New York-based architect Andre Kikoski has won the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant Design for his firm’s design of The Wright in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.  Kikoski, an emerging young talent, launched his firm only seven years ago. The Wright is a prime example of Kikoski’s work, showing his deft skill with materials, his ability to create a meaningful dialogue between art and architecture, and his finesse in designing a contemporary space inside an iconic structure.

Kikoski’s design of The Wright has garnered raves from local, national and international press. Says the New York Times, “The Wright at the Guggenheim is striking, impressive visually and elegant.” Fast Company called it “a gem in the Guggenheim.” And The Real Deal’s James Gardner wrote that the restaurant “recreates the Guggenheim’s formal vocabulary with greater skill and feeling than it had the first time around, 50 years ago.” The project is representative of Andre Kikoski Architect’s style – inventive, dramatic and highly tactile. Sculptural forms for the flared ceiling, undulating banquette, and torqued bar and communal table are based on Wright’s underlying geometries but crafted in contemporary materials. The design brings to life a play between these sculptural elements and the architecturally-layered, illuminated materials that invite participation and a sense of delight for all patrons.