Annual tile and stone conference Coverings debuts a new speaker format in 2008. Instead of its standard opening day headliner during its stay at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, April 29-May 2, the event will feature a total of six keynote speakers.

Author Mark Matteson will kick off the convention on Tuesday morning, April 29, with “The Art of Change,” a session aimed at installers and contractors. Later that day architects and interior designers will have a chance to hear Gisue and Mojgan Hariri, the sisters behind New York firm Hariri & Hariri Architecture.
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Categories included Educational Facilities, Sustainable Projects, and Urban Design.

An ecologically instructive visitors’ center, a public waterfront park in Manhattan, and a historic Beaux-Arts bank turned sustainable library in Providence, Rhode Island are among the winners of a new biennial awards program launched by the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NY) and the Boston Society of Architects. The Building Type Design Awards honor architectural excellence and innovation in specialized design fields.
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The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the recipient of the 2008 Honor Award from the National Building Museum. The Washington, D.C.-based museum’s annual award program is a nod to positive contributions to the construction field.

The AGC, the largest and oldest national construction trade association in the United States, is celebrated for its role in improving America’s quality of life. The association is dedicated to promoting construction excellence, including safety, through training, advocacy, and the dissemination of best practices to contractors nationwide. The museum also notes AGC’s commitment to the workforce, through career development and educational resources.
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The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada has named Dan S. Hanganu its 2008 RAIC Gold Medalist, the highest honor for a member of the architecture profession in Canada. Founder of his namesake firm, Dan S. Hanganu Architects, Hanganu is recognized for his impressive contribution to Canadian architecture.

Hanganu has more than 50 architectural awards under his belt and a list of high-profile Canadian projects including the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, the Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Church, the UQAM Design Pavillion, the Cirque du Soleil studio, and the Hautes Études Commerciales school.
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Twenty firms took to the stage of the Scotiabank Theater in Vancouver last month to accept the Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia Awards of Excellence. Hosted by Canadian TV personality Russell Porter, the program conferred 27 awards for projects in 10 categories: Residential, Multi-Residential, Hospitality, Workplace Total, Workplace Partial, Educational and Institutional, Retail, Health and Wellness, Other, and Best of Show.
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