Winners of AZURE Magazine's 2012 AZ Awards

Big names of the international architectural and design community recently gathered at Toronto's Thompson Hotel as AZURE Magazine revealed the winners of its second annual AZ Awards, the only international, multi-disciplinary design competition in Canada. Representing a global snapshot of the world of architecture and design, submissions were open to designers, architects, firms and manufacturers of all disciplines, as well as students in these fields.

The prestigious international jury included architect Imola Bérczi of UNStudio (Amsterdam), designer Jeffrey Bernett of Consultants for Design Strategy (New York), interior designer Elaine Cecconi of Cecconi Simone (Toronto), landscape designer Jennifer Guthrie of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (Seattle), architect Brigitte Shim of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects (Toronto) and Mike Keilhauer of Keilhauer (Toronto).

In March, the expert panel conferred at Toronto’s Hôtel Le Germain, narrowing the field from an impressive 621 entries to a shortlist of 60 finalists. From there, they selected the 13 winners. During the month of April, the public was also given the chance to vote online for their favorites as the People’s Choice.

"The overall caliber of entries to the AZ Awards was especially high this year," said Nelda Rodger, editor of AZURE, "resulting in more finalists whose work met our jury’s criteria for excellence. With submissions coming from 30 countries, this competition is recognizing the best architecture and design from around the world."

Following is a small selection of the outstanding AZ Award Winners and People's Choice Selections.

Find more Award Winners and People's Choice Favorites in the image gallery below. All images courtesy of AZURE Magazine.