Miami-based architect and urban planner Chad Oppenheim received the 2023 American Prize for Architecture in Chicago, a prestigious accolade jointly presented by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Recognized globally as a top honor for architecture in the U.S., the award highlights Oppenheim’s remarkable career spanning across two decades.
His extensive portfolio includes cultural and hospitality structures, residences, and urban master planning projects across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.
Oppenheim’s design philosophy considers elements such as soil, colors, landscape, winds, and the sun’s movement, creating designs that deeply understand a site’s potential and experience.
Noteworthy in the architect’s designs is a commitment to sustainability and environmental consciousness. His projects, such as the Wadi Rum Desert Resort in Petra, Jordan, showcase conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and the integration of green roofs for thermal insulation in his Qatar resort. His ongoing project, the Desert Rock Resort in Saudi Arabia, is also part of a vast eco-tourism development.
The “green architect”—as noted by Narkiewicz-Laine—is a Cornell University graduate, he founded Oppenheim Architecture in 1999, focusing on sensory, site-specific architecture responding to its context. His notable projects include the Ayla Golf Academy and Clubhouse in Jordan and estates in Aspen, Colo.
In Oppenheim’s words, “To live in harmony with the natural world, we must learn how to re-engage the land. Earnest and timeless, the architecture is simultaneously powerful yet comfortable; primitive yet innovative; casual yet elegant; raw yet refined.”
The American Prize for Architecture, known as The Louis H. Sullivan Award, was established in 1994 to honor architects charting new directions in American architecture. Jointly organized by The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, the award pays homage to Louis Sullivan and influential Chicago practitioners.
