BIOGRAPHY
Guy W. Peterson is an FAIA member emeritus and a lifelong Florida resident. He received his Bachelor of Design Degree in Architecture with Honors from the University of Florida in 1976. He went on to earn his Master of Arts in Architecture Degree with High Honors from the University of Florida Graduate Design Program in 1978.
As past President and Principal Architect of Guy Peterson | Office for Architecture, Inc., he directed a wide range of activities for the firm including overall responsibility for project design.
A modernist in his approach, the language of his architecture is honesty and simplicity. His work is poetic, human, evokes emotion, and comes from the heart. Through his use of form, structure, indigenous materials, light and shadow, he has derived an aesthetic that results in a clean, sustainable and delightful architecture.
To date, Mr. Peterson has received over 100 design awards, honors and special recognitions for his work since the inception of his practice in 1980. Most recently in 2016 Mr. Peterson was awarded the AIA Florida Gold Medal. This award recognizes an individual architect in Florida who has distinguished himself or herself in a manner resulting in a profound impact on the profession over an extended period of time. This is the highest award that AIA Florida can bestow on one of its members and only one may be given in a year. In 2013, Guy Peterson | OFA was awarded the AIA Florida Firm of the Year Award. This award is in recognition of their contribution to the architectural profession in design, education, community service and their support of the AIA. Mr. Peterson became the only architect from Florida to be elected into the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2003. He was elevated to fellowship because of his notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture in design. He became one of the youngest architects in Florida in 1998 to win the Medal of Honor for Design from the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects. This award is given in recognition for the high quality and originality of his work over an extended period of time, for advancing the cause and public value of architecture in the State of Florida and for the leadership and inspiration he provides to his colleagues.
In 2000, he received the Distinguished Architecture Alumnus Award from the University of Florida School of Architecture. In 2006, the American Jewish Committee honored Mr. Peterson with their prestigious Civic Achievement Award and in 2007 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sarasota Architectural Foundation. In the fall of 2008, Mr. Peterson became the Ivan H. Smith Eminent visiting professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Florida and in 2009 he joined the faculty full time as an Adjunct Associate Professor. In recognition of outstanding service to the college, university and the community, Mr. Peterson received the Dean’s 2014 Faculty Service Award from the University of Florida, College of Design, Construction and Planning. In addition to his ongoing practice, Mr. Peterson currently serves as Adjunct Associate Professor for the new University of Florida Citylab Sarasota. This is a satellite graduate program for the University of Florida Graduate School of Architecture. In April of 2017, Mr. Peterson was inducted into the Sarasota Community Video Archives Hall of Fame. This is considered one of the most prestigious community awards given in Sarasota. In 2018, he was selected by Florida Trend magazine as one of its FLORIDA 500, the 500 most influential business leaders in Florida. In January of 2019 Mr. Peterson was inducted into the Riverview High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida.
Mr. Peterson belongs to several professional and community organizations. He is a member of the University of Florida School of Architecture Professional Advisory Committee, a member of the AIA Florida Regional Fellows Committee representing the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the AIA and is a past Trustee for the Florida Foundation for Architecture, Selby Gardens and Plymouth Harbor in Sarasota. He also serves as an advisor to Architecture Sarasota and a member of the Board of Directors of the Country Club of Sapphire Valley in Cashiers, North Carolina.