By Caitlin Sweeney
Since 1955, the Board of Directors of AIA Chicago has recognized individuals and organizations who have given outstanding service to the Chicago architectural community as a whole, including service to the profession, public service, and education.
Weiss is the principal and founder of Weiss Architects. He established WA in 1998 after 28 years of experience in two of Chicago’s premier architecture firms. Weiss serves as principal designer of all of WA’s projects and provides oversight management for all of our endeavors. Weiss’ designs incorporate functional pragmatism with a particular emphasis on structure and materiality.
Weiss was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1995. He served as the president of AIA Chicago in 1990 and as a member of the National AIA Contract Documents Committee from 1988 to 2008, during which tenure he was involved in drafting A201-1997 and A201-2007 and all of the digital practice documents, among others. He was Chair of the Documents Committee in 1992 and 1993 and Chair of the Digital Practice Committee and Electronic Documents Task Force at various times.
Weiss speaks regularly around the country on the practice of architecture and the workings of the construction industry. He serves as a construction arbitrator under auspices of the American Arbitration Association and is an AIA representative on the AAA National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Mies van der Rohe Society at iit and on the Code of Standard Practices Committee of the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Other awards include the Chicago Building Congress Award of Merit, 2003, the Chicago Building Congress Honor Award, 2012 and the Chicago Building Congress Award of Merit, 2012.