As the climate crisis accelerates, the architect’s role becomes ever more complex: designs must lower carbon emissions in the materials and construction styles they demand while reducing the environmental impact on endangered habitats — on-site and in areas where materials are sourced. They also must shrink energy consumption once the building is in use and anticipate resilience to rising temperatures and increasingly intense weather events becoming more frequent and worse.
This task certainly won’t be easy. Hope lies in the fact that architects are uniquely positioned to significantly impact the industry and are a resourceful group that thrives on finding unexpected solutions to colossal challenges. Industry leaders are already emerging and paving the way for their colleagues to follow suit. These practitioners will find themselves in good company; the 11th Annual A+Awards highlights the program’s renewed commitment to sustainable design. Architizer’s new suite of A+Sustainability Awards were designed to serve as a platform to amplify the ideas of architects whose projects act as positive precedent for green building practices.
Architizer has collaborated with leading sustainability experts to establish robust criteria for these categories, and now we’re thrilled to announce sustainability specialists from around the world who will be joining our prestigious jury to evaluate the submitted projects.
Vincent Martinez
President & COO of Architecture 2030
Renee Chow
Dean of College of Environmental Design at University of California Berkeley
Her work addresses the metropolitan challenges of the 21st century — water scarcities, resource reductions, and sustainable places. She is author of Suburban Space: The Fabric of Dwelling (2005) and Changing Chinese Cities: The Potentials of Field Urbanism (2015).
Renee has been honored as a ACSA Distinguished Professor, the Eva Li Chair in Design Ethics, “Ten Top Architectural Educators” by Architecture, as well as received research and project awards from the American Institute of Architects. She received her B.S.AD and M.Arch from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she also taught before joining Berkeley.
Michael Ingui
Partner and Founder, Baxt Ingui Architects and Passive House Accelerator
Mette Skjold
CEO and Partner of SLA A/S
In addition to her involvement with SLA, Mette is a member of the Board of Directors of the Danish Architecture Center. She combines her architectural knowledge with a master’s degree in Leadership & Innovation to continuously push SLA and the industry towards a more sustainable, innovative future for life in our cities.
Mette has for several years been participating at the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy as an external lecturer and juror. She is a thought leader and diligent speaker on topics such as nature-based design, SMART cities and sustainable urban spaces at universities and conferences worldwide.
Rajeev Kathpalia
Designated Partner of Vastushilpa Sangath
Designing across a range of scales, Kathpalia’s practice encompasses regional and city plans, institutional campuses, individual buildings, and even furniture. His net zero approach to campus design, which integrates architecture, landscape, ecology, energy generation and management – both human and mechanical – while creating an equitable and inclusive social milieu, has set new benchmarks for sustainability and innovation.
Kathpalia serves as a trustee and is a former director of the Vastu Shilpa Foundation, a research based, non-profit charitable trust. The organization creates environmental and habitat designs for the poor, working extensively in informal settlements to create low-cost housing. He also runs the Foundation’s International Habitat Studio Program, which brings together students from across India and around the globe. He was recognized with the Prime Minister’s Award for innovative Urban Design for his pioneering advocacy and design work on the inner city of Hyderabad within the Charminar precinct.
Kathpalia earned his Bachelors Degree in Architecture from the Chandigarh College of Architecture and his Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Washington University. For the past more than 30 years, he has also taught as a university professor, lecturing extensively in India and abroad, and receiving several honors and awards. Most recently, he was conferred the 2019 Award for Distinction in Architecture by Washington University USA and has also been appointed as Honorary Professor at the Xia Jiaotong – Liverpool University, Suzhou, China and Chair Professor, Anant National University, Ahmedabad.
Jonsara Ruth
Designer, Co-founder, Design Director, Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, and Associate Prof. of Interior Design
At HML, Jonsara brings creative leadership to the ambitious goal of improving the health of underserved communities through the transformation of design and material practices. At Parsons, Jonsara cultivates new understandings of design through her teaching, research, and convening experts from a wide variety of fields for large-scale symposia and public events. Material curiosities drive her research.
Jonsara is a designer, artist, and founder of Salty Labs, a collaborative studio improving human and environmental health through imaginative design. She has led creative and production teams to achieve award-winning designs and to mass-produce the healthiest, environmentally friendly children’s furniture available in America to improve indoor air quality and children’s overall health. Elevating everyday human experience is her underlying pursuit.
Currently, she serves on the board of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, and was recently awarded, with Alison Mears, the 2022 Women in Architecture Innovation Award from Architectural Record.
Julian Weyer, MAA
Partner at C.F. Møller Architects
Julian Weyer has extensive experience in the field of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design, including numerous competition wins and award-winning designs. He is working on projects in Denmark, Germany and the UK as well as worldwide, with a particular focus on creating integrated and innovative solutions where urban spaces, landscapes and buildings go hand in hand with social and environmental sustainability. He is also a frequent lecturer worldwide, and author of articles and book publications.
Awards include the European Architecture Award, the Iconic Award, the International Architecture Award, Civic Trust Awards, RIBA International Award, Aarhus and Odense Municipality Architecture Awards, Residential of the Year WAN AWARD, Commercial of the Year WAN AWARD, Worldwide Brick Award and the Danish Academy Council prize.
David Benjamin
Principal at The Living
May-Britt Frank-Grosse
Editor in Chief of baunetz id
She is committed to the relevance and communication of interior design and sustainable building topics. As part of the project team, she was responsible for the program of „Heinze Klimafestival für die Bauwende“ in 2022. The Climate Festival brings together all stakeholders from the building industry to discuss, develop and initiate tangible solutions for the future.
Dave Pigram
Director of supermanoeuvre and Senior Lecturer at University of Technology Sydney
DAVE PIGRAM invents new design and material systems to produce memorable experiences and climate positive outcomes. He is co-director of the international award-winning architecture and innovation practice supermanoeuvre.
A pioneer in Algorithmic Architecture and Robotic Fabrication, Dave’s work has been widely exhibited internationally including at multiple Venice and Beijing Architecture Biennales, the Centre Pompidou, New York’s Storefront for Art and Architecture and the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum. He has lectured at the Architectural Association, Bartlett; Columbia and Princeton Universities, the Alaska Design Forum and Architekturforum Zürich.
Dave was Director of the Masters of Advanced Architecture at the University of Technology, Sydney; the first Researcher in Residence of the NCCR for Digital Fabrication at ETH Zürich; Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of Michigan; and a Research Affiliate at MIT Media Lab. He was a project leader at Studio Daniel Libeskind, NY.
supermanoeuvre has won the ‘Smarter Hobart Challenge’ international design competition; YAF Atlanta Design Build Competition; a Red Dot Design Award; Architizer A+ Juried and Popular Choice Awards; an Australian National Urban Design Award and were recently named ‘Most Innovative International Architecture Firm – Australia’ (BUILD UK). Their design process artefacts are in the permanent collection of the FRAC Orléans.
Mari Balestrazzi
Global Director, Environments Design at Airbnb
Before assuming her role at Airbnb Mari held numerous positions within the hospitality design industry. Most recently she was Vice President of Design Services for Hyatt Hotels in Chicago, where she oversaw design for Hyatt’s portfolio of full-service hotel brands throughout the Americas region. Prior to Hyatt Mari was the Group Director, Architecture at Value Retail based in London and Senior Vice President of Design for Morgans Hotel Group in New York. Mari’s first in-house role was as Global Director of Design for St. Regis Hotels.
Before transitioning to in-house design roles, Mari got her start as Studio Director for Aero Studios Limited in New York City where she oversaw new construction and renovation projects, both residential and commercial, including the hotel 60 Thompson and Giorgio Armani’s private residence in Manhattan.
Bill Browning
Managing Partner of Terrapin Bright Green
Tao Zhang
PLA, ASLA, LEED AP-ND, SITES AP, Principal & Board Member at Sasaki
Trained as an ecologist and landscape architect, Tao is active in ecological design, striving to bridge the gap between practice and science. As well as being mindful and invested in creative expression, he seeks inspiration from science and always roots his design in a deep understanding of the socio-ecological context.
Tao is a strong advocate for critical thinking and independent research. He oversees Sasaki’s research initiatives and has led research and collaborated with academic institutes on topics including post-occupancy metrics and environmental health. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and frequently speaks at conferences worldwide. Besides practice, he has taught
landscape architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and has been a regular studio critic at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, MIT, and various universities in the US and abroad.
To get your sustainable projects viewed by these and more than 250 other creative leaders on the A+Awards jury, enter your best projects before the Extended Entry Deadline on February 24th, 2023: