Following the announcements of the 2017 AIA Gold Medal and Architecture Firm of the Year winners, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of three other national awards: the Edward C. Kemper Award,the Topaz Medallion, and the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award.
The 2017 Topaz Medallion, given each year by the AIA and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) to “an individual who has been intensely involved in architecture education for more than a decade and whose teaching has influenced a broad range of students,” has been awarded to Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA.
Stern is well known for his dual careers as founding partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and former Dean of Yale University’s School of Architecture, a position in which he served for over 20 years. In bestowing the award, the AIA noted Stern’s remarkable ability to demonstrate “that architecture can be powerful and inspiring by bringing time-honored forms and proportions to bear on a modern world.”
The 2017 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, honoring architects and organizations that champion a range of social issues, including affordable housing, minority inclusion and access for persons with disabilities, was awarded to Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) for their work in amplifying “the diminished voices of all citizens through a wide variety of design projects in its hometown and across the country.”
DCDC is housed within the School of Architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy, and has been modeled after a teaching hospital, pairing 1-4 student interns within 7 design professionals to envision innovation architectural solutions that empower communities. Projects have ranged from playgrounds, to community how-to guides, to urban gardens to social media campaigns.
The third award, the 2017 Edward C. Kemper Award for professional service, has been given to Ronald Skaggs, for his “uncanny ability to recruit, mentor, and involve others in projects and causes.”
Among other accomplishments, Skaggs served as the 76th President of AIA National in 2000, establishing the AIA’s first finance committee and strengthening ties with professional architects’ associations around the globe.
You can read more about this year’s recipients via the following links:
News via AIA.
