2023 AIA Illinois Honor Awards
The AIA Illinois Honor Awards recognize people and projects epitomizing the contributions of the architecture profession, the transformative power of design, and the dedication of individuals to service and excellence. All award winners have positively impacted citizens throughout the state of Illinois by helping create communities in which people are drawn to live and work, and to live healthier and happier.
2023 Design Awards Jury
Allison Anderson, FAIA
unabridged Architecture PLLC
Allison Anderson, FAIA, is recognized for civic projects which are carefully crafted against climate challenges. After Hurricane Katrina devastated her community, her firm unabridged Architecture incorporated adaptation and resilience into their established practice. She is a national leader in resilience and adaptation in the built environment. Allison was the first LEED-Accredited Professional in Mississippi in 2002 and serves on the AIA Committee on Climate Action and Design Excellence (CCADE) and the Framework for Design Excellence Task Force. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Allison earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California. She has licenses in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and has taught architecture at the University of Texas, Louisiana State University, and Tulane University.
Varun Kohli, FAIA
Principal & Director of Sustainability, Corgan
For more than a decade, Varun has contributed to major architecture firms as well as his own Studio in New York, integrating environmental analytics and sustainable design ranging from urban scale resiliency and decarbonization to major commercial, education, aviation, and mixed-use development projects, both domestically and internationally. Passionate about ecology within the built environment, Varun challenges architects to move closer to net-zero.
As the Director of Sustainability at Corgan, Varun provides leadership for high-performance projects and strives to maximize environmental sustainability and social equity while addressing climate change adaptation and resiliency at the building and urban scale. With a focus on integrating environmental sensitivities in design, Varun has collaborated with Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (CEA) researchers on novel pedagogical models for environmental design and has taught courses at Harvard GSD and RPI (CASE). He is a frequent critic at Princeton School of Architecture and U-Penn Design, contributes to books and peer-reviewed journals, and speaks at many conferences and forums, and affiliated organizations. He recently authored a chapter in Energy Modeling in Architecture; A practice guide, published by RIBA and currently serves on the board of 'Pokhrama Foundation,' working to build a net-zero school to provide K-12 education in a remote region of northern India.
Tate Walker, AIA
Associate Principal, OPN
In his more than two-decade as an architect, Tate has established himself as a nationally recognized leader on energy and sustainability in the built environment. Tate is an exemplary leader in the firm and industry, paving the way to a better earth through architecture.
He regularly writes and presents on issues relating to energy, technology, building science, and promoting environmental awareness through design. Tate has the distinctions of being named to the 2015 class of LEED Fellows and sitting on the AIA's Committee on the Environment. Tate was a lead author of the COTE Toolkit, which assembles best practices, exemplary projects, metrics, and research to support the design of beautiful, high performing buildings. In 2019, AIA adopted the toolkit as the Framework for Design Excellence for the entire membership, to support a healthy, zero carbon, equitable, resilient future for all. He's committed to pushing the practice to the forefront of sustainable design, delivering cost-and-energy-efficient, health-conscious, and resourceful solutions to meet the varied needs of his clients.