We understand the dedication and effort required to study for and pass the ARE. Congratulations to the following members for passing their exams and gaining licensure. This is great news that thrills all of us and we are so proud to call you architects!
Have you recently passed the ARE? Upgrade your membership to Architect using this AIA form. or send an email to your Member Services Director, Cathy Guske, cguske@aiava.org
Here’s your chance to design the next AIA Virginia member birthday postcard! AIA Virginia will feature your design on the front of the birthday postcards sent to all members since 2018.
Enter your design(s) for a chance to win a free registration to AIA Virginia’s 2023 annual conference, Architecture Exchange East. All entrants will receive 10% off their 2023 ArchEx registration.
Entries are welcome from AIA Virginia members, Virginia architecture program students, or other architecture firm employees.
Specifications: Size: 4 inches tall by 6 inches wide File type: high-resolution .jpg files all color palettes welcome!
Did you know that AIA Virginia depends on 36 advisory council and numerous committee volunteers each year to accomplish our strategic goals? Diverse voices from all over the Commonwealth are needed to move the organization forward in the areas of Advocacy, Education, Outreach, Member Services, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) Nearly all of our current advisory councils and committees have room for you to serve. Click on the links to read more about the duties and experience you can expect on each Council.
If interested, you can self-nominate yourself. Simply send a brief letter of interest and resume to AIA Virginia Executive Vice President, Paul Battaglia, at pbattaglia@aiava.org. If this service opportunity isn’t right for you at this time, please do share it with others. Fresh voices are welcome and encouraged to serve!
Fresh voices are enthusiastically encouraged to apply!
The Art of Practice was held late last month in Charlottesville. Thank you to Sonya Ravindranath Waddell (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond), Matt Laird (Atlantic Union Bank), and Joseph Cooch (Lee|Shoemaker) for the intriguing presentations. Thank you to Stephen Halsey (Moseley Architects), Jeanne LeFever (Glave & Holmes Architecture), and Charles Piper (Quinn Evans) for a thoughtful and candid panel discussion. Thank you to Maggie Schubert (Chestnut Knoll Studio), Andrew McKinley (VIA design), and Charles Piper (Quinn Evans) for moderating the firm-size roundtables. Thank you to our sponsors: Bamforth, Gropen, Keith Fabry, Lee|Shoemaker PLLC, McGriff Insurance, Moseley Architects, and O’Hagan Meyer PLLC. Thank you to Common House for providing an enjoyable and intimate venue. And thank you to those who attended and engaged. View a photo gallery here>>
As an organization, we continuously strive to provide rich experiences, programs, and events with relevant and engaging content, and opportunities to connect as peers and colleagues. To explore ideas, exchange perspectives, and (re)consider our positions.
We rely on your feedback and suggestions. If you have a suggestion for an event or a program, please reach out to me at pbattaglia@aiava.org. We welcome any and all comments, criticisms, and recommendations. And we look forward to seeing you soon.
Paul Battaglia, AIA Executive Vice President AIA Virginia
Anca Lipan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate/Studio Director at Baskervill in Richmond has been appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin to the Art and Architecture Review Board.
With the philosophy that the most powerful designs are those that are contextual, Anca brings passion and precision to her role as architect and Studio Director. A scholarly designer with a global perspective, her wealth of knowledge has led her to share the world of architecture with others through the ACE Mentor program, AIA Front Porch, Architecture Week, and other community outreach programs and student architecture camps for the past 15 years.
We understand the dedication and effort required to study for and pass the ARE. Congratulations to the following members for passing their exams and gaining licensure. This is great news that thrills all of us and we are so proud to call you architects!
Have you recently passed the ARE? Upgrade your membership to Architect using this AIA form. or send an email to your Member Services Director, Cathy Guske, cguske@aiava.org
Are you ready to get licensed? AIA Virginia has 60-day Amber Book subscriptions for $50 here>>
Have questions about licensure? Contact AIA Virginia’s State Licensing Advisor, Gina Robinson, Assoc. AIA, at gina.robinson@hdrinc.com
As a Design Principal and Design Director at Hanbury, Rob provides design leadership across the firm and his award-winning designs throughout the United States and abroad include a wide range of project types in higher education, government, and corporate-commercial sectors. Rob values simplicity, clarity, and restraint as traits of design that not only stand the test of time, are loved and endure, and ultimately matter. Often working with diverse stakeholders Rob guides a process that is inclusive, collaborative, and focused on the unique qualities that define each opportunity.
Rob served on the AIAVA BoD from 2012 to 2020 and as President in 2019. Prior to that, Rob was an AIAHR board member for five years, annually chairing Architecture Week, facilitating the Design Awards program and the Annual Speaker Meeting, and bringing Pecha Kucha (peh–CHAK-cha) Night to Hampton Roads.
Originally from Minneapolis, Rob and his wife Lily – also an architect – have two daughters, Olivia and Ruby. After many years in Norfolk and officially ‘flat landers’, they love the beach, the surf, and life in Hampton Roads.
Where did you go to architecture school?
Iowa State University, Ames, IA Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA Otaniemi Technical Institute, Helsinki, Finland
What do you think it takes to be an architect? Curiosity, resiliency, a dose of subservience, and the belief that what we love to do really matters.
Is there an architect that particularly inspires you? Many. I work with them every day.
What are you currently reading? The New Yorker. My Saturday afternoon respite. I am also reading The Soul of America by Jon Meacham. I’ve always had diverse interests and reading is one of the ways I satisfy that.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had? I love to eat and have had too many astounding meals… so maybe it’s more about the circumstances than the meal itself. One of my favorites – a late afternoon lunch on the 2005 Hanbury International Design Retreat – a perfect day under a vine arbor in Switzerland with the Swiss architect Franco Morrow after touring several of his amazing buildings. I don’t recall the food exactly, but one of the best meals I’ve ever had. “Fantastico!” F Morrow
Why do you volunteer with AIA? When my wife Lily, daughter Olivia and I relocated from Washington, DC to Norfolk in 2005, leaving family, friends, and Georgetown behind, other than the handful of colleagues I interviewed with at Hanbury, we knew absolutely no one. So, by getting involved with the AIA Hampton Roads Board I initially saw an opportunity to plug in and meet like-minded people, which quickly advanced to supporting activities and events that I found interesting or compelling – the AIAHR Speaker Series and the opportunity to personally host James Timberlake, Ann Beha, and Neil Denari… a regional workforce housing design competition associated with the Celebration of AIA 150… the Design and Honor Awards celebrations… Architecture Week and the first of several Pecha Kucha events.
When joining the AIA Virginia Board in 2012 I did have one ‘immediate mission’ – raising awareness around the use of the ‘intern’ title for architecture graduates not-yet-registered. One of my not-yet-registered Hanbury colleagues, after masterfully presenting a project update was asked by our client, who was curiously eyeing my colleague’s business card with the presentation still pinned up behind us – “as an intern… are you paid for this work?” Wow… it struck me how vague, demeaning, and often inappropriate the intern ‘title’ was.
I want to say that I’m responsible for the AIA adopting the use of “architectural intern” or “intern architect” for graduates of NAAB-accredited degree programs, but before I could do anything AIA National, way ahead of me (imagine that…), was already implementing this change. Needless to say though, as I served a steady stream of opportunities to have a voice with colleagues in planning AIAVA events and initiatives, evolving member services, or championing public policy and regulation were satisfyingly at hand. And out of the gate to see an issue addressed so skillfully and expediently both assured and inspired me.
I’ve wanted to be an architect ever since roaming the houses under construction in my growing suburban neighborhood at 12. After a summer in Europe during college, my interest in architecture expanded to its heritage. A fifth-year college thesis in historic preservation resulted in a job with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Following apprenticeship and registration, I took time to seriously study architectural history in graduate school. The normal rotation through several architectural firms ended in starting my own architectural practice in Richmond, specializing in historic preservation. During that 18-year practice, I accumulated a list of over 200 projects and served a year as Historic Architect with the Taliesin Preservation Commission in Spring Green, WI. In 2005, I began a 17-year career as Historic Preservation Architect at the University of Virginia where I managed preservation projects in the Academical Village, the President’s House at Carr’s Hill, and the Rotunda. Since retiring in 2021, I’ve been a full-time consultant providing preservation services to small nonprofits.
Where did you go to architecture school?
Bachelor of Architecture degree from Virginia Tech in 1975 Master of Architectural History from the University of Virginia in 1982
What do you think it takes to be an architect?
A natural curiosity in our surroundings, a love of building things, and pleasure in working with people collaboratively.
Is there an architect that particularly inspires you?
As any mid-century kid with an interest in architecture, I worshipped Frank Lloyd Wright. I still have my tattered copy of a 1960 compilation of his writings, heavily noted and highlighted. And even now, knowing the emotional price some apprentices paid serving Wright, I still study his work and always learn something.
What are you currently reading?
As usual, there are several at once, including The Need to be Whole by Wendall Berry; Architects of an American Landscape, a biography of F.L. Olmsted and H.H. Richardson by Hugh Howard, and; A Gathering of Old Men by Earnest Gaines.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
My next one shared with other people.
Why do you volunteer with AIA?
I have volunteered with nonprofits and local governments for close to 25 years. Since retiring in April 2021, I’ve been working full-time providing pro bono preservation services to small regional nonprofits with historic African American buildings. This consultation has resulted in the award of federal grants for four projects and approval by the state for another two. My commitment to this type of work came with the realization that my 50-year career as a preservationist was focused on the historic resources of white Americans. Only recently have important sites of African American culture begun receiving the attention they deserve. Particularly vulnerable are small, rural African American communities, with limited resources, struggling to save their historic schools, churches, and farmhouses. My small, inadequate contribution is a personal attempt to repair an injustice that ignored or undervalued the landmarks of Black culture that are now disappearing due to this long inattention. The friends I’ve made while doing this work is completely unexpected, and a blessing.
The Architect Licensing Advisors Community is a group of individuals committed to assisting licensure candidates and architects as they navigate the path to licensure and reciprocity. Architect licensing advisors provide guidance throughout the licensure process by facilitating the flow of information to architecture students, licensure candidates, and architects.
The program is led by NCARB and jointly supported by the American Institute of Architects. The AIA Virginia Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Gina Robinson, Associate AIA as Virginia’s Architect Licensing Advisor for a two-year term beginning July 1, 2023.
Get to know our new licensing advisor below! And if you are on the path to licensure and have any questions, please reach out to Gina at gina.robinson@hdrinc.com or Cathy Guske at cguske@aiava.org.
Gina Robinson Senior Design Coordinator at HDR Associate AIA, WELL AP A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Gina brings over 15 years of experience to her current role as Senior Design Coordinator with HDR in Arlington, Virginia. Though the first years of her career through the Great Recession were challenging, she gained early experience in Charlotte, NC, and Suzhou, China, before settling in Northern Virginia in 2014. Since joining HDR in 2015, she has come to specialize in public sector projects, working with large, multidisciplinary teams on complex deliverables.
After her time working overseas, Gina was eager to engage with other professionals after her return to the US and became an active participant in the AIA Northern Virginia Women in Architecture committee, regularly attending events and even volunteering to help plan the Women’s Leadership Summit that took place in 2017.
Over the past five years, Gina has developed her focus on mentorship and advocacy, focusing on increasing diversity and transparent communications to emerging professionals as they begin their careers in architecture. After serving two terms as Associate Director on the AIA Virginia Board of Directors, she participated in the Honors Committee Diversity Task Force and most recently in the Inclusivity into the Profession Task Force, both also facilitated by AIA Virginia. These experiences, combined with her background and early career obstacles, have motivated her to become actively involved in recruiting for HDR. Gina has participated in career fairs, interviews, and has supervised summer interns and young professionals as they begin their careers.
