On winning

Remarks made on the occasion of the presentation of the AIA Illinois Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement. Champaign Urbana, October 26, 2023.

Humility is oft pursued in receiving the honor of an accomplishment such as this. Today, I’d like to buck that trend and be gleeful in winning this AIA Illinois Gold medal. Emphasis on winning. Because winning is what we do as architects. Winning is what we must do.

We win interviews, we win proposals, we win projects. That is existential for us as professionals and our livelihoods. Winning is what we must do as we are charged as being architects who literally build the future.

Architecture Is Fun, Inc. - Sharon, myself, and our collaborators of thirty years - were the recipients of the AIA Chicago Firm Award in 2017.

A major win for a small but mighty firm reflecting our vision to create places and spaces where community-based and civic organizations elevate their missions through education and inclusion. Such purpose I think is the norm in our venerated profession where our obligation is to leave things better than we found them - making equitable, healthy environments where everyone prospers by some measure. We add fun in the mix. Part of our winning attitude.

I won the Presidency of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) with the vote of a membership impatient for action and change.

The outcomes of that win are a headquarters that will define the future workplace, be outward and community facing, and net zero. A benchmark and business case for the sustainable retrofit of 20th century buildings. The outcome is an Institute committed to participating and having a voice at the United Nations Conference of the Parties on climate action. The outcome is a strategic partnership and investment in the Institute’s contract documents business that is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.

The outcome is a continuum of agency passing between Presidents with a mentality, mindset, and moral commitment to be, well, winners.

I appreciate the act of this audience in nurturing, mentoring, and standing alongside me in that position of leadership, and change. It’s a role that demands vision, exuberance, and attitude. It pleases me no end to see that continuum’s heartbeat emanate from Illinois.

My role as Dean in a city that has been the center of the oil and gas industry for Europe for a half century is assuring a win in the clean and equitable energy transition that must define all future practices. My students are Scottish, and a large cohort are from energy producing nations in Africa, South America, and other similarly far flung places (like Aberdeen).

The winning proposition for my students is that they are the most creative, visionary, and generous community in our campus community.? Not bravado, rather necessity if they are to imagine, figure out, and then build a more equitable and resilient future for every community.

So as I make a case for winning, I acknowledge that we are all similarly minded, and committed. I express gratitude for the friendship of you all and for the honor of this winning moment.

For more details on this AIA Illinois award, follow this link.