Committee on the Environment Chooses This Year’s Top Green Projects
In celebration of Earth Day 2005, April 22, the AIA and its Committee on the Environment selected nine examples—eight awards and one honorable mention for a planning project—of green design that protects and enhances the environment. The selected projects address significant environmental challenges with designs that integrate architecture, technology, and natural systems. The projects and their architects will be honored in May at the AIA National Convention in Las Vegas.

The Great Pyramid: A Case Study in Program Management
Convention presentation details process from 4,500 years ago
How would you build the Great Pyramid? That question was pondered by the Los Angeles’ Daniel, Mann, Johnson, and Mendenhall-Holmes & Narver, the global firm that has been involved in myriad public works projects, including the renovation of the Pentagon. Their answer: program management. Translation: A lot of planning. Craig B. Smith, chief operating officer of DMJM H&N, has written a compelling book entitled How the Great Pyramid Was Built. He will offer a forensic analysis of the Great Pyramid’s construction and planning during the AIA national convention.

AIA West Virginia Celebrates Three Exceptional Projects and Four Exceptional Students
For AIA West Virginia’s 2004 awards program, a Chicago jury—Chair Ray Bordwell, AIA; Ralph Johnson, FAIA; Jim Schellinger, AIA; Rick Dewar, AIA; and Robert Finigan, AIA—awarded 3 projects from among 28 submitted in the Mountain State. The recipients this year are a university dining hall facility, an addition to an historic church, and a new credit union branch building. The chapter also honored four architecture students, granting them scholarship awards totaling $7,250.

2005 Update to Handbook Now Available
The third update to the 13th edition of The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice (executive editor Joseph A. Demkin, AIA; published by John Wiley & Sons, 2005) offers architects 192 pages of updated information in the form of:
• Practice Reports from practitioners in the field on such topics as marketing services on the Internet and strategic planning
• Practice Topics outlining practical techniques in project financing, land surveying, LEED certification, and urban design services
• AIA Contract Documents information about what's new, including agreements for design-build services and a CD-ROM with samples of all of the documents, including the 12 new Design-Build documents.
The AIA Store currently is offering AIA members a package deal: Purchase The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice and the just-released 2005 Update together for the member price of $275 and save off the individual prices totaling $325. (The 2005 Update is also available individually: $76.50 AIA members/$85 retail.) To purchase, call 800-242-3837, opt. #4 or visit the AIA Store.

project watch
Holocaust History Museum: From Darkness to the Light
Dedicated on March 15, the new Holocaust History Museum by Moshe Safdie, FAIA, replaces a generic and outdated “black box” museum with a striking 180-meter-long prism-like triangular building that cuts through Jerusalem’s Mountain of Remembrance. Cantilevered into the air at both ends, one side dramatically erupts into a breathtaking terrace view of forest, mountain, and the city below. A glass skylight spans the length of the building, permitting glimpses of daylight down into the central corridor.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
Taxes An analysis of the Bush plan. The economy Some inflation, more mergers. Selling Credit card fees, franchising: both on the rise.
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.

Need to catch up on recent editions of AIArchitect This Week?
April 4 | April 11 | April 18 | April 25

best practices
In Search of Soft Skills
John P. Kreiss, president of Sullivan Kreiss executive search firm, says that if the experience of his clients is an accurate indicator, A/E/C firms today are having a very difficult time finding managers who have superior soft skills—interpersonal skills and leadership qualities to guide teams of diverse professionals. He posits that when technical people are promoted to management positions, they are often unprepared for the non-technical aspects of the job. Can these soft skills be learned? Read on!

AIA Opens Job Board to Summer Intern Opportunities
Now through July 31, AIA member firms can place free ads for summer intern opportunities on the AIA Career Center job board. Openings will remain on the site, unless deleted by the employer, until July 31. To qualify, openings must be limited-term, paid positions.

Meet the Ten Candidates for AIA Office
Elections for the Institute’s next first vice president/president-elect, vice presidents, and treasurer will be held in May at the AIA 2005 National Convention and Design Expo in Las Vegas. The candidates’ statements are now available. Readers also should note that members at the 2004 convention voted for a bylaws change that allows for election of four vice presidents for two-year terms (instead of three vice presidents for one-year terms). This bylaws change affects the voting procedure this year.

IDA Calls for Speakers for Its September Conference in Denver
The International Downtown Association invites architects to become speakers at its 51st annual conference, “Mile High Mosaic: Solving The Urban Puzzle,” September 10–13 in the mile-high city of Denver. Each year, IDA offers downtown development professionals and leaders the opportunity to meet with their peers and discuss important issues affecting the industry. Educational sessions form the cornerstones of IDA’s conferences, so the organization is searching for talented speakers who are experts in the field and who can effectively communicate their message to a variety of audiences. The deadline for submissions is May 27. Find information and propose topics, sessions, or speakers, at the IDA Web site.

Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland Needs a New Visitors Center
The British Government in Northern Ireland has launched a single-stage international projects competition for the design of visitor facilities and landscaping at the Giant's Causeway development site, situated on the northern coast of County Antrim. The aim of the competition is to provide world-class visitor facilities for the Giant's Causeway, registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986, which attracts some 400,000 visitors annually for its outstanding natural beauty and mythological connotations. The competition, open to architects licensed to practice in all European Union countries, has been approved by the International Union of Architects (UIA). Registration applications are due June 10; entries are due August 5. For details, visit the UIA Web site.

AIA CAREER CENTER
Here Are This Week’s Featured Opportunities

How Did They Do That? How the Great Pyramid Was Built, by DMJM’s COO Craig Smith (Smithsonian Books, 2004) presents the project as a well-planned public works program. How the Great Pyramid Was Built is available now to AIA members for the special price of $22.35 ($27.95 retail). To learn more or purchase, visit the AIA Store or call 800-242-3837, opt. #4. To read a related story click here.

Viva AIA! Join your colleagues May 19–21 in Las Vegas: Registration is still open for the AIA 2005 National Convention and Design Expo.

Help with Fair Housing: To help you comply with the Fair Housing Act, HUD has developed an on-line resource on design and construction requirements. For information on training resources near you, visit the Fair Housing First Web site.

Check Out These New Programs—with Transcripts: AIA eClassroom now has available 12 of the most popular programs from the 2004 AIA national convention with full transcripts.

AIA Members Save with United Parcel Service (UPS): Save up to 20 percent on U.S. and international overnight air shipping with UPS, the world’s largest package-distribution company.
Call 800-325-7000, ext. 7600. Reference No. C-000-070-0037.

Free Continuing Education: After reading the standards and other information on environmental issues and products, references, and more in each MASTERSPEC topic, licensed users can access online tests to earn AIA/CES learning-unit hours.

Save Time! AIA.org now features a trouble-shooting Knowledge Base to address your AIA Contract Documents software questions quickly and efficiently.

Cover Personal and Business Expenses if Disability Strikes: The AIA Trust Personal and Business Overhead Disability Plans will cover all your expenses while you recuperate. Find out more about this program. For more information about all AIA Trust programs, go to their site.