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An Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture student who designs suits for racecar drivers in her spare time has received the Association of Licensed Architects’ top student honor. 

In fall 2025, Jilliana Pilutti (B. ARCH. M.Eng. STE 4th Year) was awarded the Student Merit and Design Award. The award comes with a $1,000 scholarship. 

The award’s theme focused on human-centered design. Pilutti submitted a project that all College of Architecture students must complete: her dormitory project, in which she was required to design a student residence hall. 

Pilutti’s Botanica Hall project centers on an actual plot of land on Illinois Institute of Technology’s  Mies Campus. 

“I had lived in dorms for a couple years, and I knew what I liked and didn’t like,” Pilutti says. “I focused on understanding the interaction between the people inside and the natural environment outside, what's called biophilic engagement. Every room needed access to the outdoors.” 

Pilutti placed pod balconies in each room and a central, open core between the dormitory’s two wings. That central core included facilities that would be used by students who didn’t live there—such as a gym, library, and laundry facility—with residential keycards required to gain entry to the adjacent residential sections. 

“The central core acts as a public space; it needs to be for students on campus, not just the people living there,” says Pilutti, who noted that the open-access element of the project was praised by Association of Licensed Architects judges. 

“They said they were extremely happy with my focus on understanding the student position and making it for everyone on campus, while still making the environment productive and bright and inviting,” she says. 

Born and raised in Windsor, Canada, Pilutti was formally trained in visual arts at the Walkerville Collegiate Institute. She moved to Detroit in 2019.  In addition to her studies, Pilutti designs racing suits for Indy NXT, a racing category that prepares younger drivers for the IndyCar series, which includes the famed Indianapolis 500 race. 

“My dad works for General Motors; he and my brother build vintage hot rods. I was always interested in cars and racing,” Pilutti says. When it turned out that IndyNXT driver Nolan Allaer was a friend of the family who needed a designer for his suit, Pilutti—who had also designed a poster for one of Allaer’s sponsors—says that her name came up. 

Pilutti interned at Gensler in summer 2025. Upon graduation, she hopes to work in the outdoor entertainment industry, designing such things as resorts, parks, and Formula 1 racetracks.