Solutia has announced winners of its inaugural Solutia World of Color Awards, which pay tribute to architects, interior designers, and other industry professionals who have demonstrated innovative use of the company’s Vanceva color interlayers for laminated glass in their works. Honorees include:
Exterior Division Winner
Architect Pitupong Chaowakul of Thisdesign Co., Ltd. Thailand won for Harbor Mall, a new shopping center in the coastal city of Laem Chabang, Thailand, a popular tourist destination. The blue-green vertical color palette of the Harbor Mall façade was inspired by the movement and feel of the waves in the nearby Gulf of Thailand. From inside the building, shoppers experience the changing colors of waves as they gaze through the gradient color system into the sunlight. From the exterior, the building’s marine colors beckon tourists who have come to enjoy the sea.
Exterior Division Honorable Mention
Celebrated Montreal artist and architect Hal Ingberg received the honorable mention for his public art installation Papa. The peaked structure is made up of a series of vibrantly colored glass panels that add brilliance to an ordinary intersection in the heart of Canada’s capital region in Quebec. The installation spirals downward nearly 8 feet, inviting pedestrians and cyclists to sit and contemplate the ever-changing play of sunlight through the transparent colored glass.
Interior Design Division Winner
The first place award for the Interior Division was awarded to designer Patricia Urquiola for the Spa at Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona, Spain. The jury called the space an “elegant, architectural interior.” Subtle use of colored laminated glass emits a soft emerald glow around the spa pool, and the simple lines achieve a serene and relaxed environment. Urquiol notes how the finalized design is perfectly integrated in the surroundings, interacting with patrons to engage them in a “true oasis” of tranquility. Another juror called the work “restrained, tasteful, yet adventurous.”
Interior Design Division Honorable Mention
Designer Peter Saville and architect David Adjaye collaborated on the new London headquarters of Kvadrat, a Danish textile company. A stunning staircase, set in a two-story industrial space, is like a bolt of lightning running the entire length of the space. It is framed by colored glass panels, which cast colored shadows over the concrete walls as the light changes throughout the day. A stunning spectrum of colored laminated glass interlayers, ranging from rich violet hues to light and airy blues, brings light and beauty to a desolate office space. The jurors commented on the clarity of the project, calling it “a strong statement made with few notes and careful editing.”
