Annmarie Adams, the Stevenson Chair in the History and Philosophy of Science, including Medicine, has been named as one of two recipients of the 2017 President’s Medal for Media in Architecture given by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). The award recognizes storytelling about buildings and cities that promotes understanding of architecture and the role of architects in the daily lives of Canadians.
Adams was so honoured for a two-page article that synthesizes the history of Canadian hospital architecture over the past 165 years. The article, Canadian hospital architecture: how we got here, was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in March 2016.
It is representative of many articles published by Adams, over the past 25 years, in Canada and the United States that are intended to educate health-care professionals about the value, history, and state of Canadian health-care design.
“She conveys to varied audiences the power inherent in architecture to influence important life and death decisions,” said the jury citation. “She helps physicians understand the importance of the buildings in which they work.”
John Bentley Mays, a columnist in the Globe and Mail, was the other winner of the President’s Medal. For four decades, until his death in September 2016, Mays was one of Canada’s most insightful, intelligent and influential observers of architecture.