Architect Ali Kopyt, AIA, NCARB, Milwaukee, has been selected to receive the 2021 Young Architect Award presented by AIA Wisconsin, the state society of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The AIA Wisconsin Young Architect Award annually honors individuals who, in the early stage of their professional career, have demonstrated exceptional leadership and contributed significantly to the profession of architecture and the community at large. Architects licensed ten or fewer years are eligible for the award. The award recognizes architectural talent and contributions in one or more of the following categories: design excellence, practice, education and service.

The award will be presented during the 2021 Design Awards Program scheduled for this fall.

Kopyt is a managing architect with Korb + Associates Architects. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Architecture from  Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as a Masters of Architecture and a Masters of Urban Planning with certificates in Historic Preservation and Ecological Design, from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP).

Kopyt’s passions lie with historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and affordable housing projects. She describes quality housing not only as a great equalizer, but as an important catalyst in community connectivity, inspiring pride and opportunity for ongoing development. Her focus on historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects “brings to life typically blighted buildings as opportunities to enhance the built environment.”

In addition, Kopyt serves as a leader in the community.

• Her fundraising efforts and service on the Leenhouts Scholarship Committee helped fully endow one of the largest scholarships now offered at SARUP.
• She cofounded Women in Design Milwaukee (WID), which was recently honored by the AIA’s Diversity Recognition Program.
• Kopyt mentors emerging professionals and helps coordinate SARUP student externships during spring and winter breaks.
• And finally, she is an original and sustaining partner in the Mobile Design Box community outreach initiative, whose goal is to develop relations between the city of Milwaukee and SARUP through pop up gallery space in vacant storefronts.

Kopyt is an excellent example of young leadership in the architecture profession and AIA.

“Ali’s outreach is not just limited to the profession,” notes AIA Wisconsin President Jennifer L. Lehrke, AIA. “It’s far reaching and inclusive.”

With over 1,500 individual members, AIA Wisconsin represents architects in private practice, business, industry, government and academia. Founded in 1911, it is the state society of the American Institute of Architects.