Chuck Davis, winner of AZA's Wendy Fisher Award for Professional Excellence
Pioneer In Aquarium Design, Chuck Davis, Honored With AZA Award For Professional Excellence
Sept 28, 2010Silver
Spring – The Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA)
has awarded its Wendy Fisher Award for Professional Excellence to Chuck Davis,
FAIA, a founding partner and currently senior principal at Esherick Homsey
Dodge and Davis (EHDD) Architecture, for his outstanding contributions to
integrative aquarium and zoo design.
“Chuck’s pioneering work in aquarium design has touched
countless zoos and aquariums across the country, providing a richer and more
engaging visitor experience,” said AZA President and CEO, Jim Maddy. “AZA is
proud to recognize Chuck’s lifetime architectural achievements with the Wendy
Fisher Award.”
In 2004, AZA established the Wendy Fisher Award for
Professional Excellence to honor those AZA Commercial Members who have
demonstrated outstanding character, leadership, professional excellence and
distinguished service to AZA and fellow Commercial Members, and are strongly
committed to education, conservation, science, recreation, and the welfare of
animals. The award is named for its first recipient, Wendy Fisher, founder of
Mailworks™, who exemplified these qualities by being an active Commercial
Member for over 20 years and was involved in a number of AZA Committees. Only
one recipient can be honored in any given year, and including Fisher herself, Davis is only the third
recipient of the award.
During a remarkable career spanning more than five decades, Davis has created a noteworthy
and diverse portfolio consisting of institutional, private and academic
projects, including several award-winning buildings. His enduring legacy,
however, is in aquarium design. Recognized as an expert in this building type, Davis is credited with
precedent-setting methodology based upon his integrative, complex and
thoroughgoing approach for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, his first aquarium
project.
Davis’
vision for the Monterey Bay Aquarium was not only to design a great aquarium,
but also to build a technically superior facility. In the process, he took Monterey’s regional story
– of sardines, canneries and John Steinbeck – and reinvented a locale; creating
a “place” which references the past - but does not revere it - while looking to
the future. In 1988 the American Institute of Architects gave its prestigious
Honor Award to the aquarium and EHDD for its design. The project’s technical
innovations have since become the industry standard for best practice design of
aquariums.
“Over the past 25 years, there has been a proliferation of aquariums throughout
the world, and many of them look and feel like the Monterey Bay Aquarium
because they have been influenced by its design,” said Julie Packard, Executive
Director of the aquarium. “Chuck’s design changed the way people think about
aquariums, which allowed the Monterey Bay Aquarium to change the way people
think about the ocean.”
The impact of Davis’ work on
the world of aquariums and beyond has been long-lasting and has inspired and
influenced related projects, including the Florida Aquarium, Aquarium of the
Pacific, John G. Shedd Aquarium, National
Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, and Los Angeles
Zoo.
To see a short film showcasing the accomplishments of Chuck
Davis, originally played at the 2010 Association of Aquariums and Zoos
Conference in Houston, TX during Chuck's acceptance of the Wendy
Fisher Award for Professional Excellence, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AMhJyNB7Gk.
Founded in 1924 AZA is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of
conservation, education, science, and recreation. Look for the AZA logo
whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting
a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great
experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a
leader in global wildlife conservation, and your link to helping animals in their
native habitats.
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