The AIA Virginia, recognizing the importance of both theory and applied research in architecture, the importance of discourse in the architectural process, and the role that discourse plays in driving both, created the AIA Virginia Prize for Design Research & Scholarship. The purpose of this prize was to encourage theoretical awareness, educational exchange, thought and research in architecture, both within academic institutions and within the offices of practicing architects who participate in these pursuits. The resulting exchange of design research and scholarship was intended to encourage another method of collaboration between professors and practitioners.

2015 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
Virginia Tech  professor Joe Wheeler, AIA was awarded the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship for his work on futureHAUS. The jurors recognized that futureHAUS was “exemplary in regards to innovation” and “the potential impact on housing could be substantial.”

2014 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
Virginia Tech associate professor Michael Ermann was awarded the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship for his work, Architectural Acoustics Illustrated. The jurors recognized that Ermann’s submission covered an interesting and important subject, noting that the content has great depth and could become a standard text book for architecture education.

2013 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
John Quale, at the University of Virginia, was awarded the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship for ecoMOD project, which has designed, built, and evaluated prefabricated homes for affordable housing organizations since 2004.

2012 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
The jury unanimously selected “New Directions in Design Research: The Role of School Architecture in the Prevention of Childhood Obesity” as the 2012 Prize for Research and Scholarship. This paper was submitted by Robert Moje, AIA, of VMDO Architects in Charlottesville.

2011  Prize for Design Research and Scholarship
The 2011 VSAIA Prize for Design Research and Scholarship jury, led by Jury Chair Thomas Leslie, awarded the prize to Edward R. Ford, AIA, Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor at the University of Virginia, for the work presented in his book The Architectural Detail. 

2010 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
The 2010 VSAIA Prize for Design Research and Scholarship was awarded at the VSAIA Annual Meeting at ArchEx November 4.  The  jury selected Eclipsis System: An Innovative Sun Control and Insulation Fenestration, submitted by a Virginia Tech team of Robert Dunay AIA, Joe Wheeler AIA, Robert Schubert, and Jonathan Grinham.  The paper described the research behind and development of a screen and shutter system used for both sun shade and climate control in Lumenhaus, Virginia Tech’s winning entry in the 2010 Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid.

2009 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
Lisa M. Tucker, Ph.D., AIA, LEED AP was awarded the Prize for Design Research and Scholarship for her work studying the relationship of the AIA and the Architects’ Small House Service Bureau to the evolution of the single-family house design.

2008 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship
University of Virginia Associate Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman was awarded the 2008 Prize for Design Research & Scholarship for her paper titled  Working on the Elizabeth River. The paper describes an integrated analysis and design methodology that reveals spacial, environmental and temporal connections in this fragile and contaminated ecosystem.  The article features the development of the Learning Barge with its solar and wind energy systems, planted filtration systems and classroom.