Marywood University\u2019s School of Architecture recently received the 2025 Social Impact Award from the American Institute of Architects Pennsylvania (AIA Pennsylvania).<\/p>\n
The honor is part of the AIA Pennsylvania Architectural Excellence Special Awards program, which recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals, organizations and institutions that advance the built environment and the architectural profession across the state.<\/p>\n
The Social Impact Award celebrates design work that advances positive social, environmental and economic change. The recognition highlights efforts that are innovative, scalable and measurable, underscoring the belief that design is a powerful tool for improving lives, strengthening communities and shaping a betterworld.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe School of Architecture at Marywood University has a deeply rooted commitment to teaching the value of impacting community through design,\u201d Catherine Broh, AIA, secretary, executive committee, AIA Pennsylvania board of directors, said in a news release. Broh presented the award. \u201cFor years, their faculty, staff and students have actively partnered with local and regional communities to provide meaningful design assistance that addresses real world challenges in the northeast region of the state,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Broh cited projects that encompass designing and constructing a range of community-focused solutions, including much-needed bus stops for a nearby town, community gardens that demonstrate how design can be both pragmatic and beautiful, and teaching local elementary students how design impacts their lives.<\/p>\n
The Marywood University School of Architecture\u2019s recent initiatives include:<\/p>\n
Observe Scranton festivals in partnership with the Center for the Living City (2021, 2023, 2025).
\nGarden Structures for Camp Create (2025).
\nVirtual reconstruction of a railcar at Steamtown National Historic Site (2025).
\nLightUP Everhart for the Everhart Museum (2024).
\nArchitecture in Schools K\u201312 Education Initiative (2021\u20132024).
\nHosting the International & Northeast Pennsylvania Regional Bridge Building Competitions (2022, 2025).
\nGlacier Jane: Zero-energy renovation of the Mariner\u2019s Unit at Girl Scouts\u2019 Camp Archbald (2022\u20132024), awarded second prize in the Retrofit Housing Division of the 2023 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge.
\nAdaptive reuse of the Gravity Slope Colliery for Archbald Borough (2021\u20132024).
\nBarn renovation for Arthur\u2019s Acres Animal Sanctuary (2023).
\nPublic space design for the Garden of Cedar (2021\u20132025).
\nRecreational infrastructure for the Lackawanna River Conservation Association (2022).
\nAdaptive reuse of the former PNC Bank for the Black Scranton Project Center for Arts & Culture (2021).
\nBus shelters for Valley in Motion (2021).
\nElectric Jane: Net-zero townhouses for Endless Mountains Habitat for Humanity (2020\u20132021), awarded first prize in the Attached Housing Division of the 2021 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Design Challenge.<\/p>\n
Through hands-on partnerships and community-driven design, the university\u2019s School of Architecture empowers students to engage with people of all social and economic backgrounds and encourages the next generation of designers to positively impact their communities as they develop into architects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marywood University\u2019s School of Architecture recently received the 2025 Social Impact Award from the American Institute of Architects…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2136,201,28,178,180,179,3053,17677],"class_list":{"0":"post-81091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-dunmore","9":"tag-lackawanna-county","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-scranton","12":"tag-scranton-headlines","13":"tag-scranton-news","14":"tag-valley-advantage","15":"tag-valley-advantage-school-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}