AIA Honor awards
Happy New Year: 11 Projects Ring in 2006 with Honor Awards for Architecture
The 2006 AIA Honor Awards for Architecture recipients—both up-and-coming and well-known architects and firms—have delivered a bright array of notable projects that include a small chapel, a very large convention center, complete restoration of a 1920s state capitol, and artists’ housing on a former sheep ranch. Civic structures and museums topped this list of building types this year. Eight projects are in the U.S., one is in Spain, and two are in Germany.

Eleven on the Inside Track
Disparate projects capture 2006 AIA Honor Awards for Interior Architecture
Eleven projects, sharing a high-design edge yet disparate in function and size, serve as the 2006 recipients of AIA Honor Awards for Interior Architecture. Two of the projects successfully addressed the modernization of 1960s architecture, while another pair—one on the West Coast and the other on the East—created theater space with shoestring budgets and very inventive partis. Ten of the projects are located in the U.S.; the eleventh is in London. All involve existing space; many transformed it for a new use.

Eight Projects Receive 2006 Regional and Urban Design Honor Awards
A distinguished jury selected eight projects for the 2006 AIA Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design. Among the chosen plans, several themes stand out: reviving urban areas from poor social and economic health, striving for sustainability, and engaging communities in the design process. The recipients range from a finished physical plaza that was begun a decade and a half ago, to an urban park that was conceived a century ago, to a sustainable plan that stretches 50 years into the future. Five are for sites in the U.S., one in British Columbia, one in Palestine, and one in Switzerland.

economics
An Upturn in Nonresidential Construction in 2006 Is the Consensus
Forecasters project balanced growth between the commercial and institutional sectors
We’re expected to get close to 5 percent real growth in nonresidential construction activity this year. After six years of recession-like conditions in the industry, 2006 is shaping up as the year that will launch a nonresidential expansion, picking up some of the slack from a cooling residential market. We should see the best year for this sector since 1998, with growth evenly balanced between the commercial/industrial and institutional sectors. So says the consensus outlook from the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel, made up of leading nonresidential forecasters who supply their predictions to the AIA twice a year. Under the direction of AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA, the Institute has been organizing this effort for almost a decade.

UAW President Bathed in Applause at the AIA Centennial Convention
In the spirit of celebration and with great expectancy, members of the AIA gathered for their Centennial Convention at the Sheraton Park Hotel in the leafy Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the spring of 1957, and the occasion couldn’t have been more auspicious. Membership in the Institute had been surging since WWII, and the construction industry was booming throughout the U.S. Architects had plenty of work and the Institute’s coffers were full. There was much to honor in the AIA’s illustrious past, and the future looked bright.

Top Continuing Educators Named
The winners of the 2006 AIA Continuing Education System Awards for Excellence have been named. Three companies will be awarded a trophy at the 2006 AIA National Convention next June in Los Angeles, Calif., for their commitment to high-quality professional continuing education programs that advance the building industry. This year’s recipients of 2006 AIA Continuing Education Awards are: Cannon Design, Grand Island, N.Y. (AIA Large Firm—Over 100 Employees Category); AIA Northern Virginia, Alexandria, Va. (AIA Component Provider Category); and Rogers Krajnak Architects, Inc., Columbus, Ohio (Honorable Mention for Small Firm—Under 100 Employees Category).

project watch
This Project Is ACES!
The societies of architects and engineers of Rochester, N.Y., have teamed up to provide a home for a local family in need in conjunction with Flower City Habitat for Humanity. AIA Rochester and ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) Rochester say they are thrilled to be involved with the ACES House (Architects Collaborating with Engineers for Shelter), which is on schedule for February delivery. This is the first time the groups are collaborating to design, fund, and provide labor to build a Habitat for Humanity home.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
The economy: Rising interest rates will continue to cool housing.
Energy: As a global player, Russia will keep oil prices high.
New tech: Military spin-offs drive innovation.
AIArchitect offers AIA members exclusive access to three stories a week to help them manage their practices and plan for the coming year. Nonmembers may subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.

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