Social Consciousness Sets AIA 2015 Honor Awards Apart

In case you missed it during the holiday scramble, the American Institute of Architects recently announced the winners of its prestigious Honor Awards, recognizing individuals and firms for their remarkable achievements in the field of architecture. “The 2015 Honor Awards recipients are outstanding examples of the significant impact of our profession’s work on local and global communities,” says Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, 2015 AIA president. “[They] represent a remarkable breadth of focus linked by a stout thread of social consciousness.” The honorees are:

Gold Medal: Moshe Safdie, FAIA

Architecture Firm Award: Ehrlich Architects

AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion: Peter Eisenman, FAIA

Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award: Rural Studio, Auburn University

Kemper Award: Edward Mazria, AIA

“The Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award recipient, Rural Studio, works closest to the earth and where people live—providing beauty, delight and cultural pride to those often underserved,” Chu Richter says. “On the other hand, AIA Kemper Award recipient Ed Mazria is literally mobilizing the profession and the world to save our planet. AIA Gold Medalist Moshe Safdie’s work spans across decades and continents to celebrate people and place, in a manner that always respects and belongs. And there is dynamic juxtaposition between AIA Architecture Firm Award winner Ehrlich Architects, [a firm that] values multiculturalism and a populace approach to design, and Topaz Medallion recipient Peter Eisenman, who reminds us that intellectual questions and creative disruptions are as central to the human spirit as sustenance or shelter.”

All of the honorees will be recognized at the 2015 AIA National Convention in Atlanta. Eisenman also will be honored at the 2015 ACSA Annual Meeting in Toronto.