The award is dedicated to a rather rarely discussed architectural issue: the “work” of a building after a certain time has elapsed after its construction (in this case, a period of 25-35 years is considered). Does it now meet the original (and also changed) functional requirements? How relevant is its architectural solution from today's point of view? Does it fit the program? This is most often remembered for the sake of a journalistic sensation (for example, several years ago the first buildings-laureates of the British Sterling Prize were examined, reports of problems that have arisen there since the award of the award caused outbreaks of gloating in the architectural environment).
The AIA award is looking for those buildings that answer these questions in the affirmative, thereby proving that truly "high-quality" buildings from the point of view of architecture are not subject to fashion. The “25 Years Award” was created in 1969, when postmodernism entered the scene, but despite this, among the first buildings it noted were the masterpieces of “classical” modernism, the reaction to which was then especially strong - Lever House SOM, “Glass House »Philip Johnson, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, F. L. Wright and Hero Saarinen. Over the next decades, one after another, the works of Louis Kahn were included in the list of laureates.
Now it was the turn of the construction of Henry Cobb, who worked in the office of J. M. Pei (now called Pei Cobb Freed). The tower of the Boston insurance company John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance, whose project dates back to the late 1960s, was supposed to surpass the 228-meter skyscraper of the competitor - Prudential Insurance. The most prestigious place was chosen for it - Copley Square in the historic center of Boston (which today would hardly be possible), next to the Trinity Church of the "creator" of the neo-Romanesque style, H. H. Richardson. Such a responsible neighborhood forced Cobb to remove all details from the facade up to the profiles and close the building from top to bottom with mirrored glass that reflects the sky and the surrounding buildings and thereby disguises the 60-storey (240 m; total area 185 806 m2) skyscraper. This goal was facilitated by the rhomboidal plan of the building, facing the church with a narrow edge.
Of course, a building of such dimensions is difficult to hide, especially since the John Hancock Tower is still not only the tallest in Boston, but throughout New England. It defines the urban landscape without violating, however, its historical image - at least at ground level (where this is especially important).
Shortly after completion, the skyscraper was awarded the AIA and continues to receive compliments and awards to this day: influential architecture critics classify it as one of the best high-rise buildings of the 2nd half of the 20th century, and recently it received the LEED gold resource efficiency certificate: the basis for this was not only modern reconstruction, but also the features originally laid down (for example, the widespread use of natural lighting).
