The AIA Illinois Board of Directors is thrilled to announce three recipients of the AIA Illinois Service Awards who will be honored at a ceremony on January 30 at the Chicago Architecture Center.
Linda Searl, FAIA, has steadfastly guided the evolution of Chicago’s built environment for more than twenty-five years, all the while churning out a consistently beautiful body of work and managing a successful practice at Searl Lamaster Howe. The AIA Illinois Board of Directors is pleased to announce that for carrying the banner of architecture and design for countless projects, developments and initiatives, Linda Searl is the 2018 recipient of the Gold Medal, Illinois' highest honor for outstanding lifetime service by an AIA member. Linda has been much in the fray, fighting for good design, yet her reputation is of quiet selflessness.
“When you look at her resume, she’s done everything, and everything extremely well,” says John Syvertsen, FAIA, long-time collaborator with Linda in local volunteer initiatives. “Linda has been one of the most exemplary professionals that I’ve ever known in terms of level of service to the profession and the built environment.”
Linda served as chair of the Chicago Planning Commission from 2003 to 2012, often the lone architect’s voice. She continues to serve as a member. In fact, Linda has the reputation for always leaning in, whether it’s the rough and tumble world of the Planning Commission or the informal group of architects she helped assemble to problem-solve with Commissioners behind-the-scenes, called the Chicago Design Initiative. “Linda can tap the right people, whether it’s to come to one meeting or to take on a six-month process,” says Syvertsen. Read more
RICHARD NICKEL AWARD - LYNN OSMOND, CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE CENTER
The opening of the new Chicago Architecture Center, in the planning for over a decade, made quite an impact this year and can be considered the crowning achievement of CAC President & CEO Lynn Osmond's career thus far.
CAC’s tagline is “to inspire people to discover why design matters” – and in her 20+ years at the helm of the organization, Lynn has paved the way for the growth of “architectural tourism” around the globe.
Nominators dare you to find someone else who epitomizes AIA Illinois’ Richard Nickel Award—recognizing a (non-architect) citizen who lifts up architecture and the profession—more than Lynn Osmond, Hon. AIA. Read more
PRESIDENT'S AWARD – LANDMARKS ILLINOIS
The old adage, “There is strength in numbers,” always applies in the world of advocacy. Kim Kurtenbach, 2018 AIA Illinois Board President, is pleased to recognize the decade-long partnership between AIA Illinois and Landmarks Illinois that culminated in the passage of a historic tax credit bill this past year, by bestowing the 2018 President’s Award on Landmarks Illinois.
Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based nonprofit organization that inspires and empowers stakeholders to save Illinois places that matter to them. It was founded in 1971 by a handful of dedicated preservationists engaged in the struggle to save the Chicago Stock Exchange Building designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Read more
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