The 2021 Design Award Committee at the live online awards broadcast.

Sponsor the Awards

___New Construction
___Renovation
___Urban Planning/Urban Design
___Historic Preservation
___Adaptive Reuse

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Residential

___Single Family Detached
___Multi Family, Multiple Dwellings
___Other: _____________________________

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Institutional

___K-12
___College/University
___Municipality
___Hospital/Medical
___Other: _____________________________

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Commercial

___Retail
___Restaurant
___Office
___Medical Facility
___Other: _____________________________

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Industrial

___Warehouse
___Manufacturing
___Flex Building
___R&D Facility
___Other: _____________________________

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Interior Design

___Provided as part of an architectural project
___Provided independent of an architectural project

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Unbuilt

___Unbuilt (Recognizes commissioned architectural design work by practicing architects not yet built or completed)

AIA Framework for Design Excellence

Introduced in 2019, AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence “represents the defining principles of good design in the 21st century. Comprised of 10 principles and accompanied by searching questions, the Framework seeks to inform progress toward a zero-carbon, equitable, resilient, and healthy built environment. These are to be thoughtfully considered by designer and client at the initiation of every project and incorporated into the work as appropriate to the project scope. The Framework is intended to be accessible and relevant for every architect, every client, and every project, regardless of size, typology, or aspiration.”

Since AIA Rochester integrated the Framework into the Design Awards in 2020, we have been pleased to recognize that our entrants regularly incorporate these measures during the design process to create good architecture. 

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Each entry in the 2022 Design Awards is required to illustrate how it incorporates a minimum of three Framework measures. 

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The ten measures in the Framework are:

1. Design for Integration: What is the big idea behind this project and how did sustainability inform the design concept?

2. Design for Equitable Communities: How does this project contribute to creating a walkable, human-scaled community inside and outside the property lines?

3. Design for Ecology: In what ways does the design respond to the ecology of its place?

4. Design for Water: How does the project relate to the regional watershed?

5. Design for Economy: How does the project efficiently meet the program and design challenges and provide “more with less”?

6. Design for Energy: Is the project energy-efficient and sustainable while improving building performance, function, comfort, and enjoyment?

7. Design for Wellness: How does the design promote the health of the occupants? 

8. Design for Resources: How did the design team optimize the amount and makeup of material used on the project?

9. Design for Change: Is the building resilient, and able to easily accommodate other uses in 50-100 years?

10. Design for Discovery: What lessons for better design have been learned through the process of project design, construction, and occupancy, and how have these been incorporated in subsequent projects?

Designers Unleashed: Architectural Ideas Competition 

In conjunction with the Design Awards, AIA Rochester is pleased to announce the 2022 AIA Rochester Designers Unleashed: Architectural Ideas Competition. This competition is intended to showcase the talents of young designers in our community, test the limits of what is achievable in our built environment, and inspire new solutions to the design and development issues we currently face. 

Designers Unleashed challenges participants to take an actual site available for development in the city of Rochester and unleash their ideas upon it, without mercy or recourse, showcasing its full architectural and design potential. 

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The competition is to design a small structure or pavilion, either free standing or integrated into existing architecture, that provides a vantage point to survey Rochester.  The structure should open people’s eyes, to inspire new thinking and ideas in the spirit of future progress.  Submissions should consider the location of the structure as well as the perspectives being framed.   Projects should be fully accessible to all users and be designed adhering to principles of sustainability. 

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The competition is open to students, unlicensed architectural interns, architects licensed 10 years or less at the time of submission and interior designers, who live, work, or go to school in the AIA Rochester jurisdiction.

Download the Designers Unleashed Call for Entries for full details. Registration is due by noon on November 4, 2021. Submissions are due by noon on January 6, 2021. The entries are judged by the Design Awards jury. The winner will be notified in March and invited to attend the Design Awards Ceremony to be recognized.