri.

muestra

7. More international publishing for M. J. Neal, AIA. Last year was an intense one of publications for our work, and the beginning of 2006 seems equally poised.

Upcoming Magazines and Books:

– SPA-DE, Space-Design,is a newly established Japanese magazine for interior architecture and design focusing on commercial and office spaces. SPA-DE presents an international selection of distinctive restaurants, bars, cafés, boutiques, shops, hotels, beauty salons, museums, as well as shopping centers, space installations, display design, furniture design, etc. by the world’s hottest designers and architects. M. J. Neal’s Anthony Nak Flagship Jewelry Store will appear in the fifth issue, which will be published both in Japanese and English in the Spring.

– Ambientes, by Editorial Expansion is one of the leading interior design Magazines in Mexico. The anthony Nak store will be featured on the February-March issue.

ambientes

– The Home Today and Tomorrow magazine – a Bulgarian print venue for furniture, interiors, design, and new trends has requested the Edmonds residence.

the home

– Libro de la Exposicion de la Tercera Muestra Internacional de Interiorismo. A book with a selection of the works exhibited in Mexico (see number 6) will be published by Plazola Editores, S.A. in 2006.

8. Sri Atmananda Memorial School

Many of you know that our son attends Sri Atmananda Memorial school. After much thought, we decided to pull him out of the traditional schooling environment, that most of us went through, and try the KPM Institute approach to Children. SAMS is a non-sectarian, private school where every child is unconditionally valued and acknowledged. The teacher-student relationship is at the center of the approach with a ratio of 4:1. I’ve never seen so many children and so many teachers having so much fun, every single, blessedly full, day.

Sri Atmananda School is a daily source of inspiration, hope, and just plain happiness for the three of us; it has brought to our family profound positive changes. To us, this way of schooling is critical to self-discovery, by supporting honesty and clarity in learning and in life.

M.J. and I strive to contribute to a honorable way of life, not only with our architecture and film work, but through big and small daily actions; we try our best to breathe life into our core principles as we endeavor to create a milieu of freedom, honesty, and love.

If you are curious about this education approach, and the school, attend their open houses, Child Worl Workshops,and coffee sessions. And see these websites:

Sri Atmananda Memorial School (SAMS for short!)
kpm approach to children

More Awards and Publications

September 15, 2005July 11, 2008 | mjneal

Latest news:

M. J. Neal has received another TSA Award this year, his third consecutive design excellence recognition by the Texas Society of Architects. He will pick it up at the Awards luncheon on Saturday, Sept. 17th at the TSA San Antonio Convention. We will also be attending the President’s Gala on Friday.

Chris Hill, our wonderful collaborator in Dallas, received one of the only two Studio Awards. Congratulations Chris! See you there!

Latest publications:

MAGAZINES:

Austin Monthly

MJ Neal’s Edmonds Residence is one of the “5 Homes We Would Move into Tomorrow” inside the current Austin Monthly, Design Issue. The team at Austin Monthly are a joy to work with. The editor, Evelyn Sher, the art director Torquil Dewar, and the super-talented writer, Becca Hensley gave us one of the best times we’ve had with publishing. Paul Bardagjy and Jordi Miralles were the photographers

“… What can we give back to the land?” is the question Neal likes to ask. So when Neal’s clients marveled that the Horseshoe Bay house he designed for them seemed “to grow from the land” he was pleased. It seems he had given something back.”

“He picks colors, he says, for their complexity and life. He could be talking about himself, for it’s the complexity and life of his vision that surely draws clients to him.”

Texas Architect

Another of our local favorites publishes MJ Neal’s work again, as a result of the TSA award to the Anthony Nak Flagship store. Lawrence Connolly, AIA writes on the design challenges posed by the existing building, the schedule, size of the space, and the client needs. The client’s perspective into the article is interesting, informative, and precise.

“Camargo credits his store’s ethereal spirit and minimalist casework as the catalysts for putting shoppers in a buying mood, and says the soft-sell approach has resulted in Anthony Nak exceeding even its most optimistic sales projections ”

Brilliant

M. J. Neal’s “Designer Profile” inside the current issue.

Nside

The new issue will carry an extensive article on M.J. Neal

Display and Design Ideas

“Aesthetic Showcase.”

“Anthony Nak’s Debut Store places jewelry in a clean, contemporary setting.”

Retail Design and Visual Presentation

In the past few months this magazine has featured Tsum and Byblos in Moscow, Hermes in Tokyo and Singapore, Armani in Edinburgh and Shanghai, House of Fraser in UK, assorted Moschino boutiques, etc. It will feature Anthony Nak’s store soon!

BOOKS
Links International publishing will include “Ramp House” in a Residential Architecture upcoming book, November 2005.

We Win Again

July 21, 2005July 19, 2008 | mjneal

JULY 2005 / M.J. NEAL ARCHITECTS WINS THIRD CONSECUTIVE TSA
The Anthony Nak project has just been awarded the top design award in the state of Texas. The Design Honor Award is given each year by the Texas Society of Architects selecting from hundreds of entries. This year’s top distinction makes it the third consecutive TSA award for M.J. Neal, AIA, since he also won in 2003 and 2004 for the Ramp House and Twin Peaks projects. TSA website

This project has also received the 2004 Citation of Honor from the American Institute of Architects, Austin, the prestigious IIDA design award for 2005 and the Store Concept of the Year by Couture International. This last award was presented to store owners Anthony Camargo and David Nakard. To take a look at their astounding jewelery, peruse their sexy website.