What is a Game Changer? Guests of Metropolis’ annual Game Changers awards ceremony this year encountered that very question at the host sponsor Axor’s immaculate showroom in New York’s Meatpacking District; in this generous upstairs space the class of 2013 Game Changers were inducted. The six honorees are the Women’s Opportunity Center’s life-changing project in Rwanda; architect and climate advocate Edward Mazria; SOM’s vision for a massive regional revival via the Great Lakes Century project; tastemaker and promoter of young design talent, Jamie Gray; a far-reaching research project in India, Dream:In;, and historian Vincent Scully, who inspired generations of thinkers, like the Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, who accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Scully. Other VIP guests included John Cary and Bruce Nussbaum.

The awards presented at the ceremony were designed, made, and graciously donated by digital fabricators, Tietz-Baccon, based out of Long Island City. They were laser-carved out of Corian, with the seven sides of each award carved simultaneously. Their heptadronal shape allows each model to sit on any side. Aggregated together, they create an entirely different symphony of shapes and capture the spirit that resides in each Game Changer.

The event space similarly came together as a symphony of game changing design by the host and sponsor Axor, with support from Shaw Contract Group and Affordable Art Fair. The beer was lovingly donated by Brooklyn Brewery. As a snow storm loomed in the forecast, guests from all industries convened to usher in Metropolis’ Game Changers, with a special call out by Edward Mazria to top off the night of celebration, “Metropolis is the real Game Changer”. Please join us again next year.

Grace Ehlers is coordinator of marketing at Metropolis magazine.

Since 2007, Metropolis, with editor in chief, Susan S. Szenasy has traveled to more than 35 cities and 150 architecture firms, design organizations, and industry shows in the United States and Canada delivering the Metropolis Tour. With the help of various sponsoring companies through the years, this Metropolis-produced CEU-accredited film screening and discussion program continues to inspire, intrigue, and challenge today’s practicing professionals in architecture, interior design, product design, and engineering. Sponsors for 2013 include KI, Kimball Office and Universal Fibers.

In 2007, our editor took a close look at the winners and runners-up from our annual Next Generation Design Competition and decided that the projects, products, and ways of working submitted as competition entries were not only forward-thinking—they were inspiring, innovative, and brilliant. The magazine decided to produce a new film for the Metropolis Tour program based on these individuals and teams. In mid-2008, Brilliant Simplicity was born. The film is as inspiring now, as it was four years ago.

The film delivers an overview of what so many innovative designers are doing to have a positive impact on the world while maintaining a commitment to achieving excellence in design. It’s proof that good design and sustainability can effectively coexist on all scales. It emphasizes the necessity for research and an ever-widening collaboration that, in the most fortuitous circumstances, can lead to innovation. And today, that word, innovation, has become our culture’s mantra.

From the largest and smallest offices of Gensler, Perkins+Will, HOK, LPA, NBBJ, Leo A Daly, and SOM to the various groups at Studios Architecture, Callison, Mithun, Shepley Bulfinch, and Cook+Fox, we’ve gained insight further into our own industry, and the culture of the design firms, and we’ve learned from each audience in a different way.

In her May 2010 Notes column, Lifelong Learning editor Szenasy states that “the future is clear: designers need to learn cross-disciplinary teamwork; to create a more sophisticated understanding of sustainable design; to reach out to larger communities and groups that have a voice in reshaping the urban form; to harness a new generation’s enthusiasm for saving the environment as well as its understanding of technology and connectivity.”

The film had a slow start before the design world fell off the cliff as the 2008 recession hit. Then it picked up momentum as design firms began to redefine themselves for the “new normal” and it continues to ignite conversations about the importance of research, collaboration, and innovation. LPA Architects in Irvine, CA documented the Metropolis Tour program they hosted in June:

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Earlier this month, Metropolis editors called out the top spaces, products, and ideas that we really liked at Greenbuild, in integrated social media coverage known as Metropolis Likes. We sought out design solutions and messages we deemed forward-thinking, useful, and meaningful; not necessarily a new product launch.

Our favorite concepts were awarded plaques, Metropolis Likes which are produced by 3M Architectural Markets using 3M Crystal Glass Finishes. The plaques became a visual guide to Greenbuild—helping attendees spot must-see spaces, products, and ideas.

Created with flickr slideshow.

The partnership between Metropolis and 3M Architectural Markets continues to celebrate the most forward-thinking ideas at industry trade shows; it generates an online conversation for the global design community around the creative breakthroughs. The program was so successful at this year’s ICFF and NeoCon that we decided to continue it at Greenbuild in San Francisco, where it has certainly kept up its momentum.

Design enthusiasts around the world followed our editors’ picks via  #MetropolisLikes as each selection was announced live with photos via Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Congratulations to all that Metropolis Likes from Greenbuild Expo 2012! And special thanks to 3M Architectural Markets for a great collaboration.

Alera: Micro6 LED Luminaire
The Micro6 LED luminaire reduces energy consumption through intelligent controls that are unparalleled in simplicity of use, flexibility of design, and ease of installation.

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One of the world’s busiest commercial districts, Midtown is a unique mix of moxie and polish, packed with not just skyscrapers but top-flight showrooms, restaurants, shops, and museums. Here, we’ve listed the area’s best spots.

Check out the Metropolis Design Guide for Design Week events and highlights from New York’s most design-forward neighborhoods.  And look for the printed version of the Metropolis Design Guide around the city, especially in Chelsea at WantedDesign, in Midtown at the Architects & Designers Building and the Decoration & Design Building, in Flatiron at the New York Design Center, and at the newsstand at ICFF at the Javits Center.

Keep an eye out for what we “like” during NY Design Week. Around the city, you’ll see our lovely signs, produced by 3M Architectural Markets using 3M ™ Crystal Glass Finishes, at all of our editors’ favorite, must-see spots. Throughout our neighborhood listings, you’ll also see a next to our favorites.

METROPOLIS LIKES ICFF
Celebrated hub for the latest trends in international design, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair returns this year to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. May 19^th to May 22^nd. Get there: Eleventh Ave. at W. 38th St. Find out more: 800-272-7469 or icff.com (image courtesy Barcelona).

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