The Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum has announced the recipients of the 2012 National Design Awards (NDA), which honor lasting achievement in American design. Of the ten recipients, three are related to architecture: Atlanta's Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects (Architectural Design category), Los Angeles-based Clive Wilkinson Architects (Interior Design), and Boston's Stoss Landscape Urbanism (Landscape Architecture).

The husband-and-wife duo of Scogin and Elam has an uncompromising aesthetic that is dynamic yet playful. In the Gates Center in Pittsburgh (pictured above), glass- and zinc-clad floors shift and cantilever relative to one another. Clive Wilkinson, on the other hand, creates spaces distinguished by primary colors that brighten work environments. His design for Macquarie Group in Sydney, Australia positions glassy meeting pods in a tall atrium, adding splashes of color to the white background. Stoss shapes urban landscapes that are sustainably minded yet respond to people's needs. Their design for CityDeck in Green Bay, Wisconsin merges grass with a boardwalk that ripples to serve as places to lounge in the sun.

Through exhibitions and educational programs, as well as awards, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum highlights great American design and designers. More importantly, the institution tackles key issues (such as urbanization and the poor in the recent "Design with the Other 90%: CITIES"), promotes innovative approaches to design, and educates people about the ways design shapes our lives. For these ambitious goals, the Cooper-Hewitt and the NDA are Character Approved. Take a look at some of the designs from the NDA 2012 winners in the slide show below!

[Image: Timothy Hursley, Nic Lehoux, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects]