Portman Prize Awarded to Georgia Tech Architecture Student

The well-received documentary, “John Portman: A Life of Building,” recently was screened at the Atlanta Film Festival and on May 23 will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting. Forgoing a traditional narrator, “John Portman: A Life of Building” relies on interviews with architecture and art critics, business associates and Portman himself to tell the story of the remarkable career of the acclaimed Atlanta architect.

In other Portman-related news, the 2012 Portman Prize Competition, established by John Portman & Associates (PORTMAN), has been awarded to Marion Filliatre, a first-year student in the Master of Architecture (M. Arch) program at Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) School of Architecture. Filliatre received first place for her design, “A Museum Between City and Garden.” The project is a design proposal for an art museum located on 10th Street on the northern limit of the Georgia Tech campus. 

“The project develops precise relations between the urban setting, the garden and the art,” said Filliatre describing her winning design in a news release. “The museum is split into two buildings, bending according to the Eco-commons topography. Both are exhibit spaces for sculpture and art installations, a vitrine for all the public.”

The award was established with the intention of encouraging students to develop a holistic design approach that ties the big idea to the small detail. This year students were challenged to construct the design of a hypothetical museum of art environment on the northern limit of Georgia Tech’s campus. This project was an opportunity to further shape the character of Georgia Tech’s “Eco-commons,” its relationship to the larger Atlanta environment and the urban development of the campus edge.

“From its inception the Portman prize has been about providing a link between the profession and the student. It has accomplished this and more; it benefits the profession by encouraging students’ creativity and thought on a higher level. It provides insight to the students into their future, and it is frankly refreshing to get out of the day-to-day efforts of our profession and allow us as architects some free thinking time,” said Gordon Beckman, principal at PORTMAN.

The Portman Prize is an annual competition within Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture that brings some of the most distinguished architects from across the country to serve as jurors. This year Maryann Thompson, founder of the Cambridge-based firm Maryann Thompson Architects, served as the visiting critic; and from PORTMAN, Beckman and Alex Duval, director at Portman Holdings, sat on the jury.

"We are grateful to John Portman & Associates for its sustained support of this visiting critic and design competition program,” said George Johnston, chair of the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech. “The convergence of PORTMAN’s and the School's shared interest in advancing design quality by highlighting the art of architecture benefits the students, the profession and the community at large.”

The first place winner received a cash prize and paid summer internship with PORTMAN. Second place winner, Dana McClure, a first-year in the M. Arch program, and third place winner, Ann Rogers, a second-year, were also awarded cash prices for their outstanding design work.

“The Portman Prize was established to help guide the future leaders of our industry and to empower them to make a difference. The competition allows students an opportunity to experience the interactions that take place within the built environment and to design a concept that allows all touch points to seamlessly merge together,” said John “Jack” Portman, III, CEO of John Portman & Associates and a graduate of the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech.