Though set in a refinished brick theater space and set off by superb lighting, Travel & Leisure's Design awards were anything but theatrical—a good thing, considering that the winners of the 15 design categories, and not the event itself, were the intended focus of guests' attention.The second annual competition awarded winners in categories including best public space, coolest electronics, and neatest travel gadget, all pictured in the March issue. But rather than duplicate the images in displays or, worse yet, turn the affair into a stale ceremony dulled by tedious speeches, T&L creative projects director Laura Aviva created a casual, chic atmosphere that highlighted the award recipients.
She lined the Cedar Lake Center's interior walls with museumlike installations on white rectangular displays. Each depicted one winner or an iconic item that represented the winner. The best museum winner, the de Young in San Francisco, was represented by copper panels used on the building sent by the building engineers in Kansas City. The Allegri raincoat, winner of best travel accessory, was sleek, thin, and light, so Aviva showcased it between two layers of opaque rain plexiglass, which is rippled to mimic drops of rain on a pane of glass. (She got her idea for the special material by scouting the examples at Material Connection, a library of industrial materials in New York.)
The evening took on the atmosphere of a hip museum, with plentiful waitstaff passing trays of premixed drinks, champagne, and wine, and no standing bar to muck up the clean presentation. Other staff included security personnel brought in by Jacob & Company, a winner for its diamond-encrusted world map faced timepiece, to stand guard over the $250,000 worth of merchandise on display.
—Jenny Sherman
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Travel & Leisure's Laura Aviva
She lined the Cedar Lake Center's interior walls with museumlike installations on white rectangular displays. Each depicted one winner or an iconic item that represented the winner. The best museum winner, the de Young in San Francisco, was represented by copper panels used on the building sent by the building engineers in Kansas City. The Allegri raincoat, winner of best travel accessory, was sleek, thin, and light, so Aviva showcased it between two layers of opaque rain plexiglass, which is rippled to mimic drops of rain on a pane of glass. (She got her idea for the special material by scouting the examples at Material Connection, a library of industrial materials in New York.)
The evening took on the atmosphere of a hip museum, with plentiful waitstaff passing trays of premixed drinks, champagne, and wine, and no standing bar to muck up the clean presentation. Other staff included security personnel brought in by Jacob & Company, a winner for its diamond-encrusted world map faced timepiece, to stand guard over the $250,000 worth of merchandise on display.
—Jenny Sherman
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Travel & Leisure's Laura Aviva
The standout display at Travel & Leisure's Design awards at the Cedar Lake Center was a chandelier of glass bubbles hung from the ceiling and lit to represent the 15,000 glass balls dangling in Mix in Las Vegas, recipient of the best restaurant award. The piece was custom-made in Venice and delivered specifically for the event.
The best public space winner, the Terminal T4 at the Madrid Barajas International Airport, was represented by a panel of bamboo-clad steel—the same material as the terminal's ceiling. Pictures of interior and exterior of the Puerta América in Madrid, winner of the best large hotel award, hung in a collage next to it.
Aviva displayed the unmistakable iPod Nano on a black and white checkerboard.
