Archinect - News

Michael Maltzan, Maurice Cox, and Merrill Elam elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters

2023-02-22T12:47:00-05:00

Three architects and planners — Michael Maltzan, Maurice Cox, and Merrill Elam — have been announced as part of this year’s class of newly-elected members to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

They were joined by Oscar-winning actor Frances McDormand and Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov in the nineteen-member group of inductees which will be honored in a special ceremony to be held on May 24th in New York City. (Kurkov, who is being inducted into Foreign Honorary membership, will also deliver a keynote address.)

The 300-member Academy was founded there in 1898 and has included luminaries such as Mark Twain and Cass Gilbert and currently features 30 member architects including Billie Tsien, Steven Holl, Elizabeth Diller, Meejin Yoon, Walter Hood, and last year’s inductees Mabel O. Wilson, Deborah Berke, Michael Van Valkenburgh, and Thomas Phifer.

Michael Maltzan of Michael Maltzan Architecture

Michael Maltzan. Photo credit: Monica Nouwens.

A contemporary mainstay in his adopted h...

Billie Tsien to receive honorary doctorate at the Boston Architectural College's 2022 graduation ceremony

2022-05-18T18:43:00-04:00

Architect, educator, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners co-founder Billie Tsien is set to receive an Honorary Doctorate and deliver the commencement speech at the Boston Architectural College’s (BAC) graduation ceremony on Friday, May 27th.

“It is an immense privilege to have Billie Tsien deliver the BAC’s commencement address to our graduating class in-person this year,” said Boston Architectural College President Mahesh Daas. “Her commitment to designing deeper and slower existential experiences grounded in an unmistakable sense of service, materiality and profound optimism complements the BAC’s own commitment to furthering social justice, inclusion, and diversifying design education.”

Previously on Archinect Sessions: "Starts with me, ends with us": A conversation with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on Archinect Sessions Episode #22

This is the latest addition to Tsien’s long list of accolades, including the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama, the Tho...

Mabel O. Wilson, Deborah Berke, Thomas Phifer, and Michael Van Valkenburgh among members of the 2022 American Academy of Arts and Letters

2022-03-10T13:19:00-05:00

Writer and academic Mabel O. Wilson, architect Thomas Phifer, landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, and Yale SoA Dean Deborah Berke are among the newly-elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters according to an announcement from the institution yesterday.

The quartet joined the Academy with fourteen other honorees in music, art, and literature on a list of names that included painter Charles Gaines and The Things They Carried author Tim O’Brien.

Deborah Berke of Deborah Berke Partners

2022 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education recipient, Deborah Berke, FAIA. Photo: Winnie Au, courtesy Deborah Berke Partners

Berke has served as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture since 2016 in addition to operating her own New York-based practice, which she founded in 1982.

Thomas Phifer of Thomas Phifer and Partners

Image courtesy Thomas Pfifer and Partners

Phifer is the architect behind the recent expansion of Maryland’s Glenstone Museum and...

Marina Tabassum, Justin Garrett Moore among 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award Winners

2021-04-16T13:45:00-04:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters awards Marina, Tabassum, Justin Garrett Moore, Julie Eizenberg and Hank Koning, Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu, and Ersele Kripa and Stephen Mueller as the 2021 architecture award winners.

The jury chair Anabelle Selldorf and fellow jury members, including Steven Holl, Toshiko Mori, Thom Mayne, and Billie Tsien, selected this year's winners from a group of 32 nominated individuals and practices. The Academy awards four cash prizes that will provide further funding for each architect and designer in their efforts to pursue the realms of creative exploration within architecture.

Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize

Award Details: A prize of $20,000 is awarded to an architect of any nationality who has made a significant contribution to architecture as an art.

Bait Ur Rouf Mosque by Marina Tabassum. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture/Rajesh Vora

Marina Tabassum: She is the founding principal of Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) located in Dhaka, Bangladesh...

Meejin Yoon, Walter Hood, and Kathryn Gustafson among newly elected members of the 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters

2021-03-08T13:14:00-05:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters awards three architects and three landscape architects as new Academy members. Founded in 1898, each selected cohort becomes a part of an honors society comprised of architects, artists, composers, and writers. Once elected, they become members for life

Twenty-nine new members have been inducted as honorary members for their work and contributions. The Academy's board shares they are "committed to creating a more inclusive membership that truly represents America, and believes that expanding the Academy's membership will allow the Academy to more readily achieve that goal. The increase also reflects the growth in population over the past century. The expansion will be realized incrementally over the next five years."

Meejin Yoon of Höweler + Yoon Architecture

Meejin Yoon. Photo by Andy Ryan.

Founder partner of Höweler + Yoon Architecture alongside Eric Höweler, Yoon is also the first female Dean at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning...

Nader Tehrani, Jonathan Tate among 2020 American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award Winners

2020-04-23T13:24:00-04:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the recipients of its 2020 architecture awards.

The four winning designers were selected from a pool of 34 applications, according to the Academy website, and were vetted by a jury chaired by Annabelle Selldorf that also included Peter Eisenman, Steven Holl, James Polshek, Billie Tsien, and Tod Williams.

The academy’s four prizes will bring $10,000 in funding each to five designers and architectural thinkers who seek to push architecture into new realms of creativity and exploration.

The Macallen Building in Boston by NADAAA.

Nader Tehrani

Tehrani, who is principal of Boston-based NADAAA and is also the dean of Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, was awarded for “significant contribution to architecture as an art.” Previously published on Archinect: Nader Tehrani on Thesis and Its History at Cooper Union.

Casa de Sombre. Image courtesy of Bade Stageberg Cox

Bade Stageberg Cox

The New York City-based firm Bad...

Diébédo Francis Kéré announced as Brunner Prize winner by American Academy of Arts and Letters

2017-03-29T19:20:00-04:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the recipients of its 2017 architecture awards. Intended to honor architects whose work is characterized by a strong personal direction, this year's winners were chosen from a group of 27 individuals and practices nominated by members of the Academy. On the jury, were Elizabeth Diller, Henry N. Cobb, Peter Eisenman, Kenneth Frampton, Hugh Hardy, Steven Holl, Thom Mayne, James Polshek, Robert A.M. Stern, Billie Tsien, and Tod Williams.

The top prize, the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, is given to a preeminent architect from any country who has made a significant contribution to architecture as art. The 2017 recipient is Diébédo Francis Kéré, who is having quite the year. He was recently announced as this years designer of the Serpentine Pavilion as well. Kéré is known for his socially driven and sustainable approach to architecture. Based in Berlin and Gando, his hometown in Burkina Faso, Kéré has brought his co...

Phyllis Lambert recognized with 2016 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize

2016-04-06T14:48:00-04:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced architect Phyllis Lambert as the 2016 recipient of the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize [...]. Dubbed as the "Joan of Architecture", Lambert is widely recognized for founding the Canadian Centre for Architecture and her role as Director of Planning for the iconic Seagram Building (which she commissioned Mies van der Rohe to design), among her other initiatives that advocate for architecture's cultural value.

More of Phyllis Lambert in the Archinect news:

American Academy of Arts and Letters Unveils 2013 Architecture Award Winners

2013-04-22T19:20:00-04:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the recipients of its 2013 architecture awards. Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza was awarded the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture in recognition of significant contributions to architecture as an art. American architects Teddy Cruz, Thomas Phifer, Barry Bergdoll, and Sanford Kwinter each won the academy's Arts and Letters Awards in Architecture.