by Tracy Ostroff

Tech-savvy Bay Area architects are offering a new program to their members and to the Worldwide Web of architecture aficionados. AIA San Francisco recently launched ArchCasts, its free downloadable podcast audio program featuring conversations with component members on the topics of working with an architect and sustainable design. The series, which has other programs on tap, was created to help demystify and explain the design process to the general public. ArchCasts are available online at the chapter Web site and can be downloaded at the iTunes Music Store.

The podcasts are part of AIA San Francisco’s public outreach campaign. “We got started doing podcasts because, as the AIA, we like to communicate about issues of architecture—especially to the general public—in ways they are used to receiving information, and audio files are extremely popular here in Bay Area,” says AIA San Francisco executive director Margie O’Driscoll. She notes that the idea is for experts to talk about architecture; not to sell to the general public, but to share their knowledge.

The podcasts—which are deftly moderated by 2005 AIA San Francisco President J. Paul Bohn, AIA, vice president and director of operations at SmithGroup, California—had particular allure for the San Francisco chapter because they are using a medium with which their members are comfortable and are attracting a new audience-the general public. Still, they are wading into new territory. “I believe we are the first AIA chapter in the country to do it; perhaps one of the first nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area.” The chapter’s efforts are being rewarded: They’ve received emails from people all over the U.S. who have downloaded the programs.

“What makes a podcast interesting is you feel as if you’re listening to people talk; you’re sitting around the table with them. It’s not supposed to be completely polished or perfect. Our intention was to have real people, real experts talking in a way that is understandable. I think that’s what we achieved with the podcast,” O’Driscoll says. She credits Elevation, the firm that shepherded the chapter through the process, with pulling the program together into a professional product that maintains its conversational quality. “It’s not the kind of thing I would do without the assistance of people who know how to do this work,” O’Driscoll says.

Launching ArchCasts
The topics “Designing Your Dream Home with an Architect” and “Sustainable Design: What It Is and Why It Matters” speak to the two biggest questions fielded by chapter staff, O’Driscoll says. The first task was figuring out who was going to be in the podcast. “We’re a very large AIA chapter and have very many smart and savvy members. So, for us, it was trying to figure out who the right people would be to speak on this. It would have to be people who speak to the general public easily and, at the same time, are experts. We looked for people from small and large firms. We prepared a series of questions we thought were provocative and brainstormed for about an hour. Then we started the tape rolling. We had certain main points we wanted to cover in each of the podcasts. The truly wonderful thing was having this great firm edit everybody in such a way that it all sounds as if it is very seamless,” O’Driscoll says. The whole recording session, including brainstorming, lasted about 90 minutes.

With the price of developing a podcast at $1,500, the chapter feels like they are getting much bang for their buck. Bohn calls it a “safe gamble.” In addition, O’Driscoll says, some design firms are realizing, that for that amount of money, it’s a powerful way to communicate. Bohn says SmithGroup is considering scrapping their broadcast quarterly mailings for their different practice groups and replacing them with podcasts.

O’Driscoll notes the chapter does not have a big advertising budget. They executed a three-pronged approach to publicizing the programs. They sent out an email and written press release to the media, which got picked up by tech writers in the Bay Area and also a writer at the Los Angeles Times. They also promoted the programs through their Web site, which gets more than a million hits a year. “It’s right on the front page, so people who are doing research or visiting San Francisco are discovering it that way,” O’Driscoll says. The third way is via Apple iTunes, an online library of music and other files. They’re also getting hits from other components who direct callers to the AIA San Francisco Web site.

So far, there hasn’t been a visual component, as the nature of podcasting makes it well-suited for people who listen while commuting or are otherwise on the go. “Architecture is a very visual medium, but the general public is not necessarily visual in the way they take in information,” O’Driscoll says. Sarah Willmer, AIA, of Studio Sarah Willmer, a small residential design practice, who participated in the “Designing Your Dream Home” podcast and agrees. “I’m definitely a visual person, but most of my clients are not. They are thinking about their homes through words.” Bohn says that may change with the increasing popularity of video iPods and other players.

Let ’er rip!
The chapter is committed to keeping the podcasts a free service directing their members to the general public. O’Driscoll also encourages the national component to jump on the bandwagon to gather experts and leaders from across the country on a wide array of topics. “We think there’s a lot of potential there.” The chapter describes their first two podcasts:

Designing Your Dream Home with an Architect is the first podcast in the series. It features Bohn moderating John Klopf, Klopf Architecture, and Willmer through a discussion on finding and working with an architect. Each architect offers advice on interviewing potential architects, levels of involvement in the design process, and the importance of choosing an architect who shares a client’s ideas and passion for living. The conversation also offers advice on how to relay these thoughts and dreams to an architect through pictures, books, and regular meetings.

Sustainable Design: What It Is and Why It Matters offers a conversation between Marc L’Italien, principal of EHDD Architecture and Bohn discussing trends in sustainable architecture, from the intricacies of building and thinking beyond “green” products to considering the intricacies of the site, shading, orientation, control of light and ventilation, as well to the process of building itself. In addition to reviewing some of the new and exciting technologically innovative products, the conversation also considers low-tech and affordable ways in which green building is simply a result of carefully planned design.

The series continues in January 2006 with podcasts on “Residential Design in San Francisco” and “Affordable Housing: Designing Homes in the Most Expensive City in America.”

Residential Design in San Francisco will feature conversations with local architects Daniel Piechota, Sagan Piechota Architecture, and Zoe Prillinger, Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, both of whom were featured in AIA San Francisco’s 2005 San Francisco Living: Home Tours weekend.

Affordable Housing: Designing Homes in the Most Expensive City in America will feature affordable-housing expert and architect David Baker, FAIA, David Baker + Partners Architects.

The chapter has a few more podcasts on tap for release later this month and is hoping to embark on a whole series of additional issues, including more on sustainability and residential design and something on mixed-use communities. O’Driscoll says they are open to all other ideas for programs and ways they can improve the service. She is also excited to see a number of design firms beginning to look into the technology. “We’re glad to be introducing it to the architecture community.”

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