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April 20, 2020

Steve Izenour, 1940 – 2001, was an architect, urbanist and theorist who worked closely with Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. With them, he co-authored the phenomenally influential book, Learning from Las Vegas. He was also a much loved colleague and instructor in the Architecture program at Drexel.

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Known by his friends as “Steve Ize,” he is honored each year through a student competition offered in the fourth year. Students are encouraged to explore space, image, and graphics through the design of a small building. And no project in honor of Steve would be complete without it also being fun, ironic, playful and whimsical.

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This year’s project involved a bike rest stop along the Schuylkill River off of Kelly Drive. In our current all-online universe, students had a week to develop an idea and post it into our electronic blackboard where it was judged by a panel of Drexel luminaries, all former colleagues and friends of Steve.

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On a Saturday morning, with coffee cups in hand and, in some cases, unruly hair, the jury assembled on Zoom.��There were serious deliberations, lighthearted banter, and a few questionable jokes, generally at each other’s expense. In other words, exactly as Steve would have wanted it.

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The winner of this year’s Ize Prize is Francesca “Frankie” Alchanati. Her lyrical, spacious and inviting design was a clear jury favorite.��Gi Giannone took second place and Natalie Cross took third. The jury, operating with its usual flexible rules, chose to make two additional awards:��Wes Stoltzfus was honored for his powerful day/night images, and Jonathan “JP” Porat was awarded the newly minted ‘Strangely Extraordinary’ citation.

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The jury also noted that all of the submissions contained compelling ideas and images. The entire body of work will be on display in yet another electronic site – MURAL – for all to see.