Bruce Kuwabara of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB) received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 2006 Gold Medal on June 14 at the annual RAIC Festival in Vancouver. The RAIC Gold Medal is awarded in recognition of significant contribution to Canadian architecture, and is the highest honour the profession of architecture in Canada can bestow. It recognizes an individual whose personal work has demonstrated exceptional excellence in the design and practice of architecture.

In bestowing the award, the Gold Medal Selection Committee noted "The medal recognizes Bruce Kuwabara’s contribution to the professional craft of architecture, and he and his firm’s focus and contribution to public life. His engagement in the schools is exemplary as well as fundraising and education of young people. The culture of his practice involves generations and shows wisdom and maturity in their work."

In his acceptance speech, Kuwabara offers a personal reflection which contrasts memories of growing up as a Japanese-Canadian in the post-World War II climate with later encounters with mentors and seminal events that inspired his pursuit of architecture. He also emphasizes the collaborative nature of architecture and provides an overview of his practice and the guiding principles of the firm.

A special supplement published by Canadian Architect provides an in-depth review of Bruce Kuwabara’s evolution as an architect and practitioner. It features essays by George Baird and Larry Wayne Richards, as well as an interview with Kuwabara and Ian Chodikoff, editor of Canadian Architect.

"Over the past 30 years, Canada has come to know Bruce Kuwabara as one of the country’s most talented architects. And, increasingly, he is recognized as a sophisticated urbanist. From his collaborative contributions to large urban projects with Barton Myers in the 1970s, to his conceptions for complex city-fabric insertions in the past decade....Kuwabara has demonstrated remarkable leadership as an accomplished architect-urbanist with a very particular sense of the design and health of cities." – Larry Wayne Richards