IIT's College of Architecture launches the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize

On Monday, February 10, the Illinois Insitute of Technology officially launched the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. 

The College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology established the Americas Prize to recognize the most distinguished architectural works built on the North and South American continents.

The Prize will be awarded biennially within the masterpiece of S. R. Crown Hall, the organization’s Chicago-based laboratory and mission control center. The recipients of this new prize will be named by a jury of professional architects, curators, writers, editors, and other individuals whose work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of design.

It will be twofold in nature: it will recognize pre-eminence in architecture while additionally awarding a member of the profession’s younger generation, by way of the Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture, that harnesses the talent and ambition needed to devise and bring forth a truly outstanding first?/?early built work.

The Americas Prize is awarded to the best architectural work in the Americas completed in the preceding two years. The authors of the winning project receive an award of $50,000 and the MCHAP Chair at Illinois Institute of Technology for the following academic year. The MCHAP Chair(s) will establish research related to the theme of ‘rethinking the metropolis,’ will give a public lecture as part of the IIT College of Architecture’s lecture series, and engage in other agreed upon forms of academic research. The Americas Prize is announced at the Prize Ceremony in the fall of the award year.

The MCHAP Book will feature the Americas Prize Winner, in addition to the Finalists, the Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture Winner, and the Outstanding Projects recognized by the Jury. Through a series of diverse essays and articles, the book will highlight the architectural perspective that challenges the limits of the profession. The Americas Prize Winner will be profiled internationally in print, film and digital media.

The Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture is awarded to an outstanding built work in the Americas by an emerging practice completed within the preceding two years. The authors of the winning project receive an award of $25,000 USD and the MCHAP Research Professorship at Illinois Institute of Technology for the following academic year, where they will lead a studio related to ‘rethinking metropolis’. The Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture is announced at the Benefit Ceremony in the spring of the award year.

In addition to being featured in the MCHAP Book, the Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture Winner will receive a monograph focusing on their award-winning work.

For more information, visit: http://arch.iit.edu/prize/mchap?v=