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Established to honor the memory of an exemplary person and professional, the Jason Pettigrew Award sponsors an Associate AIA member from the region to attend the annual national leadership conference. The American Institute of Architects College of Fellows of the Western Mountain Region is pleased to confer this honor upon:

Brittany Goldsmith, Assoc. AIA.

Stantec

The inaugural Western Mountain Region College of Fellows design award program celebrates the best architectural designs and service achievements from AlA members in the AlA College of Fellows Western Mountain Region states and those AlA members who have worked on projects in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.

Congratulations to the Colorado recipients!

EMIT | CLB Architects – WY

Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art | Sparano+ Mooney – UT

US Olympic and Paralympic Museum & Park Union Bridge | Diller Scofidio + Renfrow Design Architect/Anderson Mason Dale AOR – CO

DNA Alpine | CCY Architects – CO

Design award jurors included:

Marlon Blackwell, FAIA

Marlon Blackwell Architects

• AIA 2020 Gold Medalist
• American Academy of Arts & Sciences Architecture Prize 2012 | Induction 2023
• Chicago Athaneum American Architecture Award 2011, 2012, and 2017
• United States Artists Ford Fellow 2014
• American Academy in Rome 2018-2019

Congratulations to the recipients!

Gregory M Friesen, FAIA

Jack Smith, FAIA

Silver Medal Jurors:

On November 20th and 21st, 2024, the AIA Colorado Justice, Equity,Diversity, Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) Education Pipeline Committee, NOMA Colorado, College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver, and AIA Colorado members hosted an “architecture” table at the Denver Public Schools 8th Grade Career Fair. Over 3,400 middle school students were introduced to exciting career possibilities and post-secondary options.

The event continues the J.E.D.I. Education Pipeline’s mission to spark young minds’ interest in architecture and expand career pathways, all while promoting diversity within the profession. Students engaged with representatives of the field who brought physical models, digital designs, plan sets, and design books to ignite curiosity. They were handed “Future Architect” stickers in English and Spanish, provided by AIA Colorado, and five lucky school libraries will receive architecture books, donated by J.E.D.I. committee members, through a raffle. Curiosity about architecture abounded, and questions were asked about salary, educational preparation, internship availability, stress management, and the challenges architects face, including the impact of AI!

The 8th Grade Career Fair, an annual event serving the entire Denver Public Schools district, is a cornerstone of their Career and College Success program.

A huge thank you goes to the many passionate volunteers who staffed the architecture table, sharing their knowledge and excitement for the field with the next generation of designers:

• Mallory Esselman, AIA, Anderson Mason Dale
• Deona Florenca, Associate AIA, Anderson Mason Dale
• Sarah Goldblatt, AIA, SG Consultants
• Sarah Morasso, AIA, MA Studios
• Margaret Pauls, AIA, Denver Public Schools
• Jenny Edwards, Assoc. AIA, McMillen
• Ron Abo, FAIA, The Abo Group
• Jeana Delamarter, CU Denver College of Arch and Planning
• Claire Messer, Master of Architecture student, College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver

Presented by Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, and Meryati Blackwell, AIA, Marlon Blackwell Architects, at GENERATE 2024 Practice + Design Conference. 

Article by Jon Bell, AIA Colorado’s Communications and Creative Director. 

The final keynote of the conference offered a delightful twist: hearing from both Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, and Meryati Blackwell, AIA, together. During soundcheck, Marlon remarked, “You know, we don’t get to do this together very often.” This set the tone for an engaging and dynamic presentation, as the duo stood side-by-side, working through nearly 200 slides. They drew deeply from their vault of expertise, sharing insightful and captivating nuances for each project they highlighted.

The presentation spotlighted their recently published monograph, ‘Radical Practice: The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects’, focusing particularly on public and civic projects. The Blackwells explored the transformative potential of design to enhance collective identity and encourage thoughtful, active engagement.

The Blackwells went deep into a variety of projects, exploring the richness of their work, focused on the understanding that the health and welfare of both individuals and communities is profoundly impacted by designs that enhance collective identity and encourage both thoughtful and active engagement. I’ve captured a few details from the projects below, as well as provided links to each project for your own curiosity.

Exploring Radical Design

Marlon opened by pointing out that the word radical is used as an adjective related to the word radicalis, a 14^th century Latin word meaning “of or relating to a root.” He said that having roots to the fundamentals to effect change to the word, results in an effective and authentic transformation in these places.

The Blackwells’ approach to design, which they call “abstract unions,” aims to balance engagement and detachment, often blending disparate features. For them, abstraction becomes a process of building connections with place.

Tackling “The Bear”

As a metaphor for confronting challenges in community-changing projects, the Blackwells shared an image of a large stuffed bear that stands ing the entrance to their offices. “Everyone must take on the bear,” they quipped, symbolizing the existential questions their team faces in their work.

Place-Centric Philosophy

The Blackwells articulated their design ethos as such:

In the Place,
Of the Place
For the Place,
(sometimes necessarily)… Out of Place.

They emphasized the importance of embracing both the good and bad to fully honor a place’s identity. This is key facet to their working definition of “making place.”

After giving an overview of the many locations around the world, representing a wide variety of contexts, that Marlon Blackwell Architects has had to contemplate what it means to make place, our two presenters dove into their work. They started with quick stories about an orthopedic hospital in NW Arkansas, a new corporate Walmart campus that will integrate a mountain bike course, and an air traffic control tower made from stainless steel and aluminum that incorporates education and public programming in a first of its kind program. Then, they slowed down the pace and unpacked a lineup of stellar work that kept the room in rapt attention.

Selected Projects Shared

Saint Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church – transformation of a building

This project transformed a welding shed into a church. Using proportion and scale to achieve elegance on a budget, the team repurposed a satellite dish into a dome—paying a metalworker in beer. The project is the least expensive to ever win an AIA National Honor Award.

Shelby Farms Park – transformation of a landscape 

At 4,500 acres, one of the nation’s largest urban parks was revitalized with programs generating revenue and reactivating the space. Each structure, such as the visitor center with its massive porch, is designed to harmonize with the landscape while providing shade and comfort.

Heartland Whole Health Institute – radical health

This project is a healthcare campus integrating preventive care and natural landscapes. The design connects indoor spaces to trails and a ravine, using natural materials to enhance the therapeutic environment. 

They decided to make the campus parking garage into a unique structure that not only holds cars, but offers a coffee shop, restaurant, and a bar that now hosts events and weddings. This part of the campus project is an example of how the Blackwells approach each project: what else can they add or change about the project that fundamentally transforms what the project can offer.

Marygrove Early Education Center – early childhood education 

Inspired by African diaspora quilts, this vibrant project embraces color and joy, fostering an uplifting experience for children and parents alike. In part by creating a multi-sensory, multi-color exterior, Joy was the operative word that they used to describe this project as they designed for the joy children experience at the school as well as the joy the parents feel while interacting with the school. 

Enterprise Research Campus Hotel – urban ensemble 

The Blackwells shared how this large-scale project involved designs from several different firms revitalizing a former rail yard. They discussed materiality and shared how their large-scale models were constructed in Italy, where the types of car paints the Blackwells like weren’t allowed to be used. 

Ledger City Center – urban interplace

This innovative urban project brings a six-story building down to street level via a unique ramped design, inviting public interaction. When you’re on the street, this building feels more like a one or two story building.

PS1200 – ennobling the prosaic

A creative urban development using Quonset hut arches in unexpected ways, offering restaurants, retail, and residential spaces within a compact site.

Thaden School – education and wellness

Wheels, Reels, and Meals are the three experiences that make up the Thaden Experience. Students learn to work on bikes, how to create stories, and to grow and cook delicious meals. A focus of the school involves learning outdoors, so the Blackwells worked directly with landscape architects to ensure that the buildings connect deeply with the landscape. The buildings interact seamlessly with the landscape, featuring innovative rooflines, slatted siding, and expansive porches.

In conclusion, Marlon and Meryati captivated the audience with their depth of expertise and passion for design. Marlon’s concise, impactful explanations and Meryati’s focus on community connections showcased their complementary styles. The audience left inspired, eager to explore the transformative power of thoughtful, radical architecture.

Presented by Julie Snow, FAIA, Founder, Snow Kreilich Architects, at GENERATE 2024 Practice + Design Conference.

Article by Jose Banuelos, a junior majoring in architecture at the College of Environmental Design, University of Colorado at Boulder.

Julie Snow, FAIA, NOMA, founded her studio in Minneapolis, MN, in 1995 and the firm has since grown into a nationally recognized and award-winning practice. Today, Snow Kreilich Architects focuses on producing architecture that preforms against multiple measures of design success, resulting in consistent design recognition for projects that reply on a fresh and intensive design investigation of every project. 

Julie started her presentation by offering a few big questions and supplying a way her studio has approached these topics.

She asked:

“How do we bring focus to our most elevated design aspirations, to inspire, to transform daily life, and to offer quiet moments of awe? How do we find transforamtive moments in our architecture?”

Julie continued:

“As a studio, we rely on the power of small ideas. The ability of small ideas to navigate the design process. I would suggest that the most critical design decisions may not be the singular big idea, but instead the small ideas that refine the project.”

Julie Snow’s keynote, “Architecture’s Trajectory”, focused on how small ideas can bring a project to life. In fact, towards the start of her talk, she announced the title of the talk was changed to “Small Ideas”.

In the projects she walked attendees through, the small ideas that refined their projects often derived from an extended context that she also mentioned. Most people would think about the topography or surrounding buildings when thinking about context in architecture, while Julie expanded on those underlying factors by adding social, cultural, and political context when considering the design process.

“Urban Stadium” was one of these projects in St. Lewis that considered the social and cultural history of the area to create a meaningful structure for the community with the development of Citypark Stadium. The small ideas create a sense of community through the portico style columns and the enclosing canopies. These small ideas are what bring the project together to focus on community and the energy inside and around the stadium. 

Other projects she presented also embody this principle of small ideas, bringing to life the main purpose of the project. “Ecotone” is a project involving community outreach through the renovation of a skating rink into a community driven space. The existing Steinberg Pavilion and Rink is a beloved public institution that opened in 1957 with a donation from the Steinberg Charitable Trust. The current project will renovate and expand the Frederick Dunn-designed mid-century modern building and site in east Forest Park, St. Louis.

“Industrial Nature” is designed with a focus on the natural landscape that was lost in history. 

The design reflects patterns of the river to inform spaces and landscape types. Five main features define the park: two broad tree-lined promenades, a river walk, a flexible green, and a building/plaza zone.

“Quietly Familiar” is a residential project in which the space and connection client could reminisce about his past. 

All of the projects presented achieved their purpose through the accumulation of small, yet impactful, ideas involving the many different and varied factors considered throughout the design process.

Presented by Anne Mooney, FAIA, Co-Founder, Sparano + Mooney Architecture at GENERATE 2024 Practice + Design Conference.

Article by Andrea Malta, Senior, College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver

At the heart of the 2024 AIA Generate Conference, Anne Mooney delivered a keynote that was both
insightful and inspiring. Titled “A Way of Working,” she shared the philosophy and methodology that
define her architectural approach, illustrating these principles through an exploration of five
projects at different scales and settings from Sparano + Mooney. Mooney described how she
grounds her projects in strong ideas and translates those ideas into meaningful architectural
designs. Her way of working involves slowing down to move beyond preconceptions, allowing time
to uncover the unique potential within every project.

Mooney’s approach is exemplified in her design of Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, where
her dedication to thoughtful design is evident. She began with in-depth research, immersing herself
in the life of Saint Joseph to guide her project decisions. A hallmark of her process is the use of
physical models, which allow for a tangible exploration of scale and early design concepts. Her
work involved studying Roman Catholic church precedents and poche studies, which influenced
the development of small chapels integrated into the building’s oval shape. Materiality played a
central role in the design; budget constraints prompted creative thinking and presented unique
opportunities. Elements like the tinted windows inspired by the 12 apostles and aligned with the
sun, the preservation of the existing church on the site, and the thoughtful sloping of the floor to
remove the hierarchy between the altar and congregation, all exemplify how the design reflects the
unique value architects bring to a project.

Mooney then transitioned to a smaller-scale project: a residence where the client’s desire was to
have a sanctuary, an escape from how busy life gets. This posed its own challenges, particularly
given the dense neighborhood context, but the outcome was a design that felt both protective and
inviting. The final form emerged as a unified mass with splits in the volume. What I found especially
inspiring about this talk was the attention to the smallest details. For example, a physical section
model was created, with a fallen tree trunk used as the base. The trunk, with a natural split, aligned
perfectly with the central division of the pool, reflecting how Mooney’s design process is deeply
rooted in thoughtful integration even in its early stages.

Next, Mooney discussed her work on the Kimball Art Center in Park City, where research played a
key role in shaping the design. She drew inspiration from Park City’s logging history, grounding the
project in the idea of dense tree colonies characteristic of the area. The program was organized to
reflect the organic growth patterns of these tree colonies, where educational programs were placed
in the lower area and everything else merged from it above. The design resulted in a glazed skin that
celebrates the 330 sunny days of Park City in the exterior, with a solid wood inner core in the
interior. A key takeaway from this talk was Mooney’s reflection that “Buildings outlast their current
use,” highlighting the importance of designing spaces that can adapt and be reconfigured over time.

As the fourth project, Centro Civico Mexicano Community Center, in Salt Lake City was explored.
The center will serve as a hub for the Spanish speaking community, providing a space for cultural,
educational, and social events. Mooney explained how as a team, they analyzed diagrams of a well-
known Mexican song, that got recorded by 12 different singers in different genres to generate a
conceptual construct using the language of the cassette to give form to the hall of the center. The
iteration process incorporated various forms of public art, and Mooney emphasized the importance
of physical models, as they are often preferred over digital renders and drawings in conveying the
design’s essence to clients.

Lastly, Mooney presented the Wabi-Sabi residence in Emigration Canyon, located above Salt Lake
City, where the unique mountainous context dictated the scale of the project, rather than the usual
city-based considerations. She emphasized the importance of analyzing conceptual pieces, to avoid defaulting to previous design solutions. Something that often becomes a challenge, even as a
student. She reinforced her commitment to making site-specific, client-specific projects. The Wabi-
Sabi residence resulted in two hinged volumes over the site, anchored to the street. Careful
attention to materiality and waste reduction influenced the scale and volume of the spaces. The
residence sits quietly in its surroundings, offering stunning views of the canyon as well as distant
city lights depending on the program.

Mooney closed her keynote with a powerful reminder that architecture is a collaborative effort,
framing it as a team sport—a brilliant perspective that highlights the importance of collective
engagement in design. Lastly, she mentioned that there are a lot of things in this profession that are
beyond our control, but there are still many aspects that we can control, and the way we work is
one of them. By consciously shaping our approach, we have the power to influence both the
process and the outcomes in meaningful ways.