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.  

Employees at the same firm/employer as members of the Board of Directors or Strategic Council are ineligible for this award.

All candidates must affirm that their firm does not employ unpaid intern architects, including working students (as defined in Section 11.0 of the AIA Rules of the Board).

Nomination

All candidates must have a nominator. 

Candidates are welcome to proactively secure an eligible nominator in order to self-apply. 

Nominators are welcome to identify and put forward candidates. Nominators putting forward a candidate(s) that otherwise would not self-apply should coordinate closely with that organization before, during, and after the application process to ensure the candidate is fully willing and able to participate in all award applicant and recipient proceedings, within the required formats, and in accordance with all prescribed timelines. 

All nominators should act to solicit, invite, and serve as a point of contact for required letter of recommendation writers. Nominators coordinating letter writers should strive to maintain the confidentiality of letters written from the candidate. All nominators must provide a one-page letter of recommendation for the candidate. 

For more information on the requirements and roles of nominators, please access the online submission portal once the program is accepting materials.

Restrictions & exceptions 

Chapter 11 of the publicly posted AIA Rules of the Board (12/2024 ed.) states 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."

If you are uncertain whether the intended candidate, nominator, and/or letter writer(s) belongs to a restricted group please email AIA national awards staff at HonorsAwards@aia.org for verification. 

New in 2027! To increase ease of application, submissions started or submitted in the 2026 season are available for easy revision. 

Fee: There is a $450 fee to apply to this program.

2027 Deadline

Submissions are due by 5pm ET on Thursday, August 6, 2026. 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.

          

Finalist contact: Mid-October, 2026

AIA will notify all completed entrants of their status as a finalist in advance of the recipient public announcement. Those not selected as finalists conclude their participation. Those selected as finalists must be able to provide the requested materials by the prescribed deadlines. Please notify AIA Awards of any email contact information changes incurred between the submission deadline and the anticipated finalist notice.

Formatting requirements

For information on templates for required uploaded forms (e.g., Image Release Form, Application Release Form, Copyright Information File), and information on the format of portfolio documents (e.g., page size/orientation standards), or addressing letters of recommendation, please visit the AIA Awards FAQ 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 (e.g., required Letters of Recommendation, Candidate Portfolio Document sections, etc.) 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. 

New in 2027! Applicants are highly encouraged but no longer required to provide Image Copyright Release Form(s) or Applicant Material Release Forms at the time of submission.  

Providing all fully executed Image Copyright and Applicant Material Release Forms for all materials included in the submission is required to receive an award. Applicants with an award offer who cannot provide this information in full by the communicated deadlines cannot receive an AIA national award. Applicants are advised not to include any images where they cannot determine the copyright holder, and/or cannot determine the likelihood of securing a release.

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 AIA. These might include such areas as diversity, sustainability, or the mentoring of emerging professionals, to the degree that 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

AIA Awards juries will be shared on AIA.org once available.

Contact from award applicants and/or their supporters (e.g., nominator, letter of reference writer, mentor, mentee, employer, etc.) to the real or potential jurors presiding over the review of an AIA award program is strictly prohibited. 

Evidence of current or future applicants and/or their supporters attempting or actualizing contact with an AIA award juror(s) pertaining to the evaluation of applications to specific award programs within specific award cycles can result in an official filing with the AIA Ethics Committee, suspension of membership in good standing, ineligibility of involved parties from participation in current and/or future AIA award program participation, and/or additional measures.

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 on 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 Awards event celebrations, commonly held during the annual AIA Conference on Architecture & Design®.
• Living Gold Medal recipients are automatically elevated to Fellowship, Honorary Membership, or Honorary Fellowship in AIA, as eligible.
• Sessions and/or keynote speaking engagements (during the AIA Annual Meeting or otherwise) recognizing the Gold Medal honor.

2026:Shigeru Ban, Hon. FAIA
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.