Here are the winners of the 2026 AIA Los Angeles Board of Directors Awards

In Los Angeles, AIA|LA has revealed the winners of its 2026 Board of Directors Awards, a group of architects, educators, advocates, and organizations shaping the profession well beyond the drawing board. 

Leading the field of honorees are Annie Chu and Rick Gooding of Chu-Gooding, who will receive the chapter's highest distinction, the AIA|LA Gold Medal, honoring more than three decades of influential work that has helped define Los Angeles' civic and cultural landscape.

This year's awards also introduce the inaugural Community Contribution Award, presented jointly with Architecture for Communities Los Angeles (ACLA). The first recipients — Jodie Mendelson, Jessica Orlando, and the AIA Pasadena & Foothill Chapter — are being recognized for launching the Ask an Architect initiative after the devastating 2025 Altadena wildfires, connecting volunteer architects with homeowners rebuilding in the wake of the disaster. We spoke with Orlando about the program last year.

Avid Archinect readers will also recognize a familiar name among the Educator of the Year Award recipients: Orhan Ayyüce is a long-time contributor to the site, highlighting important voices and issues from both the LA and global architecture community through interviews and explorations — always driven by relentless curiosity — for more than two decades. Take a look at Orhan's featured articles on Archinect and rediscover some timeless classics.

Congratulations to this year's award winners:

• Gold Medal: Annie Chu and Rick Gooding of Chu-Gooding
• Building Team Award: LACMA (Client: LACMA; Architect: Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partners; Collaborating Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Structural Engineering: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; MEP Engineering, Lighting Design and Sustainability/LEED: Buro Happold; Landscape Design: Olin; Civic Engineering: KPFF; Contractor: Clark Construction)
• Emerging Practice Award: Now Here
• 25-Year Award: Conjunctive Points - The New City (Hayden Tract) - Eric Owen Moss Architects; Samitaur Constructs, Laurie Samitaur Smith
• Citizen Architect Award: Karin Liljegren
• The Merry Norris Design Advocate/Developer Award: Century Housing Corporation
• The Merry Norris Design Advocate/Builder Award: PCL Construction
• Robert Kennard, FAIA Award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity: Yu-Ngok Lo
• Honorary AIA|LA: Mimi Zeiger
• Honorary AIA|LA: Raymond Richard Neutra
• Educator of the Year Award: Heather Roberge
• Educator of the Year Award: Orhan Ayyüce