AIA Connecticut honors Amanda Martocchio and Ming Thompson at Women in Architecture Awards

AIA Connecticut has honored Amanda Martocchio and Ming Thompson as part of its Women in Architecture Awards. According to organizers, the award “honors registered and practicing female architects in Connecticut who demonstrate design excellence, promote equitable & sustainable practice, and are affecting change in the profession.”

The awardees were chosen by a jury comprised of Mia Blanchett (Principal, HGA), Dominique Davison (Principal, DRAW Architecture + Urban Design), and Abigail R. Brown (Architect, Gensler).

Amanda Martocchio, AIA was honored for her “clarity of intention, rigorous detailing, and a focus on sustainable materials and building practices.” Founder and Principal at Amanda Martocchio Architecture, Martocchio has won multiple design awards, LEED certifications, and superior energy ratings. The jury praised her design of the New Canaan Library and its grounding in equity and access, while also protecting an historic library and green space. Martocchio is also an ambassador for Grace Farm’s Design for Freedom initiative to cultivate ethical practices in the profession and to eliminate forced labor in the global building supply chains and has also designed and constructed a prototype health clinic in a remote Nicaraguan village.

Ming Thompson, AIA, IIDA, NOMA was honored for her insistence that “good design must occur at all scales, from the building to the furniture to the logo, and everything in between.” Co-founder of Atelier Cho Thompson, and winner of the 2020 AIA Yong Architect Award, Thompson has displayed a deep interest in bringing arts to the public through collaborations with institutions such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the National Gallery of Art. Outside of architecture, Ming is a Critic for the Yale Building Project, a First-Year Advisor at Yale University, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Yale-China Association, the Board of Directors of the New Haven Preservation Trust, and the Alumni Council of the Harvard Graduate School of Design.