James Abell, FAIA, Honored with 2010 Kemper Award for Service to the AIA

Benjamin Vargas, FAIA, Honored with 2010 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award
The AIA Board of Directors bestowed the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award to Benjamin Vargas, FAIA, on Dec. 3 for his efforts to instill the values of diversity and inclusiveness into the AIA at a national, Institute-wide level, and his recognition of Hispanic and Latino architects and their work. The Whitney Young award is given annually to the architect or organization that best exemplifies the profession’s social responsibility to be a positive force of social change. 

Three AIA Members Honored with 2010 Thomas Jefferson Awards
The 2010 Thomas Jefferson Awards honor three singularly unique practitioners that have all had a vital and positive influence on architecture’s interaction with the public at large. The recipients—Curtis Fentress, FAIA, a designer; Les Shepherd, AIA, a government agency head; and Ken Greenberg, Assoc. AIA, an urban planner—have all exemplified the architecture profession’s regenerative responsibility to make the everyday lives of the public better and earned these accolades in accordance with three award categories. 

George H. Miller, FAIA, Sworn in as 86th AIA President
George H. Miller, FAIA, partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, was inaugurated as the AIA’s 2010 President during ceremonies held on December 4 in Washington, DC. In turning the reins over to Miller, outgoing AIA President Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, proclaimed: “I am honored with the responsibility to vest the trust of our Institute to the leadership of George Miller. I do this with great confidence and optimism. This is a man of a larger-than-life appreciation for our profession. He is a human spirit that energizes every room he comes into. He knows in his heart and in his soul that it is the passion for design that underpins and fuels every act and aspiration of our members.” 

AIA National Associates Committee’s Forward Explores Ornament
Architects are increasingly faced with shrinking influence, often only designing the building skin or an individual tenant improvement, but not necessarily both and not at the same time. As a result, modernist desires for a direct connection between interior space and the exterior envelope can no longer be controlled by a single architect and the concept of a unified architectural project no longer has primary relevance to contemporary construction processes. This has led many architects to focus on architecture as a manipulation of surfaces as a relevant means for design and construction today. 

Performative Landscapes: The Sustainable Sites Initiative Rating System Creates a Tool for Ecological Restoration
As true, net-zero energy buildings come closer and closer to fruition and announcements of new carbon-free cities of tomorrow seem to be made every other month, there comes a reality check from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA): sustainable buildings themselves can’t save the world. 

Vote for the Winner of the AIA Facebook Young Designer’s Challenge
The AIA Facebook Young Designers Challenge has closed, and it’s time to start voting for the winner. Voting is open to everyone (AIA members, AIAS members, and the general public) and will end Jan. 4, 2010 when ballots are tallied. To vote, send an e-mail to the competition administrator at: facebookdesigncompetition@aia.org. 

AIA Membership Renewal for 2010 Has Begun
AIA members have recently received communications by mail and e-mail encouraging renewal for 2010. Now, more than ever, is the time to invest in your future by renewing your membership in the AIA.