The Rice University School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Kevin Daly, FAIA, M.Arch. ’85, is the inaugural recipient of the Rice Architecture Alumni Award. Daly founded kevin daly Architects (kdA) in 1990 and has worked on projects as varied as affordable housing, custom residences, public schools, and university buildings. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, the firm has championed research-based approaches to design, taking a particular interest in unconventional building technologies. In Houston, his most recent notable project is the new building for the Houston Endowment, which exemplifies kdA’s innovative practice, which prioritizes sustainability.
“I am delighted that Kevin Daly is the inaugural recipient of our Alumni Award,” said Igor Marjanović, the William Ward Watkin Dean of Rice Architecture. “The work of his practice is formally and technically sophisticated, bringing together beauty, utility, and innovation in the most powerful ways. With its complex material surfaces that engage light and shadow—and a spectacular canopy that further mediates the effects of climate and weather—the Houston Endowment is a particularly inspiring example of kdA’s nuanced approach to design research.”
This award, established in 2023 by Dean Marjanović and the William Ward Watkin Council—the advisory board that supports the dean and the school by serving as advisers and ambassadors—recognizes graduates of the School of Architecture who have made significant contributions to the field through innovative design practice, community engagement, and leadership. It honors emerging or established alumni whose pursuit of excellence provides a lasting inspiration for faculty, students, and other alumni alike.
The award will be presented at the Rice Alumni Weekend Reception on November 3, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. in MD Anderson Hall on the campus of Rice University. For more information about the roster of events planned for Rice Architecture’s Alumni Weekend, please visit arch.rice.edu/events.