2024 Honor Awards

Designing a vibrant future.

LIVE EVENT ON NOVEMBER 4 AT TOWN HALL SEATTLE

The Honor Awards for Washington Architecture is AIA Seattle’s annual marquee program, drawing hundreds of attendees to a lecture-style event of unique rigor and breadth. This nationally-recognized program provides an important opportunity for the design community to share and celebrate its achievements, both among practitioners and with the community at-large. The awarded projects will be announced on stage at the live event. Like last year, the Honor Awards will be livestreamed virtually, providing multiple access points and enabling us to extend these celebrations to broader audiences.

THE JURY PROCESS

Every year, jurors praise submissions that clearly communicate the project story. What concepts and considerations drove the design? How did the design team creatively address the project parameters and client goals? What benefit or impact does the project create for its occupants and for the larger context? Ultimately, what makes this an award winning project? Submitters were encouraged to use the project narrative, captions, and inclusion of diagrams and process work as opportunities to tell a design story.

In addition to the jury’s own criteria, the AIA Seattle community has identified four considerations for the submission review process: Inspiration, Problem-Solving, Environmental Sensitivity, Social Impact. The integration of the Common App into the submission process also raises awareness of the Framework for Design Excellence.

Jury Deliberations will occur during Jury Weekend in Seattle, November 1-4, 2024:

Friday, October 25 | The jury completes their initial review of all submitted projects. During this review, they will determine which eligible BUILT projects they would like to visit
- Site Visit Contacts must be authorized to organize a hosted site visit on Sunday, November 3.
- SITE VISITS ARE ANONYMOUS. The project design team shall not be present nor notified. Reference the Project Tour Guidelines for a full process overview.
Friday, November 1 | The jury arrives in Seattle
Saturday, November 2 | The jury deliberates and determines a shortlist of projects and prepares for project tours the next day.
Sunday, November 3 | Project tours occur, followed by the jury finalizing their selection of this year’s award recipients for all award categories.
Monday, November 4 | The jury will discuss and present their official award selections for the first time on-stage at the Live Event at Town Hall Seattle.

Awards are the final determination of the jury.

MEET THE JURY

Brian Phillips FAIA | Interface Studio Architects (ISA) | Philadelphia, PA

Brian Phillips, FAIA is Founding Principal of ISA, and serves as Creative Director across all aspects of the firm’s work. He earned his MArch from the University of Pennsylvania and BS from the University of Oklahoma. He has lectured widely on urbanism, housing, and the work of ISA. Brian was awarded a 2011 Pew Fellowship in the Arts and was named an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York in 2015. He is a Lecturer at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and has taught visiting studios at the University of Miami and Parsons the New School for Design. Most recently Brian founded a non-profit called Meantime that works to activate vacant storefronts with short-term creative entrepreneurship residencies.

Kim Yao FAIA | Architecture Research Office (ARO) | Brooklyn, NY

Kim Yao, FAIA, is Principal of Architecture Research Office (ARO), a New York City firm united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. ARO’s diverse body of work has earned the firm over a hundred design awards including the 2020 National AIA Architecture Firm Award. Kim is a lecturer at MIT and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; the School of Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design; and, Barnard College. She has lectured throughout the United States and abroad. Kim has been awarded the AIA New York (AIANY) Medal of Honor and the Beverly Willis Foundation Mentorship Award. She was President of AIANY in 2020 and serves on the Board of the Center for Architecture. She holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia College: Columbia University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University.

Maurice D. Cox | Harvard Graduate School of Design | Cambridge, MA

Maurice D. Cox is the Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the GSD faculty, Cox was Director of Planning and Development for the City of Detroit between 2015-2019 and Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago between 2019-2023, where he focused on the adaptive challenges facing contemporary urban revitalization. Cox is an urban designer acclaimed for his design-centered approach to urban planning, incorporating active citizen participation into the public process while simultaneously achieving the highest quality of design excellence. A recipient of the 2024 Henry Reed Hope Award and of two honorary doctorate degrees from University of Detroit Mercy and the Illinois Institute of Technology, Cox was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2023 for lifetime achievements in architecture. Maurice has lectured extensively on design and democracy, civic engagement, and urban transformation in disinvested communities.

MEET THE MODERATOR

Moderator: Ayad Rahmani | Washington State University | Pullman, WA

Ayad Rahmani is a professor of architecture at Washington State University, where he teaches courses in design and theory. His research focuses on the link between literature and architecture, examining issues related to modern psychology and space. He has written widely on topics related to architecture, art and Planning, most recently a paper looking at the future of architecture in an age ruled by the tech five, Google, Amazon and the like. He is the author of three books, the most recent of which published in 2023, looking at the intellectual role that Ralph Waldo Emerson played in shaping Frank Lloyd Wright’s campaign to change the American mind. Rahmani sits on several boards including the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, preserving the architect’s legacy and modernizing his contribution to future ideas. He is the architecture critic of the Moscow Pullman Daily News, the daily paper where he lives.

YOUNG VOICES SELECTION

The Young Voices Selection (YVS) program aims to elevate and engage the voices of young designers through direct participation and representation in AIA Seattle’s Honor Awards for Washington Architecture. Three young designers, endorsed by firm/industry leaders and selected by the Honor Awards Committee, will be given the opportunity to review, deliberate, and then select ONE Built project submission. This chosen project, the “Young Voices Selection,” will be recognized at the live event in November and selected by this year’s Young Voices…