by
Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA
AIA presidential inaugurations take place in significant architectural
spaces. The inspiration that comes with the territory works its magic
on both the speaker and those in the audience: Attention is focused, noble
sentiments seem more plausible in the context of design excellence, and
the eye can wander if the speech is too long. It’s a classic case
of the medium being the message.
My inauguration as the AIA’s 80th president last month in the Library
of Congress was no exception. But it had a special relevance for me that
went beyond the Beaux Arts splendor of the library’s Jefferson Building.
Like the medieval cathedrals, the building designed by Washington architects
John J. Smithmeyer and Paul G. Pelz is a monument to faith—but the
faith here is not in a higher, supernatural power. It’s in humankind
itself.
Optimism, not despair, has always been the engine of positive change.
As Harlan Cleveland reminds us: “The steepest part of the learning
curve is not skills but attitudes.” This building is a gesture of
profound optimism. It breathes and inspires a positive attitude!
Where design and knowledge intersect
Democracy, freedom, literacy, public access to knowledge—all are
the offspring of the Age of Enlightenment as expressed by the library’s
first and most ardent benefactor—Architect-President, AIA Gold Medalist
Thomas Jefferson. It was Jefferson’s belief that a free, democratic
society could not exist and thrive without the shared knowledge made possible
by books. Jefferson once wrote: “Enlighten the people generally,
and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits
at the dawn of the day.”
Twenty-two years earlier, I succumbed to the magic of this place. As
a young architect who chose historic preservation as his area of specialization,
I was employed to write the material conservation specifications for the
library restoration just then getting under way. It was at that time that
I became acquainted with every inch of the place as I crawled around it
from the basement up to the dome where I looked down through the oculus
into the great reading room.
I cannot think of any other building in Washington where the intersection
of design and knowledge is so blatant, so powerful, and so resonant with
meaning for our profession and The American Institute of Architects.
Evolving into wisdom
Knowledge is the AIA’s legacy. We are a knowledge-based profession.
And knowledge is most assuredly the AIA’s future: finding it, capturing
it, analyzing it, and sharing it.
The wonderful news about the knowledge we as a profession pursue is that
it’s a living, organic thing. It evolves and grows within each of
us. And if we’re smart enough, if we nurture knowledge with the
food of deep, compelling values and exemplary ethics, it evolves into
wisdom.
The challenge for us as architects is to keep up with it, feed on it,
share it, and, in the process, grow and flourish as a community. In this
regard, the words of the great 19th-century educator, Horace Mann, speak
powerfully to us: “Every addition to true knowledge is an addition
to human power; and while a philosopher is discovering one new truth,
millions of truths may be propagated amongst the people. The whole land
must be watered with the streams of knowledge.”
A culture of sharing
The role of our AIA knowledge community is nothing more or less than this:
to water the seeds of society’s noblest dreams and make them bloom.
To realize this potential—which I am convinced is our destiny—we
must advocate and model a culture of sharing within our profession, the
construction industry, and our communities. We must be forceful and informed
advocates for sustainability, for well-being, for stewardship of our design
legacy, and for wise use of the precious resource that is our land.
Never in my lifetime have conditions been so favorable to make the case
for the value of architects and architecture. Never in my lifetime has
society been so eager for our success. Never in my lifetime has The American
Institute of Architects been better poised to address the needs of our
changing profession and the dreams of the people we serve.
Is this an ambitious challenge? Yes. Can we meet it? I say most emphatically,
yes!
I say we can rise to the challenge before us because I have learned during
the years I have been an AIA member what we, acting collectively and with
purpose, are capable of. And we are capable of truly great things. Helping
to create the conditions that will make these great things happen is my
agenda as your president.
Happy New Year!
Copyright 2004 The American Institute of Architects.
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