“untitled” by Ryan Burnett, Virginia Tech
Extended through September!
Torpedo Factory Art Center welcomes AIA Virginia and AIA Northern Virginia for a special exhibition in the New Project Studio (Studio 9), displaying work from the 2021 AIA Virginia Prize competition.
This year, students were tasked with reimagining Market Square in the context of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project.
Students were asked to imagine the space and how they would memorialize the deaths of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas, both victims of racial terror lynchings in Alexandria.
Conducted simultaneously at Hampton University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, the competition engaged students at all of the accredited schools of architecture in Virginia. Students were given the competition program on a Friday afternoon and had until the following Monday to submit their designs. Each school’s faculty reviewed the submissions and sent up to 10 finalists for final consideration by the jury.
While you visit the exhibition, read more about the history that inspired the designs. Learn more about the Alexandria Community Remembrance Project, a city-wide initiative dedicated to helping Alexandria understand its history of racial terror hate crimes and to work toward creating a welcoming community bound by equity and inclusion.
Thanks to the Office of Historic Alexandria, through the Alexandria Black History Museum for their dedicated work on this initiative through lectures, community meetings, and remembrances.
“The Onlookers” by Jarrett Thomas, Hampton University
About the 2021 AIA Virginia Student Prize Jury
Robert V. Reis, AIA, Principal and Design Director, Hanbury | Jury Chair
Audrey Davis, Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum
Brad Grant, Professor, Department of Architecture, Howard University
Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet, Design Advocate, Determined by Design
Chris Lee, FAIA, President, Johnson & Lee, Chicago
Ashley Montgomery, Assoc. AIA, Associate and leader of the Hanbury Resiliency Initiative, Hanbury
“In Context” by Adam Johnson, University of Virginia
About the New Project Studio
An initiative of Torpedo Factory Art Center, the New Project Studio offers short-term space for artists, nonprofits, educators, and other creative professionals to test new program ideas, spotlight underrepresented voices, and enhance community engagement. Currently it is a pop-up art space located in Studio 9 on the first floor.
About AIA Virginia and AIA Northern Virginia
The American Institute of Architects is a professional society with component organizations at the national, state and local levels. AIA Virginia is a state component of the AIA, focused on delivering value to architects with statewide impact. Since 1914, AIA Virginia has represented the professional interests of architects and allied professionals in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
AIA Virginia works in collaboration with five local chapters — Blue Ridge, Central Virginia, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Richmond. These six components join with West Virginia in forming the Region of the Virginias to elect a representative director to the national AIA board. Together with the national component and components across the country, we form one AIA.
About the Office of Historic Alexandria
With more than 250 years of history and hospitality to its credit, Alexandria offers an array of historic and cultural attractions. Alexandria’s many historic homes, churches, businesses and museums allow residents and visitors alike to experience the hand of the past that makes our city the charming and historic town it is today. Find out more about the Office of Historic Alexandria online.
About the Alexandria Black History Museum
The Alexandria Black History Museum includes the Museum, the Watson Reading Room, and the Alexandria African American Heritage Park. Other African American historic sites in Alexandria include the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial, and the Freedom House Museum.
