AIA awards 2025 Latrobe Prize to research team exploring air-purifying building facades

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows Fund has awarded the 2025 Latrobe Prize to a nine-person research team exploring how building façades can enhance human health by functioning as air purifiers.

The AIA College of Fellows sought research proposals that connect the built environment to human health both theoretically and practically, as well as projects that emphasize the vital role architects play in improving community health through design.

The $150,000 grant is heading towards a multi-disciplinary team that consists primarily of faculty members across University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Architecture, School of Engineering, School of Medicine, and School of Public Policy. The group also includes a professor from San Jose State University’s Department of Design and a professor of structural engineering at Princeton University, in addition to a sustainability engineer from Arup.

The research team aims to combat rising outdoor air pollution in cities by transforming building envelopes into smog filters. Their pilot project focuses on creating affordable, locally-made panels for bus shelters in polluted Los Angeles areas, which would benefit vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly.