Excellence in Design Awards 2021

Your 2021 Jurors

Henry Seigel, FAIA

“Our practice is based on the idea that good design is about values, not just aesthetics, and that everything we do is leading toward a low-carbon future,” says Henry Siegel. “We have always put sustainability and design on equal footing, expanding the definition of design excellence to include the enduring value to clients that is inherent in a high performance, site-sensitive, healthy, and resilient outcome.” Since the early 1990s, Henry has championed this integrated idea about good design, and has put that conviction into practice through projects that combine design for environmental stewardship with thoughtful, site-sensitive building design. His projects have won multiple awards, including Top Ten Awards from the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE). Henry is past chair of the COTE National Advisory Group and current member of AIA California COTE steering committee, where he advocates for laws and codes addressing climate change and the building sector, and for the incorporation of sustainable design values and metrics into awards programs and architecture school curricula. Henry has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a past member of the University’s Design Review Committee. He has spoken widely and has served on architectural awards juries across the U.S.

Annie Chu, FAIA, IIDA

Annie Chu is the founding principal of the award-winning firm CHU + GOODING in Los Angeles and professor of interior architecture at Woodbury University. She received her masters degree in building science from Columbia University and a bachelors degree in architecture from SCI Arc. Annie champions interior architecture as a distinct and emerging discipline through teaching, public speaking and her leadership in the civic and professional realms, including her role as a Cultural Affairs Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles and the AIA Interior Architecture Advisory Group. Annie is the recipient of the Leadership Award of Excellence from International Interior Design Association’s Southern California chapter and the Presidential Honoree Educator Award from the Los Angeles chapter of the AIA.

Robert Hale, FAIA

Robert Hale is a principal in the firm RIOS in Los Angeles. Rios is a multidisciplinary design collaborative with a wide range of projects including architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, graphic, interior, exhibit and product design. In 2009, RIOS was selected as a finalist in the category of Landscape Design by the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards program. In 2007 the firm was awarded the ‘Firm of the Year Award’ by the California Council of the American Institute of Architects for their consistent body of unique design work and redefinition of the boundaries of design practice. Prior to coming to RIOS, Bob worked for Universal Studios, first as Creative Director, and later as Vice President. For the 12 years prior, he worked for Frank O. Gehry Associates, as a Principal. Bob received his Bachelor of Architecture from Tulane University and his Master of Architecture from UCLA. He is a past president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He has taught at UCLA, USC, UNLV, and Tulane.