The annual awards of the American Institute of Architects continue to reflect an evolution in the profession’s concept of superior accomplishment. Historically, the institute’s one-per-year Gold Medal has recognized the architectural design stars of the time. It was bestowed, for instance, on Frank Lloyd Wright in 1949, Louis Kahn in 1971, I.M. Pei in 1979, Frank Gehry in 1999. Our American admiration for foreign masters was indicated by the award of the Gold to eminent architects from other countries, such as Alvar Aalto of Finland in 1963, Kenzo Tange of Japan in 1966, and Ricardo Legorreta of Mexico in 2000.
In the past decade, AIA has done some catch-up in the area of diversity. In 2014 it awarded the Gold — posthumously — to Julia Morgan, the first woman medalist (and only one to date), a Bay Area architect whose practice flourished early in the 20th century. Then in 2017 it extended the same overdue honor to Paul Williams, the first (and only) Black architect so recognized, whose work was much favored by Hollywood stars and executives of the 1920s and 1930s. Sometimes the focus has been on architects known for consistently excellent design – though no single works of international stature — such as last year’s medalist, Marlon Blackwell of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
This year marks a breakthrough of a different kind for the Gold Medal. Edward Mazria has not designed buildings that appear on magazine covers or turn up in conventional architectural histories. Instead, it is through his pivotal work on the energy demands of buildings that he has – in AIA’s words for the medal’s qualifications – “had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.”
Mazria grew up in New York and earned his Bachelor in Architecture degree at Pratt Institute in the early 1960s. As one of the school’s basketball stars he had the rare distinction of being a draft pick to join the New York Knicks. He chose instead to serve in the Peace Corps in Peru, which reinforced his view of architecture as key to social and environmental improvement. Back in New York, he went to work in the office of the noted architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, who was awarded this medal posthumously in 2007. In 1973, a teaching opportunity took Mazria to the University of New Mexico, where he earned his master’s degree, later establishing his own office in Santa Fe.
Mazria’s focus on solar energy and climate research was apparently inspired in large part by the geography and design traditions of the Southwest. In 1979, he earned widespread attention with his publication of The Passive Solar Energy Book, a work that has been translated into five languages and has sold over one million copies. Meanwhile he was designing several notable buildings in New Mexico, where a variety of energy strategies were tested.
- The Stockebrand house in Albuquerque: among other features, an indoor pool served as a temperature-stabilizing reservoir.
- The Rio Grande Botanic Garden Conservatory in Albuquerque: solar design strategies to simulate desert and Mediterranean climates in an all-glass enclosure.
Centerpiece of the Albuquerque Biological Park, the Conservatory uses solar design strategies to simulate desert and Mediterranean climates “passively” in an all-glass building. Photo: Design Workshop, ©Mazria, Inc. - The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe: energy-conserving design applied to a collection with demanding environmental requirements.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico. New Mexico Magazine. Photo: Robert Reck © Mazria, Inc. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Its purpose is not only to present the Indians of the Southwest as a dynamic, living culture, but to help non-Indians get a view of the world as seen through Indian eyes.” New Mexico Magazine. Photo: Robert Reck © Mazria, Inc. - The Sol y Sambra residential retreat on the Georgia O’Keefe estate in Abiquiu, New Mexico: contemporary environmental standards mix with devices adapted from local farmhouse design.
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Restored Main Residence, Sol y Sombra. Photo: Kirk Gettings © Mazria, Inc. Built around Georgia O’Keeffe’s historic house and studio, it became a gracious residence and retreat inserted into an organic farm, regional botanic garden, and wildlife habitat..
In recent decades, Mazria has been a leader in the effort to wean architecture away from its dependence on fossil fuels. He has advocated for reduced use of fossil fuels in the production of materials, the construction of buildings, and their operation. He helped found the AIA’s influential Committee on the Environment (COTE) in the 1990s. In 2002 his firm began doing pro bono work under the name Architecture 2030, which has since become a nonprofit organization dedicated to combatting climate change. He has also been exceptionally skillful at building alliances with other professions, industries, and governments, focused on sustainable growth and climate action.
Mazria and Architecture 2030 have contributed to international discourse on climate change. At the United Nations conference that followed the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, he presented his organization’s research on the greenhouse gas effects of today’s buildings. He offered meaningful data and recommendations, outlining Architecture 2030’s roadmap for the building industry toward zero emissions. His work has helped to make that 2030 target a worldwide objective.
Individual works of architecture can affect the lives of many people, but the reductions in atmospheric carbon that Mazria strives for so effectively can affect the lives of billions, all over the planet. With this year’s Gold Medal, AIA reinforces its vital role in the areas of energy and climate.