To celebrate and promote the profession of architecture, provide opportunities for professional growth, and improve the built environment.

2010 AIA/NEI Student Scholarships

AIA Northeast Illinois Awarded Three Scholarships
In conjunction with The American Institute of Architects, the Northeast Illinois Chapter of The American Institute of Architects has awarded a total of $4.200 in scholarships to three students pursuing architectural degrees.

Kevin Geist
University of Illinois at Chicago
Kevin Geist of Countryside, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, received a $1,600 award. He is interested in how design creates positive social atmospheres, and wants to emphasize designs that encourage public interaction. Too often architects get caught up in economics or sustainability, but the focal point is the user and how the user interacts with the space, he said. He wants to bring user interaction back to the forefront of design. “The personal aspect of architecture is what I strive for; I believe architecture should make a personal impact on an individual, although it should not be limited to a small amount of people. Architecture should be flexible; it should be able to bring multiple people together, to interact, to laugh, and to enjoy life.” Geist has interned at H&L Architects Inc. of Burr Ridge and at Parsons Architects in Hinsdale. He expects to earn his master’s degree in 2012.

 

 

Gina Cannistra
University of Notre Dame
Gina Cannistra of Elk Grove Village, a University of Notre Dame student who will spend her upcoming junior year in Rome, received a $1,300 scholarship. In her first two years of studies, she has designed such diverse projects as a residential urban townhouse, a Roman museum, a library and campus buildings. Architecture permits her to express her two passions: creativity and art, plus math and science. “My goal is to provide people with buildings that they enjoy spending time in and that serve a purpose,” she said. “I believe in the power of aesthetic beauty as a means of bringing peace and calm into daily life. I wish to share that type of beauty, combined with solid structural design for innovative and sustainable buildings.” She is a member of the American Institute of Architecture Students, plus plays intramural softball and volunteers with Special Olympics.

 

 

Kelsey Davies
Miami University of Ohio
Kelsey Davies of Bloomingdale also received a $1,300 scholarship and will begin work on her master’s degree in architecture at Miami University of Ohio. A fire that extensively damaged her family’s home in 2007 was a turning point, impressing upon her the realization that much of architecture is “based upon the salvageable. ... I want to be that architect to take something old, forgotten, damaged, or run-down, and turn it into a more habitable and beautiful space for people to live, work and remember.” Davies, who works as an intern drafter at WT Engineering, hopes ultimately to start her own architectural historic preservation business.

 

 

 

Arnold “Les” Larsen Memorial Scholarship
The chapter also selected a recipient for the $1,000 Arnold “Les” Larsen Memorial Scholarship of the DuPage Community Foundation.

Britta Monson
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Britta Monson of Buffalo Grove expects to receive her master’s degree in architecture from the  University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign in 2012. She is focused on sustainability in architecture and earned her LEED AP credential a year ago. An environmentally responsible building “means more than adding a green roof or sun shading devices at the last state of the design process,” she said. Instead, a sustainable building must be “economically viable for the client and meet their needs, it has to meet the needs of the community and it has to respond to its environment.” She wants to be a leader in a firm where each project meets economic, social and environmental goals. She has interned at PHN Architects in Wheaton, and also worked for Conestoge-Rovers and Associates, an environmental engineering firm in Chicago. She is a member of the Gargoyle Honor Society, was president of the Architecture Student Advisory Council and has been very active in the Illinois chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students. 

 

Larsen’s widow, Sandra Larsen, established the scholarship -- for students studying at the graduate level at the University of Illinois at Chicago or Urbana-Champaign -- in 2007. Les Larsen was a charter member of AIA Northeast Illinois and was an active member of the AIA at the local, state and national levels. The scholarship is administered by the DuPage Community Foundation; the NEI Scholarship Committee reviews applications and selects the recipient. 

“Today’s students are tomorrow’s architects,” said chapter Scholarship Committee Chairman Steve Mehelich, AIA. “The helping hand we’re offering to these talented students -- who are the future of our profession -- lets us not only provide assistance to them but also promote the profession of architecture, one of our core missions.”

The national organization contributed $1,200 for the three chapter awards.

AIA/NEI distributes the scholarships annually. The Naperville-based organization includes architects and those in related fields who live or work in Kane, DuPage and Kendall counties, plus the portions of Cook County north of the Stevenson and west of the Edens expressways, excluding the city of Chicago. For more information, visit www.aianei.org.


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