CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2021 Local, State & National Honor Awards

Each year, the AIA Dallas Community Honors Committee celebrates the individuals and groups who are promoting, improving, and expanding our profession. We nominate and create the submission packets for awards given out by Texas Society of Architects (TxA), AIA National, and by our local Chapter. It is a role we take seriously, and we strive to think outside of the box to recognize those who make a meaningful impact on our community. We encourage you to learn more about our 2020 honorees and watch the recorded CELEBRATE ARCHITECTURE livestream event on Thursday, February 4.

This year, the Community Honors Committee is excited to take nominations from our membership for our national, state, and local awards programs. Any AIA Dallas or AIA Northeast Texas section member in good standing can suggest a nominee for the committee to consider. To submit a nomination for one of the awards listed, please complete the form HERE with the name of the award, who you are nominating, and a brief explanation of why you believe they deserve the award (limited to 250 characters, please send lengthier nominations & descriptions to khitt@aiadallas.org). 

Once all suggestions are compiled, the committee will review all submissions, determine the best nominee for each award, and will present the slate of nominees for a vote by the Board of Directors. While not all nominees will be put forward this year, candidates will remain on the watch list for future consideration.

Nomination categories include the following:

AIA Dallas/ Local

AIA Dallas Firm Award

The Firm Award is given to a firm that has demonstrated outstanding commitment to design, practice, community, and professional endeavors.

AIA Dallas Lifetime Achievement Award

This award recognizes an individual, or two individuals working together who have created a singular body of service and achievement, for a lifetime of leadership and accomplishment within the profession of architecture.

AIA Dallas George Foster Harrell Award

The George F. Harrell Award was established in 1980 to recognize persons having made unique contributions to architecture. The award is named for George Foster Harrell, a founder of Omniplan Architects, and is the Chapter’s highest and most prestigious honor. Harrell, 1906-1980, was an essential part of the Dallas Chapter’s growth to national stature, and was known as not only an excellent architect, but a civic and professional leader. The award is not given on a regular basis, but only when recognition for a contribution to the quality of architecture or the quality of life in this city is of such importance that it is of a world standard and is absolutely warranted.

AIA Dallas Honorary Membership

Honorary Memberships are granted to esteemed individuals who have rendered extraordinary and valuable service within the Dallas area, and have conspicuously upheld the AIA’s aims, but who are not eligible for membership in the Institute or the Chapter.

AIA Dallas Consultant Award

The Consultant Award recognizes a member of an associated profession who has contributed significantly to the ability of architects to produce high quality projects.

AIA Dallas Contractor Award

The Contractor Award is given to recognize outstanding qualities of construction work, the promotion of professionalism, and the development of excellent working relationships between the contractor, the architect, and the community.

AIA Dallas Community Honors Award

Community Honor Awards are bestowed on persons, firms, corporations, or associations for meritorious work in their respective fields and that have contributed to the architectural and artistic quality of life in Dallas.

AIA Dallas Artisan Award

The Artisan Award recognizes those craftsmen and artisans within the Dallas area whose talent, technique, diligence and creative insight makes great architecture possible.

AIA Dallas Sustainability Commendation

This award is given to public officials, community groups, business owners, and design professionals for taking chances on behalf of the environment and the design community. This award recipient is nominated by the AIA Dallas Committee on the Environment.

AIA Dallas Architecture Educator Award

This award recognizes outstanding educators of local K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, and continuing education providers within the AIA Dallas boundaries. This award recipient is nominated by the AIA Dallas Education Outreach Committee.

Texas Society of Architects/ State

Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Honor of Llewellyn W. Pitts, FAIA

The Society’s highest honor, the Medal for Lifetime Achievement is awarded to recognize a TxA member for a lifetime of distinguished leadership and dedication in architecture and the community.

Architecture Firm Award

Awarded to a member firm that has consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years, this is the highest honor the Society can bestow upon a firm. The Honor Awards Committee will focus its evaluation on the quality of the firm’s architecture and the firm’s contributions to AIA, the profession, and the community. Firms practicing under the leadership of either a single principal or several principals are eligible for the award. In addition, firms that have been reorganized and whose name has been changed or modified are also eligible, as long as the firm has been in operation for a period of at least 10 years.

Award for Community Service in Honor of John D. Pfluger, FAIA

Awarded to an individual member for an extended commitment to community service or significant contribution evidenced in a positive impact on urban, environmental, or neighborhood issues. Nominees may be architects who use their practice to enhance their community.

Award for Outstanding Educational Contributions in Honor of Edward J. Romieniec, FAIA

A nominee must be a current or former member of the faculty at one of the eight accredited Texas schools of architecture, and must have been a full-time educator for at least five years. Criteria includes: teaching of great breadth; influencing a wide range of students; and the ability to maintain relevance through the years by directing students toward the future while drawing on the past. It is expected that a candidate teaching courses in architecture be an AIA member.

Award for Young Professional Achievement in Honor of William W. Caudill, FAIA

This award recognizes a member for professional achievement in leadership development during the early years of practice. Architect members of AIA who have been licensed to practice less than 10 years by the submittal deadline, and who are currently registered in the State of Texas, are eligible. The nominee should be a role model who: goes beyond the call of duty in service to the profession; influences improvement in the organization at the state level; encourages participation among fellow members and nonmembers; exemplifies qualities of leadership; and exemplifies qualities of professional practice.

Associate Member of the Year

This Honor Award is presented to an individual Associate AIA member who best exemplifies the highest qualities of leadership and has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to Texas or to his or her component chapter.

Honorary Membership

Honorary membership in the Texas Society of Architects is one of the highest honors the Society can bestow upon a person outside the profession of architecture. It is awarded to an individual for his or her long-term association with architects, architecture, or allied professions in providing a better quality of life in Texas.

Mentorship Award

Awarded to a Texas Society of Architects member or a Texas AIA chapter for developing unique programming for the successful development of Associate AIAs, or for an extraordinary effort to mentor and promote the advancement of these professionals at the local or state level.

Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Architecture through the Media in Honor of John G. Flowers, Hon. AIA

Awarded to recognize an individual or organization for excellence in the promotion of architecture through the media. Media is a broad category and can include written materials, radio/TV, web and digital format.

Citation of Honor

Awarded to groups, organizations, or individuals outside the profession whose activities make significant contributions to the goals of the architectural profession for improvement of the natural or built environment in Texas.

Artisan Award

The Texas Society of Architects' Artisan Award is presented to individuals, groups or organizations outside the profession whose artistry, talent, technique, diligence, creative insight and collaborative nature support the creation of safe, beautiful, sustainable environments and make significant contributions to the built and natural environment in Texas.

Award for Equitable Practice in Architecture in Honor of John S. Chase Jr., FAIA

This award was created to recognize the efforts of those architects who have made significant, measurable strides in their practice, in the practice of others, or in the public awareness of equitable practice in architecture.

Historic Architecture Award

This award recognizes a Texas building or group of buildings, completed more than 50 years ago, designed by an architect, and located on its original site, that continues to positively impact the area in which it resides, has inspired architects and architecture through the decades, and represents a landmark in the state.

AIA National

Associates Award

The AIA Associates Award is given to individual Associate AIA members to recognize outstanding leaders and creative thinkers for significant contributions to their communities and the architecture profession.

Collaborative Achievement 

The Collaborative Achievement recognize the excellence that results when architects work with those from outside the profession to improve the spaces where people live and work.

Edward C. Kemper Award 

From 1914 to 1948, Edward C. Kemper led the AIA as executive director. Since 1950, this award has honored members who carry on his legacy of continued and significant service to the AIA.  

Elbert M. Conover Award 

The Elbert M. Conover Award is open to all non-architects who have demonstrated a passion for and dedication to quality worship and sacred spaces, fostered spiritual values, and promoted a cross-denominational community focused on religious arts and architecture. Recipients must have worked with architects during the design and construction of religious projects—for example, helping to secure funding and support for sacred spaces.

Honorary Membership 

The AIA recognizes the notable contributions and service of people outside of the architecture profession with Honorary Membership in the Institute.

Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture

The Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture recognize architects in the public and private sectors, public officials, or other individuals who design distinguished public facilities and/or who advocate for design excellence.

Whitney M. Young Jr. Award 

This award distinguishes an architect or architectural organization that embodies social responsibility and actively addresses a relevant issue, such as affordable housing, inclusiveness, or universal access.

Young Architect Awards 

The AIA Young Architects Award honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their careers.

 

If you know a person, firm, or organization that meets the award qualifications above, please let us know. We want to acknowledge these individuals for the incredible work they do and for the strong impact they have.

Please click HERE to submit a nomination. Nominations are due by Thursday, March 4, 2021.