A NATIONAL HONOR: Ikon.5’s design for the Newark Training Recreation Education Center reflected the Newark Housing Authority’s goal of making it a gathering place for the fractured South Ward neighborhood. The project was among 79 awarded as part of a national program.

The Princeton-based architecture firm Ikon.5 is among the designers of 79 buildings and urban spaces to win the 2017 American Architecture Award. The national honor, which went to “Leading Edge Design for New Buildings in the U.S.,” was given to Ikon.5 for its design of the Newark Training Recreation Education Center (TREC), which opened last November.

An award also went to the firm The Living for its design of the Embodied Computation Lab on the Princeton University campus. The two projects were the only ones in New Jersey to make the list. This is the 23rd year for the program, which is sponsored by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. Awards were given last week at a ceremony held at the Orlando Museum of Art.

“We’re very happy about it,” said Joe Tattoni, who was lead designer of the Newark project. Commissioned by the Newark Housing Authority, the center aims to provide vital job training skills and education to community residents, while also serving as a gathering place and exercise facility for neighbors.

Located in Newark’s South Ward, the white stucco building has a gym, classrooms, and community spaces. “They had a two-pronged approach for getting people in and then once they’re in, getting them to expand themselves not only in body, but in mind,” said Mr. Tattoni, referring to seminars and other events held at the center. A kitchen and child care center are also on the site. “So it serves many activities,” Mr. Tattoni continued. “But the overarching theme is that the housing authority wanted it to be a place to galvanize a community that has been fractured over time.”

Located between Newark Liberty International Airport and Routes 1 and 9, the area is the site of several defunct factories, as well as the still-operating Budweiser plant. “The housing authority didn’t have a lavish budget, but they said that whatever we put in this neighborhood would be something that would invigorate the community and make them proud of it,” Mr. Tattoni said. “And they really are. All that sounds kind of ‘apple pie sweet,’ but in fact after it was built, there were people in the neighborhood whom we met while walking up and down the street, and they commented to us how much they liked the building and how happy they were to have it there.”

The awards program had a shortlist of 300 buildings and urban planning projects. Honors went to a range of projects, from private homes to skyscrapers, airports, parks, retail facilities, and governmental buildings, among other uses. Judging this year’s entries was a jury of Greek architects who were especially interested in discussions concerning the problems of the environment, social context, technical and constructive solutions, responsible use of energy, restoration and adaptive reuse, and the sensitive use of materials and ecology, according to a press release from the Chicago Athenaeum.

“The winning projects are each stunning and provocative new additions to their urban and rural locations — authentic connections to nature and to the very cultures in which they coexist. The selected projects have a positive psychological effect on the communities in which they are built and in which they serve — every detail looks handcrafted; every facade contextualized; every plan, diagram, and section particularly and exquisitely well executed,” said Christian Narkiewicz-Laine,
Museum president.

One testament to the building’s success is the fact that no graffiti has been sprayed on its walls. “There was a lot of talk about potential graffiti on the building,” Mr. Tattoni said. “But no one has done that yet. It opened in November and has probably been up for about a year. The fact that it has not been defaced in any way is a testament of the community being proud of this little jewel they have.”