AISC's IDEAS² Awards
IDEAS² Awards
Stay tuned! AISC will begin accepting submissions for the 2025 IDEAS² Awards in May.
Project teams across the country continue to push the boundaries with structural steel. This year, there are six projects that you need to know about for 2024.
They’re this year’s winners of the structural steel industry’s highest design honor: the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (or IDEAS²) Awards, presented by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
“In previous years, the jury has considered projects in budget-based categories, but innovation comes in projects of all scales and sizes,” said AISC Senior Vice President Scott Melnick. “This year’s jury set out to find the projects that take full advantage of the specific benefits like sustainability, cost, speed, reliability, and resilience that make structural steel the best choice for designers--and they succeeded.”
The winners will be featured in the May 2024 issue of Modern Steel Construction magazine.
What are the IDEAS² Awards?
Sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS²) Award program recognizes projects that illustrate the exciting possibilities of building with structural steel. The IDEAS² awards showcase the innovative use of structural steel in:
- the accomplishment of the structure's program
- the expression of architectural intent
- the application of innovative design approaches to the structural system
- leveraging productivity-enhancing construction methods
AISC’s award programs have celebrated landmark structures built with structural steel since 1960. These architectural icons span generations and stand the test of time. AISC recognizes and promotes these projects in recognition of their impact in terms of structural innovation, advances in safety, benefit to the local community, and environmental consciousness.
While many of the winners are landmark structures, the awards program also honors smaller, less well-known projects. What all of the winners share is a commitment to innovation and imaginative design!
Award Archives
AISC had a number of award programs celebrating landmark structures built with structural steel since 1960. Regardless of which award they won, these architectural icons span generations and stand the test of time. AISC recognizes and promotes these projects in recognition of their impact in terms of structural innovation, advances in safety, benefit to the local community, and environmental consciousness.
While many of the winners are landmark structures, the awards program also honors smaller, less well-known projects. Winners have included widely recognized projects such as The Gateway Arch in St. Louis and The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. as well as an outstanding monumental stair, a gorgeous public transit station, and the sustainable equipment barn at a winery in addition to jaw-dropping high-rises and striking education buildings. What all of the winners share is a commitment to innovation and imaginative design!
Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) Awards Archive
In 2006, AISC joined its two previously separate architecture and structural engineering awards programs (EAE and IDEAS) into one: The IDEAS² Awards. This awards program was designed to recognize all team members responsible for excellence and innovation in a project’s use of structural steel.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
| 2007 | 2006 |
Innovative Design and Excellence in Architecture with Steel (IDEAS) Awards Archive
The Innovative Design and Excellence in Architecture with Steel (IDEAS) Awards, presented from 1997-2005, recognized those designs where structural steel formed a prominent architectural feature of a building, either as an exterior or interior application.
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| 2002 | 2001 | 1999 |
| 1997 |
Architectural Awards of Excellence (AAE) Archive
AISC established the Architectural Awards of Excellence in 1960 to recognize and honor outstanding architectural design in structural steel and to encourage further exploration of the many aesthetic possibilities that are inherent with steel construction.
| 1990 | 1987 | 1985 | 1983 |
| 1981 | 1979 | 1978 | 1977 |
| 1975 | 1974 | 1973 | 1972 |
| 1971 | 1970 | 1969 | 1968 |
| 1967 | 1966 | 1965 | 1964 |
| 1963 | 1962 | 1961 | 1960 |