WASHINGTON, DC.- The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected the recipients of the 2010 Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement. The award, to be presented at the 2010 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in Miami, recognizes and encourages distinguished achievements of allied professionals, clients, organizations, architect teams, knowledge communities, and others who have had a beneficial influence on or advanced the architectural profession.

The jury for the 2010 Collaborative Achievement Award includes: Meggan M. Lux, AIA, (Chair) Urban Works Architecture, Chicago; Terrance J. Brown, FAIA, WH Pacific, Albuquerque; Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA, Barbara Nadel Architect, Forest Hills, New York; Thomas McKittrick, FAIA, Houston and Peter Steinbrueck, FAIA, Steinbrueck Urban Strategies, Seattle.

The Architect’s Newspaper
The Architect’s Newspaper is a comprehensive source for news and debate, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and public awareness on issues that affect architects, academics, contractors, and anyone interested in the built environment. This “insider’s guide” is not affiliated with any society or institute, and its independence is reflected in its diverse reporting. Currently The Architect’s Newspaper has editions for both the Northeast and West Coast regions, while a Midwest edition will be launched in 2010 and a national edition is being considered. The forum for open discussion runs through the printed newspaper, web, blogs, and twitter reporting.

Mark Robbins, AIA, a reference for the nomination, says, “The Architect’s Newspaper documents the actuality of a life in design. It is written in a way that speaks clearly to the field—as practitioners, designers, developers, and educators would amongst colleagues— and yet is accessible and lively enough journalism to have appeal and interest outside of design practice…”

Texas Architect Magazine
With a circulation of approximately 12,000, the reach of this financially and editorially independent magazine extends far beyond the Texas borders to 40 states to create a far-flung community of practitioners, emerging professionals, architectural students and faculty and design-savvy members of the general public. Its 60-year success has depended upon the collaborative efforts of the 6,000 members of the Texas Society of Architects (TSA) who support the magazine financially through their annual dues. Because Texas Architect’s reach extends beyond the state, it makes considerable effort to cover events in other parts of the world as long as the subject carries some message that is relevant to the TSA membership. As a result, topics relevant for the general public, such as Sustainable Healthcare Design and the effect of the credit crisis on the architectural profession, find their way into the pages of this widespread publication.

“Our profession has suffered from the paradox of being largely invisible to the public, even as our work remains a pervasive part of people’s daily lives. Publications like Texas Architect address that directly, making not only architecture more visible but also the architectural profession,” said Thomas Fisher, Assoc. AIA, in his nomination letter. “I can think of nothing more fitting for a collaborative achievement award than this collaborative effort of the Texas Society of Architects.”

The Alaska Design Forum
The mission statement of the Alaska Design Forum (ADF) is as follows: “The Alaska Design Forum is a non-profit organization of architects, artists, and designers formed to broaden the range of discussion of the design of the built environment. As an educational group, the ADF presents programs which expose the community to leading edge design and art ideas and encourage discussion on the relevance of these ideas to life and design in our state.” Indeed, exposure of these ideas state-wide in Alaska is a monumental and much-needed contribution, since the state contains no architecture schools and a very small architecture community of only 200 practitioners, many of whom live out-of-state.

For 18 years, the ADF has helped combat some of this isolation through workshops, exhibitions, performances, competitions, publications, and lectures, bringing design and art into the discussion and enriching the lives of Alaska’s citizens. The ADF, through its volunteer contributions and its collaborative efforts through various media, has served to nurture local architects, designers and artists in an otherwise isolated part of the world for these professions. The ADF first and foremost elevates the profile of art and design in Alaska, keeping such ideas in the consciousness of its own citizens and the greater world.