The Board of Directors and the Strategic Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) today honored Moody Nolan with its 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award.
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.
As the nation’s largest African American-owned and operated design firm—with 11 offices in the U.S.—Moody Nolan has a long history of serving clients with a keen knowledge of cultural sensitivities as well as a deep understanding of the impact its work has on individuals and communities.
Founded by Curt Moody, FAIA, NOMA, and the late engineer Howard E. Nolan, the firm’s work is centered on the belief that diverse perspectives foster creativity and more responsive solutions.
Moody Nolan’s work is reflective of the people who will live, learn, and heal in the spaces it creates. Its work has been lauded with more than 320 design citations and significant awards, including Moody’s receipt of the AIA’s Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award in 1992, its Gold Medal in 2007, and the National Organization of Minority Architects’ (NOMA) President’s Exemplary Service Award in 2008. The firm was also named NOMA’s firm of the year in 2000.
Beyond the compelling design of buildings, the firm views its work as a way to encourage architecture careers in diverse communities and carry on the firm’s legacy. That ethos is made clear in projects such as Columbus’ Martin Luther King Library Branch, a vibrant community center that responds to both the character of the surrounding community and the powerful legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Though it is only 20,000 square feet, the unique facility makes a powerful and uplifting statement. In Chicago, the firm worked with City Colleges of Chicago to further its commitment to the city’s troubled South Side and replaced the aging Malcolm X College and School of Health Sciences. Despite inheriting budget issues and a very tight timeline, Moody Nolan provided the school's predominantly low-income student body with a technologically advanced learning environment that is focused on allied health professions.
In 2017, as a way to further its commitment to the community, Moody Nolan launched the Legacy House project. Fully funded by the firm and select partners, the project is committed to designing and constructing a home in each of the 11 communities in which the firm operates. The first house, in Columbus, Ohio, was completed in 2018 and was gifted to a single mother with three young children. The home sparked a renewed interest in the neighborhood, prompting neighbors to clean up their properties and spurring new development. Other homes have broken ground or are planned in Nashville and Chicago.
As the nation grapples with systemic racism and significant issues of inequality, the ideals of diversity espoused by Moody Nolan since its founding stand as a model for advancing the profession. The firm has long operated at the critical junction of architecture and citizenship, demonstrating that responsible design requires a flawless marriage of art, function, and community.
Visit AIA’s website to learn more about Moody Nolan’s selection as the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient.
Related Stories
| Jun 30, 2014
Research finds continued growth of design-build throughout United States
New research findings indicate that for the first time more than half of projects above $10 million are being completed through design-build project delivery.
| Jun 30, 2014
Narrow San Francisco lots to be developed into micro-units
As a solution to San Francisco’s density and low housing supply compared to demand, local firms Build Inc. and Macy Architecture each are to build micro-unit housing in a small parcel of land in Hayes Valley.
| Jun 30, 2014
Arup's vision of the future of rail: driverless trains, maintenance drones, and automatic freight delivery
In its Future of Rail 2050 report, Arup reveals a vision of the future of rail travel in light of trends such as urban population growth, climate change, and emerging technologies.
| Jun 30, 2014
4 design concepts that remake the urban farmer's market
The American Institute of Architects held a competition to solve the farmer's markets' biggest design dilemma: lightweight, bland canopies that although convenient, does not protect much from the elements.
| Jun 30, 2014
Harvard releases the State of the Nation’s Housing 2014
Although the housing industry saw notable increases in construction, home prices, and sales in 2013, household growth has yet to fully recover from the effects of the recession, according to a new Harvard University report.
| Jun 30, 2014
OMA's The Interlace honored as one of the world's most 'community-friendly' high-rises
The 1,040-unit apartment complex in Singapore has won the inaugural Urban Habitat award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which highlights projects that demonstrate a positive contribution to the surrounding environment.
| Jun 30, 2014
Work starts on Jean Nouvel-designed European Patent Office in the Netherlands [slideshow]
With around 80,000 sm and a budget of €205 million self-financed by the EPO, the complex will be one of the biggest office construction sites ever in the Netherlands.
| Jun 30, 2014
Growth of crowdfunding, public-private partnerships among top trends in architecture marketplace
A new report by the American Institute of Architects highlights several emerging trends in the architecture marketplace, including the growth of the P3 project delivery model and designing for health.
| Jun 30, 2014
Report recommends making infrastructure upgrades a cabinet-level priority
The ASCE estimates that $3.6 trillion must be invested by 2020 to make critically needed upgrades and expansions of national infrastructure—and avoid trillions of dollars in lost business sales, exports, disposable income, and GDP.
| Jun 30, 2014
Gen X, not Baby Boomers, spending the most money on homes [infographic]
It turns out that Generation X, who have the highest incomes of the three generations surveyed, are paying the highest home payments and tend to have the largest households.
