AIA Arizona strives to serve as the collective voice that uplifts architects, upholds the importance of practice, and promotes the value of architecture, through design inspiration, societal connections, and relationship building. So much of that is on display in our Design Awards program and at one of our largest events, the AIA Arizona Design Awards Gala.
As part of ongoing efforts to streamline applications and see Arizona professionals and projects recognized for leadership in design, the criteria for the AIA Arizona Design Awards aligns to national AIA awards and principles, through the Framework for Design Excellence.
Comprised of ten principles that are relevant for every professional and every project, and accompanied by searching questions, the framework informs progress toward a zero-carbon, healthy, just, resilient, and equitable built environment.
So much of practice is storytelling. The framework is a way to learn, share, and apply the principles of good design. As a tool, it helps break down a highly complex and nuanced process into focused topics, best practices, lessons learned, and complementary resources. As the narrative and outline for award submissions, it helps frame your stories, highlight innovation, and align to larger goals and values.
This year I’ve asked James Trahan, AIA to shepherd the awards as the 2026 AIA Arizona Design Awards Chair. We are pleased to announce that Byron Mouton, AIA, a New Orleans-based architect, is building dynamic, balanced, and thoughtful Practice and Projects Juries, as the 2026 AIA Arizona Jury Chair. Byron is deeply committed, critical, and collaborative. As both a practitioner and educator, his experience and range are local to global, consistently promoting interdisciplinary dialogue.
Please consider submitting to the 2026 AIA Arizona Design Awards and building on those same submissions for the national 2027 AIA award programs.
Thank you to those that have shared how the Framework for Design Excellence is integrated into their process and used as a lens to tell their practice and project stories, through educational sessions [check out these two recent AIA Arizona webinar videos here and here]. Please reflect on your own stories and explore the framework for yourself. I’m excited to continue to learn with all of you, and especially excited to see our community come together to recognize your impact.
All the best,
Elizabeth McLean, AIA, NOMA
2026 AIA Arizona President
Explore the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
Visit the 2026 AIA Arizona Design Awards entry portal to begin your entry. To learn more about each category, access and download the awards guide PDF.
View all winners in Project categories from the past four years.
View the recent winners of the Practice categories.
Previously successful submission samples in Practice categories can be requested from john@aia-arizona.org