Press Release 07.28.05

Since architects can only be as creative and innovative as their clients allow them to be, the Chicago Architecture Foundation seeks nominees to honor for its second annual Stein, Ray & Harris Patron of the Year award.

Chicago has long been considered the birthplace of modern architecture in America in large part because astute and farsighted architectural patrons allowed such visionary architects as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe the creative freedom and financial support to design buildings that not only changed the Chicago skyline but also contributed to the city’s economic development and its aesthetic identity. Sponsored by the leading Chicago-based law firm of Stein, Ray & Harris LLP, this award seeks to pay tribute to those who continue to honor this architectural legacy. As SR&H partner Steve Stein said in founding this award “Good architecture requires more than a good architect. It requires a great client, a risk-taker.”

The award will be presented to an individual, corporation, committee, institution or government body responsible for the commission, financing and execution of a single building or a complex of related structures. Nominees are being sought in three award categories: commercial, governmental and institutional and will be accepted from any person, committee, business, organization or governmental body.

After the close of nominations on August 31, 2005, a selection committee composed of prominent members from Chicago’s business, philanthropic and cultural communities will review the submission materials and select the winners. The number of awards will be left to the discretion of the committee.

Joan N. Harris, president of the Irving Harris Foundation, will serve as Honorary Chair of this year’s Patron of the Year award program and the winners will be announced at the program’s annual luncheon on November 17, 12 – 2 p.m., at the Mid-Day Club, Bank One Plaza, 21 South Clark Street, 56th floor. Luncheon tickets cost $85 each.

Last year’s winners included Millennium Park in the Governmental Category, the CMK Development Corporation for the Contemporaine Condominium in the Commercial category and the Illinois Institute of Technology for the IIT Campus Master Plan in the Institutional category.

• Projects must have been completed between January 1, 2002 and July 31, 2005. (Projects that did not receive an award in 2004 are eligible in subsequent years if their completion falls within the designated timeframe.)
• Projects must be located in the Chicago region, defined as the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will in Illinois, and Lake and Porter counties in Indiana.
• Nominations must be submitted by August 31, 2005. Program details and an online nomination form are available at www.architecture.org.
• The award is for a single project and is not to be considered as a lifetime achievement award.
• Projects built by individuals for personal use, such as single-family homes, are not eligible.

For questions, contact Patron@architecture.org or call 312-922-3432 ext. 266