Samantha Flores, AIA, has made a career out of innovation--so it’s only fitting that she join the jury for the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Forge Prize, a conceptual competition that challenges emerging architects, architecture educators, and graduate students to dream big and come up with a vision for the future that capitalizes on the full potential of structural steel.
Flores is the vice president and director of the innovation and research center (known as Hugo) at Corgan.
In that role, Flores is responsible for elevating data-driven design around the human experience, examining the various impacts emerging technologies and evolving human behaviors will have on the future user experience and built environment. Her team’s research includes everything from olfactory architecture and how we design with our sense of smell to future lunar development and how we conduct daily routines in extreme environments.
“Samantha’s vision and creativity makes her an ideal fit for the Forge Prize,” said AISC Senior Architect for University Relations Jeanne Homer, AIA. “She has designed skyports, spaceports, vertical farms, and mobile data centers--precisely the kind of emerging architecture typologies we’ve seen in previous Forge Prize competitions.”
Prior to leading Corgan’s innovation and research efforts, Flores spent six years as an architect in Corgan’s Aviation studio, designing international airports.
Flores received her Bachelor of Architecture from Oklahoma State University, and her Masters of Architecture from Princeton University.
The 2024 Forge Prize jury also includes Reed Kroloff of the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Architect Editor-in-Chief Paul Makovsky.
About the Forge Prize
The Forge Prize, established in 2018, is a unique opportunity for creative thinkers to come up with visionary designs that embrace steel as a primary structural component and capitalize on steel's ability to increase a project's speed. Entries are due November 30--and the stakes are high.
Three finalists will each win $5,000 and work with a steel fabricator to further develop their ideas before presenting them live to the world on a global YouTube stream. The winner will receive the $10,000 grand prize.
All finalists will receive complimentary registration for NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio (March 20 to 22, 2024), and the winner will present their concept to an audience of the industry's best minds at the Steel Conference’s Architecture in Steel specialty conference.