Scott Simons,

FAIA Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...

(born 21 March 1954 in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

) is an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and planner based in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. He is a principal partner and founder of

Scott Simons Architects Simons Architects (SA) is a fifteen-person (four partners & eleven staff) architecture, design, and planning firm located in Portland, Maine. Background SA was first established in New York City in 1983 by Scott Simons, FAIA and has since produ ...

. Simons graduated ''cum laude'' with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1976. He went on to receive a

Master of Architecture The “Master of Architecture”(M.Arch or MArch) or a “Bachelor of Architecture” is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that res ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1980 where he also received an AIA School Medal and Certificate of Merit. Simons is recognized as a Distinguished Alum from the Institute for Civic Leadership (2008), and he has served as a design critic at the University of Pennsylvania,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

. Previous to establishing a firm bearing his name, Simons worked at the notable studios of Geddes Brecker Qualls Cunningham (1980–81),

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most im ...

Associates (1981–83), and

Sasaki Associates Sasaki is a design firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design, Urban Design, Space Planning, Landscape Architecture, Ecology, Civil Engineering, and Place Branding. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, but practices on an i ...

(1989-92). The architect's self-designed residence, commonly labeled the Hillside House, creates "...space without definition and asa strong connection to the outside.” Simons is a founding member and past president of the Portland Society for Architecture, an

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

board member, and a former board member of the

Waynflete School Waynflete School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1898 for early childhood education (from age 3) to twelfth grade, in Portland, Maine. History In 1898, Waynflete School was established by Agnes Lowell ...

and Yarmouth Arts. He has been instrumental to lauded transformations to historical buildings in Maine. In 2014, he was recognized for his effect on the

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

as one of Maine's fifty most influential people. In 2015, Simons presented at Maine Live, a symposium of visionary Mainers. As a member of the

, he was elevated to a

Fellow of the American Institute of Architects Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...

in 2016 in Category One: “To promote the aesthetic, scientific, and practical efficiency of the profession”.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Scott 20th-century American architects 1954 births Dartmouth College alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni Artists from Portland, Maine People from Rome, New York Living people 21st-century American architects