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The annual Louis I. Kahn Award, founded in 1983, is Philadelphia's signature event honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of architecture. The event celebrates these achievements in memory of the storied career of Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn—widely considered the most critical Modernist American architect and designer of such famous structures as the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California; the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and the Richards Medical Research Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The event raises funds to provide free design education to children in Philadelphia through the Design Education program of DesignPhiladelphia, which brings practicing architects and designers into public school classrooms. Design Education Introduces children to the fields of architecture and design while empowering them to use design to shape their homes, neighborhoods, and city.
Past Kahn awardees include Pritzker Prize Winning Architecture Firm Herzog & de Meuron, architects of Tate Modern gallery in London, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, National Stadium in Beijing; Stephen Kieran, FAIA + James Timberlake, FAIA, founders of the firm KieranTimberlake and architects of the Embassy of the United States in London; Diller Scofido + Renfro, architects of the High Line and The Shed at Hudson Yards; Bjarke Ingels, architect of Google headquarters; Sir David Adjaye, architect of the National Museum of African American Museum in Washington D.C.; Lord Norman Foster, architect of Comcast Innovation + Technology Center; Peter Bohlin, FAIA, architect of Apple’s iconic glass cube; Daniel Liebskind, BDA, architect of the original Freedom Tower concept; Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA, architect of the Comcast Center; Rafael Viñoly, FAIA, architect of the Kimmel Center; and César Pelli, FAIA, architect of Cira Center.
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DesignPhiladelphia is thrilled to present the 37th Louis I. Kahn Award to Weiss/Manfredi. The award-winning firm, founded by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, has consistently pushed boundaries in architectural design, with projects ranging from cultural institutions to urban masterplans – and demonstrating a deep understanding of context, sustainability, and human experience, resulting in architecture that resonates both aesthetically and functionally. Notable examples of their work the Seattle Museum of Art's Olympic Sculpture Park, Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania, Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park on the East River in New York. In 2021, the firm broke ground on two much-anticipated projects, U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India expected to open in 2027 and Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience—a sweeping reimagination of 17 acres of Longwood Gardens Conservatory and grounds, opening in fall 2024.
Architects Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, co-founders of a New York-based architectural design firm — will present a talk in acceptance of the award. The ceremony will take place at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology and Archeology at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. A VIP reception with light hors' d oeuvres and beverages will take place in the Chinese Rotunda from 5:30 - 6:30 pm.
Weiss/Manfredi received the 2020 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture and the 2018 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Institution's National Design Award, as well as the New York AIA Gold Medal and the Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Most recently Weiss/Manfredi was selected through an international competition to re-envision the world renowned La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles; and the Trinity Park Conservancy in Dallas selected the firm to serve as design architects to bring new life to the former Jesse R. Dawson State Jail.
The firm has won numerous awards and competitions and has been featured in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the National Building Museum, the Essen Design Centre, the Louvre Museum, and the Venice Biennale. Princeton Architectural Press has published three monographs on their work including, most recently, PUBLIC NATURES: Evolutionary Infrastructures.
The 2024 Louis I. Kahn Award is generously supported by presenting sponsor Gattuso Development Partners — a developer of exceptional, sustainable high-performance workplaces. Led by former Liberty Property Trust leaders John S. Gattuso, President and CEO, and Anne Cummins, COO, the Gattuso team has played a vital role in reshaping the Philadelphia skyline and revitalizing its urban landscape.
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