Our Future Generation of Architects
Meet your newest employees! Over the past year this generation of young architects has shown their design skills off through our community outreach programs. There is so much in store for these young designers – and we want to show them off.
Check back to this page regularly for updates on our upcoming generation of Architects in Alabama!
dreamARCHITECTURE 2022
Our elementary school outreach program, dreamARCHITECTURE, is an annual art competition that encourages K-5 children to think about their built environment. Contest themes vary each year, allowing students to express their creativity through drawing their dream house, zoo, park and more. This wildly successful program sees participation from nearly 2,000 area children in Birmingham each year. In 2015, we expanded our program to serve schools in the Huntsville and Mobile areas.
“…We believe that the students of today are the architects of tomorrow. Every year I am blown away by both the number of entries and the enthusiasm exhibited by the students that participate in the dreamARCHITECTURE program. To see kids immersing themselves in the creative process, it’s clear to me that the future of the profession is in good hands with the energy and creativity shown through the students’ artwork!”
Les Tillery, AIA, LEED AP / Principal at Fuqua & Partners Architects
2022 ACFA President
Thank you to our partners of dreamARCHITECTURE 2022: Draw Your Dream Hospital!
dreamARCHITECTURE At A Glance:
| # of Schools Participated | # of Entries | |
| Birmingham | 15 | 1696 |
| Huntsville | 7 | 787 |
| Mobile | 8 | 251 |
| TOTAL | 30 | 2,734 |
dreamARCHITECTURE Teacher Workshop
Held virtually on January 29, eight (8) teachers from Mobile, Huntsville, & Birmingham learned Architecture 101 from Tim Takacs, AIA, and had Alicia Pughsley, AIA, guide them through example drawings for this years theme: Draw Your Dream Hospital!
dreamARCHITECTURE Jury & Awards
After our Teacher Workshop, all of the young architects began creating their dream hospitals. Once completed, teachers from all three cities dropped off the art to local architecture firms for our jury!
Mobile
Thank you to Watermark Design for being a 2022 dreamARCHITECTURE Awards Ceremony Sponsor.
Once the jury was completed in Mobile, we sent out letters inviting the winning architects, their parents & teachers to the dreamARCHITECTURE Mobile Awards Ceremony held at the Alabama Contemporary Arts Center on Thursday, April 28.
We had record attendance at the Awards Ceremony this year in Mobile with attendees all the way from Dothan, AL!
Thank you to our Mobile dreamARCHITECTURE Committee:
- Brooke Rodrigues Feo, AIA, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Inc.
- Jim Bray, Spire Energy
- Kim Harden, AIA, AICP, AIA Mobile Vice President
- Mark Aldred, AIA, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Inc.
- Nic Gray, Watermark Design
Click here to see our pictures & winners from the Mobile Ceremony!
Birmingham
Thank you to ArchitectureWorks, Birchfield Penuel & Associates, Gresham Smith, KPS Group, & Thompson Architecture for being Jury Sponsors in Birmingham. Split up by grade, each of these firms had over 200 pieces of art to choose from!
We would like to thank Poole & Company Architects for being our Awards Ceremony Sponsor for Birmingham!
The ceremony was held at Children’s of Alabama, Children’s Harbour on May 5, 2022 & the winning artwork was displayed at the hospital the following week.
-Denise Dexter, Children’s of Alabama
Thank you to our Birmingham dreamARCHITECTURE Committee:
- Alicia Pughsley, AIA, Birchfield Penuel & Associates
- Bozena Skowronski, AIA, Poole & Company Architects
- Bruce Lanier, AIA, ArchitectureWorks
- Rebecca Whitlow, AIA, Revolutionary Architecture
Click here to see our pictures & winners from the Birmingham Ceremony!
Huntsville
Thank you to BRPH, Chapman Sisson Architects, Fuqua & Partners Architects, KPS Group, GMC & Nola Van Peursem for being our Huntsville dreamARCHITECTURE Jury Sponsors!
Special thank you to ELM Structural Engineers for being our Awards Ceremony Sponsor in Huntsville!
Following our Awards Ceremony at the Shed at Stovehouse on May 12, all winning artwork was displayed at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children.
Click here to see our pictures & winners from the Huntsville Ceremony!
Thank you to our Huntsville dreamARCHITECTURE Committee:
- Karin Bell, AIA, Nola Van Peursem Architects
- Dusty Lake, AIA North AL President, BRPH
- Sami Rambo, AIA, Chapman Sisson Architects
- Kathy Riggs, AIA, Nola Van Peursem Architects
We are already looking forward to next years dreamARCHITECTURE Program!
Building with Bricks Exhibit
We were so thrilled to open up the ACFA for the Building with Bricks LEGO Exhibit this year.
We had 25 Adults and 30 kids throughout the week, for an average of one hour per visit!
Special thanks to our local Birmingham Architects that volunteered to help out:
- Bill Segrest, AIA, Williams Blackstock Architecture
- Binx Newton, AIA, Williams Blackstock Architects
- Danny Trotter, AIA, CCR Architecture & Interiors
- Dave Branch, AIA, Fifth Dimension Architecture
- Emily Lopez, Assoc. AIA, Christopher Architecture & Interiors
- Katie Wood, Assoc. AIA, ArchitectureWorks
- Robert Thompson, AIA, Thompson Architecture
- Tim Anson, AIA, Gresham Smith
- Topper Parham, AIA, KPS Group, Inc.
- Varuni Kern, AIA, Gresham Smith
And a thank you to the Birmingham firms that helped provide our guests with a Scavenger Hunt!
- Adams Gerndt
- ArchitectureWorks
- CCR Architecture & Interiors
- Christopher Architecture + Interiors
- Creature
- David Baker Architects
- Fifth Dimension Architecture & Interiors
- Gresham Smith
- Studio 2H Design
- Williams Blackstock Architects
N2 Architecture
N2 ARCHITECTURE! brings local practicing architects to your intermediate, middle, or high school to present a 30-45 minute PowerPoint presentation designed to educate students about the built environment and the architectural profession. This program is offered at no cost to the school.
We understand the difficulties COVID-19 has created for your school; we can live video conference with your class via Zoom or another preferred platform and answer questions during the presentation.
The presentation includes:
- An overview of building and design
- Architecture through history and around the world
- The daily life of an architect
- The impact of Architecture on our lives, communities, & environment
This is an interactive presentation; we will ask students questions and encourage them to ask questions too. Students will learn an overview of the journey architects-in-training take to become licensed architects and which Alabama universities offer architectural degrees. We have presented to art classes, math classes, social studies classes, general assemblies and career days.
We have presented to art classes, math classes, social studies classes, general assemblies and career days. We would be delighted to present this material to your students and help them better understand the architectural profession and get “N2 ARCHITECTURE!”