The Design Guild of the College of Design at NC State University honored Philip G. Freelon, FAIA as the recipient of the 2012 Design Guild Award. The award was presented at the Design Guild awards dinner April 21 at the Raleigh Convention Center by the Dean of the College Design Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA.
“Phil Freelon is not only an architect, he is national leader in his profession, a mentor to young designers, a champion of the arts and a believer in providing great design for everyday places,” said Ginnie Cooper, Chief Librarian of the Washington DC Library and a client of The Freelon Group. Cooper introduced Freelon at the awards dinner.
The Design Guild jury cited Freelon’s remarkable contributions to architecture, art, and design most notably his impact on public sector buildings. “His work covers design for research and education, health and well-being, the advancement of understanding between disparate cultures, and the creative expression of the arts—focusing on the importance for the average person to experience beautiful and inspiring architecture not only when they go to a famous building but in their everyday lives,” according to a Guild statement on the award.
A native of Philadelphia, Freelon is the founder and President of The Freelon Group, an award-winning architecture firm based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Professor of Practice at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. The firm has completed major museum projects in Baltimore, San Francisco, Greensboro and Charlotte, NC. The team of Freelon Adjaye Bond is currently designing the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to be built on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Freelon is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He is also the 2009 recipient of the AIA Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture and the 2010 recipient of AIA North Carolina’s Gold Medal. Freelon was recently appointed by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Freelon has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Design, NC State University and has been a visiting critic and lecturer at Harvard, MIT, the University of Maryland, Syracuse University, Kent State University, the University of Cincinnati, Catholic University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, among others.
Photo Credit: NC State University/Photo by Becky Kirkland