The Texas Society of Architects is pleased to announce our 2022 Honor Award recipients. These awards recognize exceptional members, firms, individuals, and organizations for outstanding achievements in support of the profession of architecture, the built environment, and quality of life in Texas. Recipients will be recognized at our upcoming 83rd Annual Conference and Design Expo, happening in El Paso on October 27–29. Congratulations to all the honorees!
Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Honor of Llewellyn W. Pitts FAIA
John Kirksey, FAIA
Houston
John Kirksey, FAIA, is the founder and chairman emeritus of Kirksey Architecture, which he started 51 years ago with a mission to design high-performing, healthy buildings that positively impact the people, environment, and communities they serve. The firm has gone on to become a national leader in sustainability and is recognized for its commitment to quality, innovation, and the professional growth of its employees. As a co-founder of programs and organizations such as Trees for Houston and the Galveston Bay Foundation, Kirksey has also spearheaded bold initiatives to improve quality of life and the environment in the Texas Gulf Coast region and beyond. His visionary ideas, service, and leadership in environmental stewardship have made Texas a more beautiful and better place to live.
Architecture Firm Award
STG Design
Austin
Founded in 1976, STG Design has been a strong contributor to the Austin community and the architectural, economic, and political fabric of Central Texas for more than 40 years. A long-term supporter of both AIA Austin and the Texas Society of Architects, the firm is a leader in countless community service and business organizations and has continually promoted professional development, equity, and prosperity for its employees. With projects like the Seaholm Power Plant Complex, the iconic Google Tower, completed earlier this year in partnership with Pelli Clarke & Partners, and three 30+ story residential towers now in progress, STG Design is crossing new thresholds in its contributions to our built environment.
Cornerstone Award
El Paso Community Foundation
El Paso
Under the leadership of CEO Eric Summerford Pearson, the El Paso Community Foundation has been a critical driving force behind architectural projects in El Paso that are serving as cornerstones for downtown revitalization. In 1986, the foundation saved the Plaza Theatre from imminent demolition and led its historic rehabilitation, a project that served as a catalyst for other private investment in the area. That success was followed by the development of the Roderick Artspace Lofts, a mixed-use project providing affordable live/work space for artists — and the first major ground-up project built in the city’s downtown in 40 years. The foundation also led the international design competition that selected Snøhetta to design the new El Paso Children’s Museum, which is currently under construction in the arts district.
Award for Community Service in Honor of James D. Pfluger FAIA
Robert G. Hanley, AIA
San Antonio
For more than 30 years, Robert Hanley, AIA, has dedicated himself to advancing opportunities for architects to positively impact public policy, development codes, and community planning. Through leadership within AIA San Antonio and TxA, Hanley has worked to build bridges between the design profession, community members, and elected officials to ensure that architects have a “seat at the table.” He has also directly helped shape San Antonio through decades of service within the city’s Development Services Department, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and numerous other boards and commissions.
Award for Equitable Practice in Architecture in Honor of John S. Chase Jr. FAIA
Gianna Pigford, AIA, NOMA
Dallas
A principal and program manager at Stantec, Gianna Pigford, AIA, centers leadership, activism, advocacy, and mentorship in her career to remove systemic obstacles and open new pathways to make the profession visible and accessible to underrepresented youth and minorities. As a result of efforts to champion licensure at her firm, Pigford was tapped by NCARB to revise the AXP guidelines and provide program oversight nationally. She has also served as a liaison between TxA and NOMA at the national level, revitalized the NOMA DFW chapter, and pushed for more equitable policies at the Society through her roles on the EDI task force and committee. Pigford currently serves on the AIA Strategic Council.
Award for Outstanding Educational Contributions in Honor of Edward J. Romieniec FAIA
Dwayne Bohuslav, Assoc. AIA
San Antonio
Dwayne Bohuslav, Assoc. AIA, is an extraordinary educator with a legacy of expanding access to architectural education and diversifying the profession. An associate professor and long-time architecture program coordinator at San Antonio College, Bohuslav teaches his students about the benefits to their design work of connecting with their community and immersing themselves in embedded cultural memory. He also promotes the value of getting involved with the local AIA chapter early in their careers. Bohuslav is a founding member of the Coalition for Community College Architecture Programs, which has opened up new pathways for first generation students by increasing transfer access from community colleges to colleges of architecture across the state.
Award for Early Career Professional Achievement in Honor of William W. Caudill FAIA
Audrey Maxwell, AIA
Dallas
A principal at Malone Maxwell Dennehy, Audrey Maxwell, AIA, served as 2021 president of the Texas Society of Architects, responding to issues related to the pandemic, leading efforts to address social justice issues, and championing inclusion and diversity. She also created the process and team that selected the Society’s new executive vice president. Previously, Maxwell served as chair of TxA’s Publications and Design Conference committees. An accomplished architect, her work includes the firm’s signature corporate and residential projects, but her heart is in the firm’s nonprofit and pro-bono work, which aligns with her own priorities and concerns.
Award for Early Career Professional Achievement in Honor of William W. Caudill FAIA
Melvalean McLemore, AIA, NOMA
Houston
Melvalean McLemore, AIA, is an associate at Moody Nolan, where she designs and manages impactful projects and has taken on leadership roles in the licensure, internship, and EDI committees. McLemore is dedicated to advancing justice and equity within the profession and serving as a role model and mentor to the next generation of architects through her leadership within AIA Houston, TxA, Houston NOMA, NCARB, NOMA National, and various community programs. She was a co-founder of AIA Houston’s Women in Architecture committee, is vice-chair of the chapter’s Women of Color Steering Committee, and served as the first co-chair of TxA’s EDI Task Force, leading the group for four years.
Award for Early Career Professional Achievement in Honor of William W. Caudill FAIA
Stephi Motal, AIA
Austin
Stephi Motal, AIA, leads the design and management of Black + Vernooy, a firm she joined 26 years ago as a high school intern. A dynamic and inspiring leader, speaker, and community-minded visionary, Motal has made invaluable contributions to AIA Austin, serving as the chapter’s youngest-ever president and contributing her leadership to its Urban Design, Strategic Planning, and Executive committees; Design Excellence Conference; and Board of Directors. She’s also served as the Austin director on the TxA board, on the TxA Government Affairs Steering and Conference Futures committees, and on her local school district’s Facilities and Bond Oversight Committee.
Associate Member of the Year
Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz, Assoc. AIA
Dallas
Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz, Assoc. AIA, has combined his love of architecture and his love of teaching into a calling for introducing architecture to the next generation. He founded R STUDIO at Richardson High School and went on to create the Urban Planning and Architecture pathways at CityLAB High School in Dallas. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Rivera-Ortiz has organized numerous college fairs and summer camps with AIA Dallas and helped created TxA’s first statewide high school design competition.
Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Architecture through the Media in Honor of John G. Flowers Hon. AIA
Larry Speck, FAIA
Austin
Larry Speck, FAIA, is a principal at Page and a legendary advocate of architecture through the media. As a prolific author, revered professor, television narrator, and online media and video personality, he has for over 30 years engaged an ever-growing audience on the value of architecture to society. Although Speck’s contributions to media have included commentary on architects and buildings all over the world, he has been a particularly passionate advocate for Texas architecture, authoring 76 publications as well as numerous articles and essays, a PBS documentary, and his own website — all focused on Texas topics.
Award for Excellence in the Promotion of Architecture through the Media in Honor of John G. Flowers Hon. AIA
Aaron Prinz
Austin
Aaron Prinz is the creator of the DESIGN:ED podcast. The program features interviews with both iconic architects and emerging professionals, and discussions of specific architectural projects as well as topics urgent to the profession. The content speaks not only to other architects, but to a broad audience of listeners intrigued by architecture and design, and the long form style allows for a depth of conversation not found in related podcasts. DESIGN: ED was recently acquired by Architectural Record and now has active listeners in more than 100 countries.
Mentorship Award
Emerging Professionals Content (EP!C) Series
Dallas
Developed by the AIA Dallas Emerging Professionals Network in 2020, the EP!C Series bridges the gap between architecture education and professional practice by providing aspiring architects with practical knowledge in areas like resume/portfolio development and technology utilization. With a low price point, the series aims to be accessible and provide information not always readily available within the firm environment. Revenues generated by the program fund the EP Network’s newly created Path to Licensure Scholarship.
Artisan Award
Diana Kersey
San Antonio
Diana Kersey is a brilliantly talented visual artist whose work reflects a deep love of the land, flora, and fauna of Texas. She works exclusively in clay, and her projects range from small studio pieces to large architectural installations, like The Riparian Edge, a 650-sf bas-relief, glazed ceramic tile mural she completed in 2020 for the Oxbow building in San Antonio. Kersey’s public works have been commissioned by the cities of San Antonio and Harlingen, VIA Metropolitan Transit, and the San Antonio River Authority.
Artisan Award
Michael van Enter
Dallas
Michael van Enter is a professional sculptor, conservator of fine art, and indispensable resource in the care and restoration of decorative arts associated with architectural works. Operating out of his Dallas studio since 1999, van Enter has become the go-to conservator for the most important but difficult conservation efforts encountered, including the restorations of Dallas’ iconic Pegasus sign and the Hall of State at Fair Park. Van Enter is also a specialist in hot patina and patina matching of metals and has worked with art foundries and artists of international acclaim.
Citation of Honor
Architecture and Design Foundation
Dallas
Founded in 1984 as a scholarship granting entity, the Architecture and Design Foundation has evolved into an organization providing public outreach and programming that champions the value of architecture and works to make design accessible to all. The foundation offers programs and exhibitions, K-12 initiatives, tours, and a new community grant program, all explore critical themes in the field, including legacy, design justice, affordable housing, preservation, technology, and much more.
Honorary Membership
Krista Nightengale
Dallas
Krista Nightengale is the executive director of the international urban design nonprofit Better Block, where she strives to educate and equip communities to activate their built environments, create spaces for pedestrians, and grow vibrant neighborhoods. Nightengale previously served as executive director of the media site Dallas Innovates and chief of staff for the Coalition for a New Dallas. She has also generously lent her expertise to AIA Dallas, AD EX, the Dallas Comprehensive Land Use Committee, and City Lab High School Foundation, among other organizations.
Honorary Membership
Marc Blackson
Dallas
Marc Blackson in the founder and president of Blackson Brick, a great friend to the architectural community throughout Texas, and an enthusiastic sponsor of TxA and its component activities. His company is a generous sponsor of the TxA Annual Conference and numerous local chapter events, as well as a long-time advertiser in Texas Architect. At AIA Dallas, Blackson Brick has served as underwriter for Columns magazine and presents AD EX’s annual fundraiser, the Form Follows Fitness 5K Run/Walk, which has raised more than $1.13 million for the foundation.
25-Year Award
Cistercian Abbey Church, Irving
Cunningham Architects
Designed by Gary Cunningham, FAIA, the Cistercian Abbey Church is located on an Irving prep school campus and celebrates a monastic order founded 900 years ago in Eastern Europe. The chapel’s design is an interpretation of a Romanesque church in the era of the founding of the order with the technical improvements of a modern era. Texas quarried limestone serves as the literal building blocks for the chapel with alternating bands of cream and multicolored stone for the exterior and interior finishes. A few vertical slits in the walls provide the limited amount of natural light to enter the interior. Horizontal glass tiles at the roofline change the quality of light as the sun follows its path during the day. The straightforward use of materials, devoid of unnecessary opulence, reflects the simplicity of the order, and the building is equally a work of Texas vernacular and handcrafted modernism.
Architectural Landmark Award
NorthPark Center, Dallas
Harrell + Hamilton | OMNIPLAN
NorthPark Center was developed by Raymond Nasher, Hon. AIA, and designed by Earle Grady Hamilton, FAIA, of Harrell + Hamilton (now OMNIPLAN). Completed in 1965, the shopping center was from the beginning envisioned as a space to promote art and culture. Hamilton, who was known for his “restrained design” methodology, employed an elegant, minimalist material palette to carefully control natural lighting in an integrated sequence of modular spaces with simple structural expression. His timeless design, combined with Nasher’s collection of world-class art — including works by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Jim Dine, Jonathan Borofsky, James Rosenquist, and others — was Hamilton’s favorite project of his career. Expanded and renovated in 2006 by OMNIPLAN, the mall established a new paradigm for retail architecture and remains a nationally recognized cultural space today.