Top 2017 Design Honors from the AIA
In announcing its three highest honors for 2017, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has given us some food for thought – and discussion. It is bestowing its one-honoree-per-year Gold Medal on Paul Revere Williams, the first African American architect to be so honored. During a career spanning five decades, Mr. Williams became the go-to architect for Hollywood executives and film stars, among many others, and designed nearly 3,000 works. This much-belated recognition for Mr. Williams follows the same pattern as the 2014 award of the Gold Medal to Julia Morgan, the first woman recipient, also an exceptionally talented architect with a prolific practice. But while the Gold Medal is almost always awarded to a living architect (in a few cases one recently deceased), both Williams and Ms. Morgan were honored decades after their deaths. It is commendable that the AIA has finally awarded its highest honor to an African …
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