Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the jurors deliberated over a record-breaking 56 entries, considering a wide range of criteria for selection.

Special thanks to Pamela Danckaert, Assoc. AIA, Executive Director of AIA Grand Rapids for her assistance procuring jurors to host our discussion.

Dan is a "creative" at heart, believing in high quality design detailing and craft, rooted in a strong conceptual ideas, to deliver impactful experiences and solutions for our clients and communities. As a Design Leader at GMB collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, we aim to grow our design culture, quality, and practice grounded in empathy and curiosity. Always striving for design excellence, Dan has led architectural design with clients for over 20 years as a champion for design quality throughout all phases of a project. Previously he has served the AIA Grand Rapids chapter as Vice President and President, and in addition to his professional work, he enjoys exploring design through woodworking, photography, and has recently started experimenting with welding. Dan lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, Anna, and two kids, Keely and Brendan, and they love to travel together whenever possible.

Andrew believes passionately in the ability of architects to lead our world toward a brighter, environmentally sound future. He seeks to apply the fundamentals of building science to all of his projects. After ten years of successful practice and commitment to the industry, Andrew was awarded the 2020 Young Architect of the Year for AIA Grand Rapids. He also achieved the Living Future Accreditation through the International Living Future Institute and started a two-year term co-chairing the Committee on the Environment. Andrew earned both his Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University.

Andrew enjoys life with his wife and three daughters, seven chickens, two beehives, one dog, and one cat. When he is not working to improve our built environment, or reading about it, he is likely watching Star Wars.

Anna loves spending time outside and became an architect to work towards making the indoors as great as the outdoors. She values collaborating across disciplines and communities to get as close as we can to this goal through excellence and care in our designs. Along with her husband Casey she spent a decade learning, teaching, and working in Gwangju, South Korea, Chicago, Cincinnati, Boston, and Syracuse and is now settled in Grand Rapids. Those diverse cities have helped her consider the variety of experiences people bring with them into the spaces they occupy. As an architect with GMB, she creates connections for students and educators with their peers, their environment, and the communities that support them. One of her greatest joys in life is being a mom to her two boys, Bo and Willem

Charlie O’Geen is currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Kendall College of Art and Design. His work investigates the exploitation of existing site conditions for use as building systems, in opposition to conventional building practices which are materially consuming. Unconventionally, O’Geen’s work moves off paper and into the full-scale realities of site and material, and looks to expose and explore the opportunities of existing material energy. Rather than starting with the formal visual properties of design, O’Geen’s process weighs the potential of conditions already present at the building site, creating experiments that develop fully mature material systems that grow from untapped resources in sites and materials.

Matthew J. Christie, AIA Currently serving as Past-President AIAGR. With more than 15 years experience, Matt is a design leader within Ghafari’s Grand Rapids office. He designs with a passion to understand and connect with his clients through early discovery. Matt has experience in a diverse array of domestic and international projects across aviation, commercial, education, institutional, industrial, and single-family residential project types. His diverse experience allows him to seamlessly adapt to a project’s unique set of parameters. As a thought leader within the office, Matt believes a client centered approach introduces fresh perspectives, energy, and opportunities to each project. He received his Master of Architecture from The University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture for Lawrence Technological University. Matt is a LEED Accredited Professional who believes all projects should speak to sustainability through the materials they use, the environments they create and the cultures they reinforce.