by Brianna Crandall — December 19, 2012—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) named the recipients of several of its distinguished annual architecture awards for firms and individuals over the past two weeks.
The firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects received the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The firm is noted for exquisite care for detail with subtle, reverent architecture that is both timeless in its abstracted, meditative forms and materially specific to context and place, said the judges. The award is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm, and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years. The married team of architects, Tod Williams, FAIA, and Billie Tsien, AIA, have been working together since 1977 and first formed their New York City-based practice in 1986. They have designed a celebrated portfolio of overwhelmingly public cultural and institutional buildings: university facilities, libraries, museums, etc. As such, their design language embodies the idealized traits of the body politic; contemplative, enlightened, humble, eloquent, granular and diverse in its individual details, but unified in purpose and intent, said the judges. Noted projects include: Long Island House in Wainscott, NY; the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at the University of California-Berkeley; the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center in NYC; and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA.
Thom Mayne, FAIA, was awarded the 2013 AIA Gold Medal, considered the profession’s highest honor for an individual. The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Mayne is known for his daring approach to public works architecture, with ambitious government and institutional projects. Mayne founded his architectural firm, Morphosis, in Los Angeles in 1972. In the same year, Mayne and several colleagues founded the Southern California Institute of Architects, or SCI-Arc, and he has remained actively involved in academia. A champion of the U.S. General Service Administration’s (GSA) Design Excellence program, Mayne was appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 2009, is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2009 received the Centennial Medal of the American Academy in Rome. Examples of his work include: Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, CA; the California Department of Transportation District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles; the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse in Eugene, OR; the San Francisco Federal Building; the University of Cincinnati Student Recreation Center; and 41 Cooper Square in New York City.
Robert Greenstreet, Intl. Assoc. AIA, was named as the recipient of the 2013 Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. In his more than 35-year career, Greenstreet has taught at five schools of architecture in the United Kingdom and the United States, including the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Ball State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has spent the last 20 years as dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, making him one of the longest-serving architecture deans in North America.
John D. Anderson, FAIA, is the recipient of the 2013 Edward C. Kemper Award for service to the profession in recognition of his many leadership roles within the AIA at the state and national levels, particularly for his role as AIA president in early recognizing the “energy crisis” and in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that horrifically re-envisioned architecture and the built environment into symbolic targets of hatred and intolerance. His firm, Anderson Mason Dale Architects, has received more than 100 design awards from the AIA and other groups, and was honored as Firm of the Year by the Western Mountain Region in 1986 and by AIA Colorado in 2000.
Three recipients were chosen for the 2013 Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement award, which recognizes and encourages distinguished achievements of allied professionals, clients, organizations, architect teams, knowledge communities, and others who have had a beneficial influence on or advanced the architectural profession. The three recipients are:
- DiscoverDesign.org, created by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), connects teens, teachers, and architects across the country for real-world 21st-century project-based learning. Developed over the past three years, this free Web site has been used by 1,700 teens in 200+ high schools and 300 educators and architects since its official national launch in January 2012.
- Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom), formed 13 years ago to save a 1955 Albert Frey building from demolition, has launched a local volunteer nonprofit movement dedicated to maintaining the heritage of modern architecture and historic neighborhoods in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area, with a “tremendous” impact.
- The DC Preservation League (DCPL) has worked tirelessly to preserve Washington’s sense of place and the unique historical features that define the capital city. The group has presented education programs, lectures, conferences, and tours, often in partnership with government, industry, and community groups. These programs have focused on architecture, adaptive use of historic buildings, urban planning, and the nexus between historic preservation and economic development.
