APLA Alumni Recognized with 2024 AIA Young Architects Awards

The AIA is the largest network of architects and design professionals, with more than 98,000 members worldwide. The Young Architects Award recognizes AIA members in the early stages of their architectural careers who have shown exceptional leadership in design, planning, education and service to the profession.

Garver—who holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University in addition to her Auburn bachelor’s degrees in Architecture and Interior Architecture—is Dean and Faculty of Practice and Director of Applied Learning at Boston Architectural College (BAC) in Boston, Massachusetts.

Prior to joining the faculty at BAC in 2014, she worked a number of years with Rafael Viñoly Architects in New York, N.Y., and San Francisco, California, managing large laboratory and healthcare projects through design and completion, including on-site construction and administration supervision.

At BAC, Garver co-founded the Gateway Office (GO) in 2022, “pioneering a new model for community-based design that serves as a local and global gateway to social entrepreneurship, environmental justice and innovative design practice. GO is a catalyst for change, with a groundbreaking approach utilizing at least 90 percent reused or reclaimed materials in its projects.”

Garver is also founder of BLG Architecture, LLC, a research and design studio in Somerville, Massachusetts. In addition, she has served in various board leadership positions, including for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the Boston Society of Architects AIA chapter and Root Division, a nonprofit committed to accessibility in the allied arts. She currently serves on the American Institute of Architecture Students’ (AIAS) national board of directors.

Wicke is a co-founder of Prospect Studio in Wilson, Wyoming. While at Auburn he was heavily involved with the Rural Studio and part of the team that designed and built the Boys and Girls Club in Akron, Alabama. Upon completion of the project, he joined the Studio’s faculty and went on to lead the $20K House Project, curate exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, while also lecturing internationally.

He later joined Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago, Illinois, where he spent five years as a project architect focused on both new construction and adaptive re-use projects. His work won wide recognition, including multiple AIA awards and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for Architectural Excellence in Community Design.

Wicke says his work is still motivated by Rural Studio founder Samuel Mockbee’s mantra: “Take something ordinary and make it into something extraordinary.” At Prospect Studio, he spearheaded the development of the firm’s processes and systems to ensure it functions collaboratively and with high standards as it pursues a balance of private and public projects. Through his leadership, the studio grew to include 18 staff members in its first year of operation.