Since 1955, the AIA Chicago Board of Directors has recognized individuals and organizations who have given outstanding service to the Chicago architectural community as a whole, including service to the profession, public service, and education.

Individuals, associations, AIA Chicago members, and members of the Chicago community at large are eligible for this award. Past honorees have included architects, craftspersons, educators, authors, journalists, and community organizations.

This year, the AIA Chicago Board of Directors has elected to bestow this honor upon three individuals.

LAURIE PETERSEN

Laurie Petersen has helped pave the way in which architects, tourists, and residents alike experience the city of Chicago. She was the associate editor of the first two editions of the AIA Guide to Chicago, working closely with the book’s creator, Alice Sinkevitch, Hon. AIA. She then edited the third and fourth editions.  

Since the publication of the fourth edition of the AIA Guide last June, Laurie has tirelessly promoted the book through media interviews (including an appearance on ABC-7’s streaming news), a walking tour of Hyde Park, a panel with Blair Kamin and Lee Bey at the Chicago Humanities Festival, and lectures that included a presentation at the Chicago Architecture Center with Jen Masengarb, Assoc. AIA. She gives lectures on Chicago architecture at libraries and a variety of venues throughout the metro area. 

Laurie has written for Chicago Architect magazine (and its predecessor, Focus) for the past 30 years. She also leads tours and helped develop a docent manual and a web-based tour of Crow Island School in Winnetka, a National Historic Landmark. She is a docent at Chicago’s Charnley-Persky House, designed by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, and is a member of the Charnley-Persky House Board. 

To see all the 2022 Award Recipients, click here

Laurie Petersen has been a docent at the Charnley-Persky House since 2010, and joined SAH in 2012.  She is a member of the Charnley-Persky House Board and served as the co-chair of SAH Celebrates in 2022.