Friday, May 14th, 2010

Lawrence Technological University alumni and faculty won recognition when the American Institute of Architects Michigan held its annual Celebration of Architecture on May 7 at the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.

The President’s Award went to Glen LeRoy, FAIA, the dean of the College of Architecture and Design at Lawrence Tech.  He was honored for working with his team to fashion a curriculum that balances the traditions of design education with the “real world” challenges students face.

According to AIA Michigan, those challenges include the growth in information technologies, emerging methods for service and construction delivery, and the increasingly competitive climate for professional practice. 

Before coming to Michigan, LeRoy was a principal of Gould Evans Associates in Kansas City.  He taught at the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas for 22 years, and led the Kansas City Urban Design program from 1987 to 2002.  He was an adjunct professor and advisor to the University of Missouri-Kansas City program in architecture and urban planning. 

This year’s AIA Michigan Young Architect Awards went to two Lawrence Tech graduates, Cory Lavigne, BAr’96, AIA, and Slobodan “Bob” Varga, BSAr’96, AIA.     

Lavigne is design director for inFORM studio, a Northville firm with offices in Myrtle Beach, SC, and New York City that is recognized for its environmentally sustainable approach to design.  He has played key roles in three internationally recognized museum competitions for Egypt, Canada, and China. 

His work with inFORM studio has been published both nationally and internationally and presented in a number of exhibitions. In 2009 he participated in the documentary “Up From Ashes,” about salvaging trees devastated by the emerald ash borer for the construction of the new Traverwood Branch Library in Ann Arbor. 

Varga, a senior member of SmithGroup’s design group, designs a wide variety of university, health, and office projects. He has taught design at Lawrence Tech and has served on multiple juries at other universities. He is in the AIA Mentoring Program.

AIA Michigan presented plaques for architectural excellence to the owners, architects and constructors of 12 buildings, including the Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Center for the Visual Arts at Interlochen. Tom Nemitz, BSAr’82, AIA, is president of Cornerstone Architects Inc. of Grand Rapids, which designed the building, and John Dancer, BSAr’82, BArR’84, AIA, is vice president.

Two of the three new Michigan members of the national AIA College of Fellows are alumni of Lawrence Tech.         

C. Richard Hall, BSAr’72, BAr’73, FAIA, is principal and director of Healthcare Design Services at Harley Ellis Devereaux in Southfield for the past 13 years. He founded and developed a national healthcare studio that grew from six people in Michigan in 1992 to its current 95 practitioners.

He earned his AIA fellowship by being a national leader in advancing healthcare architecture as both art and science. He has advanced evidence-based design, developing a leading practice in simulation centers and an exemplary multi-disciplinary approach that influences architects and healthcare organizations across the country.

Benedetto Tiseo, BSAr’78, FAIA, reinvented AIA Michigan’s advocacy process beginning in 1990 by creating one of the first professional practice committees in the country to combat unlicensed activity. His efforts eventually led to the first change in Michigan licensing laws that permitted private actions to enjoin unlicensed activity. He has held numerous leadership positions in both AIA Detroit and AIA Michigan.

Tiseo teaches professional practice as an adjunct at Lawrence Tech. Through his “citizen architect” program, he has taught more than 1,200 students to be active members of their community and to be personally involved in the laws and codes that impact our built environment.

This year’s Gold Medal, the highest honor that can be given to an AIA Michigan architect, was awarded to Dennis M. King, FAIA, chairman of the board of the Harley Ellis Devereaux Corporation.  It is reserved for an architect who is distinguished in his career, works to advance the professional standing of all architects, and lives up to the ethical standards of the American Institute of Architects.    

The American Institute of Architects Michigan, headquartered in the historic Beaubien House across from the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, established its awards program to bring to public attention the value and importance of architectural excellence and to recognize those whose notable achievements encourage all to make excellence in architecture the standard.

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