Each year the National Building Museum recognizes exemplary achievements in the built environment with the Honor Award, the Vincent Scully Prize, and the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation.
VINCENT SCULLY PRIZE
The Vincent Scully Prize is named for the esteemed Yale professor whose teaching inspired so many individuals in the building fields. The prize recognizes excellence in practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design.
2019 Vincent Scully Prize
The Museum presents the 2019 Vincent Scully Prize to Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture.
A public program celebrating the award will be held on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 from 6:30 to 8 pm at the National Building Museum. In a conversation with Thaisa Way, program director of garden and landscape studies, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, Meyer will discuss several contemporary topics in landscape architecture and public space design, including: how urban planning and topographies correlate with race and privilege, how plants and animals collaborate in placemaking, why non-native plants are necessary for resilient landscapes, and why aesthetics matters in responses to climate change.
Past recipients:
| Robert Campbell and Inga Saffron |
| Laurie Olin, FASLA |
| Joshua David and Robert Hammond |
| Paul Goldberger |
| William K. Reilly |
| Adele Chatfield-Taylor |
| Christopher Alexander |
| Robert A. M. Stern |
| Richard Moe |
| Witold Rybczynski |
| Phyllis Lambert |
| His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales |
| His Highness the Aga Kahn |
| Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown |
| Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany |
| Jane Jacobs |
| Vincent Scully |
2019 Annual Gala
On May 29 the Museum’s 2019 Gala honored JBG SMITH and Washington Housing Initiative for their significant contributions to our built heritage. The evening was emceed by NPR’s Joshua Johnson.
HONOR AWARD
Bestowed each year at our Annual Gala, 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.
Past recipients:
| 2019 | JBG SMITH and Washington Housing Initiative |
| 2018 | Madison Marquette and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington |
| 2017 | Brookfield Properties and the National Endowment for the Arts |
| 2016 | CoStar Group, DAVIS Construction, and Casey Trees |
| 2015 | The Rockefeller Foundation, STUDIOS Architecture, and Capital Bikeshare |
| 2014 | Mrs. Laura Bush and the National Trust for Historic Preservation |
| 2013 | Turner Construction Company |
| 2012 | Urban Land Institute |
| 2011 | Celebrating our Past, Building our Future |
| 2010 | A Salute to Civic Innovators: Perkins + Will U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon New Orleans Habitat Musicians Village Majora Carter |
| 2009 | A Salute to Visionaries in Sustainability: U.S. Green Building Council City of Chicago United Technologies Corporation |
| 2008 | The Associated General Contractors of America |
| 2007 | Related |
| 2006 | Clark Construction Group, LLC |
| 2005 | Forest City Enterprises |
| 2004 | General Services Administration |
| 2003 | Major League Baseball and The National Football League |
| 2002 | DuPont |
| 2001 | Michael D. Eisner and The Walt Disney Company |
| 2000 | Gerald D. Hines |
| 1999 | Harold W. McGraw, Jr., Harold McGraw III and The McGraw-Hill Companies |
| 1998 | Stephen and Riley Bechtel and The Bechtel Group |
| 1997 | Community Builders of Washington, D.C.: Morris Cafritz, Charles E. Smith, Charles A. Horsky, and Oliver T. Carr, Jr. |
| 1996 | Cindy and Jay Pritzker |
| 1995 | Lady Bird Johnson |
| 1994 | James A. Johnson and Fannie Mae |
| 1993 | J. Carter Brown |
| 1992 | The Civic Leadership of Greater Pittsburgh |
| 1991 | The Rockefeller Family |
| 1990 | IBM Corporation |
| 1989 | Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan |
| 1988 | James W. Rouse |
| 1986 | J. 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 |
| discoverE |
| 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 |