Awards

The National Building Museum recognizes exemplary achievements in the built environment through three annual award programs: the Vincent Scully Prize, the Honor Award, and the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation.

VINCENT SCULLY PRIZE

The Vincent Scully Prize, established in 1999, is named for the esteemed professor who inspired so many across the building disciplines. Scully was the Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art at Yale University and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Miami. For more than four decades, his teaching and scholarship profoundly influenced prominent architects, urban planners, and others.

The Prize recognizes excellence in practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design. The nomination and selection process for each year’s recipient resides within the Prize jury. The Museum participates in deliberations and may submit candidates, but it does not vote on finalists. Current jury members:

  • Chair: Paul Goldberger, Architecture Critic, Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair
  • Esther da Costa Meyer, Art Historian, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University  
  • Nancy Levinson, Editor and Executive Director, Places Journal  
  • Stephen Luoni, AIA, Director, University of Arkansas Community Design Center
  • Toshiko Mori, Architect, Professor in the Practice of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design 2024

 

2024 Vincent Scully Prize

The National Building Museum is proud to recognize Walter Hood, Landscape designer, artist, and educator, as the twenty-sixth recipient of the Museum’s annual Vincent Scully Prize.  

Past Recipients

2023: Theaster Gates
2022: Dolores Hayden
2021: Mabel O. Wilson
2019: Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA
2018: Robert Campbell and Inga Saffron
2017: Laurie Olin, FASLA
2013: Joshua David and Robert Hammond
2012: Paul Goldberger
2011: William K. Reilly
2010: Adele Chatfield-Taylor
2009: Christopher Alexander
2008: Robert A. M. Stern
2007: Richard Moe
2007: Witold Rybczynski / Read the transcript
2006: Phyllis Lambert
2005: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales / Read the transcript
2005: His Highness the Aga Kahn / Read the transcript
2002: Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown / Read the transcript
2001: Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany
2000: Jane Jacobs / Read the transcript
1999: Vincent Scully

HONOR AWARD

Bestowed at the Museum’s annual Gala since 1986, the Honor Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to our built heritage. Recipients are leaders who have defined our culture, developed our communities, and crafted our built environment. Individually, they have advanced our building arts and sciences. Collectively, their legacy is profound.

2024 Marriott International

Past Recipients

2023Kohler Co.
2022 Arup
2021Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
2019JBG SMITH and Washington Housing Initiative
2018Madison Marquette and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington
2017Brookfield Properties and the National Endowment for the Arts
2016CoStar Group, DAVIS Construction, and Casey Trees
2015The Rockefeller Foundation, STUDIOS Architecture, and Capital Bikeshare
2014Mrs. Laura Bush and the National Trust for Historic Preservation
2013Turner Construction Company
2012Urban Land Institute
2011Celebrating our Past, Building our Future
2010A Salute to Civic Innovators: Perkins + Will, U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon New Orleans Habitat Musicians Village Majora Carter
2009A Salute to Visionaries in Sustainability: U.S. Green Building Council City of Chicago United Technologies Corporation
2008The Associated General Contractors of America
2007Related
2006Clark Construction Group, LLC
2005Forest City Enterprises
2004General Services Administration
2003Major League Baseball and The National Football League
2002DuPont
2001Michael D. Eisner and The Walt Disney Company
2000Gerald D. Hines
1999Harold W. McGraw Jr., Harold McGraw III, and The McGraw-Hill Companies
1998Stephen and Riley Bechtel and The Bechtel Group
1997Community Builders of Washington, D.C.: Morris Cafritz, Charles E. Smith, Charles A. Horsky, and Oliver T. Carr Jr.
1996Cindy and Jay Pritzker
1995Lady Bird Johnson
1994James A. Johnson and Fannie Mae
1993J. Carter Brown
1992The Civic Leadership of Greater Pittsburgh
1991The Rockefeller Family
1990IBM Corporation
1989Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
1988James W. Rouse
1986J. Irwin Miller

HENRY C. TURNER PRIZE FOR INNOVATION IN CONSTRUCTION

The prize, named after the founder of Turner Construction Company, recognizes an invention, an innovative methodology, and/or exceptional leadership by an individual or team of individuals in construction technology including construction techniques, innovations and practices, project management, and engineering design. The Turner Construction Company established an endowment in 2001 to support the Prize, which carries a cash award of $25,000.

Past Recipients

SBP
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Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
Department of Architecture Engineering of the Pennsylvania State University
Lean Construction Institute
Society of Women Engineers
Caterpillar, Inc.
Engineers without Borders
Charles H. Thornton
Gehry Partners and Gehry Technologies
Dr. Paul Teicholz
U.S. Green Building Council
Charles A. DeBenedittis
I.M. Pei
Leslie E. Robertson