Members and guests have enjoyed viewing a wide range of products at the Expo 2004 at the AIA Convention in Chicago June 10–12. With more than 800 companies exhibiting, the task of seeing them all is daunting, members agreed, but one most attacked with enthusiasm. AIArchitect asked members about the exhibits they plan on seeing and their impressions of what caught their attention first among the exciting innovations offered by the design and construction industry vendors and Cornerstone Partners.

Steve T. Christopher, AIA; Bryan Dunn, Assoc. AIA; Brian Cvelbar, Assoc. AIA, State Farm Insurance Co., Bloomington, Ill.
We’re looking to forward to seeing about 25 percent of the expo floor. We found a very thin insulation with an R-15 rating that resembles aluminum-coated bubble wrap. We’ve also seen some interesting products that we might use in our independent residential-design projects.

Matt Dean, AIA, Dean Architects, St. Paul, Minn.
I’m looking for institutional products, like lockers for schools. I just happened into some waterless urinals, which were fascinating. The high-technology booths are always popular, too; learning about the latest software applications.

John C. Gilbert, AIA, Hamme Associates, York, Penn.
How many exhibits will I see? Who knows? How many are there? Maybe I’ll see about 300. I’m a retired architect, so I just take it all with a grain of salt. I got a kick out of the novelty of the metal trees exhibit, though. Don’t go after that with a chain saw!

Edmund Ong, FAIA, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency
I’ll probably stop and talk at about 15 booths. I particularly liked the continuing education demonstration on mortar and problems with setting up around tile. There aren’t any exhibits I particularly came to see, but a German tile company had a very nice exhibit.

Laura Thomas, AIA, Melville Thomas Architects, Baltimore
I’ll stop at about 25 booths. I just got here, but I’m looking for products for a high-end residential project, so I’m most interested in a display on an elevator company.

Pam Whitehead, AIA, Sage Architects, Sacramento
We’re looking for green architecture products because our clients, which are about 60 percent residential, are asking us for sustainable technology.

Copyright 2004 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. Home Page