Recent News
Lawrence Scarpa Interviewed on Architect TV About the 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award
Santa Monica, CA, July 20, 2010: In this short video, Architect TV Senior Editor Braulio Agnese interviews Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, at the 2010 AIA Convention in Miami, Florida, in June 2010, about Pugh + Scarpa's selection as the 2010 Architecture Firm award recipient. Click on the "Architect Interviews" tab to find the video "An Interview With Lawrence Scarpa."
Lawrence Scarpa Featured in USGBC Podcast on Green Affordable Housing in New Orleans
Washington, D.C. - June 23, 2010: The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), in conjunction with the National Building Museum, released a podcast on green affordable housing in New Orleans. Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, was interviewed about Pugh + Scarpa's role in the Make-it-Right project, which seeks to sustainably rebuild the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Step Up on Fifth Receives AIA Housing Award
Washington, D.C. - May 3, 2010: The American Institute of Architects' Housing Awards for Jury has chosen Step Up on Fifth to receive a 2010 Housing Award. The supportive housing project in downtown Santa Monica will be recognized further at the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in Miami, June 10-12, 2010.
This new structure contains 46 studio apartments of permanent affordable housing and supportive services for the homeless and mentally disabled population. The building distinguishes itself from most conventionally developed projects in that it incorporates energy-efficient measures that exceed standard practice, optimize building performance, and ensure reduced energy use during all phases of construction and occupancy. The planning and design of the project emerged from close consideration and employment of passive solar design strategies. While California has the most stringent energy-efficient requirements in the United States, Step Up incorporates numerous sustainable features that exceed state-mandated Title 24 energy measures by 26%.
The AIA’s Housing Awards Program, now in its tenth year, was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource.
The jury for the 2010 Housing Awards includes: Andrew V. Porth (chair), AIA, Porth Architects, Inc.; Jane Kolleeny, Architectural Record and GreenSource; Natalye Appel, FAIA, Natalye Appel + Associates Architects; Geoffrey Goldberg, AIA, G. Goldberg and Associates, and Grace Kim, AIA, Schemata Workshop.
Find the AIA Press Release here
Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA Gives Commencement Address at University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning
Gainesville, FL - May 1, 2010: Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, principal of Pugh + Scarpa Architects, gave the commencement address at the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning on May 1, 2010. Mr. Scarpa is this year's Ivan Smith Eminent Visiting Professor at the College, and a graduate of both the undergraduate (BS Design '81) and graduate programs (M.Arch '87) at the University of Florida.
His speech begins at approximately 21:00.
Angela Brooks Receives "Character Approved" Award from USA Networks
New York - Feb. 8, 2010: USA Network announced today the ten honorees for the second annual Character Approved Awards, a multimedia campaign honoring individuals who are changing the face of American culture. Inspired by USA's Characters Welcome brand, the initiative is dedicated to celebrating the true trailblazers across a variety of disciplines such as art, philanthropy, new media and film.
"Character Approved is a celebration of the real Characters making an impact on our culture today," said Chris McCumber, USA executive vice president, marketing, digital and brand strategy. "Our honorees are all at the top of their game, and we're thrilled to shine a light on their unique accomplishments."
Character Approved honorees are innovators in their field who are influencing our opinions, our style and our view of the world. They surprise us and inspire us with fresh ideas. They are celebrated by their peers and have an authentic style. USA recognizes these individuals for their cultural impact, legacy and persona with the hallmark of recognition, the USA Network "seal of approval."
Angela Brooks will donate her $10,000.00 prize to Global Green USA, the United States affiliate of Green Cross International, which fosters a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure world.
The honorees will be featured in vignettes introduced by Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains) and directed by Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball), which will debut Thursday, February 25 on USA Network. The vignettes provide an inside look at the lives, the works and influences of these characters, and will be aired over the course of six weeks across the network's programming and online at characterapproved.usanetwork.com.
To recognize the Character Approved honorees and their accomplishments, USA in partnership with Vanity Fair will host an invitation-only VIP cocktail reception in New York City on Thursday, February 25. The event will be held at the iconic IAC Building, which was designed by Frank Gehry. USA's Mark Feuerstein of ROYAL PAINS will officially unveil the 2010 honorees and their on-air vignettes. Performing live will be the cast of Green Day's "American Idiot." This will be their first live appearance in New York City ahead of the show's Broadway debut on Wednesday, March 24. Alexandra Richards will be holding court as the DJ for the evening and several from USA's roster of stars will be in attendance, as well as many of the 2010 Character Approved honorees.
For more information on the Character Approved award visit:
AIA Institute Honor Award for Step Up on Fifth
Washington, D.C. - January 15, 2010: The American Institute of Architects' Honor Awards for Architecture Jury has chosen Step Up on Fifth to receive a 2010 Institute Honor Award for Architecture. The supportive housing project in downtown Santa Monica will be recognized further at the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in Miami, June 10-12, 2010.
Jury members included: Richard L. Maimon, AIA (Chair), KieranTimberlake, Philadelphia; Jeanne Gang, FAIA, Studio/Gang Architects, Chicago;
Sam Grawe, Dwell /At Home in the Modern World Magazines, San Francisco; Jeffrey Lee, FAIA, Pearce Brinkley Cease & Lee P.A., Raleigh; Justine N. Lewis, AIAS Representative, Atlanta; Miguel A. Rivera Agosto, AIA, Miró Rivera Architects, Austin; Mark Simon, FAIA, Centerbrook Architects & Planners, Centerbrook, Connecticut; and H. Ruth Todd, AIA, Page & Turnbull Architects, San Francisco.
The awards page can be found at:
AIA Awards
Pugh + Scarpa receives AIA National Firm Award
Washington, D.C. – December 3, 2009: The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Board of Directors (BOD) voted today for Pugh + Scarpa Architects to receive the 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The distinction is based on its 18 years of consistent excellent work, including its seamless blending of architecture, art, and craft; community involvement; attention to sustainable design; and nurturing of in-house talent.
The AIA Architecture Firm Award, given annually, is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.
Founding partners Gwynne Pugh, AIA, and Lawrence Scarpa, AIA, and Angela Brooks, AIA, who became a partner in 2001, are known for forging a broad, inclusive, experimental approach to socially and environmentally sensitive urban planning and design.
“We’re thrilled,” said Lawrence Scarpa, AIA, after being notified. “It was a surprise just to be nominated. It’s just stunning to win.”
“Pugh + Scarpa’s practice is known for both design and its commitment to running a socially and environmentally responsive practice,” writes Thom Mayne, FAIA, in support of the nomination. “Comfortable with aesthetic, practical, political, and functional issues, they have mapped an architectural path that is as didactic as it is successful.”
Over the past 10 years, the firm has won 14 national AIA awards. The firm has more than 40 state and local AIA awards. In 2008, Pugh + Scarpa received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Interior Design. The firm is also the recipient of the 2010 AIA California Council Firm Award.
Other awards include; Record Houses, Record Interiors, The Rudy Bruner Prize, Emerging Voice in Architecture presented by the Architectural League of New York, The Collaborative Practice Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, The AIA Henry Adams Medal and The Leadership Award for Sustainable Design presented by the California Legislature Assembly. In 2003, Pugh + Scarpa was also selected as a finalist for the World Habitat Award presented by The United Nations and Building & Housing Social Foundation.
The award will be presented June 12 at the 2010 AIA National Convention in Miami. In recognition of Pugh + Scarpa’s legacy to architecture, their name will be chiseled into the granite Wall of Honor in the lobby of the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute Launched
Pugh + Scarpa, in collaboration with the Enterprise Foundation, Launches The "Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute" to Bring Excellence to Low-Income Communities Nationwide
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 10, 2009 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading an effort to bring the benefits of design excellence to low-income communities nationwide, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) in collaboration with Pugh + Scarpa today announced the launch of the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute. The Institute, made possible by support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the McKnight Foundation and Kendeda Fund, will provide a structured forum for architecture and community development leaders from across the country to share best practices and solve real design challenges they currently face.
"There is a critical need for increased collaboration between architects and community development practitioners. Design excellence incorporating sustainable building principles and participatory planning with the community not only improves the lives and health of residents, but is critical to the long-term financial viability of affordable housing," said Katie Swenson, senior director of the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship and Institute moderator. Like the Enterprise Rose Fellowship, the Institute will seek to unite a community-based approach to development with best practices in design. Swenson continued, "By bringing architects and community developers together, the Institute will raise frontline design and development leaders' capacity to tackle affordable housing's most pressing challenges."
The two-and-a-half-day Institute will take place at the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus in May 2010 where a design resource team of eight leading architects will work with nonprofit housing developers to address design challenges of affordable housing that is still in the planning phase. Design resource team members scheduled to participate include Lawrence Scarpa of Pugh + Scarpa Architects. The company just received the 2010 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor the AIA bestows upon an architecture firm. The resource design team will also include two Fellows of the AIA, one of the highest honors the AIA gives to an individual.
Nominations for nonprofit affordable housing developers to attend the Institute will be by invitation only. An Institute selection committee will choose the eight participants from across the country based on the organizations' volume of affordable housing production and its commitment to excellence in community design, sustainability and resident engagement. At least two of the eight community developers selected to participate will be from the Minneapolis-area.
As part of the program, the Institute will engage local residents, housing developers, community leaders and members of tenant organizations in a public discussion of local community design and development issues. This local community engagement is central to the approach Enterprise takes to affordable housing and community development, stemming from the belief that to build a community one must be part of the community and engage all local stakeholders in the planning of any future development. The program will conclude with a summary of the lessons learned on major themes that arose during the Institute, and selected proceedings from the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute will be published on sponsor websites.
"The Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute will bring national best practices in community design to the Twin Cities, allowing us to highlight our region's contributions to the field as we learn from renowned design and community development leaders nationwide," said Eric Muschler, region and communities program officer, the McKnight Foundation. "The Institute will engage our local community in dialogue about critical neighborhood issues and regional challenges, while offering design solutions for our region and for neighborhoods across the country."
