PAC Award Update

With only 48 hours remaining, AIA Central Virginia continues their lead in the “Rumble in the Jungle” for the AIA Virginia Political Action Committee Award

AIA Central Virginia continues to be slightly ahead of AIA Hampton Roads with 70 and 60 points respectively. AIA Blue Ridge has 30 points and AIA Richmond has 20 points. AIA Northern Virginia has not scored any points yet (come on Northern Virginia!) AIA Central Virginia is the only local component Board of Directors at 100% participation as of this date. As we have seen in past years, the leaderboard can change overnight when $1,000 is on the line!

The AIA Virginia PAC Award looks to celebrate the engagement and commitment of a local AIA component that supports the advancement and mission of the PAC. The Award has historically been presented at Architecture Exchange East to the local component’s Board of Directors who will accept the award on behalf of its respective members. The award criteria is based on a point total calculation based on three areas: local component Board participation, percentage of local component’s membership who have invested in the PAC, and the total amount of money invested by the members of the local component.

Below outlines point allocations:

  1. Local component Board participation
    a. Did 100% of the Board of Directors invest into the AIA Virginia PAC?
    i. Yes = 20 points
    ii. No = 0 points
  2. Percentage of local component’s members who have invested in the AIA Virginia PAC
    i. Component with highest % = 40 points
    ii. Component with second highest % = 20 points
    iii. Component with third highest % = 10 points
  3. Average investment per member from the total local component membership
    i. Component with highest average investment/member = 40 points
    ii. Component with second highest average investment/member = 30 points
    iii. Component with third highest average investment/member = 20 points
    iv. Component with fourth highest average investment/member = 10 points
    v. Component with fifth highest average investment/member = 0 points

Scoring will be closed on Friday, October 14, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. EST.

Make your investment today at www.aiavapac.org

Honors Nomination Deadline July 31

The deadline for submitting nominations for the Society’s Honors Awards program is rapidly approaching. [adrotate banner=”61″]Nominations are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2014.

Nominations must be submitted electronically as one PDF document, no larger than 20 pages and 50 MB. Nominations must be accompanied by the nomination form. The submitter should be prepared to provide unrestricted high-resolution images to be used in connection with publicity of the program and the recognition of the honorees at Architecture Exchange East on Nov. 5–7, and at Visions for Architecture on Nov. 7.

Nominations for all Virginia Society honors may be made by individual members, by chapter honors committees, by Society committees, or by the Board of Directors itself. Sitting Society board members and members of the Honors Committee are not eligible for Honors Awards.

AWARD CATEGORIES

The William C. Noland Medal, as the highest award bestowed on a member architect, is intended to honor a distinguished body of accomplishments, sustained over time, that spans a broad spectrum of the profession and that transcends the scope of normal professional activities. Only one medal may be bestowed each year.

The Architecture Medal for Virginia Service is the Society’s most prestigious public award, honoring an individual or organization that has made an unusually significant contribution to Virginia’s built environment or to the public’s understanding and awareness of the built environment. Only one medal may be bestowed each year but may be given simultaneously to more than one person.

The T. David Fitz-Gibbon Virginia Architecture Firm Award, as the highest honor bestowed by the Virginia Society to a Virginia-based architecture firm, recognizes a firm that has consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least ten years.

The Award for Distinguished Achievement signals distinguished achievement by an architect in any one of the following categories: design, practice, education, service as “citizen architect” , and service to the profession; and thus may serve as an accolade for the work of an entire career or recognize the current accomplishments of a younger leader. Up to three awards may be bestowed each year.

Honorary Membership is bestowed upon a person of esteemed character who is not eligible for membership in the Virginia Society but who has rendered distinguished and exemplary service, over a sustained period of time, to architecture and the built environment within the domain of the Society.

Virginia Society Honors may be bestowed on non-member individuals or organizations that have inspired, influenced, or complemented the architecture profession in Virginia through practice of an allied profession, research, education, planning, legislation, architectural writing, the arts, or crafts. An individual who has previously been elected an Honorary Member of the Society is ineligible to receive Society Honors.

The Test of Time Award recognizes architectural design of enduring significance.

Questions? Contact Rhea George at rgeorge@aiava.org or (804) 237-1768

Students Compete in Virginia Society AIA Prize

© 2006, The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.

Students from Hampton University, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, and the University of Virginia took part in the 32nd annual Virginia Society AIA Prize competition over the weekend of Jan. 27–30, 2012. From those submissions, each school advances 10 finalists; the winning design will be selected by a jury in February.

This year’s competition problem was developed by faculty at Hampton University and addressed our ability (or inability) to provide temporary emergency housing. Students were asked to propose a semi-permanent and reusable intervention in one of the region’s most naturally vulnerable locations — Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The problem asked students to design one prototypical unit, not to exceed 600 square-feet, capable of housing up to 4 individuals. Designs were to include a site plan demonstrating how four of these prototypical units could be arranged to form the embryo of a community. Students were also asked to envision how these structures could be used as housing for special events during non-catastrophic times.

The Virginia Society AIA Prize — along with the accompanying $2000 check — will be awarded during the Virginia Design Forum: Skins, March 16-17, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Best of School nods (and possibly an honorable mention or two) will be noted as well. An exhibition of all of the finalists will tour each of the schools and will wrap up in the ArchEx Exhibit Hall at Architecture Exchange East on Nov. 8–9.

Tech’s LumenHAUS Wins AIA Honor Award

LumenHAUS, courtesy Va. Tech

Virginia Tech’s acclaimed LumenHAUS has earned another feather in its much-adorned cap. This net-zero-energy house — which has garnered attention not only for design excellence but as an educational tool — has been awarded a 2012 Institute Honor Award for Architecture from the national component of the AIA. Recognized by the Society with a 2011 VSAIA design award and the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship in 2010, the LumenHAUS also took home the top prize at the European Solar Decathlon in 2010.

The house has been on display in New York’s Times Square, Washington, D.C. and alongside Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House as an exhibition, not only on good design, but as a tool informing the wider public about issues of alternative energy and sustainability.

Read more >>

Jefferson Award Goes to Virginia Fellow

Dan Feil, FAIAThis year’s Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture honors Virginia member Daniel Feil, FAIA, an experienced public-sector architect with a long history of enlisting the finest design talents to produce trendsetting public works. Feil and the other two 2012 Thomas Jefferson Award recipients are celebrated for demonstrating a commitment to quality design that recognizes public buildings and places as part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

The Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture recognize achievements in three categories: private-sector architects with a record of excellence in the design of public facilities, public-sector architects who promote design excellence within their agencies, and public officials or other individuals who have furthered public awareness of design excellence.  More >>

Call for Entries: Design Awards 2011

The Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects calls architects, interior designers, and preservationists to submit to the 2011 Awards for Excellence in Architecture presented by Scott Long Construction.

Three categories, three juries:

ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN, and PRESERVATION will each be judged separately by a jury of esteemed professionals.

Winners will be honored at a special session during Architecture Exchange East and at Visions for Architecture, a gala event hosted by the Virginia Society AIA. Winning projects will also be the subject of the fourth annual Design Awards exhibition at the Virginia Center for Architecture, and featured in Inform magazine’s annual directory.

The 2011 Design Awards are presented by Scott Long Construction and sponsored by Carolina Cast Stone Co., Inc.

Deadlines

4 p.m., June 30, 2011      REGISTRATION

4 p.m., July 21, 2011        PROJECT SUBMISSION

No faxes or mail to send! The Virginia Society AIA continues to pursue a more sustainable model of operating and therefore is accepting only electronic registrations.

Eligibility

All entries must be the work of licensed architects who have an office in Virginia OR are members of the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects. This includes Associate Members of the VSAIA.

The location of projects is not restricted, but any built work submitted must have been completed after January 1, 2006.

Un-built work will also be considered, as long as it was commissioned by a client as opposed to hypothetical work completed in the mode of research or academic training.

Meet the Jury Chairs

ARCHITECTURE
Paul Mankins, FAIA
Recipient of the 2003 AIA Young Architects Award, and elected to the AIA College of Fellows at only 40 years old, Mankins is a founder and principal of the nationally recognized collaborative design practice Substance. In addition to awards from Architecture, Architectural Record/Business Week, Contract, I.D. (International Design), Interior Design and Residential Architect magazines, his work has been recognized with more than 35 Honor and Merit Awards at the regional, state and local level. In 2002 he received an AIA National Honor Award for Architecture. He serves on the National Board of Directors of the AIA, and during his time as Editor-in-Chief of Iowa Architect, it was recognized by the AIA as the outstanding component publication in the nation.

INTERIOR DESIGN
Kevin J. Flynn, FAIA, IES
Currently serving on the AIA National Board as a Regional Director from the Central States Region, Flynn has extensive experience in architecture, lighting design and theatrical design. Through his work as Executive Vice President of Kiku Obata & Company, he has been recognized for architecture, lighting, and retail design work by the AIA, Chain Store Age, the International Conference of Shopping Centers, Institute of Store Planners/Visual Merchandising & Store Design Magazine, and the International Illumination Design Awards.  In addition to his service to the AIA, he has served as president of the Illuminating Engineers Society of North America.

He is the 2012 Chair of the AIA Institute Honor Awards for Collaborative and Professional Achievement.

PRESERVATION
Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA
Principal and co-founder of HopkinsBurns Design Studio, Hopkins is a nationally-recognized leader in historic preservation architecture. He has extensive experience in the restoration and rehabilitation of hundreds of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places including a number of National Historic Landmarks. As president of the American Institute of Architects in 2004, he led efforts to renew the AIA/National Park Service/Library of Congress partnership; save the Farnsworth House; advance the integration of Historic Preservation principles into the architectural curriculum of colleges and universities and excluded the historic tax credit from the JOBS/Tax bill. He has received numerous recognitions for his contribution to architecture, including the 2003 prestigious Gold Medal from AIA Michigan, 2006 Gold Medal from AIA Detroit, the 2002 Robert Hastings FAIA Award and the 1992 AIA Michigan Young Architect of the Year Award. His work on the Michigan State Capitol received a National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award in 1992 and an AIA Honor Award for Architecture in 1996. In 2008 he was appointed Architect of the Michigan State Capitol.

See the Regulations and FAQs.

Virginia Society AIA Prize Announced

Students from Virginia’s architecture schools competed in January in the 2011 Virginia Society AIA Prize competition, sponsored by The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

Students were given one weekend to create a solution to a design problem: design a new Amtrak station in the town of Clifton Forge, Virginia. The current passenger train stop at this location is equipped with minimal facilities, consisting of a very small waiting room and bathroom, and is housed in a structure that is primarily a freight yard office building.

Program elements included a waiting room for approximately 25-30 people, a ticket counter with attached office, a small room for office and custodial storage, bathroom facilities, and onsite parking for 24 cars. There is a vacant one-story building on the site, which formerly housed a diner, but the competition assumed that it could be removed and/or replaced at the competitor’s discretion. Competitors could also alter or adjust the configuration of existing parking areas and driveways on the site.

The site is located along the main commercial street in downtown Clifton Forge, and competitors were encouraged to consider both pedestrian and vehicular connections to the street, such that the project could improve both the quality of passenger service as well as make a positive contribution to the town.

Each entry was required to be the work of one individual — no collaborative projects were allowed.

The jury was comprised of Timm Jamieson, FAIA (chair), Michel Ashe, FAIA, Joe Atkins, AIA, and Steven McCurdy of Norfolk Southern Railroad. They met March 30, 2011, to deliberate and select honorees.  Those honorees and the jury’s comments follow.

Congratulations to all those students who competed and a special thanks to our competition sponsor The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.

2011 VSAIA Prize and Jury Comments

All the honorees had clear and complete communication of the elements and the plan.  Those honored had the strength of an idea, coupled with representation that lifted the idea up and made it clear.

Noteworthy original thought was characterized in a number of entries.

2011 VSAIA Prize Winner

Siim Tiisvelt, Virginia Tech Washington Alexandria Architecture Center
Said the jury:

Click to enlarge

This entry made an interesting pedestrian connection to the town, providing a view of the river and trains.  A simple, straightforward, and elegant solution.  One simple gesture provided a drop-off for people coming by car and a straightforward procession to the platform, with an extension of the street above for anyone to view trains and river beyond.  Civic minded seat steps reflected back to the main street.  This entry clearly understood the topography of the site well, as the whole sense of arrival seems more in scale than any other scheme.  This was the best implementation of the concept of giving people a place to watch trains.

 

Best in School Virginia Tech Blacksburg

Garrett Reynolds
Said the jury:

There was good recognition of the topography.  The site section at the bottom grabbed our attention.  The civic scale canopy was reflected in the mountains and to the town, almost as Saarinen did with Dulles Airport.  Tucking the parking under was nice solution to a tricky problem.  This is almost too much architecture for the town, but the resolution of the design was strong.  The double acting canopy is very nice, however, the sense of arrival is not very sophisticated.

Best in School Hampton University

Biyengo Lwandiko
Said the jury:

Nice neoclassical set of pieces.  In scale with the site; the entrance addresses the street and allows entry from the sidewalk into the building and progresses nicely as you get onto the train.  The town would love it.  Very nice presentation.  Complete…we fully understood all the parts. The jury wished the two building components had been better connected somehow.

Honorable Mention

Gui Talarico, Virginia Tech WAAC
Said the jury:

This is a wild and wonderful concept.  We laughed out loud at “Why the hell are we stopping a 750-ton, 800 foot long train for 180 pound people?” In all seriousness, we like that someone devoted thought to ecology and saving fuel.

Michael Smyles, Virginia Tech Blacksburg
Said the jury:

Very nice portal, with good imagery of the procession from platform to train.  A container that has an object — it’s a nice miniature version of larger train station a la Grand Central.  Special note: the jury members all mentally moved the newer building to be in harmony with the old building.

Recognition for Artistic Merit

Natalie Mutchler, Virginia Tech Blacksburg
Said the jury:

Very nice graphic representation.  We would have liked to see more addressing of the site plan. It is Hopper-esque, almost a frame-able poster.

Call for Entries: VSAIA Prize for Design Research and Scholarship

VSAIA board members tour Va. Tech's campus and the award-winning Lumenhaus
VSAIA board members tour Va. Tech's campus and the award-winning Lumenhaus.

Compelling architectural research is conducted in universities and in practitioners’ firms all over Virginia. Firms pursue research to further the interest of staff, develop innovative ideas, and as a means to maintain productivity for staff during down periods.  The VSAIA Prize for Design Research & Scholarship was created in 2008 as one means of encouraging a healthy dialogue between researchers in the universities and the firms. Last year’s prize was awarded to Eclipsis System: An Innovative Sun Control and Insulation Fenestration submitted by the team of Robert Dunay, FAIA, Joseph Wheeler, AIA, Robert Schubert, Associate Dean for Research, and Jonathan Grinham from Virginia Tech.

The VSAIA Prize for Design Research & Scholarship will be awarded to a licensed, practicing architect in Virginia OR a faculty member at a Virginia institution of higher learning for outstanding design research and/or scholarship in the field of architecture.

Eligible papers or articles include those that have been submitted but are pending acceptance, or those that have been published in a journal or conference proceedings within the past two years. Research projects or innovative project case-studies completed within the past three years and summarized in a paper or article are also eligible.

Entry forms and payment are due by 5 p.m., Friday, June 10. Submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 1. The winner will be announced in September. Download the registration form for more information or to register.