The American Institute of Architects announced today that Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers, FAIA, received this year’s Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture, which “recognize architects in the public and private sectors, public officials, or other individuals who design distinguished public facilities and/or who advocate for design excellence.”
Ayers joined the office of the Architect of the Capitol in 1997, and held several positions in the office before being named to a 10-year term as Architect of the Capitol in 2010, nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. Ayers is the 11th person to serve in this position, which oversees the maintenance of the U.S. Capitol Building as well as buildings for the House and Senate Congressional Offices, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress, as well as the Capitol Visitor Center and the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building. Ayers holds a B.S. in architecture from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in systems management from the University of Southern California, and an honorary Doctor of Public Design from the Boston Architectural College.
“Can you imagine an architectural position with heavier demands than the Architect of the Capitol? Yet, Stephen has not only shouldered this heavy load, he has enhanced the status and relevance of the office of the Architect of the Capitol by insisting on the highest standards of historic preservation and sustainable design,” wrote 2018 AIA President Carl Elefante, FAIA, in a nomination letter.
United States Capitol
A close up of the scaffolding, which was illuminated at night so locals could see it from afar.
During his term, Ayers managed the restoration of the U.S. Capitol dome and rotunda, a project that wrapped in 2016, with Arlington, Va.–based architect-of-record Hoffman Architects.
“I get a lump of pride in my throat whenever I fly back to Washington after some time away,” Ayers wrote in ARCHITECT in 2012. “Is there anything more majestic than seeing the Washington Monument appear outside your airplane window and having your eye wander up the great, green expanse of the National Mall to the gleaming dome of our Capitol Building?”
Ayers is the second Architect of the Capitol to receive the Thomas Jefferson Award from the AIA. George White, the ninth Architect of the Capitol, was one of three recipients of the award in 1992, the award’s inaugural year. Last year’s award went to a former deputy mayor of Philadelphia, Alan Greenberger, FAIA.
The jury for the 2018 award was comprised of chair Rik Master, FAIA, USG Corporation in Woodstock, Ill.; Patrick Burke, FAIA, Columbia University in New York City; Lindsey Graff, Assoc. AIA, Ayers Saint Gross Architects in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Libby Haslam, AIA, GSBS Architects in Salt Lake City; and R. Steven Lewis, FAIA, TRC Energy Services in Detroit.
