Special Recognition: Triple Bridge Gateway, Port Authority Bus Terminal New York, N.Y.

Multiple light sources were installed in custom mountings so as to illuminate ramps and bridges without interfering with roadway lighting.

Judges saw the Triple Bridge Gateway in Midtown Manhattan as more art installation than building project, but they were impressed at how the illuminated ramps and bridges—14 years in the making—turned an ugly intersection into something beautiful.

The three bridges span 9th Avenue at the juncture where vehicles emerge from the Lincoln Tunnel heading to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's Manhattan Bus Terminal and other points in Manhattan.

Local firm PKSB Architects won the commission in 1995, but it took until August 2008 to complete the project. They transformed the gritty terminal with a titanium façade and a new entrance canopy, and wrapped ramps and bridges in a stainless steel scrim with highly polished reflector panels and a spectacular lighting system. A computer-sequenced illumination scheme changes weekly, playing a rotating schedule of visual compositions that turn this one-time eyesore into a glowing public artwork. —Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor