LINCOLN, Neb.—October 26, 2020—The Nebraska chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced The Clark Enersen Partners’ Lowell Berg, AIA, NCARB, as the 2020 recipient of its highest honor, the Harry F. Cunningham Gold Medal award. He will be honored November 4 during the 2020 AIA Nebraska Honors & Awards virtual ceremony.

Since 1995, AIA Nebraska has bestowed the honor—named after Harry Francis Cunningham, the lead architect for the tower construction of the Nebraska State Capitol—on an accomplished architect “in recognition of the most distinguished achievement in architecture or service to the profession of architecture.” With this year’s announcement, Berg becomes the third member of The Clark Enersen Partners to receive the medal following Albert Hamersky, AIA (2010), and Lawrence Enersen, FAIA, FASLA (1995), the award’s inaugural winner.

“It is one of the great honors of my career to earn this award from AIA Nebraska,” Berg said. “Receiving the Cunningham Gold Medal embodies all of the work, the relationships, and the progress I am proud to have been a part of in my 45 years with The Clark Enersen Partners.”

In his decades-long career, Berg left his architectural mark on Lincoln, Omaha, the state of Nebraska, and beyond with award-winning designs in corporate and civic architecture. Berg was a key leader of design teams behind several iconic office buildings in Omaha (Farm Credit Services of America’s Corporate Campus) and Lincoln (Assurity Center, Ameritas’ Fallbrook Corporate Office, Lincoln Benefit Life/Allstate’s Corporate Office, and the One Landmark Office Building on Capitol Mall).

He also was an integral design team member for several government buildings and public libraries in the region including multiple Lincoln City Libraries; the Cape Girardeau (Missouri) Public Library; the Hastings (Nebraska) Public Library, winner of a 2018 AIA/ALA Library Building Award; and federal courthouse projects in Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

“Lowell’s impact on design stretches throughout Nebraska and nationally,” said Greg Newport, AIA, a former principal at The Clark Enersen Partners and close colleague of Berg’s. “As a designer—whether working in areas of education, commercial, office, or residential design—Lowell has championed modernism as an aesthetic statement in order to meet the needs of clients and the people who occupy the spaces created for them.”

Berg was an active leader for AIA on national and state levels. He had three stints as AIA Nebraska’s government affairs committee chair and the Nebraska representative in AIA National’s State Government Network (1993-94, 1999-2001, and 2013-19). Berg was the AIA Nebraska president 1991-92 and chaired the state annual conference in 2014.

“I will be forever grateful for Lowell’s wisdom and the example of integrity, character, and service he has provided to me and so many of my colleagues, many of whom are now serving in their own mentoring roles while leading firms, practices, and within the AIA across the country,” said Edward Vidlak, AIA, another former colleague of Berg’s at The Clark Enersen Partners.

He also made his mark with the firm as a proponent of civic involvement. Berg has led or been a part of boards for several community organizations in Lincoln, including the First Plymouth Congregational Church, Lincoln City Libraries, Lincoln Community Playhouse, Lincoln Rotary Club #14, and Lincoln Symphony Orchestra.