Archinect - News

MASS Design Group wins AIA Firm Award, Gold Medal goes to Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa

2021-12-09T15:04:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects has today announced two of its major awards, with the 2022 Gold Medal going to Brooks + Scarpa founders Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa, and the annual Firm Award being given to Boston-based MASS Design Group.

The latter was awarded for their years-long commitment to social causes which began with a 2008 project in Rwanda. Since then, the firm has grown to include more than 200 different creative staffers in addition to offshoots like MASS.Made and MASS.Build that have engendered a host of design and developmental projects in addition to superlative buildings like the traveling Gun Violence Memorial project and the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice by MASS Design Group. Image: Equal Justice Initiative.

In its announcement, the AIA commended MASS Design for “[leveraging] the lessons it learned in Rwanda to shape a framework that allows the firm to inform policy develop...

Edward Mazria honored with 2021 AIA Gold Medal, Moody Nolan receives AIA Architecture Firm Award

2020-12-08T16:24:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects has revealed the recipient of this year's top accolades.

The 2021 AIA Gold Medal goes to architect, educator, and sustainability pioneer Edward Mazria, FAIA, FRAIC. In a statement, the AIA points out that Mazria is being recognized for "his work sounding the alarm on climate change and motivating the profession to take action."

Previously published on Archinect: Architecture 2030's Ed Mazria outlines an environmentally-responsible plan for the architecture and design industries

In 1979, Mazria published the groundbreaking The Passive Solar Energy Book: A Complete Guide to Passive Solar Home, Greenhouse and Building Design and continued to apply these principles in a number of passive solar and highly contextual buildings, such as the Stockebrand Residence, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, and Georgia O’Keefe's estate, Sol y Sambra.

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo: Robert Reck © Mazria, Inc.

Mazria helped fou...

AIA|LA awards Gold Medal to Michael B. Lehrer

2020-07-24T13:23:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA|LA) has announced its 2020 AIA|LA Presidential Honorees, bestowing its prestigious 2020 AIA|LA Gold Medal on architect Michael B. Lehrer of Lehrer Architects.

The AIALA Gold Medal is the "highest honor the organization bestows on an individual" and was awarded this year to Lehrer, who, according to AIA|LA "embodies the high level of achievement loosely covering four areas that characterize this year’s AIALA Presidential Honorees class: design excellence, service to the region and country, the fostering of next generation designers, and support of the field."

Previously on Archinect: "Studio Visits: Lehrer Architects." Image courtesy of Archinect.

2020 AIALA President Greg Verabian, AIA. explained in a statement that “To Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA, the practice of architecture includes the rigorous investigation of strategies that deliver the benefits of design excellence to some of the region’s most vulnerable: individuals with menta...

AIA Gold Medal goes to Marlon Blackwell, ARO receives 2020 AIA Firm Award

2019-12-11T16:43:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced its two top honors for 2020.

The AIA Board of Directors announced today that architect Marlon Blackwell will receive the 2020 Gold Medal citation, which honors "an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture," according to an official statement. According to the AIA, Blackwell is being recognized specifically for a "body of transcendent work" in Northwest Arkansas. Blackwell is the founder of Marlon Blackwell Architects, the E. Fay Jones Chair in Architecture at the E. Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design in Arkansas, and was recently named as one of the "30 Most Admired Educators" by DesignIntelligence.

Shelby Farms Park, Memphis, Tennessee | Marlon Blackwell Architects + James Corner Field Operations. Photo: Timothy Hursley.

Thom Mayne, 2013 AIA Gold Medal recipient and founder of Morphosis, writing in support of Blackwell’s nomination says, "As a p...

Norma Merrick Sklarek awarded posthumous 2019 AIA|LA Gold Medal

2019-07-18T18:57:00-04:00

Norma Merrick Sklarek, a pioneering 20th century architect, has been posthumously awarded the 2019 AIA|LA Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles chapter.

Born in 1926 in Harlem, New York City, Sklarek learned carpentry skills from her father during the Great Depression, and eventually studied at Barnard College and the Columbia University School of Architecture. She graduated with an architecture degree in 1950 and would go on to lead design teams for some of Los Angeles’s most impactful practices, where she worked on many of the most significant and innovative design projects of the time.

Sklarek led the design of the Pacific Design Center's Blue Whale building while at Gruen Associates. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Gary Minnaert.

According to a press release announcing the award, Sklarek worked as the director of architecture at Gruen Associates, where she led the design of some of L.A.’s most iconic late-20th century buildings, including the Californ...

AIA gold medal winning library is now boarded up and covered in graffiti

2018-03-05T14:54:00-05:00

Taking his inspiration from a Chestnut Street shoe store designed by architectural pioneers Oskar Stonorov and Louis Kahn, Martin produced a diaphanous glass jewel box, two stories tall and 35 feet wide. Large shop windows separated by the thinnest possible aluminum strips offered passersby views of the library’s bookshelves and clusters of comfortable reading chairs.

Sydney E. Martin's Mercantile Library was awarded the gold medal in 1954 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Inspired by modern retail buildings, Martin designed the library with a transparent glass facade to display the books as merchandise. This innovative design is hailed as one of the 1950's most daring modernist buildings by historian Jeffrey L. Baumoel. So why is it boarded up now?

Google Maps street view of the former Mercantile Library on Chestnut St. in Philadelphia. Image: Google Maps.

The branch was shut down in 1989 by the Free Library due to asbestos contamination concerns. The interior has been gutted and the roof has reportedly caved in. The building is now owned by Brickstone Realty, known for several historic renovations. Hopefully the Mercantile Library will be given new life so visitors can once again experience this important modernist building.

Winners, Whiners and Wine Boxes: Paul Revere Williams' posthumous Gold Medal, Jean Nouvel's legal woes and BIG's LA River project, on Archinect Sessions #92

2016-12-15T18:16:00-05:00

On this episode, we discuss the biggest news items of the past week, covering: the political bent to the AIA's Gold Medal being awarded posthumously to Paul Revere Williams; Jean Nouvel's legal battle over his "defiled" Paris Philharmonie; and BIG's new proposal for a giant, riverside mixed-user in LA's Arts District.

Listen to episode 92 of Archinect Sessions, "Winners, Whiners and Wine Boxes":

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Download: this episode

The news stories we discussed this week:

Jean Nouvel's court battle over the Philharmonie continues

2017 AIA Gold Medal posthumously awarded to Paul Revere Williams — the first African-American recipient

BIG proposes massive, gridded development for the LA Arts Distri...

2017 AIA Gold Medal posthumously awarded to Paul Revere Williams — the first African-American recipient

2016-12-07T20:02:00-05:00

It's that time of year when the American Institute of Architects reveals the winner of the AIA Gold Medal, which honors an individual's outstanding body of work that has influenced architecture theory and practice. For 2017, the Medal was awarded posthumously to architect Paul Revere Williams, the first African-American recipient. Williams passed away in 1980.

LAX Theme Building.

A trailblazer throughout his career, LA-born Paul Revere Williams was the first black architect to join the AIA and to be elected to the Institute's College of Fellows. He designed over 2,000 homes and commercial buildings around LA and abroad, including affordable homes for new homeowners, the glitzy abodes for his celebrity clients, and infamous icons like the LAX Theme Building (1961) and his renovation of the Beverly Hills Hotel (1949).

Having to deal with racial obstacles, Williams is also known for developing the ability to draw upside down to accommodate white clients who might not have wanted to si...

Ashton Raggatt McDougall wins 2016 Australian Gold Medal

2016-04-29T18:21:00-04:00

Stephen Ashton, Howard Raggatt, and Ian McDougall have left a lasting impression in the Australian contemporary architecture scene since they founded Ashton Raggatt McDougall in 1988. Since then, ARM has built projects that the Australian Institute of Architects describes as “some of the most extraordinary [if not sometimes controversial] buildings in the short post-colonial history of [the] country.”

ARM's contentious body of work recently earned them the 2016 Gold Medal in the Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards. Here's a glimpse of their work:

Photos by John Gollings.

Find out more on Bustler.

Editor's Picks #437

2015-12-16T11:51:00-05:00

Nicholas Korody penned a double review; of 'The Geological Imagination' and 'The Underdome Guide to Energy Reform'. He finds "The two books also help illuminate some of the difficulties in perceiving climate change, while offering some potentials for movement" and goes on to reference "enmeshment", systems thinking and dark ecology.

Plus, Robert Urquhart took stock of how The Bartlett and the Architectural Association are "bringing emerging technologies into the UK's architecture education".

News
Denise Scott Brown, along with her husband Robert Venturi, have won the 2016 AIA Gold Medal. Snubbed of the 1991 Pritzker Prize when Venturi was named as the only laureate, Scott Brown is the second female recipient of the Gold Medal.

In honor of the happy and historic occasion, Denise Scott Brown appeared on Archinect Sessions #45.

To DWLindeman it "is splendid good news, and a long overdue award...Robert Venturi was right to say to the AIA ‘not without Denise.’ This is also a very significan...

Golden Years: Saluting joint creativity with Denise Scott Brown, on Archinect Sessions #45

2015-12-10T18:55:00-05:00

On the happy and historic occasion of Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi being jointly awarded the 2016 AIA Gold Medal, we speak with Brown about whether this could be a watershed moment for architecture, and the long road that she and Robert took to arriving here. We last spoke with Brown on episode #39, when the Vanna Venturi house hit the market.

If we accept that accolades like the Gold Medal have the influence to (potentially) nudge the profession in certain directions, then this time – the first the award has been given jointly, and to a living woman – could signal a movement towards increased inclusivity, and a reevaluation of collaborative agency.

Listen to episode 45 of Archinect Sessions, "Golden Years":

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Apple Podcast App (iOS): click here to subscribe
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SoundCloud: click here to follow Archinect
RSS: subscribe with any of your favo...

Denise Scott Brown wins AIA Gold Medal

2015-12-02T19:48:00-05:00

Along with her husband and partner-in-design Robert Venturi, it was announced on Twitter that 84-year-old Denise Scott Brown has been awarded the 2016 AIA Gold Medal. Denise Scott Brown, who spoke to Archinect earlier this year, did not win the Pritzker when it was awarded to Robert Venturi back in 1991, a glaring omission that has consistently been called out for redress in the architectural press (to no avail).

The AIA chose to recognize Scott-Brown and Venturi's work on The Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London and the Franklin Court Independence Historic National Park in Philadelphia as some of the numerous groundbreaking works that have rightfully placed Scott-Brown in one of architecture's most prestigious registers.

Moshe Safdie to receive the 2015 AIA Gold Medal

2014-12-10T17:11:00-05:00

Moshe Safdie has been announced as the 2015 recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. Voted on annually, the AIA Gold Medal is regarded as the architecture profession's highest honor given to an individual. The medal honors an individual's exceptional body of work that has made a lasting impact on architectural practice and theory. Safdie will receive the Gold Medal during the 2015 AIA National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

These are a few of Safdie's works:

Habitat '67 for Montreal's 1967 World's Fair

Marina Bay Sands in Singapore

The Salt Lake City Main Public Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

Read more on Bustler.

Editor's Picks #346

2013-12-17T12:24:00-05:00

Responding to some critical commentators Donna Sink pointed out "you realize she was one of the first architects to use reinforced concrete, right? The first woman admitted to the Ecole? Working in one of the most revered styles in our history when it was brand new?".

Steven Ward admitted feeling ambivalent "Could they not find a living woman architect worthy of the honor - they had to comb through the history books?...I can see the flip side. If they had created a different award, they would have gotten criticism for that…Ah, well. Progress nonetheless!". Responding to some critical commentators Donna Sink pointed out "you realize she was one of the first architects to use reinforced concrete, right? The first woman admitted to the Ecole? Working in one of the most revered styles in our history when it was brand new?".

Erin Lani continued in this vein "the work of Julia Morgan stands as one thorough exercise of an Architect's thesis, regardless of gender. She gat...

2014 AIA Gold Medal posthumously awarded to Julia Morgan, FAIA - the first female recipient

2013-12-12T19:42:00-05:00

Fifty-six years after her death, the Board of Directors of the AIA voted today to honor the AIA Gold Medal to Julia Morgan, FAIA (1872-1957) — the first woman to ever receive the award. Morgan will be honored at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago.

Considered as the AIA's highest honor, the Gold Medal recognizes an individual's work that has majorly influenced the theory and practice of architecture. Morgan's most famous works include Hearst Castle; Asilomar YWCA in Pacific Grove, CA; and St. John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, CA.

Here are more details about Julia Morgan:

"Morgan won a litany of firsts she used to establish a new precedent for greatness. A building technology expert that was professionally adopted by some of the most powerful post-Gilded age patrons imaginable, Morgan practiced for nearly 50 years and designed more than 700 buildings of almost every type. The first woman admitted to the prestigious architecture school at the E...

AIA's Highest Honor to Allow Partners to be Recognized

2013-06-21T20:42:00-04:00

At the latest American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention, held in Denver this year, the AIA Board of Directors voted to revise eligibility for the AIA Gold Medal to include two individuals working together. In its press release Thursday, the AIA revealed it could bestow the award on two individuals in the case that "their collaborative efforts over time are recognized as having created a singular body of distinguished architectural work." Previously only a single individual could be awarded the Gold Medal, and the new criteria is carefully worded to distinguish it from the AIA Firm Award that is presented to a practice as a whole.

The move is explained by AIA President Mickey Jacob as long-due acknowledgement for the collaborative nature of practice, yet its timing is a clear nod to the recent debate over the recognition of female architects in headline-grabbing awards. Beginning with remarks by Denise Scott Brown on being snubbed in the Pritzker Prize awarded to...

AIA Awards Highest Honors to Steven Holl and VJAA

2011-12-09T14:32:00-05:00

The Board of Directors of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) voted yesterday to award the 2012 AIA Gold Medal, considered to be the profession's highest honor that an individual can receive, to Steven Holl, FAIA. [...] The 2012 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm, went to VJAA, the Minneapolis-based firm, noted for its consistently rigorous approach to research-driven form-making.

The 2012 recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award is Mortimer Marshall, Jr., FAIA, and the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education was given to Canadian architect George Baird, Intl. Assoc. AIA.