BGSU architecture students honored with national and statewide AIA awards

Three recent BGSU alumni won awards at various levels from the American Institute of Architects

The year 2024 has proven to be an award-winning one for recent graduates of the Bowling Green State University Architecture and Environmental Design program.

Three members of the most recent graduating class at BGSU won awards at various levels from the American Institute of Architects, highlighting the quality of student experience students receive in the BGSU architecture program.

Alex Borger ’24 took second place in the AIA Students InStudio Portfolio Competition, a nationwide competition in which Borger entered a portfolio largely completed as a student at BGSU.

Additionally, Madeline Montgomery ’24 and Eduardo Cabrera ’24 swept the AIA Ohio Student Design Competition Awards by finishing first and second, respectively. No award was given for third place.

Borger, a Columbus-area native who graduated last spring and now attends the Southern California Institute of Architecture, said he developed his design style during his time at BGSU with the guidance of innovative faculty like construction management department chair Linda Beall.

“I put in a lot of the work that I was proud of from my undergrad at BGSU, a lot which highlighted and explained my process and what I did to get to where I was,” he said. “The curriculum is very open, in a good way. At BGSU, you’re allowed to bring your own style, and professors are there to mold you and help you get to where you want. I was always focused on doing my style, which allowed me to get to where I’m at now.”

At BGSU, students in construction management as well as architecture and environmental design are educated together in the School of the Built Environment, just as architects and construction managers work together in the field.

Students also must complete two cooperative educational experiences during their time at BGSU, a real-world application that made a significant difference for Montgomery, who hails from Wooster, Ohio.

For their final senior studio as BGSU undergraduates, architecture students were tasked with designing a mixed-use development project for an area of Lakewood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

For one of her internships, Montgomery interned at Dimit Architects - whose office sits right next to the site in question. The combination of classwork and an internship became an award-winning contest entry for Montgomery, who is now pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at BGSU.

“The information I learned in studio helped me get my internship, and information from my internship really familiarized me with the site from the studio project, so it definitely works hand-in-hand,” Montgomery said. “I’m really glad that I’ve done internships already because they do help you with classwork while also giving you insight into what you’ll be doing in the workplace.

“Doing both school and internships let me see all the aspects that go into architecture and helped contribute to the success of my final project in the AIA Ohio competition."

Cabrera, a native of the Dominican Republic who is now pursuing a master's degree at Columbia University, said support from faculty at BGSU helped him apply the concepts he learned as a student to the real world.

The connections between classwork and its outside applications made him more comfortable as a future architect, he said.

“The faculty, especially in the architecture program, is very keen on putting you out there and helping you make connections to the outside world,” Cabrera said. “Personally, they’ve helped me get out and see what’s on the outside world. I definitely think they’ve helped put me in a position where I feel comfortable practicing in the professional world of architecture.”

The BGSU Master of Architecture program received the full, eight-year accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board in 2023, becoming the only program in northwestern Ohio to hold NAAB accreditation.

The distinction allows BGSU graduates to immediately secure their professional licensure upon graduation, after which they can practice architecture anywhere in the United States.