(September 29, 2026. Sacramento, CA)—Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, whose architecture catalyzes authentic experience for users by revealing the extraordinary in the ordinary, is the 2026 Maybeck Award recipient. Scarpa’s pursuit of design that creates engagement between inhabitant and building, inviting users to see the known in new ways, is mirrored in his own practice where he develops novel ways for architects to approach, reconsider, and expand the vocabulary of design—transforming architectural practice itself.
Named for Bernard Ralph Maybeck, the California architect who has influenced designers for over a century, the Maybeck Award recognizes outstanding achievement in architectural design as expressed in a body of work produced by an individual architect over a period of at least 10 years.
“Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, has produced a significant and wide-ranging body of work, both innovative and exploratory in its ambitions,” noted the Jury in awarding Scarpa the highest design award the AIA California bestows on an individual architect. “He follows no trends. His solutions always respond to and address specifics of place and person; the oeuvre—far-flung, around the world, yet local and of place.”
Scarpa’s portfolio illustrates a practice where “the ordinary is extraordinary” through an approach that questions the process of design and building, and rethinks material, form, construction, and even financing. For three decades, he has applied this rigor and curiosity to a wide breadth of typologies including design that champions sustainability, and the expression of social justice in housing.
His consideration of mundane sustainable materials advances their use as aesthetic as well as functional tools and turns them into moments of wonder—“it’s not design and sustainable design, it’s all design” he observes; and he embraces affordable and supportive housing as space to offer beauty and individualized place making, honoring it along side his institutional, cultural, and single-family residential work.
“What makes it rare, is the breadth of Scarpa’s commitment — under-resourced public and affordable housing alongside museums and residences, held together by a consistent design intelligence,” said the Jury. “Scarpa holds a laudable career practicing and propagating excellence in architecture.”
Encapsulating the work’s impact, in a letter of support for Scarpa’s submission, Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, wrote:
“In the practice and work of Larry Scarpa, FAIA, I see a patient and passionate search for true things. Larry’s architecture represents a commitment to enriching the experience of the everyday world by simply ‘building well.’
“The result is a distinctive body of work with a logic that opens the repressed raw power of architecture; its material, social, environmental and cultural possibilities, while avoiding the formal and technological excess of our discipline…”
In accepting the 2026 Maybeck Award, Scarpa said, “To receive the Maybeck Award is an extraordinary honor. Architecture has given me the opportunity to explore ideas, challenge conventions, and, most importantly, improve the everyday lives of people and communities. I believe our greatest responsibility as architects is to make places that are generous—to people, to communities, and to the environment. The most meaningful architecture does more with less, finds possibility where others see limitations, and demonstrates that design excellence and social purpose are not competing ambitions, but inseparable ones. I am honored to receive an award that celebrates that belief and a lifetime devoted to exploring architecture’s capacity to make a meaningful difference.”
Decided at the same time as AIA California Design Awards, the 2026 Maybeck Award jury was comprised of:
About the American Institute of Architects California (AIA California)
AIA California is dedicated to serving its members, and uniting all architecture professionals in the design of a more just, equitable, and resilient future through advocacy, education, and political action. It celebrates more than 75 years of service and, today, is composed of more than 11,000 members across the state.
