Chicago, the city of architecture, is getting to be the city of architecture prizes...
By Blair Kamin
Tribune architecture critic
Published July 2, 2004

The latest prize, which seeks to promote innovation among developers and other architectural clients in the Chicago area, is being established by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the nonprofit that made its mark with architecture tours and exhibitions.

"The design community is very happy to pat designers on the back. The designers aren't necessarily the ones who need the encouragement," said foundation curator Ned Cramer.

The prize, which will be known as the Chicago Architecture Foundation Patron of the Year Award, joins the 25-year-old Pritzker Architecture Prize, awarded annually to an architect and widely considered the field's most prestigious honor, and the 2-year-old Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture, also given each year.

Established by Chicago business leaders, the Pritzker and Driehaus honors each come with $100,000. The recognition for the Patron of the Year Award will be more modest: a specially designed object, its shape to be determined, according to Lynn Osmond, the foundation's president.

The first award will be made at a luncheon on Nov. 18. Stein, Ray & Harris, a Chicago law firm that represents construction-industry clients, is sponsoring the award.

Depending on the quality of submissions, Osmond said, the award may be given each year in three categories: institutional, commercial and government-sponsored buildings. This year's award covers projects that were completed in the eight-county Chicago region between Jan. 1, 2001, and Wednesday. The first jury will have eight members, with Robert Ivy, editor in chief of Architectural Record magazine, as chairman.


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