Honoring Dr. Craig Wilkins: 2017 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award Winner

Dean Jonathan Massey invites you to join us on celebrating Dr. Craig L. Wilkins, architecture faculty member at U-M Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, in honor of his prestigious 2017 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. Dr. Wilkins was recognized for his work in the Design Mind award category. Dr. Wilkins will lecture briefly on his work, followed by refreshments. 

Please click here to RSVP for the event and lunch

The National Design Awards were conceived by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to honor lasting achievement in American design. The awards are bestowed in recognition of excellence, innovation, and enhancement of the quality of life. Dr. Wilkins is the first U-M Taubman College faculty member to receive this honor since the award's founding in 2000. 

Wilkins is an architect, academic, and author recognized as one of the country’s leading scholars on African Americans in architecture. He is the former director of the U-M Detroit Community Design Center, as well as a senior lecturer in architecture at U-M Taubman College. Both his creative practice and pedagogy are informed by the long, rich, yet relatively untold stories of people of color in both the physical and symbolic construction of America. At multiple levels across diverse platforms, his award-winning books, chapters, essays, and design interventions recover and present the rich social, cultural, political, historical, and aesthetic contributions of oft-ignored people and practitioners of color for professional and public engagement.

More about the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award:  First launched at the White House in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the annual Awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.

The National Design Awards is one of the few programs of its kind structured to continue to benefit the nation long after the National Design Awards Gala. A suite of educational programs is offered in conjunction with the Awards during National Design Week, an initiative launched in 2006 that aims to draw national attention to the ways in which design enriches everyday life. During National Design Week, the Museum hosts a series of education programs based on the vision and work of the honorees, and helps promote design events held across the country. Click here for more about the awards and to view other winners.  

The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan is a leader in interdisciplinary education and research with a focus on creating a more beautiful, inclusive and better built environment. The college and its alumni are committed to pushing the boundaries of architectural practice, advancing global engagement, and significantly enhancing diversity in the profession. The college offers the following degrees: Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Master of Architecture, Master of Science in Architecture, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Urban Design, and PhD programs.