The Alaska Chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA Alaska) is pleased to announce the 52nd Anniversary of the AIA Alaska Frank Maier High School Design Competition. The competition is an annual architectural design challenge sponsored by the Alaska Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Frank Maier, a Juneau Architect, started this program in 1965 and managed it personally for the first twenty years. Following his death in 1991, AIA Alaska elected to name the competition in his honor. Now, in its sixth decade of success, the competition continues to expose Alaskan high school students to architecture and the profession.
Throughout the years the competition has challenged hundreds of high school students with a variety of building types and sites of Alaskan relevance. Past programs have included both rural and urban sites for a wide range of facilities such as a Library of the Future, Rural Air Taxi Facility, Talkeetna Ski Chalet, Urban Coffee House, Youth Hostel, Wilderness Retreat, Whale Watching Census Station, Visitor Centers, and Mt. Denali Cabin to name a few. The program has evolved to encourage student’s development of computer aided design (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM) software skills. Energy efficient and sustainable design solutions are now being emphasized in the design programs. In addition to providing high school students with professional feedback on their design submissions, all entrants are provided with a certificate of participation. Four place winners will be awarded a cash prize and their design submissions posted on the AIA Alaska website.
http://aiaalaska.org/FMHSDesignCompetition.html