Today, the AIA announced the seven winners of the 2018 Associates Award, an annual program that recognizes “outstanding leaders and creative thinkers for significant contributions to their communities and the architecture profession,” according to an AIA press release. The recipients will be honored at the AIA Conference on Architecture in New York City in June.
Associate membership is offered to those who have a professional degree in architecture; who are currently working under the supervision; who are currently enrolled in the Architecture Experience Program and are working toward licensure; or who are a faculty member at a university architecture program.
The winners are:
Jake Banton, Assoc. AIA, Mackey Mitchell Architects
Banton is a member of the architectural staff at Mackey Mitchell Architects in St. Louis. He received his M.Arch., from the University of Kansas in 2015, and has worked at Mackey Mitchell since his graduation. In 2016, he founded the Young Leaders Group of the Construction Forum STL.
Melissa R. Daniel, Assoc. AIA, WDG Architecture
Daniel is a staff architect at WDG Architecture in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of the District of Columbia’s B.Arch. program, Daniel worked as a senior designer for KCCT for almost a decade before transitioning to WDG Architecture. In 2013, she founded the Women in Architecture Series hosted in D.C.
Ryan Gann, Assoc. AIA, Ross Barney Architects
Gann is an architect in training at Ross Barney Architects in Chicago. He received in B.Arch. from Illinois Institute of Technology and served as the Midwest quadrant director of the American Institute of Architecture Students and on the board of the National Architectural Accrediting Board. He will soon being a two-year appointment as associate representative to the AIA Board of Directors Strategic Council.
Gail Kubik, Assoc. AIA, Finegold Alexander Architects
Kubik is an architectural designer for Finegold Alexander Architects in Boston, where she also serves as the Massachusetts government affairs committee officer for the AIA; the sustainability, energy & resilience committee officer for the City of Salem; and the mayor’s special advisory committee for neighborhood-based resilience officer for the City of Cambridge. In 2013, she co-created the Sandy Design Help Desk to assist those affected by the superstorm with design services. Last year, Kubik created a series of guides to introduce stakeholders to the AIA Disaster Assistance Handbook and produced content for the AIA’s Digital Transformations website.
Yiselle Santos Rivera, Assoc. AIA, HKS Architects
A graduate of Syracuse University’s M. Arch. program, Santos Rivera worked at SmithGroupJJR and HOK before beginning her tenure at HKS in Washington, D.C. In 2013, Santos Rivera co-founded and co-chaired the AIA|DC Latin American Interior Designers, Engineers, and Architects Committee, for which she raised more than $6,500 for programming and showcases of Latin American design professional’s work. In 2015 she was selected for the Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.
Jason Takeuchi, Assoc. AIA, Ferraro Choi and Associates
Takeuchi is the regional associate director of AIA Northwest & Pacfic region and an architect for Honolulu-based Ferraro Choi and Associates. A graduated of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Takeuchi has dedicated his career to Hawaii’s built environment. He created AIA Honolulu’s 5x5x5 Mentorship Program, which annually pairs 25 emerging architects with five industry leaders and is the co-author of the Hawaii Design Services Act, which aims to assist graduate students at the University of Hawaii with tuition waivers based on their participation in a community design studio.
Timarie Trarbach, Assoc. AIA, Populous
Trarbach graduated with an M.Arch. in 2012 from the University of Kansas and has worked as an architectural designer for Kansas City, Mo.–based firm Populous since 2016. She serves on the AIA National Associates Committee Advisory Committee and leads its Mentorship and Diversity Workgroup. In 2018, she co-developed a program proposal for the 2018 AIA Conference on Architecture that is currently in the second stage of a two-phase submission process.
