by Jonathan McGaha | December 31, 2008 12:00 am
The board of directors of the American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C., has awarded the 2009 AIA Gold Medal to Australian architect Glenn Marcus Murcutt, Hon. FAIA. Murcutt was recognized in large part for the depth of his work and the breadth of his influence. Murcutt, a sole practitioner, is noted for his ecologically responsive and socially responsible modernist suburban and rural homes in which he incorporates a variety of natural materials. “Recently our architectural field experienced an ‘ecological boom,’” wrote 2005 Gold Medalist Tadao Ando in a letter of support for Murcutt’s nomination. “However, without relation to such a trend of time, Glenn Murcutt has always been focusing on the geographical and regional conditions, from the very beginning of his career.” The AIA Gold Medal, voted on annually, is the highest honorthe AIA confers on an individual. It honors a person whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Murcutt becomes the 65th AIA Gold Medalist, joining the ranks of Thomas Jefferson; Frank Lloyd Wright; Louis Sullivan; LeCorbusier; Louis Kahn; I.M. Pei; Cesar Pelli; Edward Larrabee Barnes; and last year’s recipient, Renzo Piano. In addition, the 2009 AIA Architecture Firm Award was granted to Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects of Seattle. The distinction is based on its 35 years of consistently excellent work, including seamless blending of architecture, art and craft; community involvement; attention to sustainable design; and nurturing of in-house talent. The AIA Architecture Firm Award, given annually, is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years. The firm’s partners are Jim Olson, FAIA; Rick Sundberg, FAIA; Tom Kundig, FAIA; Scott Allen, AIA; Kirsten Murray, AIA; and Alan Maskin. “Their residential work in particular reveals a fascination with craft and the material properties of architecture,” wrote Mark Robbins, dean of the Syracuse University School of Architecture in a recommendation letter. “Levers, racks, gears, out-sized hinges and wall-size shutters improbably glide into place to frame sublime natural vistas. The dual American obsession of industry and nature are summed up immaculately in the smallest folly.” Lastly, the 2009 recipient of the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education is Adèle Naudé Santos, FAIA. The Topaz Medallion honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to architecture education for at least 10 years, has influenced a broad range of students and has helped shape the minds of those who will shape the environment. Santos is dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture + Planning, Cambridge, Mass. Said Andrea Leers, FAIA, principal of the 2008 Firm Award recipient Leers Weinzapfel Associates in Boston: “As a citizen of the world, she has brought the world to her students, gathering people, disciplines and cultures together in the endeavor of architecture
… As a woman professional and educator, shehas been a pioneer, an inspiration and a mentor to countless women students.”
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