Summary: Architecture Week—established in 2007 in conjunction with a congressional resolution and presidential proclamation marking the AIA’s 150th anniversary—will be observed the second week of April this year. Announced during the Grassroots Leadership and Legislative Conference Open House February 21, this year’s celebration will kick off with a reception April 8 at the AIA national component headquarters in Washington, D.C., and include the initial release of Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future as well as the launch of the AIA Blueprint for America Mosaic and Shape of America programs.

The quintessential book
A culmination of the AIA sesquicentennial celebration, Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future is a definitive look at American architecture and the forces that shaped it over the last century and a half.

“Through the centuries architecture has evolved and matured, producing myriad artifacts—the structures and experiences that have been well described and documented in text and imagery,” writes Architectural Record Editor-in-Chief Robert Ivy, FAIA, in the book’s introduction. “But the architect’s role remains more elusive. Perhaps part of the ambiguity lies in the fact that this role has evolved over time and across cultures. This book…is intended to shed light on this much-admired calling with the American context. It does so in three parts. The first explores the overriding sociopolitical framework within which American architects have worked and that has shaped their goals and values. The second presents the training and tools of these practitioners plus the methods by which they best serve their clients. And the third describes the contributions of these architects through the evolution of some of the most common types of projects.”

The strikingly illustrated tribute to American architecture and architects includes vignettes honoring 37 AIA Gold Medal recipients. Copies will be available at the April 8 ceremony.

“Mosaic” works on the Web site
Also debuting during Architecture Week is The Blueprint for America Mosaic, a Web resource for members, elected officials, and communities. The AIA50 Blueprint for America project features efforts undertaken by local and state AIA components across the country. Through this program, architects and residents have developed myriad approaches to common issues—such as transportation, housing, redevelopment, and growth planning—to create more livable, healthy, and sustainable communities and give the public a better understanding of the value of AIA architects to everybody’s everyday life everywhere.

Beginning with 30 architect-driven endeavors—from Puerto Rico to Seattle—the Blueprint for America Mosaic is ultimately intended to support more than 140 initiatives identified so far to encourage communities to think about possibilities and realize them. A compendium of the local programs will be gathered within the Blueprint for America Mosaic framework, providing a national resource with interrelated themes, issues, and solutions designed by AIA architects, community members, and community partners. The mosaic will continue to be presented via the Web as a gift for the future and as a testament to the value of design and AIA architects.

Architecture on the airwaves
To raise public awareness of the value of architecture further, the AIA national component also is launching Shape of America, based on the successes of Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, in Corpus Christi, Tex. Almost a decade ago, Chu Richter conceived a public-radio program, the Shape of Texas through which the Texas Society of Architects offers short audio vignettes of cultural and historical significance, each focusing on a particular Texas landmark. The intent, she says, is to pique people’s interest in the merits of their built environment and give them an appreciation of the experience of architecture.

Chu Richter currently chairs a subcommittee of AIA members to create a national series of stories about projects people may recognize but may not fully appreciate. The overall goal is to produce 175 audio clips over a three-year period. Market research will be conducted to ensure there is an audience for such programming as well as component interest in promoting or participating in spin-off programs.