Two projects designed by Marc Manack, assistant professor of architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture, recently won awards in the 2012 Design Awards competition sponsored by the Cleveland chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The winning projects were announced Nov. 16 in a ceremony held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The Brunswick University Center, at Cuyahoga Community College in Brunswick, Ohio, received a Merit Award in the new construction and renovation category. The Brahler Residence in Bay Village, Ohio, received an Honorable Mention in the new construction and renovation category.

Manack designed these projects in association with Robert Maschke Architects. The Brunswick University Center previously received an award from the Ohio chapter of AIA, as well.

The competition awards jury was co-chaired by Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and contributing editor of Architect magazine, and William Williams, director of the School of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati.

The jury noted a strong display of modernism in the competition entries, and said the architects of the residential projects – including the Brahler Residence – adeptly manipulated the spaces to let light and space flow.

“The proportions and spatial sequences in these houses particularly impressed us,” Betsky said.

The jury also admired an ability to organize complex programs in the larger, institutional projects, creating enticing public spaces amid the “tightly packed functional elements.”

With the Brunswick University Center, “we liked the inventiveness of both the façade and the ceilings, which cut up the box and made it appear lighter and more specific to different functions and locations within the project,” Betsky said.

Manack, who joined the faculty of the Fay Jones School this semester, continues his architectural practice in Arkansas with his firm SILO AR+D, which focuses on residential and institutional projects throughout the country.