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Transcript . . .

Welcome to my office; welcome to the AIA’s Washington home—your home.

If I had to give a quick summary of where the organization stands at the beginning of our 151st year, I’d use three words: “pretty darn good!”

We’re enjoying record membership. More architects than ever have chosen the letters “A.I.A.” after their names. The Associate category—our future!—continues to be the fastest growing constituency. It’s up 11 percent, ending 2007 with 17,669 members, of whom 48 percent indicate they’re on track to licensure. Our market penetration among licensed professionals is growing—not as fast as we’d like. On the other hand, it’s trending in the right direction.

Wherever they practice, the AIA’s unique network of local, state, and international components along with the KCs and other member communities link AIA members into a supportive, global network that:

• provides members knowledge resources they need for professional development, like Soloso launched just last year and rapidly becoming the go-to resource for today’s architecture community;
• represents the interests of the profession through results-driven advocacy initiatives at all levels of government;
• and enhances the public visibility and reputation of the profession through community volunteer opportunities, such as the “AIA Blueprint for America,” which is teaming up with citizens to create healthy, safe, and sustainable communities.

Unlike many professional organizations, we’re growing. Instead of stamping out brush fires, we have the resources to envision stretch goals that will take the AIA and its members to an even better place than we are today.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating complacency. There’s plenty of work to be done to advance the AIA’s mission to serve its members and society. More about that in a moment.

Today I can say the AIA is in a strong financial position; we’re ahead of the targets we’ve set for ourselves in our long-range financial plan. I attribute this success to three things:

1. We’re operating more efficiently by making better use of member resources guided by the focus of our Strategic Plan;
2. Second, AIA products and services at all levels are valued by our members and our partners. Examples include the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received since the release last fall of the AIA’s revised contract documents and the accompanying Integrated Project Delivery Guide, a resource made possible thanks to the collaboration among the national component and the AIA California Council;
3. Third, the generosity of those who helped underwrite the celebration last year of the AIA’s 150th anniversary. Leaders such as Autodesk AEC Solutions and McGraw-Hill Construction along with literally hundreds of others, including individual members, gave us the opportunity to build on the important accomplishments of 150 years of service to the nation by committing to an even brighter future—one that is bold, transformative, and achievable.

With so much to celebrate, it would be tempting to simply stay the course. Yet, wherever our world and the profession are headed, it certainly isn’t the status quo. How we respond to today’s challenges will shape the AIA’s and our members’ future.

Take, for example, the nature of the programs and services we provide AIA members to keep them competitive and increase their value. Here we have a real competitive edge thanks to the unique access members have to network of many inter-related AIA constituencies—components, Knowledge Communities, associates, the Large Firm Roundtable, and College of Fellows, to name a few. The challenge is to pull together and share knowledge for the benefit of all so that we are truly known and respected as a Knowledge-Centered organization. Collaboration among all these constituencies is essential.

Collaboration doesn’t mean uniformity; it does mean unity of purpose. It means a quality of moving forward made possible by our Strategic Plan that, on the one hand, offers the structure of clear goals and strategies, as well as explicit ways to measure progress so that we are accountable to our members.

Knowledge, as many have said, is the currency of the 21st century. We want, indeed must be the go-to source, the gold standard when it comes to knowledge about and for AIA members. That doesn’t mean the national component has to do all the minting. Each AIA constituency has a part to play, with national in many cases serving most effectively as an enabler. When it comes to developing the knowledge needed by AIA members, it’s all about living a culture of sharing and collaboration.

The obvious question is: Knowledge about “what?” In adopting the AIA’s Strategic Plan, the Board looked at the “what” and “how” of modern architecture practice and came up with three priorities.

The “what” of modern practice is sustainability. Buildings account for the largest source of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions around the world. In fact, in this country alone they contribute 48 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and use 68 percent of our electricity. This is a unique opportunity for architects to take a leading role in solving a problem that is a consequence of how we created the built environment in the previous century.

As an ethic, sustainability is today informing all our work at the national component, from the operation of the building itself (and plans for a major green retrofit) to:

• Providing the knowledge resources (such as Soloso and resources such as the green cities kit, which is actively shaping the policy decisions of this nation’s mayors.) so that the AIA is the authoritative source on whatever pertains to sustainable design;
• Heightening public awareness of the feasibility and benefits of a more sustainable future through such innovative educational programs as “Walk the Walk,” and in so doing positioning AIA members as a credible voice to advance sustainability initiatives within the community;
• Engaging individually and in strategic alliances with others to advocate for legislative and regulatory change that will further sustainability at all levels of government—local, state, and national. Following up on last year’s successful energy legislation, we intend to take major steps to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. This year, for example, the AIA will develop a workshop for the General Services Administration (GSA) and others who have the responsibility for implementing in federal facilities the provisions written in the recently passed energy bill, ground-breaking legislation the AIA and its members played a major role in shaping and, with our allies, lobbied hard for its passage late last year.

To everyone who contacted his or her Congressional representative to push for passage of this legislation, thank you. I believe our principled stand on this issue will emerge as one of the proudest legacies of the AIA’s 150th anniversary.

Addressing the challenge of sustainability requires an unprecedented degree of teamwork and cooperation among every member of the building team, which leads to the second of the Board’s three priorities—the “how” of modern architecture practice.

The need for collaboration among all members of the team grounds the case for the AIA’s support of Integrated Project Delivery. This is what is driving our commitment to create the tools, resources, and advocacy campaigns, and to develop the relationships that provide AIA members with best-practice information regarding integrated project delivery and collaborative delivery models. It’s a practice model that speaks to the economic sustainability of the design and construction industry.

There is, however, also the matter of the profession’s own sustainability, which brings up a pressing challenge for all of us who care about the future of architecture.

Yes, the answer to architecture as a sustainable profession will be determined in large part by the ability of AIA members to incorporate sustainability as a design ethic, not simply an add-on. And, yes, the sustainability or future prosperity of the profession will be in part a factor of how collaboratively AIA members work with all the members of the building team.

There is, however, a third dimension—the diversity of the profession itself. Diversity, along with designing sustainably and practicing an ethic of integrated project delivery, constitutes the Board’s third major priority. It should and must be the priority of each one of us as well.
Although architects are called upon to address very real and growing challenges within their communities, the profession is not a mirror image of the community it seeks to serve. Why is this important? Because it stands to reason that the profession needs all the resources it can get its hands on to confront today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. In addition, young professionals who come from the communities that need to be served are more likely to understand the needs of their neighbors.

True, we have a large and growing list of practice, outreach, and advocacy tools as resources. In the hands of our members, they are truly advancing the profession.

However, the profession’s most important resources are human. Can we honestly say that today everyone who has the potential of becoming an architect has access to the profession?

The roadblocks to a more diverse profession are complex. So complex that the no single entity—the schools, the firms, individual members, the AIA, related organizations—on its own can do what needs to be done to create the infrastructure for a more diverse, inclusive profession.
We must engage all those who have a stake in the solution—our members, the schools, other members of the industry, other design and professional associations, and our communities. This is huge and it is hugely important.

You can’t whistle a symphony. A symphony requires a full orchestra. A full orchestra is what the AIA, America’s architects, and America itself need to shape the future we want rather than settle for the future we get.

This coming April, the AIA will host a major conference on diversity. We have invited a wide range of participants. Out of that conference I’m not expecting easy solutions. What all of us should be looking for is a blueprint for action in the months and years ahead to reach the goal of a more diverse profession.

Architects are by nature an optimistic profession. They have to be. During my relatively short tenure here, I’ve seen and have been infected by that optimism. That optimism and that collaborative creativity have been the foundation of the AIA’s success for more than 150 years. They are, I believe, the keys to the organization’s future success.

What is the state of the AIA and its members? Strong, and within that strength the possibility of true greatness.

Thank you.