|
Major Design Honor Should Help Save Gill's Architecture
September/October 2017
By Ann Jarmusch
 Little honored during his lifetime, Irving Gill is being posthumously awarded one of California's highest architectural prizes, the Maybeck Award from the American Institute of Architects California Council. Portrait of Irving Gill for the San Diego Architectural Association. Gill served as secretary 1910-1913. Photo by J E Stromberg. Courtesy Save Our Heritage Organisation |
San Diego architect Irving J. Gill (1870-1936), whom many consider to be the field's founding modernist in this country and possibly Europe, is being honored with the first posthumous Maybeck Award by the American Institute of Architects California Council. This prestigious honor for lifetime achievement by a California architect is not presented annually, only when merited.
San Diego architect James B. Guthrie, founder and chair of the Irving J. Gill Foundation, nominated Gill for the 2017 Maybeck Award in the foundation's quest to advance knowledge of and appreciation for Gill and his pioneering work among architects, historians, and the public. "We're so pleased with AIA's decision to recognize one of California's most influential and significant architects," Guthrie said.
"An award of this stature will help raise public awareness of Gill's importance to San Diego's and California's architectural, cultural, and social development," Bruce Coons, SOHO's Executive Director, said. "The Maybeck Award will be a strong incentive for the preservation and protection of Gill's remaining works," he said.
The foundation will host a ceremony honoring Gill and his new Maybeck medal during its symposium Irving J. Gill: Transitioning to Modern on October 28 and 29. SOHO is partnering with the foundation to offer architecture tours of the Marston House Museum, designed by Hebbard & Gill, and other buildings by the architect that weekend. For more information, visit www.irvingjgill.org or follow SOHO's calendar.
Among Gill's outstanding San Diego designs are private homes near the Marston House on Seventh Avenue and in Bankers Hill, the La Jolla Woman's Club, Christian Scientist churches in San Diego and Coronado, and experimental workmen's cottages.
The AIACC award, which dates to 1992, is named for Gill's better known contemporary, Bay Area Arts & Crafts architect Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957). The only other San Diego architect to be so honored is Rob Wellington Quigley, a recipient in 2005 who cites Gill as a key influence in design and concrete tilt-up construction. Frank Gehry, Ray Kappe, Pierre Koenig, and Thom Mayne are among the other Maybeck Award winners. See announcement.
Gill's posthumous presentation, recommended by an awards jury, required the AIACC board to amend its bylaws to allow it. Here are some jury comments:
- Who doesn't remember learning something from Gill's design? In structure, process, philosophy, he embodied a sense of how architecture can shape a place.
- He is known as the Father of Modern Architecture for a reason. The work he accomplished in Southern California is still so relevant.
- There is always a case for thoughtful, smart design. And there is always something we as architects look to emulate from those who paved the way, like Irving Gill.
|
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
|
