The Beckie The History and Symbolism of the President’s Award of Excellence

1. The BeckieThe History and Symbolism of the President’s Award of Excellence George Torok, B.Tech.(Arch.Sci.), A.Sc.T., BSSO OBEC President, 1999 - 2000

2. The Oscar The “Award of Merit”, bestowed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to honour the outstanding achievements of members of the motion picture industry.

3. An Oscar for B.S.? The building industry did not have a similar award to honour the contribution of its membersto the promotion of excellence in the design, construction, and performance of the building envelope.

5. Why Not? The award should be available to all members of the industry: researchers, academics, consultants, contractors, manufacturers. Recipients should be nominated by their peers (OBEC members). Nominations would be reviewed, debated, and a recipient selected by OBEC Directors.

6. And a Party, too! The award would be bestowed at an annual gathering of the profession, to be known as the President’s Award Dinner.

7. The Beckie The award would be known formally as thePresident’s Award of Excellence, and informally as TheBeckie, a name derived from the OBEC acronym.

9. A scroll! A certificate! A sculpture!

11. An early Beckie

12. Symbols& Changes

13. Symbols Pyramid

14. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes

15. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes Recess

16. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes Recess Facetted ball

17. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes Recess Facetted ball Red base

18. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes Recess Facetted ball Red base Materials

19. Symbols Pyramid Snowflakes Recess Facetted ball Red base Materials Methods of Construction

20. Changes Snowflakes

21. Changes Snowflakes Facetted ball

22. The Pyramid Represents one of theoldest of structures,the tent, and of oneof the most durable,the pyramids. Made of clear plastic,it symbolizes our desire to let light into our buildings.

23. The Snowflakes Represents the weatherfrom which we seekshelter in thestructures we build. Symbolic of exactnessand sophistication to whichwe aspire in our designs and constructionsof the structures we build.

24. The Recess in the Pyramid Represents the shelterprovided by thepyramid.

25. The Facetted Ball Set into the recess,it represents our needfor shelter from theweather. When a strong beam oflight is shone upon the ball,the light is refracted by the facetsthrough the recess and into the pyramid,representing our commonality and our diversity.

26. The Red Base Represents the solidfoundation neededfor all durableconstruction. Light reflectingof the base into the pyramidturns it red,symbolizing the warmthprovided by the shelter within the pyramid.

27. The Materials Glass, plastic andadhesives representmodern materialsof construction.

28. The Methods of Construction Assembled by hand,the construction ofthe Beckieis symbolic of ourreliance on theskilled tradesto turn our plans into reality.

29. Changes to the Beckie In 1995, the techniqueof laser inscriptionof the snowflakeswas lost and could not berecovered.It was notuntil 2005 thatan alternative was developed:an embedded, cast glass snowflake.

30. Changes to the Beckie The loss of the laserinscription techniqueand change to anembedded castglass objectadded newsymbolism:the loss of oldermethods of construction that occurs over time.

31. Changes to the Beckie In 1999, manufactureof the cut glass,facetted balls was stopped. Theywere replacedwith cast glassornaments.This addedfurther symbolism: thechanges in materials that occur over time.

32. The ‘new’ Beckie

33. Recipients of The Beckie John Timusk Gus Handegord Tony Woods Rick Quirouette Jacques Rousseau The Ontario New Home Warranty Program Robert Drysdale Paul Sandori

34. Recipients of The Beckie Eric Burnett Mark Bomberg Jerry Genge Joe Lstiburek Robert Platts Alan Dalgliesh Donald Onysko John Straube

35. The BeckieThe History and Symbolism of the President’s Award of Excellence George Torok, B.Tech.(Arch.Sci.), A.Sc.T., BSSO OBEC President, 1999 - 2000