Agosta HouseIt's about time. Read the press release from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada regarding this year's gold medal recipients:
And, here is Pyrch House - just because this image strikes me every time I see it:Patkaus Awarded RAIC Gold Medals
Vancouver-based architects John Patkau FRAIC and Patricia Patkau FRAIC are the recipients of the 2009 RAIC Gold Medal from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The two Winnipeg-born architects founded Patkau Architects in Edmonton, Alberta in 1979 before relocating to Vancouver in 1984. Both are Fellows of the RAIC, Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects, members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art, and Members of the Order of Canada. Patkau Architects has received significant national and international awards, including 12 Governor General’s Medals, four Progressive Architecture Awards, 16 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence, an RAIC Innovation in Architecture Award of Excellence, and three AIA Honor Awards. Patkau Architects was selected to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1996. Patricia is a faculty member at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia, and both have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to both teaching and practice. The RAIC Gold Medal, considered to be the highest honour bestowed by the profession of architecture in Canada, recognizes significant contribution to Canadian architecture; individuals whose personal work has demonstrated exceptional excellence in the design and practice of architecture; and/or, whose work related to architecture, has demonstrated exceptional excellence in research or education. In reaching their decision, the Gold Medal Selection Committee noted:
- “They fulfill the dream that ordinary people have about architecture: that life can be more whole, more harmonious, more livable because such a building exists.”
- “Their work as architects and teachers has inspired generations of aspiring architects across Canada.”
- “They create architecture that matters.”
