The American Institute of Architects Santa Barbara will honor the achievements of local architects and architecture at its annual Design Awards Gala Dec. 6 at the University Club of Santa Barbara. This annual event is open to the public. For more information, call 805.966.4198.
The AIA Santa Barbara Design Awards draw attention to the extraordinary legacy of outstanding architecture in Santa Barbara, the value of quality design to our community, and to those who contribute to its creation. There were nearly 100 submissions from 22 licensed architects in the city and county of Santa Barbara.
This year’s categories are: Commercial Buildings; Single Family Residential; Mixed Use and Multi-Family Residential; Historic Preservation, Restoration, Rehabilitation or Reconstruction; Santa Barbara Architectural Heritage; Small Projects: Single Family Residential Additions, Remodels or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs;) Commercial Interiors; Residential Interiors; Proposed/Unbuilt Projects.
The Lutah Maria Riggs Award will also be presented by the American Riviera Bank to a member of the community whose efforts echo Riggs’ unwavering dedication to the profession of architecture and who has supported the mission of the American Institute of Architects, the Santa Barbara Chapter, or society.
Lutah Maria Riggs was a well-known architect and fellow of the Santa Barbara chapter. She worked with George Washington Smith and believed that design can improve our daily lives and make our communities better places to live and work.
The winners of the awards will be announced on the night of the gala. Each entry was judged on its own merit and evaluated for its ability to achieve successful sensitivity and response to its surrounding community while including innovations in building materials and techniques.
Our distinguished awards jurors this year are Christopher Hawthorne of Los Angeles, Margot McDonald of Cal Poly, and John Margolis, AIA.
Christopher Hawthorne is the chief design officer for the city of Los Angeles, a position appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Prior to joining City Hall, Hawthorne was architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2004 to early 2018. He is professor of the practice at Occidental College, where since 2015 he has directed the Third Los Angeles Project, a series of public conversations about architecture, urban planning, mobility, and demographic change in Southern California. He has also taught at U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, and the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
A frequent collaborator with KCET-TV, the PBS affiliate in Los Angeles, Hawthorne wrote and directed the hour-long documentary “That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles,” which had its broadcast debut earlier this year, and received an L.A.-area Emmy Award as executive producer for the 2016 KCET program “Third L.A. with Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne.” He has been a Mid-Career Fellow at Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism Program and a Resident in Criticism at the American Academy in Rome. Hawthorne grew up in Berkeley and holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale College, where he studied political science and architectural history.
Margot McDonald is the dean of architecture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her teaching focused on an integrated project delivery studio with the disciplines of architecture, structural engineering, construction management, and landscape architecture. She also served as interim department head. Her other teaching areas include building energy courses (heating, cooling, lighting, acoustics, water and waste), historic preservation, and fourth-year design in Cal Poly’s bachelor of architecture program.
John Margolis received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and his master’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. He pursued his lifelong passion for architecture on urban and library design projects around the country during his tenure at numerous prestigious firms, including Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott.
His passion for classical and traditional architecture led him to the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) in 1990, where he currently serves as vice president of the Southern California Chapter, and was recently elected to Fellow of the ICAA. John has also served as New England Chapter president for five consecutive years. John is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and is licensed in Massachusetts.
AIA Santa Barbara also will present awards to three students from UCSB for their architectural design.
Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public well-being.
Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit www.aia.org.
The gala is sponsored by Allen Construction, Ann Kale Associates, Appleton Partners LLP, Mission Audio Video, Leonard Unander Associates, AB Design. Merit sponsors include Taylor & Syfan, Ashley & Vance, Benjamin Moore, Cooritalia Inc., and Elementi Inc.