Why the AIA Seattle Honor Awards Program is the Best in the Country

I’ve been on more than 25 different award juries across the country. While I appreciate being a part of these panels, most of the award decisions are, due to time constraints, conducted in a vacuum. They’re typically a one-day affair, and are based on looking at pretty photographs. With AIA Seattle’s program, it’s four full days — it’s practically a forced march. But what that time allows for is to really give the projects scrutiny and care. The jurors are asked  to physically visit as many projects as they can as a way to see how the projects’ function, not just how they look.

The professionals who judge the Honor Awards for Washington Architecture have extremely high credentials in design, and in recent years some have come from as far as Europe and Asia. To be recognized by your peers or people of this caliber is the highest honor you can receive.

The city itself plays a role in the quality of the award program as well. Seattle isn’t too big, yet it has a strong global influence and attracts extremely strong design professionals. The tenable size allows for people to come together in formal and informal ways, and people like Peter Miller, ARCADE functions, Space.city and other programs help build a strong community.

I believe that as a profession, architecture has been traditionally undervalued. We put in the long hours and have nearly the same amount of schooling as doctors and lawyers, yet are paid substantially less. Architects are constantly fighting for credibility, and once a year this award program gives validity to the art of the profession and our advancement of detail, materials, space and form.

It is for these reasons that I believe that with the exception of the national AIA Honor Award program, the AIA Seattle Honor Awards program is the best in the country. It also makes me ask the question:  if we didn’t have as strong of a program, would the work be as good?

The Miller Hull Partnership won two 2011 Honor Awards: the Lott Clean Water Alliance Regional Services Center in Olympia, Washington, and the Vancouver Community Library in Vancouver, Washington. Since AIA Seattle’s award program began in 1950, Miller Hull, founded in 1977, has won 40 of the awards.