Thom Mayne, Angela Brooks, Lawrence Scarpa, Frederick Fisher and Partners, and Immigrant Architects Coalition are the 2024 AIA California Awards winners

AIA California has announced architects Thom Mayne, Angela Brooks & Lawrence Scarpa, the practice Frederick Fisher and Partners, and the activist group Immigrant Architects Coalition as its slate of winners for the 2024 California Awards.

The annual program honors both firms and individuals that have "produced meaningful work and influenced the field over an extensive period of time."

Thom Mayne took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for a five-decade body of work that was lauded as pushing the traditional boundaries of design into previously uncharted territory.

The Connecticut-born winner of the 2005 Pritzker Prize has become an icon of postmodernism for his building projects in and around Los Angeles and Southern California, where he first moved to in the late 1960s to study as an undergraduate at USC before forming Morphosis Architects and helping establish the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 1972.

"Thom Mayne’s work has not only represented the ethos of current culture but has also created it," the AIA California Board of Directors noted. "Spanning a half-century of practice, his collective body of work, i.e., writings, works on paper, buildings, and urban master plans, have collectively inspired our design thinking and reshaped built environments globally; through innovative, crafted, and sustainable architectural interventions across project type and scales. His elevated design style is recognized throughout the world. He sets the bar for lifetime achievement."

He was joined by fellow Angelenos Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa, principals of 33-year-old practice Brooks + Scarpa, who won the Distinguished Practice Award. 

The Board of Directors stated:  "Larry and Angela’s contribution to practice, the built environment, communities, and policymaking has been remarkedly and positively impactful. Their inventiveness and intellectual tenacity prove that good design does make a difference, regardless of program, site, political or budgetary constraints. No matter what they are up against, they have made places and spaces that honor and serve the communities they’ve built for. Their work goes beyond that, to contribute and shape the larger built environment through design excellence."

Joining them was Frederick Fisher and Partners, the winner of the 2024 Firm Award. The award is given to those who have "consistently produced distinguished architecture for a period of at least 10 years." The 43-year-old Los Angeles-based practice was also recognized particularly for its commitment to mentoring younger staffers, as evidenced by the group of 'NextGen' partners that are now actively involved in taking the firm's day-to-day operations into a new era.

"The firm’s work has been stellar, with a portfolio of projects that illustrates that design can make a difference across scales and project types, The integration of aesthetics, function, and context, deliver spaces that people admire. Their tireless pursuit of progress, extensive partnerships with visionary leaders and institutions is evident in their work. As collaborators, the firm’s grounded, holistic thinking has — and will continue to — enrich the profession, our communities, and the planet," the Board commented.

Rounding out the 2024 winners is the group Immigrant Architects Coalition (IAC), which won the Norma Sklarek Humanitarian Award for their dedication to various pursuits (advice on licensure, job retention, networking, etc.) aimed at helping designers from immigrant communities succeed professionally. 

The board said: "IAC’s dedication to the empowerment and nurturing of immigrant architects is evident in the breath of resources, mentorship, publications, podcasts, and presentations the organization has tirelessly provided, growing inspiration for the future of the profession through diversity and design thinking. Their support has played a pivotal role in professional development through scholarships and guided paths to licensure at the local and state levels. IAC has made change, opened pathways, and continued to support immigrant architects in remarkable ways."

"The depth of design excellence and innovation advancing the profession that is practiced by the 2024 AIA California Awards recipients will be emulated for decades to come," AIA California President Winston L. Thorne noted finally. "I am exceedingly proud that these recipients draw from the California experience, and are members of our organization."

Editor's Note (March 22, 2024): An earlier version of this article stated that the firm Brooks + Scarpa had won the Distinguished Practice Award; however, the prize is given to individuals, so the firm's principals Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa are the actual recipients. We have corrected the article accordingly to reflect that.