Scenes from AIA Convention 2015: The Last Day

The AIA took over the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta for Friday night's The Party! event. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

AIA President Elizabeth Chu Richter shows off her new football jersey alongside her husband David Richter, FAIA. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Walter Sedovic, FAIA, snaps a selfie with Chris Downey, AIA, and his student Sana Jahani. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, principal of Ehrlich Architects, the 2015 AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient, started as one architect "working out of a garage," he said. Today, the firm is 40-members strong and covers a variety of program types, including residential, commercial, institutional, and educational architecture. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

John Zils, FAIA Emeritus, accepts the 2015 AIA 25-Year Award on behalf of SOM for the Broadgate Exchange House in London, flanked by AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA (L) and AIA President Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA (R). Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Saturday's general session included a wide ranging panel discussion on balancing design culture and financial considerations in a successful design practice. Panelists (L-R) Katherine Darnstadt, AIA; Curtis J. Moody, FAIA; Mark Ripple, AIA; and Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, focused on the benefits of collaborative partnerships, the value in community engagement, and how firms adapt to shifting economic cycles. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Attendees toured the Moorish and eclectic Fox Theater in Midtown Atlanta, designed by Olivier J. Vinour of Marye, Alger & Vinour. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Tom Kundig, FAIA (L) and Frank Harmon, FAIA (R) sign copies of <i>Drawing From Practice: Architects and the Meaning of Freehand</i>, by J. Michael Welton (Routledge, 2015), at the AIA Bookstore. Image courtesy Carl Bower (carlbower.com)

Back to the May 16 AIA Architect Convention Daily