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The 2004 "M" Awards Jury
The Masonry Institute of Michigan and AIA Michigan would like to thank
AIA Orange County, CA and this year's jury members George
Bissel, AIA, Jerry Allison, FAIA and Robert
A. Brooks, AIA, for their time, energy and expertise.
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| 2004 Masonry Award jury members
(from left) George Bissel, AIA, Jerry Allison, FAIA and Robert A.
Brooks, AIA hard at work in the offices of AIA Orange County, reviewing
and discussing the award entries. |
Many thanks to Executive Director,
Cheryl Steele for the use of the AIA Orange County offices. |
TOP
 Gerald
Allison, FAIA
President, WATG International
Jerry Allison has been deeply involved in the development of the firm
and its international expansion since joining the firm in 1957.
Recognized throughout the world for his contribution to the advancement
of tourism and his commitment to the environment, Jerry is a frequent
guest speaker at worldwide conferences.
In addition to serving as design consultant for national tourism studies,
he has published many articles on tourism and resort design and served
on several prestigious national and international design award juries.
In recognition of his design excellence and community service, Jerry
was elected to the College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects.
He has received numerous personal citations and prominent design awards
for WATG including the world renowned Aga Khan Award for Architecture,
the Platinum Circle Award for his design contribution to the hotel industry,
Lifetime Achievement Award in Hospitality from Hocking College, and the
Ray Bradbury Creativity Award.
Jerry brings to the firm specialized expertise in the design and creation
of themed hospitality, leisure and entertainment projects.
Project experience includes:
- Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort and Wedding Pavilion, Orlando,
Florida
- Disneyland Paris Hotel, Paris, France
- Agua Caliente Spa Resort Casino, Palm Springs, California
- The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Naples, Florida
- Ibusuki Kanko Hotel, Kyushu, Japan
- The Palace of the Lost City Resort Hotel, Theme Park & Clubhouse,
Sun City, South Africa
- Atlantis, Paradise Island Resort, Nassau, Bahamas
- Disneyland Hong Kong Resort Hotel, Hong Kong
- Shades of Green Hotel at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
- The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas Resort, Henderson, Nevada
- Village of MonteLago - Retail and Residential at Lake Las Vegas Resort,
Henderson, Nevada
- The Mansion at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Private Residence, Bel Air, California
- Shangri-La Hotel Garden Wing, Singapore
- The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, USVI
- Tanjong Jara Resort, Malaysia
- Hotel Bora Bora, Tahiti
- Hotel Lotte Cheju, Cheju, Korea
- Hyatt Regency Cheju, Cheju, Korea
- Palace of the Golden Horses, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
TOP
 George
Bissell, FAIA
George Bissell graduated from the University of Southern California in
1953 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. After apprenticeship with
several firms and obtaining registration in California (C-2462), he formed
a partnership in Pasadena in 1957. The office moved to Orange County in
1960 and evolved to Bissell Architects. Bissell was elected to Fellowship
in the American Institute of Architects in 1974. In 1991 he was awarded
the Richard Upjohn Fellowship for outstanding service to the profession.
He is a past president of the Orange County Chapter, AIA(1975),past
president of the California Council, AIA;(1978) and past National Director
of the American Institute of Architects(1980-83). Bissell has been a teacher
of design at Cal Poly Pomona and a visiting critic at Cal Poly S.L.O.
He has also served on the Dean's Advisory Council at the School of Architecture
at U.S.C. Mr. Bissell has had extensive experience as the responsible
principal in the management and design of numerous projects for the Federal
Government; the State of California; the Counties of Orange, Los Angeles
and San Bernardino; many municipalities including Irvine, Santa Ana, Fullerton,
Garden Grove and Carlsbad; and the Catholic Dioceses of Orange, Los Angeles
and San Bernardino.
The firm has received a measure of recognition from the profession. The
first AIA award was a Merit Award from the Pasadena Chapter in 1959. This
has been followed by a number of design awards from the AIA Chapters of
Pasadena, Los Angeles and Orange County; the International Prestressed
Concrete Institute Award in 1964 for a concrete shell house in Laguna
Niguel; the Progressive Architecture Award in 1974 for the Mustang Island
Resort in Corpus Christi, Texas; the National AIA Honor Award in 1978
for the 770 unit Sixty-01 condo/resort project in Redmond, Washington;
the California Council AIA Merit Award in 1988 for the Environment for
the Papal Mass in the Los Angeles Coliseum; and the National AIA Honor
Award for Religious Architecture in 1998 for the San Francisco Solano
Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Margarita. In June, 2000, George Bissell
received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AIA California Council,
the highest honor given to an individual for a career of outstanding contributions
to the built environment.
TOP
 Robert
A. Brooks, AIA
A Native Southern Californian who grew up in and around the Entertainment
Industry.
In 1976, at the age of 16, Robert began his career developing landscape
projects at Knott’s Berry Farm, a California landmark amusement
park. Two and a half years later Robert was promoted and began his apprenticeship
developing rides and attractions.
During Robert’s fourteen-year stay at Knott’s, he was instrumental
in the design, development and construction of projects such as:
- The historical redevelopment of their Ghost Town area.
- Camp Snoopy, a ten-acre children’s play area with attractions
based on the beauty of the High Sierras. Camp Snoopy has been nationally
recognized for being the first truly integrated children’s play
area.
- The development of their Fiesta Village area. Fiesta Village was
awarded the Liesberg Honor, an international award given to theme park
developments, which define new standards in the industry.
- The 20-acre Big Foot Rapids raft ride and surrounding area development.
- The expansion of the Roaring 20’s area, which included two
new rides.
- The Boomerang Roller Coaster ride and surrounding area development.
In 1990, Robert left Knott’s Berry Farm as Manager of Design and
Planning and began his employment with Walt Disney Imagineering as a Principal
Concept Architect in the Creative Development division. At Imagineering,
a list of projects include the following:
The Tower of Terror attraction in Orlando, Florida.
The master planning and conceptual design on:
- The Westcot Resort in Anaheim, California.
- The Disney Seas Resort in Long Beach, California.
- Disney’s resort complex in Singapore, which later became the
genesis for Disney’s resort complex in Hong Kong.
- Disney Paris’ 2nd gate, theme park and studio complex.
- Disney’s 5th gate / sports park in Orlando, Florida.
The design, development and construction of:
- The Walt Disney Gallery in Santa Ana, California.
- The “flagship” Disney store in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- The “flagship” Disney store on 5th Avenue in New York,
New York.
He has also been involved at Imagineering developing ideas on such projects
as:
- The “flagship” Disney store at Union Square in San Francisco,
California.
- Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California.
- The World of Disney Store in Orlando, Florida.
- A prototype ESPN store.
- Club Disney in West Lake Village, California.
- Kidscot in Orlando, Florida.
- A floating theme park, which potentially was to tour throughout South
East Asia.
- A prototype for Disney’s Movie Palace.
- The prototype ESPN Zone on 42nd Street in New York, New York.
- The Disney Quest prototypes in Orlando, Florida, Mall of America,
Bloomington, Minnesota, San Francisco, California, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and Toronto, Canada.
Robert is currently on assignment as Creative Director for Disney’s
California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. His responsibilities
include a balance of day-to-day design direction and long-term master
planning.
In addition to his work at Knott’s Berry Farm and Walt Disney Imagineering,
Robert has collaborated on numerous entertainment projects both domestically
and internationally on a freelance basis. Projects include:
- The 7-acre Billabong indoor theme park in Melbourne, Australia.
- The 2,000-acre master plan for the nationalization of the film industry
in Koomera, Australia.
- The Riverside International Raceway complex in Riverside, California.
- The 7.5-acre master plan for Camp Snoopy theme park in Mall of America
in Bloomington, Minnesota.
- A cultural center on the island of Bali in Indonesia.
- The Coca-Cola VIP center for the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia.
- The interiors and exhibit design for the Discovery Science Center
in Santa Ana, California.
Robert recently exhibited nine pieces of his work in a museum collection
titled “The Architecture of Reassurance: Designing the Disney theme
parks”, organized by the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal.
As well, Robert has been an active board member for the American Society
of Engineers and Architects and currently serves as Design Director for
the American Institute of Architects, Orange County.
Robert’s career objectives have been focused on new and innovative
business opportunities that deliver entertainment related projects into
major domestic and international markets. With a license in architecture
(#C-26974) and a career spanning over twenty-eight years, Robert has learned
to love the collaborative environment where artists, designers, architects,
engineers and craftsmen strive together, not only to blur the edges but
to push the envelope of traditional entertainment design.
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