Over the years, current and former Washington City Paper writers, reporters, and editors have racked up a bevy of accolades—from Association of Alternative Newsmedia annual AAN awards to, hell, MacArthur “Genius Grants.” Add another one to the list: longtime City Paper contributor Kriston Capps has won the inaugural Sarah Booth Conroy Prize for Journalism and Architectural Criticism.

The prize, which is funded by the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, aims to “to raise D.C.’s status as a design city by rewarding journalists and critics who write about the design of D.C.’s urban environment.” Among the many great pieces Capps has written for us over the years, the AIA recognized Capps’ thoughtful profile on architect David Jameson and his critical riff on the proposed redesign of the MLK Library, along with a handful of stories he’s written for The Atlantic‘s CityLab, where he works as a full-time staff writer. (How he finds the time to do that and contribute Washington City Paper week after week is one of the world’s great mysteries).

In a press release, AIA|DC Executive Director Mary Fitch said that she hopes “his broad range of work on architecture in Washington, D.C. is just the beginning of a long career writing about our city.” So do we!

Capps will be presented with the $5,000 prize during Architecture Week in April, where he’s been invited to speak at a public lecture.

Congratulations, Kriston!

Photo by Eli Meir Kaplan