Architecture honors distinguished alumni

The School of Architecture honored eight outstanding alumni at its 10th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner April 10 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize School of Architecture graduates who have demonstrated exceptional creativity, innovation, leadership and vision through their contributions to both the school and the practice of architecture.

Recipients for 2003 are Warren Boeschenstein, Jamie Cannon, Robert Edmonds, Richard T. Henmi and Joan Krevlin.

“One of the true measures of the quality of an academic institution is the professional attainment of its alumni,” said Cynthia Weese, dean of the School of Architecture. “By this measure, Washington University’s School of Architecture ranks extremely high. Our alumni have had remarkable careers, achieving success in a wide range of endeavors.”

In addition, Andrew W. Bernheimer and Jared Della Valle shared the Young Alumni Award, while King Graf received the 2003 Dean’s Medal for exceptional service, dedication and advocacy on behalf of the school.

Boeschenstein (B.S.A.S. ’64) is a professor and former associate dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he has taught since 1973.

His research, which focuses on community design and transportation, includes numerous studies for the Virginia Depart-ment of Rail and Public Transportation as well as the book Historic American Towns Along the Atlantic Coast (1999), an examination of nine representative coastal towns.

He is working on a manuscript titled Places of Learning: The Character of College Towns.

Cannon (B.Arch. ’60) is founder of Jamie Cannon Associates, Architects and Planners, a St. Louis firm specializing in the programming and design of technical research buildings; industrial visual improvement programs; and master plans for process industries.

A past president of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Cannon serves on the architecture school’s national council and co-chairs the major gifts committee of the Sam Fox Arts Center. In 1994, he received the school’s first Dean’s Medal and in 2000 received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Edmonds (B.Arch. ’61) is a project designer with Hellmuth, Obata Kassabaum (HOK), the international architecture firm based in St. Louis, where he has worked for more than 40 years. Edmonds has spearheaded a broad range of public and institutional project, with a particular emphasis on complicated federal and criminal justice facilities, including Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis, Atlanta, Cleveland and Richmond-Baltimore.

Local projects include the Maryland Towers, the America’s Center Expansion and the United States Transportation Command Headquarters Facility at Scott Air Force Base. He recently led construction of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill.

Henmi (B.Arch. ’47) is a project manager with Thalden Emery Architects in St. Louis. Early in his career, Henmi joined Russell Mullgardt & Schwartz (later Schwarz & Van Hoeffen), one of St. Louis oldest firms, eventually becoming partner and then sole owner.

In 1989, he sold the firm to the Kuhlman Design Group, remaining as senior vice president until 1995, when he launched a new office, Henmi & Associates. He and his staff joined forces with Thalden Emery Architects in 2002.

A leading adaptive/reuse architect, Henmi transformed St. Louis’ defunct Spanish Pavilion into the Marriott Hotel and the Edison Brothers Warehouse into the Breckenridge-Sheraton Suite Hotel. Other major projects include Mansion House Center, Council Plaza and the Greyhound bus terminal.

Krevlin (B.A. ’75/M.Arch. ’78) is a partner at BKSK Architects LLP. Her work has focused on the integration of architecture and education, including award-winning projects for the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, the New York Hall of Science Teaching Park, the Preschool Garden of Science and the FDNY Fire Zone, a fire-safety learning center at Rockefeller Center.

She is working on a feasibility study for the Westchester Children’s Museum at Rye Playland, as well as a Reception and Administration building for the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, Queens.

Bernheimer (M.Arch. ’94) and Della Valle (M.Arch./S.I. ’96) are founding partners of della valle bernheimer design inc. (d bd), based in New York. Since its founding in 1996, d bd has completed a wide range of residential, commercial and public architectural projects as well as furniture design and award-winning competition entries.

Their work has been featured in numerous publications and been exhibited at the Architectural League of New York, the National Building Museum, the 2002 Venice Biennale and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Last year, d bd was selected as winner of the Architectural League of New York’s 2002 Young Architect’s Forum and was awarded a citation from the AIA’s New York Chapter.

Graf (B.Arch. ’53) is retired vice chairman of HOK. He joined the firm in 1956 and in 1974 opened the HOK Dallas Regional Office as managing principal.

Upon returning to St. Louis in 1984, he worked on a wide range of projects in North and South American, the Middle East, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region.

He has long been active on behalf of the School of Architecture, chairing the school’s effort in the Alliance Campaign and serving for many years as on its national council.

He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 and currently serves as a co-chair of the Major Gift Committee for the University’s capital campaign.