College of Fellows Latrobe Prize
The Latrobe Prize is a biennial $150,000 award from the AIA College of Fellows to support a two-year program of research leading to significant advances in the architecture profession.
2027 Latrobe Prize
The College of Fellows invites individuals and teams to submit proposals for the 2027 Latrobe Prize. Awarded to a research proposal that has the long-range potential to advance solutions to one or more significant architectural and built environment challenges, the 2027 Latrobe Prize will provide the recipient(s) with $150,000 to support a two-year program of research.
- The next call for submissions will open by end of 2026.
2027 Theme: Design Improves Aging
The 2027 Latrobe Prize seeks research on how architecture can actively improve aging. The goal is to move beyond environments that simply accommodate decline toward environments that evoke and extend people’s capabilities. Proposals are sought that 1) demonstrate, with evidence, how design improves physical, cognitive, social, and functional outcomes as people age, and 2) show how architects can lead, rather than simply respond to client programs, in shaping environments that support aging well.
Proposals may address aging across the full range of settings, including homes, multifamily housing, communities, healthcare and long-term care environments, and public buildings such as airports, and across populations and income levels. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Memory enhancement: cognitive support, environmental cues, wayfinding, and meaningful stimulation
- Mobility and fall prevention: design that encourages movement, reduces falls, and extends independence
- Continence support: bathroom and shower design that improves dignity and safety and reduces caregiving burden
- Adaptive environments: spaces that evolve as residents age and their needs change
- Intergenerational design: shared spaces and programs that connect elders, children, and the wider community
- Operations and staffing: design and technology that ease staffing demands and improve outcomes without major cost increases
Many innovations in design for aging remain anecdotal, poorly documented, or untested. Proposals should pair innovation with rigorous evaluation of effectiveness, long-term outcomes, and ethical implications for vulnerable populations. Outcomes should be applicable to mainstream practice and codes, for example as best-practice frameworks, visual case studies, design toolkits, or outcome-based design strategies.
The AIA College of Fellows Fund proudly presents a special edition of The Quarterly, reflecting on twenty-five years of the Latrobe Prize and introducing its latest award recipient. This retrospective highlights the enduring impact of architecture’s largest mission-driven investment.
For more information, please contact Muza Conforti, Executive Director, AIA College of Fellows
AIA Fellowship is AIA highest membership honor, recognizing members for their exceptional work and contributions to architecture and society. Only 3% of AIA members earn this distinction.
Recent recipients & juries
Facades for Public Health: Smog-Eating Panels
The American Institute of Architects College of Fellows Fund, Inc. awarded the 2025 Latrobe Prize—a $150,000 grant—to a nine-person research team to explore how building facades can enhance human health by functioning as air purifiers.
The AIA College of Fellows sought research proposals that: 1) connect the built environment to human health both theoretically and practically, and 2) emphasize architects' vital role in improving community health through design.
Outdoor air pollution is increasing in cities, causing health issues in disadvantaged populations. Led by Doris Sung, AIA, the research team aims to combat this by transforming building envelopes into smog filters. Their pilot project focuses on creating affordable, locally made panels for bus shelters in polluted Los Angeles areas, benefiting vulnerable groups like children and the elderly.
The research team focused on two primary goals: identifying the optimal filter for the system through iterative testing and fabricating a proof-of-concept fresh-air bus shelter. The first phase involves testing various filtration methods including High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, hydrophobic adsorbents (e.g., activated carbon), and biological/living systems (e.g., fungi, lichen), as identified in prior research. The second phase has two parts: optimizing surface striations or contours to enhance airflow into the tubes, and designing the overall shape of a partially enclosed curbside shelter to maximize airflow.
Jury:
D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA Emeritus, Chair
Kate Schwennsen, FAIA, Chancellor
Steven Spurlock, FAIA, Secretary
Jill Bergman, FAIA
Tye Farrow, FRAIC
Alison Kwok, FAIA
Larry Scarpa, FAIA
CommonSENSES: Standards for ENacting Sensor networks for an Equitable Society
Principal investigators: Michelle Laboy, M.Arch., MUP, PE, School of Architecture; Amy Mueller, PhD, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Marine and Environmental Sciences, and Northeastern’s Environmental Sensors Lab; Dan O’Brien, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Director of the Boston Area Research Initiative; and Moira Zellner, PhD, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and Director of Participatory Modeling & Data Science, College Social Sciences & Humanities.
The team will use the grant towards demonstrating how sensor networks can inform architects, and the communities they work with, of hyperlocal variations in environmental quality. The research will also explore the potential for green infrastructure to produce more equitable health outcomes. Before-and-after project data and models about factors affecting neighborhood climate, resilience, health, and equity will generate insights on how smarter green infrastructure can support a more accessible, equitable, and inclusive design process. The resulting CommonSENSES Architectural Playbook and film, and the collaborative modeling platform (Fora.ai) adapted for this project will empower current and future architects, planners, and educators to advance the role of design in urban equity.
Jury
Billie Faircloth, FAIA, Chair
Roger Schluntz, FAIA, 2022 Chancellor
Ronald Blitch, FAIA, Bursar
Dr. Malo Hutson
Alison Kwok, FAIA
Vivian Lee, FAIA
Dr. Upali Nanda, Assoc. AIA
Addressing a Multi-Billion Dollar Challenge
Principal investigators: Bruce Levin, J.D. Associate Clinical Professor, School of Education, Drexel University and Sean O’Donnell, FAIA, Perkins Eastman
The research will endeavor to advance the knowledge of how well-designed educational facilities positively impact students. Over the next two years, the findings from this research will be applied to a set of design guidelines to be shared with architects and school districts.
Jury
Marilyn J. Taylor, FAIA, Chair
John Castellana, FAIA, Secretary
Edward A. Vance, FAIA, Chancellor
Gordon Chong, FAIA
Billie Faircloth, FAIA
Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA
Marvin Malecha, FAIA
Future-Use Architecture – Design for Persistent Change
Principal investigators: Peter Wiederspahn, AIA, Michelle Laboy PE, and David Fannon, AIA
The selected Latrobe Prize proposal seeks to answer questions related to how to best design buildings and cities for unknown future uses and how to help initiate more informed development practices and regulatory frameworks for adaptive reuse and regeneration.
Jury
Kate Schwennsen, FAIA, Chair
Raymond G. Post, FAIA, Vice Chancellor
Lenore M. Lucey, FAIA, Chancellor
Stephen T. Ayers, FAIA
Frank M. Guillot, FAIA
Sylvia Kwan, FAIA
Jud Marquardt, FAIA
Marilyn Jordan Taylor, FAIA
Drylands Resilience Initiative
Principal investigators: Peter Arnold and Hadley Arnold
Research focused on developing and testing Hazel, a powerful new digital design tool, and bringing transformative public design strategies to dry cities in the US West and around the world.
Jury
David Cronrath, Chair
John R. Sorrenti, FAIA, Bursar
Al Rubeling, FAIA, Vice Chancellor
Bill Stanley III, FAIA, Chancellor
Larry Speck
Stephen Ayers
Roger Schluntz, FAIA
Angie Brooks
Kate Schwennsen, FAIA
Urban Sphere: The City of 7 Billion
Principal investigators: Bimal Mendis and Joyce Hsiang
The research studies the impact of population growth and resource consumption on the built and natural environment at the scale of the entire world as a single urban entity.
Jury
John T. Regan, Chair
Ronald L. Skaggs, FAIA, Chancellor
William J. Stanley III, FAIA, Vice Chancellor
Harold Adams, FAIA
Wayne Drummond, FAIA
Henry Green, Hon. AIA
Laura Lee, FAIA
Monica Ponce de Leon
Public Interest Practices in Architecture
Principal investigators: Bryan Bell, Roberta Feldman, Sergio Palleroni, and David Perkes, AlA
Research centered on needs that can be addressed by public interest practices and the variety of ways that public interest practices are operating.
Thomas Fisher, Assoc. AIA, Chair
Chet Widom, FAIA, Chancellor
Norman Koonce, FAIA, Vice Chancellor
Peter Bohlin, FAIA
Sheila Kennedy, AIA
Henry Koffman
Sharon Sutton, FAIA, PhD
Kim Tanzer, AIA
Growing Energy/Water: Using the Grid to Get Off the Grid
Principal investigators: Martin Felsen, AlA, and Sarah Dunn
Jury
Stephen Kieran, FAIA, Chair
Donald J. Hackl, FAIA, Chancellor
Edward J. Kodet, Vice Chancellor
Cecil Balmond
Michelle D. Addington
Dana Cuff
Thom Mayne, FAIA
On the Water, A Model for the Future: A study of New York and Jersey Upper Bay
Principal investigators: Guy Nordenson with Stanley T. Allen, AlA, Catherine Seavitt, AlA, James Smith, Michael Tantala, and Adam Yarinsky, FAIA
Jury
Daniel S. Friedman, PhD, FAIA, Chair
Frank E. Lucas, FAIA, Chancellor
Martin Fischer, PhD
Leon R. Glicksman, PhD
Frances Halsband, FAIA
James Timberlake, FAIA
Principal investigators: Chong Partners Associates, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., and University of California-Berkeley
Jury
Marvin Malecha, FAIA, Chair
Lawrence J. Leis, FAIA, Chancellor
Michael Graves, FAIA
Jack Hartray, FAIA
John Zeisel, PhD
Fundamental Neuroscience Research and Development for Architecture
Principal investigators: John Eberhard, FAIA, of the Academy of Neurosciences for Architecture in collaboration with the New School of Architecture
Development of new course curriculum, creation of a CD, and publication of the white paper titled A White Paper
Jury
Cynthia Weese, FAIA, Chair
Sylvester Damianos, FAIA, Chancellor
Thomas W. Ventulett, FAIA
Robert Geddes, FAIA
Robert A. Odermatt, FAIA
Principal investigators: Steve Kiernan and James Timberlake in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania
Research into new material development and application, concluding with the publication of Refabricating Architecture.
Jury
Harrison Fraker, FAIA, Chair
Harold Roth, FAIA, Chancellor
Cesar Pelli, FAIA
Charles Redmon, FAIA
Henry Cobb, FAIA