Freedom By Design Chapter Wins 2016 AIAS Honor Award

The UNC Charlotte chapter of Freedom By Design™ has won the 2016 Freedom By Design Program Honor Award from the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). The AIAS Honor Awards were developed to publicly recognize outstanding achievements by students, educators, and practitioners who have exhibited an exemplary commitment to the education and development of architecture students.

As the AIAS community service program, Freedom By Design™ encourages architecture students to use their skills to “radically impact the lives of people in their communities,” says the AIAS website. The UNC Charlotte School of Architecture started a Freedom By Design™ program in 2007 under the mentorship of architecture faculty John Nelson, Greg Snyder, and David Thaddeus. Last year, the UNC Charlotte chapter was recognized with two AIAS 2015 Honor Awards.

The chapter recently completed Phase 1 of a two-phase project for a playground at the Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, run by Families First in Cabarrus County. Phase 2 of the project will be completed in this academic year.

The 2016 Honor Award will be presented on December 30 during a special awards ceremony at the AIAS Forum 2016 in Boston.