Summary: An April 8 open house at the AIA headquarters building in Washington, D.C., kicked off this week’s celebration of Architecture Week with the debut of the Blueprint for America exhibition and its on-line Mosaic display, announcement of the Internet-based Shape of America program, and the initial release of the book Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future.

Architecture Week—established in 2007 in conjunction with a congressional resolution and presidential proclamation marking the AIA’s 150th anniversary—will be observed this year from April 7–13.

Blueprint for America Mosaic
As master of ceremonies for the evening, AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Chris McEntee welcomed the crowd of 200 to the AIA national component headquarters with reminiscences of the first Architecture Week in 2007. “Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future” was the theme for that year, which marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the AIA in 1857. Highlights of the sesquicentennial celebration, she said, included the release of a national poll on America’s Favorite Architecture, which received international media attention; a traveling exhibition based on that poll that is still circulating throughout the country; and the AIA’s signature “Gift to the Nation” project, the “Blueprint for America,” which provided matching grants to 156 AIA components nationwide.

McEntee pointed out the exhibition, newly hung in the building’s public spaces, illustrating the component successes so far with the Blueprint for America projects, which are AIA architect-driven community development initiatives. Further, she noted, the initial Blueprint for America Mosaic site is live on-line. The Web-based resource for members, elected officials, and communities features these efforts undertaken by local and state AIA components to create more livable, healthy, and sustainable communities.

Computer terminals on the floor allowed the guests to view presentations of the Mosaic projects. “Look at the projects closely: they demonstrate how architects and local citizens are working together to improve their communities,” McEntee advised. As more Blueprint projects reach fruition, they, too, will be highlighted on the Mosaic Web site.

Shape of America
The reception guests were also the first to experience the “Shape of America” program, to be released within a month. Developed from the success of last year’s “America’s Favorite Architecture” campaign, “Shape of America” is a Web-based video series that offers a look at what the public has identified as this country’s most intriguing structures and how they add to their communities. The first four projects, which debuted at the reception, are the Empire State Building, Boston’s Fenway Park, Chicago’s Tribune Tower, and Washington’s own Air and Space Museum. “As the site builds, it will embrace a diversity of projects from all over the country,” McEntee said. “The goal is to encourage discussion and interest in architecture and AIA architects by showing the public real and engaging stories behind America’s most noteworthy architecture.”

The BIG book
Festivities also included the initial release of Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future, the definitive book of the last 150 years of American architecture. McEntee lauded the book’s editor, Nancy Solomon, AIA, and a member of the national component staff, Janet Rumbarger.

McEntee reminded the audience that the three initiatives came to life thanks to the support of the thousands of businesses, firms, and individuals who contributed to the AIA150 underwriting campaign. She thanked in particular the two Founders Circle partners: McGraw-Hill Construction, represented at the event by Robert A. Ivy, FAIA, editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, and Autodesk, represented by Senior Director of Government Affairs and Senior Corporate Counsel David Crane. She also acknowledged the leaders of the AIA 150 underwriting campaign, former AIA EVP/CEO Norman Koonce, FAIA, and former AIA President Ron Skaggs, FAIA, as well as AIA Vice President George Miller, FAIA, who served as the overall chair of AIA150; and Tony Costello, FAIA, who chaired the Blueprint for America campaign.

“The ultimate value of these resources depends on you,” McEntee concluded. “If you’re excited by what you’ve seen, please be an ambassador for these initiatives. Be a leader—tell your friends and colleagues.“