2019 Honor Awards

Start a dialogue about design.

LIVE EVENT ON NOVEMBER 4 AT TOWN HALL SEATTLE

The Honor Awards for Washington Architecture is AIA Seattle’s annual marquee program, drawing hundreds of attendees to a lecture-style event of unique rigor and breadth. This nationally-recognized program provides an important opportunity for the design community to share and celebrate its achievements, both among practitioners and with the community at-large.

Find more information about the live event and purchasing tickets here. 

THE JURY PROCESS

Every year, jurors praise submissions that reveal the story behind the marketing images. What concepts and considerations drove the design? What were the challenges and opportunities along the way? How did the design team arrive at the solution? Submitters were encouraged to use the project narrative, captions, and inclusion of process work as opportunities to tell a design story.

In addition to the jury’s own criteria, the AIA Seattle community has identified four considerations for the submission review process – Inspiration, Problem-Solving, Environmental Sensitivity, Social Impact.

Jury Deliberations occur in Seattle the weekend preceding the live event.

• Prior to arriving in Seattle on Friday, November 1, each juror will receive and review all submissions and select an initial shortlist.
• On Saturday, November 2, the jury will gather to review and discuss the short-listed projects and determine which of the BUILT projects they would like to visit.
• An Honor Awards Committee member will coordinate site visits for either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Site Visit Contacts must be reachable on Saturday, November 2, between 11am and 7pm at the phone number provided in the Online Form. The contact must be authorized to organize a hosted site visit on either the afternoon of Saturday, November 2, or on Sunday, November 3.
• Final jury deliberations and the selection of award recipients for all categories will occur on Sunday following the site visits.
• Open jury discussion and official award presentation will occur on Monday, November 4, at Town Hall Seattle.

YOUNG VOICES SELECTION

Initiated in 2018, the Young Voices Selection (YVS) program aims to elevate and engage the voices of young designers through direct participation and representation in AIA Seattle’s Honor Awards for Washington Architecture. Three young designers, nominated by firm leaders within AIA Seattle’s Firm Network and selected by the Honor Awards Committee, will be given the opportunity to review, deliberate, and select ONE Built project submission. This chosen project, the “Young Voices Selection,” will be recognized on stage at the November 4 live event before the jury’s presentation and Honor Awards announcements.

WHO IS A ‘YOUNG’ VOICE? While the definition of ‘young’ is debatable, this program is very clear on its aim to reinforce the value of young perspectives considering both career experience and generational/lived experience, and we set the cap at 30 years of age for this reason. After leaving the creative hub and intellectual rigor of university, young people often find themselves without clear and direct avenues to participate in serious design discourse (though they are valued for their technical skill sets). The Young Voices Selection program aims to reinforce the value of young people and young designers for their unique perspectives, and the YVS program establishes a sanctioned platform for these perspectives to be widely shared.

ELIGIBILITY: Nominees for the Young Voices Selection Panel who are 30 years of age or younger must be currently employed at an AIA Seattle Firm Network firm. The nominees must also be Individual AIA members themselves. They may not currently be enrolled in any higher education programs.

QUESTIONS?

Questions about Submitting? Contact AIA Seattle Professional Programs Manager, Cassie Blair.

Questions about attending the Live Event? Contact AIA Seattle Program & Project Coordinator, Zoe Guckenheimer.

Sponsorship Questions? Contact AIA Seattle Managing Director, Kimber Lebliq.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR 2019 HONOR AWARDS SPONSORS