AIA EVP/CEO Robert Ivy shares his appreciation for the great work in 2015 that resulted in significant progress for the AIA. Since these videos were recorded, the AIA total membership is now nearly 88,000 members.
Save the Date: Virginia Design Forum
Save the Date, April 11-12, for the VSAIA Design Forum
“Dwelling—The Art of Living in Century XXI”
In his keynote presentation at the 2013 ArchEx, architect, educator, and architectural critic Bernard Tschumi, FAIA, expressed his opinion that there is no over-arching architectural style at the moment, save for what he calls Iconism (aka, in some camps, the Guggenheim Effect), but …
Four wildly successful architects will gather in Charlottesville April 11-12, 2014, to put forth their own work as evidence that there is indeed a new set of principles that inspire the most-noticed architects in the world today. These are principles that foster aesthetic originality and client-centric problem-solving approaches; principles that address the challenges and opportunities that face every urban planner, architect, landscape architect, and constructor currently in practice. How do you plan, design, and build today for the lifestyles, technologies, and natural and anthropogenic uncertainties of tomorrow? This current architectural “style of the present for the future” is contextual, sensitive to the needs of all people, and predicated on the co-existing goals of restoring both environmental and economic vitality.
The Friday evening Keynote Presentation by Ma Yansong, founder of mad architecture, will kick off with a topic and speaker introduction by national AIA EVP/CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA.
The program all day Saturday, April 12, includes presentations by Kai-Uwe Bergmann, AIA, principal, BIG, with offices in Copenhagen and New York City; Peter Gluck, principal of the New York City design-build firm Gluck+; Jeff Kovel, founder of Skylab, Portland, Ore.; and Ma Yansong. Each of these firms is known for outstanding residential architecture as well as a focus on community and environmental health and well-being.
Come to Charlottesville in the spring, immediately following the University of Virginia Founder’s Day observances and just before Thomas Jefferson’s 271st birthday and Architecture Week to enjoy remembrances of the past and explore the dawning of a new future in Dwelling. Register here>>
The Virginia Design Forum is sponsored by:
Corporate
Clark Nexsen
Benefactor
HITT Contracting
College of William and Mary
Patron
Clark Construction Group, LLC.
EvensonBest
Forest City
Reed Construction Data
SHW Group
University of Virginia School of Architecture
Sustaining
Va. Tech School of Architecture + Design
BCWH
Supporter
2rw Consultants, Inc.
AIA Northern Virginia
Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company
KBS, Inc.
Mark S. Orling, AIA
Edwin J. Pease, AIA
Reader & Swartz Architects
Riverside Brick & Supply
AIA Launches Commitment to Make Design a Catalyst for Public Health
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) on Monday, Sept. 24, announced a ten-year commitment to develop design and technology solutions for cities that address challenges faced on public health, sustainability, and resiliency to natural disasters.
“This announcement by AIA National is timely,” said John Braymer, Executive Vice President of the Virginia Society AIA. “The Keynote Speaker at Architecture Exchange East, the Society’s annual conference and trade show, is Tye Farrow. Farrow’s work has gained international recognition for the design of public and private sector buildings that enhance health. We’re pleased to continue to bring the profession’s leading thinkers to Virginia to share their influential work.”
AIA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Ivy, FAIA, announced the Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, where more than 1,000 global leaders are gathering to address the theme, “Designing for Impact.”
The commitment by the AIA features three initiatives:
• University research on solutions-based outcomes. Three university-based projects have been selected for year-one funding that demonstrate the importance of design on public health. In addition, the 2013 Latrobe Prize through the AIA College of Fellows will fund research that aligns with this commitment.
• Community Planning Process. The AIA will mobilize interdisciplinary university teams engaged with community and professional partners in one of the world’s largest cities to address complex problems using design thinking and technology innovation.
• Show Us Your APPtitude hackathon. The hack-a-thon, in which computer experts gather to come up with the most creative app or technology based solution to a given need or problem, springboards from the community planning process byproviding related design and technology solutions. Students and other participants from a variety of disciplines will have the opportunity to compete for a prize that recognizes achievable, inventive solutions.
The recipients of the first-ever Decade of Design research grants are:
• Texas A&M University – Evaluating Health Benefits of Liveable Communities: Toolkit for measuring the health impacts of walkable communities, validated with an empirical study of a LEED for Neighborhood Development project in Austin.
• University of Arkansas – Fayetteville 2030: Creating Food City Scenario Plan: The study of planning possibilities and design solutions for creating a local food infrastructure while accommodating a quickly growing population.
• University of New Mexico – Establishing Interdisciplinary Health-Architecture Curriculum: Pilot program to develop a framework for implementing a three-year interdisciplinary program for addressing health issues in local neighborhoods.
These research projects launch the AIA’s long-term commitment to advance public health through design in the United States and beyond. As communities across the globe face increasingly complex challenges to their quality of life, the AIA will work with other partners within the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to find innovative solutions. Partners and sponsors already signed up include the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).
The AIA expects to announce additional sponsors in the near future.
About The American Institute of Architects
For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. Members adhere to a code of ethics and professional conduct to ensure the highest standards in professional practice. Embracing their responsibility to serve society, AIA members engage civic and government leaders and the public in helping find needed solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit www.aia.org.
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $69.2 billion.
CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.
About The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture is a nonprofit, membership association founded in 1912 to advance the quality of architectural education. The school membership in ACSA has grown from 10 charter members to over 250 schools in several membership categories. These include full membership for all accredited programs in the United States and government-sanctioned schools in Canada, candidate membership for schools seeking accreditation, and affiliate membership for schools for two-year and international programs. Through these schools, over 5,000 architecture faculty are represented. In addition, over 500 supporting members composed of architecture firms, product associations and individuals add to the breadth of interest and support of ACSA goals. ACSA, unique in its representative role for schools of architecture, provides a forum for ideas on the leading edge of architectural thought. Issues that will affect the architectural profession in the future are being examined today in ACSA member schools. The association maintains a variety of activities that influence, communicate, and record important issues. Such endeavors include scholarly meetings, workshops, publications, awards and competition programs, support for architectural research, policy development, and liaison with allied organizations.
About Rocky Mountain Institute
Rocky Mountain Institute is an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit think-and-do tank. RMI emphasizes integrative design, advanced technologies, and mindful markets in fulfilling its mission to drive the efficient and restorative use of resources. RMI’s strategic focus is to map and drive the U.S. transition from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables by 2050. Visit http://www.rmi.org for more information.
AIA and NIBS Sign Partnership Agreement
AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA, and Henry L. Green, Hon. AIA, President of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) are pleased to announce the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding underscoring the two organizations’ mutual interest in the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance buildings and the desire to collaborate on issues surrounding these topics.
“Through cooperation and coordination on the issues impacting the entire building community and the pursuit of high-performance buildings, the Institute and AIA can work towards improving our nation’s buildings. We are very pleased to work with AIA on such an important effort,” said Green upon signing.
One of the first projects the two organizations will work on collaboratively is the joint development of an on-line portal for building industry research and knowledge. Intended to be accessible to the public, this initiative will include the participation and contribution of a variety of building science and performance disciplines. NIBS and AIA anticipate this partnership will culminate in providing a centralized location for the knowledge and research efforts underway that are relevant to the building industry.
About the new partnership and the outline of work planned, Ivy said, “The AIA has long recognized the power of knowledge to inform design. For many years, the AIA Knowledge Communities have provided ample testimony to the value of that orientation. The AIA-NIBS research portal will enable practitioners to use knowledge creatively in ways for which they have impatiently hoped. Now the wait is over.”
Later this year, NIBS and AIA will also collaborate on an industry summit bringing together leaders in the fields of architecture, construction and engineering. The summit will focus on elevating awareness and understanding of how design adds value to the building process, whether it’s expressed through increased property value or the health, safety and welfare of the building’s users.
Additionally, AIA and NIBS are working together on High Performance Buildings: Combining Field Experience with Innovation, the third Building Enclosure Science & Technology (BEST) Conference, April 2-4, 2012, in Atlanta. The Conference is part of the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council’s (BETEC) mission to explore the advancement of energy efficiency of buildings as well as the durability of buildings as affected by moisture and the indoor environment. The AIA and NIBS have been partners in the Building Enclosure Councils since 2004.