Celebrating Accomplishments: Kofi Akakpo and Calvin Boyd

We are honored to share two designers who recently joined our practice were recognized during the 2021 Harvard Graduate School of Design commencement with two of the most prestigious awards conferred upon graduating students. Kofi Akakpo received the Alpha Rho Chi medal and Calvin Boyd received the James Templeton Kelley Prize.

The Alpha Rho Chi Medal is awarded annually to a student for their leadership, service and promise of future contributions to the profession. While attending the GSD, Kofi was Class Representative for two years, Resources Chair on the student forum and was co-president of AfricaGSD and board member of the GSD Chapter the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS). Kofi also helped found Notes on Credibility, a framework to address and hold the school’s administration accountable on social justice issues.

Kofi Akakpo

The James Templeton Kelley Prize is offered by the Boston Society of Architects and is awarded for the best final design/thesis project by a student who both completes a thesis and receives Distinction or High Pass for their final thesis project. Calvin presented his thesis project “Pair of Dice, Para-Dice, Paradise: A Counter-Memorial to Victims of Police Brutality” this past fall. Calvin was also actively involved with the GSD Chapter of NOMAS, serving as Publicity Co-Chair in his final semester. His work has been published in a variety of publications including Metropolis Magazine, Garage Magazine, Platform 11 and SuckerPunch. Calvin was also a Teaching Assistant and Fabrication Assistant at the GSD.

calvin boyd

Kofi has been with the Payette family for several years, having interned three summers with Payette prior to joining the firm in February. Calvin interned last summer and joined the Payette family full time in January. Please join us in congratulating Kofi and Calvin on their recent accomplishments.