The Georgia Tech School of Architecture is pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Snow, FAIA of Snow Kreilich Architects, as the 2015 Portman Visiting Critic.  Snow will participate as a visiting critic, guest lecturer, and serve as jury chair for the selection of the Portman Prize. As Portman Visiting Critic, Snow will contribute to the School’s comprehensive graduate design studio integrating coursework in architectural and site design, construction technology, and the art of detail.  Snow will present a public lecture at 6pm on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, in the Reinsch-Pierce Auditorium at Georgia Tech.       

Julie Snow

A graduate of the University of Colorado, Julie Snow, FAIA, lived and worked abroad for several years before establishing a practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Snow founded Julie Snow Architects in 1995 and now leads, along with Matt Kreilich, AIA, the studio-based practice, Snow Kreilich Architects. The studio’s diverse scale and type of work is joined by a common exploration of material and detail. Its interest in pragmatic and critical programmatic reflection results in innovative designs that expand the understanding of architectural performance. Design strategies engage issues of how architecture performs within each project's social, cultural, and economic context. Her portfolio includes many highly crafted, graceful, elegant, and responsive residences, commercial buildings, and institutional facilities.  The studio’s work has appeared in many professional journals, in several surveys of architecture, and at the Chicago Architectural Foundation.  In 2005, Princeton Architectural Press published the first monograph on the studio’s work in its series on emerging designers from around the world.

Snow has earned numerous awards, including national and international honors such as the AIA Honor Award, Holcim North American Award, Progressive Architecture Design Award, the Chicago Athenaeum’s American and International Architecture Awards, Architect Magazine Annual Design Review, the Design Distinction Award from I.D. magazine, Business Week/Architectural Record Awards, US General Services Administration's Design Excellence Awards and the 2014 AIA Minnesota Gold Award.  Additionally, Snow has held several visiting professor positions including the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the University of Arkansas, University of Maryland, Washington University, Syracuse University, and University of Southern California. After teaching at the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, she received the Ralph Rapson Award for Distinguished Teaching. She has lectured at the Buenos Aires Bienalle, the National Building Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, and at many universities including Harvard, Cornell, and Yale.

The Portman Prize

In order to encourage student accomplishment and excellence in the integration of technical considerations as a key constituent of the design process, the Portman Prize will be awarded by a jury comprised of the Portman Visiting Critic as jury chair; representatives of the firm of John Portman & Associates; and other invited participants. Students will be advanced to the final jury stage through a prior juried selection process. The final jury will award ranked prizes each carrying monetary awards. The top prizewinner will also be offered a summer internship in the office of John Portman & Associates.

The Portman Prize and Visiting Critic Program has been generously supported for over a decade by the Atlanta firm of John Portman & Associates, Inc. Portman is an internationally recognized architectural and engineering firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Shanghai, China. Established in 1953, Portman has over 50 years of expertise in designing hotels, universities, offices, trade marts, and mixed-use urban complexes all around the world. Vision, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit are the fundamental factors that influence their human-centered design philosophy. Georgia Tech is proud to be a partner with Portman in advancing these values through the Portman Prize.