The Board of Directors and the Strategic Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) are honoring Angela Brooks, FAIA, and Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, with the 2022 Gold Medal.
The Gold Medal honors an individual or pair whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
Brooks and Scarpa share a common lineage of humble, blue-collar families hailing from small Central Florida towns and eventually met while studying architecture at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Scarpa had recently returned to Florida to pursue his graduate studies after working with Paul Rudolph in New York, and Brooks was completing her undergraduate work.
The duo married in 1987 and eventually moved to California, where Brooks attended graduate school at SCI-Arc, and Scarpa began working with Gwynne Pugh, FAIA. After several years of working together, they founded Pugh + Scarpa in 1991, a small three-person office. The firm quickly grew to a staff of more than 20 and attracted national attention for its finely crafted work. Brooks launched her career with the Los Angeles Community Design Center, a nonprofit design and affordable housing developer, where she leveraged policy and design to tackle issues surrounding housing and homelessness.
Following a decade of nonprofit work and the birth of their son Calder in 1999, Brooks joined Scarpa and Pugh as a firm principal. Though her name was absent from the firm’s marquee at the time, she played a pivotal role in work that garnered the firm nearly a dozen AIA design awards and the 2010 Architecture Firm Award.
Following Pugh’s exit in 2011, the firm was renamed Brooks + Scarpa to reflect its new leadership. While the firm’s two histories will always remain intertwined, Brooks and Scarpa have pursued personal and professional aspirations—academia, volunteerism, mentoring, collaborative practice—that have positioned them in an uncharted realm for most practicing architects. Together they have founded organizations such as Livable Places, The A+D Museum in Los Angeles, and the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute.
No matter the budget, size, or background, the pair espouse the philosophy that design is not mutually exclusive and holds the potential to enrich everyone. Their socially engaged approach to design excellence led to their receipt of the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Award in Architecture in 2014. The award lauded their ability to synthesize design and engagement to deliver affordable housing and sustainable architecture that advances equity for the benefit of society.
Together, Brooks and Scarpa continually redefine the role of an architect. They are potent form seekers and socially responsible practitioners, a combination not easily replicated. As they expand the boundaries of practice and chart an architectural path that is equally didactic and successful, Brooks and Scarpa have made a clear and profound impact on the practice of architecture.
Visit AIA’s website to learn more about Brooks and Scarpa’s selection as the 2022 AIA Gold Medalist.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
More construction firms likely to perform stimulus-funded work in 2010 as funding expands beyond transportation programs
Stimulus funded infrastructure projects are saving and creating more direct construction jobs than initially estimated, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis also found that more contractors are likely to perform stimulus funded work this year as work starts on many of the non-transportation projects funded in the initial package.
Museums | Aug 11, 2010
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.
| Aug 11, 2010
Broadway-style theater headed to Kentucky
One of Kentucky's largest performing arts venues should open in 2011—that's when construction is expected to wrap up on Eastern Kentucky University's Business & Technology Center for Performing Arts. The 93,000-sf Broadway-caliber theater will seat 2,000 audience members and have a 60×24-foot stage proscenium and a fly loft.
| Aug 11, 2010
Citizenship building in Texas targets LEED Silver
The Department of Homeland Security's new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas, was designed by 4240 Architecture and developed by JDL Castle Corporation. The focal point of the two-story, 56,000-sf building is the double-height, glass-walled Ceremony Room where new citizens take the oath.
| Aug 11, 2010
Carpenters' union helping build its own headquarters
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters in Dorchester, Mass., is taking shape within a 1940s industrial building. The Building Team of ADD Inc., RDK Engineers, Suffolk Construction, and the carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is giving the old facility a modern makeover by converting the existing two-story structure into a three-story, 75,000-sf, LEED-certif...
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
| Aug 11, 2010
San Bernardino health center doubles in size
Temecula, Calif.-based EDGE was awarded the contract for California State University San Bernardino's health center renovation and expansion. The two-phase, $4 million project was designed by RSK Associates, San Francisco, and includes an 11,000-sf, tilt-up concrete expansion—which doubles the size of the facility—and site and infrastructure work.
| Aug 11, 2010
Goettsch Partners wins design competition for Soochow Securities HQ in China
Chicago-based Goettsch Partners has been selected to design the Soochow Securities Headquarters, the new office and stock exchange building for Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. The 21-story, 441,300-sf project includes 344,400 sf of office space, an 86,100-sf stock exchange, classrooms, and underground parking.
| Aug 11, 2010
New hospital expands Idaho healthcare options
Ascension Group Architects, Arlington, Texas, is designing a $150 million replacement hospital for Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. An existing facility will be renovated as part of the project. The new six-story, 320-000-sf complex will house 187 beds, along with an intensive care unit, a cardiovascular care unit, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgical suites, rehabilitation clinic, and ...
