Three Virginia members — Alan L. Hansen, FAIA, Robert W. Moje, FAIA, and Elizabeth A. Reader, FAIA — have been elevated to Fellowship, the AIA announced today.
Hansen, a Director at DBI Architects, Inc., is noted for his work to form the Loudoun County Design Cabinet through the county’s Department of Economic Development. The Cabinet promotes high-quality, environmentally sustainable, and culturally respectful architectural and landscape design in one of the fastest growing communities in Virginia. The Design Cabinet is made up of planners, architects, landscape architects, and engineers who, in volunteer collaboration, resolve community design challenges that arise when an agrarian county steeped in historical significance faces sweeping cultural and economic change. Having successfully set the Design Cabinet in motion, Hansen encourages every architect in a community without a design recognition mechanism to create one as a Citizen Architect, thereby embracing the AIA’s national initiative to promote design excellence through collaboration with community decision makers.
A founding principal of VMDO Architects in Charlottesville, Moje has advanced the practice of educational facility design considerably by developing innovative instructional environments for a multitude of school districts, enriching the spaces where children learn and where educators teach. He leads VMDO Architects’ public K-12 school projects, directing design teams to create great schools that inspire students to become active participants in the learning process. In the current fast-paced Information Age where students cannot learn enough, fast enough, solving that mission has required a new direction in educational architecture. Moje has defined this new direction with his commitment to designing every school space – hallway, cafeteria, playground, and classroom alike — in innovative ways that promote opportunities for teaching and learning.
In a small city within a rural area, Reader has established a vibrant, diverse, collaborative architecture practice that excels in design and is committed to bettering the community. Along with her husband and partner, Beth Reader began her practice — Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C., — during the 1990 recession, in a small city of 21,950 people, proving that architecture firms don’t need to be located in large metropolitan areas to be viable. The firm has received over fifty design awards, from national, state, and regional entities for a diverse range of project types, from low-income housing, to museums, to innovative adaptive reuses of historic buildings. The firm’s work has been published in many books and magazines. Additionally, she has served as an advocate for architecture and small design firms by serving as both a juror, and a speaker, for many AIA programs. Over the years, design award juries have consistently praised her ability to achieve excellence in design. Doing good design work, despite a project’s budget or location, is an essential component of her practice.
The Fellowship program was developed to elevate those architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession. Election to fellowship not only recognizes the achievements of architects as individuals, but also their significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level.
The 2013 Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) elevated 122 AIA members to its prestigious College of Fellows. Out of a total AIA membership of over 80,000 there are over 3,000 members distinguished with this honor.
The 2013 Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2013 National AIA Convention on Friday, June 21.