August 17, 2007 - MS TelCom Center Receives International Acclaim

Mississippi Telecommunications & Conference Center Wins National, International Acclaim
Building’s Design Receives Crowning Achievements in Architecture Field
The architectural spotlight is shining on Jackson, Mississippi, and specifically on the $17-million Mississippi Telecommunications & Conference Center, designed by Arquitectonica, an international, award-winning, full-service architecture firm working closely with Jackson-based Dale and Associates Architects P.A., the architect of record.
The building’s design recently received three crowning achievements in the architecture field:
* a full-color, three-page spread in the acclaimed 2007 Architecture Annual published by Archiworld. The international publication, printed in several languages, features the top building designs in the world for the year of publication.
* The Design Award of Merit award for “superior achievement and professional design” from the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA)
* The Merit Award for Architecture Design award from the Miami Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), where Arquitectonica is based.
The Mississippi TelCom Center also received a Best of 2006 award from South Central Construction magazine, which recognized 32 South Central construction and design projects. The Center, built by Yates Construction, was given an Award of Merit in the Public Building category.
“The Mississippi Telecommunications & Conference Center was designed to become the centerpiece of the future Jackson convention center,” said Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA,
Arquitectonica’s founder and the project’s design architect. “It stands forward of the convention center façade as a sculptural centerpiece for the entire composition (and) functions as the covered arrival plaza for the convention center.”
“From the urban design perspective, the front façade of the TelCom Center…becomes the focus and symbol of the convention district,” he continued. “This critical placement demanded a building with a strong architectural presence. The building is suspended above the plaza as if challenging gravity. Its transparency reveals the gallery within and the meeting rooms beyond, telling the story of its functions and projecting its activities to the public spaces around it.”
Fort-Brescia describes the building as a “chiseled prism suspended in space” and says that it carries the message of modern telecommunications, its conveyance through air and its independence from land.
“The angles also express directional movement and denote speed, both qualities of telecommunications,” he added, “and the projecting east and west facades imply infinity in a field of unlimited possibilities.”
The Mississippi TelCom Center opened in January 2006. It is the first phase of a planned convention center district. The second phase, the construction of the Capital City Convention Center, is underway with an expected opening date of January 2009. The meetings facilities will be at the apex of the convention center district, which unites the Mississippi Arts District and the developing Farish Street Entertainment District.