best practices
Architects of Color Engaging in Collaborative Design
Houston’s Row House CDC provides some lessons for the country in collaborative design
Community-development inspiration comes from the heart, and maybe the heritage, says AIA Small Practitioners Forum Chair Louis B. Smith Jr., AIA. In his experience, Smith says, African-American and Hispanic architects seem disposed to participate in community redevelopment at some point in their careers, for reasons that extend from paying back a debt to the forerunners to paying it forward to the next generation. He gives as an example Antoine Bryan of Houston and his outstanding work there.

Work Less, Produce More: Five Steps to Delegating with Authority
If you’re one of the many business professionals today trying to do more in less time, you know that delegation is a must. Unfortunately, most business people reveal that they dislike delegating and believe that the delegated task will fall through the cracks, or that it will get done, but not to their liking, writes Organizational Consultant Chrisi Youd. As such, they refuse to delegate anything to anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary, and often opt to work longer hours rather than turn the task over to someone else. Not delegating, though, causes more stress to you and leads others to believe that you are a control freak who doesn’t trust them or doesn’t want them to take on new responsibilities. The good news is that effective delegation follows a simple process that anyone can learn.

BOOK REVIEW
Architecture and the Brain:
A New Knowledge Base from Neuroscience
by John P. Eberhard, FAIA.
Last year, John P. Eberhard, FAIA, gave us a special holiday present in the form of a story in AIArchitect. “Neuroscience and Architecture in A Christmas Carol: A tale of conception, perception, and proprioception”—replete with illustrations by the author himself—he used a cast of beloved characters to introduce the topic of how neuroscience studies can inform the practice of architecture. In the intervening year, Eberhard, the founding president of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and the second recipient of the AIA College of Fellows Latrobe Fellowship for Research, offered AIArchitect readers an article each month on the fundamentals of neuroscience and how they might relate to our profession. Now, he is bringing us another gift: Architecture and the Brain: A New Knowledge Base from Neuroscience, a book that forms a firm foundation for understanding this complex and fascinating field of study.