AIA Minnesota Awards

As a professional organization, AIA Minnesota provides an opportunity for Minnesota architects to be evaluated among their peers, gain recognition for their work, and promote exemplary design through this Award Program. The Program begins with the Young Architects Award in May and culminates with the announcement of Honor Award winners at the AIA Minnesota State Convention. The Awards Program comes to a close with an Awards Celebration to recognize the winners.

Award categories include: Young Architects, 25-Year, Honor, Special, Louis Lundgren, Gold Medal and Firm Awards. Each award competition occurs annually unless otherwise noted.

Firms or individuals known for their sustainable practices or projects are part of the diversity the committee seeks as this is a critical part of our professional practices, much like preservation, interiors, etc. The Honor Award Jurors for 2009, good examples of the diversity in practice that the awards committee seeks, were:

Robert Miklos, FAIA, of designLAB architects, (Boston, Massachusetts)
Mark Sexton, FAIA, of Krueck + Sexton Architects, (Chicago, Illinois)
Paul Mankins, FAIA, of Substance, (DesMoines, Iowa)

The jury awarded nine Honor Awards. See the winners.

Awards Forms and Information

Gold Medal Award

AIA Minnesota's highest award bestowed on an individual member. It serves as recognition for a lifetime of distinguished achievement and significant contributions to architecture. The 2008 recipient is David Salmela, FAIA. Salmela, founding principal of Salmela Architect in Duluth, MN, established in 1994, is a self-trained architect and modernist, sensitive to the Minnesota vernacular. His work has won 42 regional and national level awards.

If you have an architect to nominate for 2010, please contact Beverly Hauschild-Baron.
Gold Medal nominations will be due in April 2010.


Young Architects Award

This award, modeled after the national AIA's Young Architects Award program, is given to individuals who, in an early stage of their architectural career, have shown exceptional leadership in service to the profession, the community, design, planning, and/or education. Those eligible include members of the AIA Minnesota who have been licensed to practice architecture less than 10 years are eligible to be nominated. (The term "young architect" has no reference to the age of nominee.) Winners of the Minnesota award are reviewed by the AIA Minnesota Board of Directors and considered for nomination for the national award program.

Nominations due May 24, 2010
Submissions due June 2, 2010
Judging on June 10, 2010

AIA National Young Architects Award Program.

AIA Minnesota Committee on Design has selected Rosmary Dolata, AIA (AEON), Steven Dwyer, AIA (HGA), Ali Heshmati, AIA (Laboratory for Environments, Architecture and Design, Inc.) and Nathan Johnson, AIA (4RM+ULA, LLP) as recipients of the 2009 Young Architects Award.
2009 Young Architects Award Press Release.


25-Year Award

The 25-Year Award recognizes completed building projects, including individual buildings or groups of buildings, completed at least 25 but not more than 50 years ago. The projects must have been designed by firms with architects registered and practicing professionally in Minnesota.

Submissions due July 2, 2010
Judging end of July, 2010

Congratulations to the 2009 25-Year Award Recipient!

The Itasca in Minneapolis, MN, designed by John Cuningham, FAIA, and John Quiter, AIA, of Cuningham Group Architecture, is the recipient of the 2009 AIA Minnesota 25-Year Award. Read the 2009 25-Year Press Release (pdf).


Special Award

The Special Award is an award category that has become an increasingly important part of the Awards Program. There is a strong need to encourage, stimulate and recognize exceptional contributions of individuals and organizations improving the quality of our physical environment.

Submissions due August 6, 2010
Judging August 12, 2010

Louis Lundgren Award

AIA Minnesota seeks to encourage, stimulate and recognize exceptional individual volunteerism. Volunteering is a member's purest means of giving something back to the profession and community. The individual should exemplify unfailing commitment to the goals of AIA Minnesota, foster the advancement of the Institute at a national or regional level, and be a leader to the public. Any member of AIA Minnesota may nominate candidates providing the candidate is a member of AIA Minnesota for a period of not less than ten years and a member in good standing at the time of nomination. Emeritus members and self-nominations are eligible.

Nominations due August 30, 2010
Judging September 9, 2010
View previous award winners.

Honor Awards

The jury recruited for this competition has national and international credibility, giving the award-winning architects and the public an idea of the caliber of work created by Minnesota architects and how they rate on a worldwide scale.

Submissions due September 25, 2010
Judging November 3-4, 2010

Firm Award

In 2005, AIA Minnesota reorganized the selection process for determining the AIA Minnesota Firm Award and the AIA Minnesota Gold Medal Award. In an effort to involve more members in the process we have created a Selection Committee, which consists of Board Members, Fellows, previous Firm/Gold Medal Award recipients and the Chair of the Awards Committee.

The American Institute of Architects Minnesota (AIA Minnesota) is pleased to recognize VJAA with its Firm Award for 2009. Given biennially, this prestigious award is presented to firms that have contributed to the advancement of the profession in the areas of technology, service and design.

VJAA, a nationally recognized design firm based in Minneapolis, was selected for this award by the AIA Minnesota Firm Award Selection Committee. The committee discussions continually brought forth a consistent theme about the firm, they are a research-based firm that understands sustainability and technology. “VJAA’s model of practice advances understanding of critical issues while also achieving excellent design. It’s very impressive,” noted the committee. They also found their practice to be rooted in education, enabling them to be collaborative and innovative while creating a national and international standard that measures building performance.

2010 Awards Schedule

Firm Award and Gold Medal Award:
If you have an architect to nominate for 2010, please contact Beverly Hauschild-Baron.
Gold Medal nominations will be due in April 2010.

Young Architects Award:
Nominations due May 24, 2010
Submissions due June 3, 2010
Judging June 10, 2010

25-Year Award:
Submissions due July 2, 2010
Judging end of July 2010

Special Award:
Submissions due August 6, 2010
Judging August 12, 2010

Louis Lundgren Award:
Nominations due August 30, 2010
Judging September 9, 2010

Honor Award:
Submissions due September 25, 2010
Judging November 3-4, 2010

Past Award Recipients and Events

Photo Gallery of the 2007 Awards Celebration
Photo Gallery of the 2006 Awards Celebration
All AIA Minnesota Honor Award Winners (PDF, 12 pages )
AIA Minnesota 2008 Honor Award Winners (PPT)