Page 7 - ArchDC_Fall 2020

FINDING INSPIRATION CONTRIBUTORS

Does a celebration of our annual design awards seem a little tone
Bradley W. Johnson deaf during a pandemic? I appreciate the sentiment behind the Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED
AP (“Dignified Living” and “Small
question, but in this difficult time, we’re all looking for some
Wonders”), is senior associate with
inspiration, and recognizing a group of well-designed projects
Eric Colbert & Associates.
can provide just that. Denise Liebowitz (“Working Worlds”
I’m especially proud of, and inspired by, our awards this
year, because our Grand Award winner is the Aya, the building and “Homage to a Compassionate Star”),
pictured on the cover and featured in pages that follow. The Aya formerly with the National Capital
provides transitional housing for homeless families, and it won Planning Commission, is a frequent
top honors in both of our awards programs—the Chapter Design contributor to ARCHITECTUREDC.
Awards and the Washingtonian Residential Design Awards—at a time when social
justice has emerged as a major topic of national conversation.
The jurors for both of these competitions could not say enough about this project, G. Martin Moeller, Jr., Assoc. AIA
because it’s a great work of architecture in support of a highly relevant cause. The (“The Architecture of Infrastructure,”
Aya demonstrates something we talk about regularly in these pages: that well-done “Metropolitan Homes,” and “Innovation
through Renovation”) is an independent
WELCOME curator and writer. He is the editor
architecture can help change the world for the better.
of ARCHITECTUREDC.

Ronald O’Rourke (“Ready and

a regular contributor to ARCHITECTUREDC.
We congratulate the Aya’s designers—the team at Studio Twenty Seven Waiting” and “Apartment Hunting”) is
Architecture in joint venture with LEO A DALY. They’ve known for some time that the His father, Jack O’Rourke, was an
project was selected for honors in both competitions, but it’s only with the publication architect in San Francisco for more
of this issue that they are learning that the project was further selected as the year’s than four decades.
Grand Award winner.
Our design awards are important events for our Chapter’s members, and we are
grateful that our juries, consisting of talented architects from around the country, JURORS FOR
were willing to brave five- and six-hour Zoom sessions to carefully consider the many
submissions and make their selections. As always, the juries judged the submissions 2020 AIA|DC
without knowing who did them. AWARDS PROGRAMS
And what a group of winners we have this year. There are amazing projects
of all kinds that are organized into major types in the pages that follow. At the end Chapter Design Awards
of October we will supplement our printed coverage of these works with an online • Eran Chen—ODA; New York, NY
exhibit, as well. • Pamela Jerome, FAIA—Architectural
Now more than ever, we need a little inspiration where we can find it, because
it can help us cope with all the loss we’ve been experiencing as a result of COVID-19, Preservation Studio; New York, NY
including the loss on June 23 of Allen Y. Lew, the former DC city administrator who • Timothy D. Love, FAIA—Utile;
was instrumental in, among other things, getting the city’s new convention center Boston, MA
and ballpark built and spearheading the effort to repair the city’s dilapidated • Hsinming Fung, FAIA—Mithun |
public schools. Hodgetts + Fung; Culver City, CA
Lew was well known to many of us at the Chapter—he was the winner in 2014 of • Verda Alexander—O+A;
our Glenn Brown Award, which is given to honor an individual who has raised public San Francisco, CA
awareness of architecture and its benefits to society and who has improved the quality
of life in the city. Lew also served as a member of the board and as president of the Washingtonian Residential
Washington Architectural Foundation (WAF). He will be greatly missed, but we are Design Awards
also grateful for everything he did for our city. • Cary Bernstein, AIA—Cary
This has been an extraordinary year, and far too often not in a good way. So I hope Bernstein Architect; San Francisco, CA
this issue brings you a moment of inspiration as the fall season begins. As always, we • Michael D. Frederick, AIA—
love to hear from you, so please send us your comments. Frederick + Frederick Architects;
Beaufort, SC
Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA • David Webber, AIA—Webber +
Publisher Studio Architects; Austin, TX
mfitch@aiadc.com
@marycfitch

WELCOME 5