The strangest thing about last night’s annual awards ceremony for the American Institute of Architects is that people were even there. Over 1000 folks in angular eyewear packed into Benaroya Hall, sipping on Pinot Grigio and picking at towers of cheese. But why the fuck weren’t they glued to Anderson 360 like every other election-obsessed American?

“People are thinking that with a downturn in the economy, I better schmooze,” said one woman who asked to remain anonymous.

Lisa Richmond, director of AIA Seattle, says, “We didn’t intend to do it the night before the election when we booked it a year ago.” But last night’s awards were, essentially, catching up to the bubble that burst last year. The buildings completed in 2006 and 2007 are finally eligible for recognition, and, for several firms, this is the last hurrah of their heyday.

AIA Seattle accepted a record 177 submissions from around the state under the theme Perform/Transform, which is a clear nod to green building. But as Dan Bertolet points out over at Hugeasscity, this also marks the industry turning away from a circle jerk over big, fancy houses. More people are living in denser, greener communities—and the designs worth celebrating are those we share, that relate to the street, and don’t suck a skyscraper’s worth of power off the grid. And the firms’ entire staff showed up because, like the Academy Awards, the winners aren’t announced until everyone is awkwardly jammed into one theater.

The judges were cruel. In specific, the moderator Susan Szenasy, editor of Metropolis magazine, was like a German version of that host from the Weakest Link. “A word to the wise, don’t do this again,” she said about one submission. One architect used a central air shaft to circulate air through the building without a ventilation system. The interior was impressive, Szenasy said, but “the same was not matched on the outside.” That architect had included a lighting feature on the building to improve its environmental rating. “You’re doing something superfluous to get a point,” she said. “Think about that.” But, God bless her salty heart, it saved the event from being a total industry blowjob.

The winners of the four honor awards are: EX3 Ron Sandwith Teen Center by Weinstein AU, “7” by Robert Hutchinson and Sarah Biemiller, the Woodway Residence by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and Seattle’s Montlake Library also by Weinstein AU. You can see all the submissions over here.

They were all pleasant enough, but the most interesting was a conceptual piece by The Miller Hull Partnership called Bumper Crop, an urban garden suspended over a parking lot. Unfeasible, perhaps, and a somewhat gross place to grow a tomato—but a great idea for urban agriculture.