2020 Committee & Volunteer Awards
This year we recognize Matt Hutchins AIA; the Seattle Design Festival Core Team; and the Committee on the Environment, co-chairs: Shannon Bunsen and Gaurav Mehta.
AIA Seattle Volunteer Award: Matt Hutchins AIA
Matt Hutchins is a founder and principal of CAST architecture. In that role, Matt has spent more than twenty years working to increase the vitality of the city and the environment. With AIA Seattle, he has been a steadfast advocate and public educator on topics such as abundant urban housing options, backyard cottages, Residential Small Lot Zoning, sustainable building and zoning reform are a large component of his mission. He co-chairs AIA Seattle’s Housing Task Force and serves on the Public Policy Board, and served in the past on the Housing Design Forum Committee, and co-facilitated the chapter’s ADU tour and City Leader Breakfast.
Design in Public Volunteer Award: Seattle Design Festival Core Team
The Seattle Design Festival is produced by a passionate group of volunteers who shape the Festival each year, and who help hold us accountable to our goals, mission, and vision. Comprised of both design professionals and enthusiasts this group works together for eight months to develop the call for proposals, identify partners, review submissions, and on occasion completely pivot the Festival to virtual platforms. Pictured here are our core 2020 Committee members (clockwise, starting upper left) Elana Darnell, Julia Edwards, Adam Ury, Trevor Dykstra, Lisa Sato, Matt McWilliams, Yasir Altemeemi, George Zatloka, and Uris Giron (not pictured Michelle Gagnon-Creeley).
Committee Award: Committee on the Environment | Co-chairs: Gaurav Mehta and Shannon Bunsen
Formed as an offshoot of the national AIA Committee on the Environment, Seattle’s COTE chapter has worked for well over a decade to promote sustainability, and enhance the environmental performance of the built environment. In the past year, our COTE chapter has collaborated with numerous groups and organizations including Urban Design Forum and Seattle University, and is in-progress on programs with Design & Wellbeing and ASHRAE. Following the arrival of COVID-19, the group has maintained and even grown its network, moving seamlessly into online formats for events like their annual Earth Day Slam, and seminars on equity and renewables, and integrated design. Their leadership has stood at the forefront of AIA Seattle’s committee adaptations during an uncertain time, showing how to effectively transition to the new normal.
Thank you all for your incredible work and high level of leadership and involvement with AIA Seattle!
Join us October 2, 2020 to celebrate the Award Winners at the 2020 President’s Dinner.
