January 29, 2020
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The Michael Graves Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor that AIA New Jersey may bestow upon an individual, was presented to Alan Chimacoff, AIA, at the Chapter’s annual gala on January 11, 2020. He is the fifth recipient of the award since it was established in 2005 and presented to Michael Graves, FAIA, in its inaugural year. At that time, Robert Cozzarelli, FAIA, the then outgoing President of AIA New Jersey said, “One of our goals was to highlight the importance of the contributions our members make to the profession and the excellence of their designs. Gold Medalist Michael Graves epitomizes that for us, and we thought it fitting to create this very special award in his honor.” The award recognizes a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
Co-presenting with Mr. Cozzarelli at this year’s event, Karen Nichols, FAIA, Principal of Michael Graves Architecture & Design, welcomed Alan Chimacoff in front of a rousing standing ovation from the audience. She noted the high praise that he had received from the award’s National Jury for his myriad accomplishments: his architectural career and award-winning designs for higher education facilities; over 30 years of teaching at Cornell and Princeton Universities; service to his community and the profession; and his exceptional portfolio of thought-provoking photography.
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About Alan Chimacoff, AIA. A design architect and teacher, Alan Chimacoff is dedicated to a clarity of purpose and ideas, to invention and excellence, and to the responsibility of architecture to its physical, social and cultural settings. Working principally with colleges and universities, his buildings and campus planning projects are at Arizona State, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Rutgers, and Syracuse universities (among others). They embrace a range of building types – business, law and architecture schools, libraries, academic and classroom facilities, science laboratories, undergraduate and graduate residential and related social and dining facilities. Academically, for over 30 years he was an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and a full Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Architecture at Princeton University He was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, UNC Charlotte, the first Sargent Visiting Professor at Syracuse, and Kea Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland. A serious photographer with a perspective shaped by his knowledge, as an architect, of real and illusory space and a love of materials, his photographs seek abstraction in the constructed, natural and ordinary. His photographs have been exhibited in individual and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia and, notably, in a commissioned exhibition, “JAMuse,” at the Johnson Art Museum at Cornell, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the I. M. Pei designed museum. Born in Newark and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, he received his education at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (B. Arch. 1964) and at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (M. Arch. 1969).
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Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through a dynamic network of more than 250 chapters and more than 95,000 member architects and design professionals, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing. 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. AIA New Jersey, the local chapter and a region of AIA, has served as the voice of the architectural profession in the Garden State since 1900. Based in Trenton, AIA New Jersey has over 2,000 members across six sections. For more information, please visit http://www.aia-nj.org
By Stacey Ruhle Kliesch, AIA, AIA NJ Advocacy Consultant | Posted in AIA-NJ News, Uncategorized | | Comments (0)
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