Gold Medal

The Gold Medal is open to a single individual or two individuals, (living or deceased), who through their collaborative efforts over time have created a singular body of distinguished architectural work.  

Living Gold Medal recipients are automatically elevated to Fellowship, Honorary Membership, or Honorary Fellowship in the Institute, as eligible.

Members of the AIA Board of Directors, Strategic Council, and members of their respective firms are ineligible to be nominated.

Members who have been found to have violated the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and upon whom the penalties of either Censure or Suspension were imposed are ineligible to be nominated for this award.

Individuals whose membership was terminated due to a violation of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct are ineligible to be nominated for this award.

Nomination

Any component, Knowledge Community, or AIA member may make nominations for the Gold Medal. 

If the nominator is an individual, they must affirm that neither they nor their firm employs unpaid intern architects, including working students (as defined in Section 11.0 of the AIA Rules of the Board).

Nominators are required to write a letter of support for the candidate and assist the candidate by acting as a point of contact for reference writers, providing application guidance as needed, etc. 

Restrictions & exceptions 

Chapter 11 of the publicly posted AIA Rules of the Board (12/2024 ed.) state the following restrictions and exceptions to applicant, nominator, and letter of reference writer eligibility: 

• "National Officers, Officers-Elect, Directors, and Directors-Elect are not eligible to be nominated for any AIA Honors or Awards described in these Rules where they personally would be a recipient. ... Nothing in this section shall prevent AIA leadership from applying for Fellowship, Honorary Fellowship, or Honorary Membership."
• "AIA staff, National Officers, Officers-elect, and members of the Board, or Strategic Council are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of, nominating, sponsoring, or serving as a reference for candidates of any AIA Honors or Awards described in these Rules."
• "Jurors are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of, nominating, sponsoring, or serving as a reference for candidates of their respective programs until three (3) years after their end date of service."

Finalist rollover

Finalists who are not selected may rollover their application materials to the next cycle for consideration in the initial pool of applicants.

Fee: There is no fee for this program.

2026 Deadline

Submissions are due by 5pm ET Thursday August 7, 2025. All materials must be submitted via the online application portal (i.e., cannot be accepted via email, phone, shared online drive, fax, post, etc.) by the prescribed deadline(s): deadline extension or exception requests will not be granted. Applicants and interested parties are encouraged to seek award assistance well in advance of application deadlines to minimize the risk for ineligibility and/or application noncompliance rendering the entry removed from review.               

 

Formatting requirements

For information on templates for required uploaded forms (e.g., Image Release Form, Application Release Form, Copyright Information File), and information on format of portfolio document (e.g., page size / orientation standards), or addressing letters of recommendation, please visit the AIA Awards FAQs webpage. 

Applications that do not conform to the program's formatting requirements for uploaded materials (e.g., required forms, letters of reference, and portfolio documents) are subject to automatic disqualification. AIA does not accept release forms with altered terms. 

Application components
Extensive information on the materials required to submit an application is housed in the AIA online application portal. Please reference the information in this portal when the program is receiving materials for the 2026 season. 

Review criteria

Nominees are evaluated based on how their contributions have:

• Demonstrated great depth and breadth and had a cumulative effect on the profession of architecture.
• Addressed the future of architecture while honoring its tradition.
• Transcended or united specific areas of expertise.
• Become widely known—by architects, designers, educators, and the public—for the quality of their work.
• AIA values
  Throughout the submission, candidates are encouraged to highlight any aspects of work or life experience that may have reflected contributions or sensitivity concerning areas of special interest to AIA, its members, and the architecture profession, including but not limited to the Public Policies and Position Statements of the AIA. These might include such areas as diversity, sustainability, or the mentoring of emerging professionals, to the degree the candidate has had the opportunity to address them, or as these topics may enhance the presentation.
• AIA Framework for Design Excellence
  While Gold Medal submissions are not required to fit comprehensively within the framework principles, candidates are strongly encouraged to consider submission materials in this context. For additional information visit the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.

Jury

2026 Gold Medal Advisory Jury

(Chair) Angela Brooks, FAIA, Brooks + Scarpa Architects, Inc.  
Clark S. Brockman, AIA, Brockman Climate Strategies LLC 
Graciela Carrillo, FAIA, Nassau BOCES Facilities Services 
Kathy D. Dixon, FAIA, K. Dixon Architecture, PLLC
Heather G. Holdridge, Assoc. AIA, Lake | Flato Architects 
Beresford Pratt, AIA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
Cory T. Rouillard, AIA, Henson Architecture 
Vikram Sami, AIA, Olson Kundig

Finalist guidelines

For candidates selected as a finalist by the Advisory Jury, the next stage of the awards process includes evaluation by the AIA Board of Directors and Strategic Council at their joint meeting, typically in December. The application materials will be included in the meeting materials, and finalists are expected to also provide a video presentation fitting the criteria listed below at the date(s) determined by AIA awards staff. 

Video specifications

• .mp4 format
• Max ten (10) minutes
• PowerPoint/slide style, max 40 screens
• No effects including fade-in/out, animations, video within the video, or sound effects.

Video content

The presentation content should:

• Present an overview of the nominee and the ways they are qualified for the honor, specifically addressing how they have met the award criteria.
• Highlight any aspects of the nominee’s work or history related to AIA’s special interest areas including diversity, sustainability, and the mentoring of emerging professionals.
• Only include text and images from your submission. Distributing additional materials to the AIA Board of Directors and Strategic Council is prohibited and may result in disqualification.

Video narrator information

Voiceover narration for the video should be from an individual member (any designation) in good standing, who is not the nominee, nor a principal or employee of the nominee’s firm. 

• Promotional recognition in AIA communication channels.
• Invitation for the recipient or a recipient representative to attend selected Honors & Awards event celebrations, commonly held during the annual AIA Conference on Architecture
• Elevation to AIA Fellowship, Honorary Membership, or Honorary Fellowship in the Institute, as eligible
• Sessions and/or keynote speaking engagements (during the AIA Annual Meeting or otherwise) recognizing the Gold Medal honor.

2025: Deborah Berke, FAIA
2024: David Lake, FAIA, and Ted Flato, FAIA
2023: Carol Ross Barney, FAIA
2022: Angela Brooks, FAIA, and Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA
2021: Edward Mazria, FAIA
2020: Marlon Blackwell, FAIA
2019: Lord Richard Rogers, Hon. FAIA
2018: James Stewart Polshek, FAIA
2017: Paul Revere Williams, FAIA
2016: Robert Venturi, FAIA, and Denise Scott Brown, Hon. FAIA
2015: Moshe Safdie, FAIA
2014: Julia Morgan, FAIA
2013: Thom Mayne, FAIA
2012: Steven Holl, FAIA
2011: Fumihiko Maki, Hon. FAIA
2010: Peter Q. Bohlin, FAIA
2009: Glenn Marcus Murcutt, Hon. FAIA
2008: Renzo Piano, Hon. FAIA
2007: Edward Larrabee Barnes, FAIA
2006: Antoine Predock, FAIA
2005: Santiago Calatrava, FAIA
2004: Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee, FAIA
2002: Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA
2001: Michael Graves, FAIA
2000: Ricardo Legorreta, Hon. FAIA
1999: Frank Gehry, FAIA
1997: Richard Meier, FAIA
1995: César Pelli, FAIA
1994: Sir Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA
1993: Thomas Jefferson
1993: Kevin Roche, FAIA
1992: Benjamin Thompson, FAIA
1991: Charles W. Moore, FAIA
1990: E. Fay Jones, FAIA
1989: Joseph Esherick, FAIA
1986: Arthur Erickson, Hon. FAIA
1985: William Wayne Caudill, FAIA
1983: Nathaniel A. Owings, FAIA
1982: Romaldo Giurgola, FAIA
1981: Josep Luis Sert, FAIA
1979: Ieoh Ming Pei, FAIA
1978: Philip Cortelyou Johnson, FAIA
1977: Richard Joseph Neutra, FAIA
1972: Pietro Belluschi, FAIA
1971: Louis I. Kahn, FAIA
1970: Richard Buckminster Fuller, FAIA
1969: William Wilson Wurster, FAIA
1968: Marcel Breuer, FAIA
1967: Wallace K. Harrison, FAIA
1966: Kenzo Tange, Hon. FAIA
1964: Pier Luigi Nervi, Hon. FAIA
1963: Alvar Aalto, Hon. FAIA
1962: Eero Saarinen, FAIA
1961: Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, Hon. FAIA)
1960: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, FAIA
1959: Walter Gropius, FAIA
1958: John Wellborn Root, FAIA
1957: Ralph Walker, FAIA (Centennial Medal of Honor)
1957: Louis Skidmore, FAIA
1956: Clarence S. Stein, FAIA
1955: William Marinus Dudok, Hon. FAIA
1953: William Adams Delano, FAIA
1952: Auguste Perret, Hon. FAIA
1951: Bernard Ralph Maybeck
1950: Sir Patrick Abercrombie, Hon. FAIA
1949: Frank Lloyd Wright
1948: Charles Donagh Maginnis, FAIA
1947: Eliel Saarinen, FAIA
1944: Louis Henri Sullivan, FAIA
1938: Paul Philippe Cret, FAIA
1933: Ragnar Ostberg, Hon. FAIA
1929: Milton Bennett Medary, FAIA
1927: Howard Van Doren Shaw, FAIA
1925: Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, Hon. FAIA
1925: Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, FAIA
1923: Henry Bacon, FAIA
1922: Victor Laloux, Hon. FAIA
1914: Jean Louis Pascal, Hon. FAIA
1911: George Browne Post, FAIA
1909: Charles Follen McKim, FAIA
1907: Sir Aston Webb, Hon. FAIA

Interested in learning about these past recipients? We’d love to hear from you—contact us.