The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) recently announced that Professor Peter Russell, founding dean of the Institute for Future Human Habitats at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS), has been named an honorary fellow to the century-old organization.
The RAIC, which is the equivalent to the American Institute of Architects, was founded in 1907 to advocate for a better built environment in Canada.
The fellowship, one of the RAIC’s highest honors conferred to non-members, is reserved for those who have achieved international professional eminence or have rendered distinctive service to the profession or to the community at large.
Russell, a Canadian-born architect and educator, is being recognized by Canada's academy of architects for his leadership in cross-disciplinary architectural education and his pioneering work on future human habitats.
“I am deeply honored,” Russell says. “The RAIC identifies leaders in the architecture community not only within Canada but around the world, and I am grateful to be recognized for my work in shaping new approaches to architectural education and research at the intersection of technology, environment, and human well-being.”
Russell will accept the 2026 fellowship alongside Tosin Oshinowo, a Nigerian architect, curator, and designer known for her contextual minimalism and climate-responsive practice based in Lagos; Stephen T. Ayers, former Architect of the Capitol of the United States, who oversaw the U.S. Capitol Building and its grounds; Farrokh Derakhshani, an Iranian architect and urban planner who has directed the Aga Khan Award for Architecture since 2006; Angela Brooks, recipient of the 2022 National AIA Gold Medal along with Lawrence Scarpa, also a recipient of the 2022 National AIA Gold Medal, the institute’s most prestigious honor.
Past RAIC honorary fellows include architecture legends Frank Gehry and Shigeru Ban, as well as inventor and engineer Buckminster Fuller, among other innovative architects and advocates around the world.
Source from Institute for Future Human Habitats
Edited by Chen Jundou
Reviewed by Lin Zhoulu
Layout by Peng Bin
