On Sept. 6, Chicago-based nonprofit the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) announced winners of its 2018 Awards for Architectural Excellence. Established in 2010, the awards program recognizes "individuals for outstanding achievements in architectural practice and academic study," according to a SAH press release.
This year, four architects received awards in three categories. Cynthia Weese, FAIA, founding partner of Chicago-based practice Weese Langley Weese received the Award for Design Leadership and Service. The first female dean of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis from 1993 to 2005, Weese established several international study programs and was one of the founding members of the school's advisory committee. She is the recipient of two AIA Chicago Distinguished Service Awards, the AIA Illinois Excellence in Education Award, and the Tau Sigma Delta Gold Medal in Architecture. Last year, Weese received the inaugural lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Women in Architecture Foundation.
Robert A. M. Stern, FAIA, founding partner of his eponymous New York–based architecture firm won the Award for Design, Academics and Scholarship. A SAH fellow, Stern is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2017 AIA Topaz Medallion and the National Building Museum's 2008 Vincent Scully Prize. Between 1998 and 2016, Stern served as dean of the Yale School of Architecture and in 2000 was named the J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture. He is also the author of several books such as Paradise Planned: The Garden Suburb and the Modern City (The Monacelli Press, 2013) and Pedagogy and Place: 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale (Yale University Press, 2016).
Harry Hunderman, FAIA, and Deborah Slaton, principals at Northbrook, Ill.–based firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, jointly received the Award for Preservation Advocacy and Stewardship of the Built Environment. Specialists in the preservation and renovation of historic buildings and sites, the duo has worked on numerous iconic significant architectural projects, including the Louis Kahn–designed Salk Institute, the Washington Monument, the New York Public Library, and works of architects such as Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, and Minoru Yamasaki.
The winners will be presented with the awards on Nov. 2 at the ninth annual SAH Awards Gala at the Arts Club in Chicago. This year's gala is co-chaired by Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, founding president of Ross Barney Architects and Philip Hamp, FAIA, president of Vinci Hamp Architects. Proceeds from the gala will support the society's educational programs and publications, and will help fund the restoration of the Charnley-Persky House, designed by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, which serves as the society's headquarters in Chicago.
Last year, Ralph Johnson, FAIA, global design director at Perkins + Will's Chicago office received the Award for Excellence in Design, Planning, and Sustainability; Sharon Johnston, FAIA, and Mark Lee, founding principals of Los Angeles–based Johnston Marklee won the Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with the Built Environment; and Jennifer Pritzker, founding president of Chicago-based Tawani Foundation received the Award for Excellence in Architectural Stewardship.
