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Portman Prize Studio Critic

Portman Prize Studio Critic

The purpose of the Portman Prize and the Portman Visiting Critic Program is to foster design excellence and student creativity in the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech. Recognizing student accomplishment and excellence in the integration of technical considerations is a key constituent of the design process pursued through the Portman Prize. It is awarded through competition by a distinguished jury chaired by the Portman Visiting Critic who also participates over the semester as a roving design studio critic and public lecturer.

The competition jury awards ranked prizes, each carrying monetary awards. The top prize winner is also offered a summer internship in the office of John Portman & Associates. 

2025 Portman Prize Critic: Thomas Phifer, FAIA

Thomas Phifer, FAIA
Thomas Phifer and Partners

Since founding Thomas Phifer and Partners in 1997, Thomas Phifer has completed an expansion of the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, the United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas, the Moody Amphitheater in Austin, Texas, and houses across the United States.

Projects under construction include the Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa Theatre in Warsaw, an artists' retreat in Maine, and the Wagner Park Pavilion, a key component of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project in Lower Manhattan. Thomas Phifer is also engaged in private residences in Texas, Maine, and New York.

Since 1997, Thomas Phifer and Partners has received more than thirty honor awards from the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Phifer is the recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome, the Medal of Honor and President’s Award from the New York Chapter of the AIA, the Arts and Letters Award in Architecture, and the National Design Award in Architectural Design from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.  In 2022, he was elected as a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
 

Portman Prize History

The Portman Prize and Portman Visiting Critic Program has been generously supported since 2000 by the Atlanta firm of John Portman & Associates, Inc. Portman is an internationally recognized architectural and engineering firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Shanghai, China.

Established in 1953, Portman has over 50 years of expertise in designing hotels, universities, offices, trade marts, and mixed-use urban complexes around the world. Vision, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit are the fundamentals of their human-centered design philosophy. Georgia Tech is proud to be a partner with Portman in advancing these values through the Portman Prize.

Past Portman Prize Visiting Critics

2024Andrea P. Leers, FAIA
2023Kai-Uwe Bergmann
2022Guy Nordenson
2021Mario Gooden
2020Alan Organschi
2019Alan Organschi
2018Billie Faircloth, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
2017Claire Weisz, FAIA
2016Brigitte Shim, FRAIC OC RCA Hon. FAIA OAA
2015Julie Snow, FAIA
2014Laurie Hawkinson, FAIA
2013Jane Wernick, FREng Hon FRIBA FRSA CEngFIStructE FICE
2012Maryann Thompson, FAIA
2011Karl Backus, AIA
2009Margaret Crawford, Ph.D.
2008Jonathan Segal, FAIA
2007Julie Eizenberg, AIA
2006David Baker, FAIA (Visiting Critic)
2006Jorge Silvetti (Jury Chair)
2005Teddy Cruz
2004Jeff Speck, AICP
2003Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA
2002Lily Chi
2001Lindy Roy
2000Lawrence Speck, FAIA

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