Architectural Record is pleased to announce the winners of its annual Products of the Year competition, organized by special sections editor Matthew Marani. Applicants included a global selection of recently introduced building materials and systems, interior finishes and lighting, and kitchen and bath products and appliances. The 54 products featured this year were selected by an independent jury (pictured, below) of U.S.-based architects and designers for their innovation, aesthetics, performance, and sustainability.
All photos courtesy the manufacturers
Editors’ Pick reflects the RECORD editorial staff’s picks in each category.
Left to right: Tucker Viemeister, Victor Body-Lawson, Mayine Lynn Yu, Ruchika Modi, Susannah Drake. Photo © Pansy Schulman, Architectural Record
Tucker Viemeister
Viemeister is the industrial-design head at Athlon Studio. He is well known for Smart Design’s OXO Good Grips Kitchen Tools, which he cofounded in 1979. Viemeister also founded the Lab at Rockwell Group, was an executive vice president at Razorfish, and helped found Frog Design’s New York office. He is a Fellow of the ISDA, holds 32 U.S. utility patents, and has work in collections including that of the Museum of Modern Art.
Alexandra Barker
Barker is the principal of New York–based Barker Associates Architecture Office, where she works on a broad spectrum of projects ranging from institutional to residential. She is interim chair and an associate professor at Pratt Institute’s graduate architecture program. She received her M.Arch. from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Victor Body-Lawson
Body-Lawson is a Nigerian-born architect, educator, and artist. In 1993 he founded Body Lawson Associates Architects and Planners, an acclaimed practice known for responsive and collaborative community solutions. Body-Lawson is an active member of the AIA and NOMA, and an associate professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Mayine Lynn Yu
Yu is a principal of Davis Brody Bond, where her background as a facade consultant brings an expertise in designing building envelopes and interior systems. She has worked across a range of typologies, including health care, performing arts centers, and academic buildings, like NYU’s Paulson Center (2022). She is also the author of Skins, Envelopes, and Enclosures: Concepts for Designing Building Exteriors.
Ruchika Modi
Modi is a principal of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. With a background spanning industrial design, economics, and journalism, Modi brings a multifaceted understanding of the ways in which cities function to her architectural practice. Modi spearheaded the design of The Refinery at Domino (2023) in Brooklyn, and is leading the design team for the FAA’s new, sustainable airport-traffic-control-tower prototype.
Susannah Drake
Drake has more than 30 years of experience as an interdisciplinary architect. She founded the award-winning firm DLANDStudio in 2005, which was acquired in 2022 by Sasaki, where she is now a principal. Drake is a leading expert on resilient urban design and has taught at design schools across the country, including Harvard, City College of New York, and Cooper Union. Her work has been recognized by the AIA and ASLA.
