AIA Gold Medal: Edward Mazria

A short note to say congratulations to Edward Mazria, winner of the 2021 AIA Gold Medal, announced this week. He’s an important figure in the history of solar architecture, principally for his authorship of The Passive Solar Energy Book (Rodale, 1979). In fact he’s probably the most “green” architect to win the AIA Gold Medal, so maybe this award signals a positive turn in that direction.

As I mentioned in my book The Solar House, there was great demand for information about passive solar heating in the late 1970s, and sales of Mazria’s book totaled about 500,000. This remains a rather astonishing number. Although our knowledge and tools have evolved, the book remains a fundamental resource and a historical record of that important period.

More information, and some images of Mazria’s early passive solar architecture, at Architecture Magazine.