Compiled by STEVEN McELROY
Published: June 7, 2009
Via NYTimes Online

The Municipal Art Society of New York has announced the recipients of the eighth annual MASterwork Awards, which recognize excellence in architecture and urban design. The Standard Hotel, the boutique hotel that straddles the High Line in the meatpacking district in Chelsea, and the new TKTS Booth, where discount theater tickets are sold near Times Square, are among the winners of the 2009 awards, which honor projects completed in 2008. The Standard, top, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, has been named best new building. The TKTS Booth, above, by Perkins Eastman Architects, is best neighborhood catalyst. “Using both sustainable features and cutting-edge glass technology, the TKTS Booth is an urban sculpture that is also perfectly utilitarian,” said a description on the society’s Web site, mas.org. “Its dramatic ruby-red staircase, made up of 27 structural glass steps, provides a magical place to sit and enjoy the razzle-dazzle of Times Square.” The other two winning building projects are the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons the New School for Design (for renovation/adaptive reuse) and the Lion House at the Bronx Zoo (for restoration).