Washington D.C. -- The Board of Directors and the Strategic Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) are honoring Lord Richard Rogers with the 2019 Gold Medal and Boston-based Payette with the 2019 AIA Architecture Firm Award.

The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Rogers is being recognized as his influence on the built environment has redefined an architect’s responsibilities to society.

Born in Florence, Italy, Rogers was trained as an architect in London at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and at Yale University. His outlook on the profession is as urbane as his early life and education. The Centre Pompidou was one of his earliest projects, which boasts themes that have become trademarks in his architecture since the mid-1960s.

Rogers, who is a founding principal at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, tackles projects that continue to invigorate the environments they inhabit. His buildings are renowned for their detailing rigor, extreme flexibility and technology-driven sustainability. Echoing the firm’s six guiding ideals of context, public realm, legibility, flexibility, energy and teamwork, the melding of craft and social mission resonate within every project. Recent work, including the celebrated Terminal 4 at Madrid’s Barajas Airport and the recently completed 3 World Trade Center, display Rogers’ mastery of large urban buildings coupled with his brand of architectural expression. His projects engage the public and inspire occupants to consider how they perceive space.

The annual AIA Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture practice. The award recognizes a firm that has consistently produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.

Since Payette’s founding in 1932, the firm has been dedicated to delivering innovative and complex research, scientific and healthcare projects. Payette’s projects have been widely recognized receiving nearly 150 design awards since 1998, including two AIA/COTE Top Ten Awards, the AIA/IDP Outstanding Firm Award and the Chicago Athenaeum 2018 American Architecture Award.

Despite its singular name, Payette is led today by a team of ten partners. Building science continues to be a central tenet of their design process. Their portfolio includes many beautiful buildings designed with rigor and guidance from overarching themes of building craft, embedded nature, energy efficiency and programmatic complexity.

Dedication to the profession is deeply embedded in Payette’s culture. More than 50% of the firm’s staff volunteer in communities. Additionally, many of the firm’s employees are active in the AIA and hold leadership positions at the regional level. They are also active in several AIA national committees, including Women in Design and Research and Innovation.

AIA will honor Payette and Rogers at the 2019 AIA Conference on Architecture in Las Vegas.

For more information, visit www.aia.org.