Hurricane Katrina Relief Bulletin
AIA leaders offer help, hope, condolences to Gulf Region colleagues and friends: A group of AIA national component leaders headed by AIA President Douglas L Steidl, FAIA, and Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA, flew down to Jackson, Miss., on September 12 to consult with the leadership of AIA Mississippi about rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The national and local team then worked together with state officials at Mississippi’s Bureau of Buildings (top photo). The national component team also joined leaders from AIA New Orleans and AIA Louisiana in Baton Rouge to meet with Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu (pictured, center of bottom photo) on September 14. AIA.org and AIArchitect will carry their full report in the coming days.
UIA expresses solidarity: The International Union of Architects on September 12 issued a press release expressing solidarity with the AIA’s relief efforts and offering to provide assistance to specific requests. Access a PDF (46 kb) of the press release.
Funds, equipment, work needed: The architects displaced by Katrina have made it clear that they need three things: funds, equipment, and work. AIA members from across the country are responding in record numbers to the fundraising appeal sent out last week, and you are encouraged to make a contribution that will be transmitted to the local and state AIA components of the affected members so that help can be provided immediately to those most in need. The AIA has arranged for computers, printers, and accessories to be made available through “sponsorships” by AIA members, so please consider sponsoring a computer or printer for the architects in need. Finally, the displaced architects need work to keep their teams together. Before you outsource, please consider sending some of your work to the architects affected by this disaster so they may stay solvent and help assist in recovery efforts down the road. Work is under way to secure contact information for displaced firms; check the AIA Web site [www.aia.org] for contact information beginning next week. (Thanks to sponsorships from members, the computers and printers pictured are on their way to displaced architects.)
The AIA Web site provides updates for architects on national and local relief efforts, as well as links to relevant sites and news stories. Check it frequently for updates.

Katrina Aftermath: AIA Supports Preservation Housing Credit
To help repair and rehabilitate the thousands of historic homes caught in the path of Hurricane Katrina, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the AIA are working on securing the reintroduction of the Historic Homeownership Assistance Act. This bill was first introduced in the 107th Congress in 2001 by former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.).

AIA Honolulu Honors Hawaiian Design
AIA Honolulu’s Annual Design Awards program is the state’s oldest program of its type, held annually since 1958. Many of the program’s award-winning projects are now considered architectural landmarks on the islands or are ranked among the best works of architecture in the state—appropriate and well-conceived solutions addressing important urban or social concerns in Hawaii. View this year’s eight beautiful recipients. (Photo © The Image Group Inc.)

Flight 93 National Memorial Design Announced for Pa. Site
Chapel and tower to honor the passengers and crew who thwarted the 2001 terrorist attack
The National Park Service announced September 7 that “Circle of Embrace,” a design featuring a chapel, tower with 40 wind chimes, and beautifully designed landscape by Paul Murdoch Architects, Los Angeles, with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Charlottesville, Va., will be built as the permanent memorial for Flight 93. The memorial will be located at the 2,000-acre crash site near Shanksville, Pa., where the plane’s crew and passengers courageously brought the plane down on September 11, 2001, thereby thwarting a fourth terrorist attack. The Park Service made the announcement in the nations’ capital, believed to have been the target for the fourth terrorist attack.

New Video Champions “Schools as Centers of Community”
American Architectural Foundation and KnowledgeWorks Foundation provide resources to help improve school design
The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and KnowledgeWorks Foundation have partnered to create a video case study and discussion guide that will educate local leaders and residents about the benefits of creating “Schools as Centers of Community.” This video showcases the transformative story of John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary School, by Ankeny Kell Architects, a struggling St. Paul, Minn., public school that is reborn as a beacon of academic excellence, design innovation, and community involvement.

Institute Honors for Professional Achievement Awards Deadlines Near
Kemper, Whitney M. Young Jr., Young Architects awards nominations due October 14
It’s time to honor your peers for the magnificent work they do—in service to the AIA, in the public arenas, and for social responsibility. Whose contributions do you most admire? Which young architects have truly impressed you with their dedication and efforts? All of their efforts can be appreciated formally through an AIA Professional Achievement Award. (Pictured is Stanford R. Britt, FAIA, recipient of the 2005 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award.)

project watch
A Class Act
Williams College opens world-class performing arts center
Massachusetts’ rural Berkshires can now boast two world-class performing arts facilities, both by Boston’s William Rawn Associates, Architects Inc. The first, the award-winning Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Lenox, is one of the leading arts venues in the region. The second, designed for Williams College in Williamstown, is the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance opening in October. The $50 million center provides four distinct performance spaces for visiting artists, presenting student works and hosting one of the country’s premiere regional theater companies.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
The economy: Katrina will continue to hammer materials prices.
Tech: Electronics are getting cheaper by the minute, except for those new eight-hour fuel-cell batteries.
Growing markets: Green buildings are even hotter than you might think.
AIArchitect offers AIA members exclusive access to three stories a week to help them manage their practices and plan for the coming year. Nonmembers may subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.

Need to catch up on recent editions of AIArchitect This Week?
August 22 | August 29 | September 5 | September 12

Best Practices
Design Green: Use Salvaged, Recycled, and Ag-waste Materials
“Together we can make a difference,” writes Sarah Susanka, FAIA, in her foreword to Green Building Products, “and this book points the way.” In an excerpt from the introduction to this residential green-product specification guide, editors Alex Wilson and Mark Piepkorn explain the difference among salvaged, post-consumer-recycled, post-industrial-recycled, and agricultural-waste materials.

So, What’s Next?
Register for the 2006 Construction Outlook Conference to Find Out
McGraw-Hill Construction's Outlook 2006 Executive Conference, to be held October 19–20 in Washington, D.C., gives architects, engineers, and other members of the construction industry a firsthand view of industry trends and the economic forecast that guides construction industry planning for 2006. AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA, will join a panel of association leaders to discuss key issues in the industry, and AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA, and fellow economists will paint a picture of what’s ahead for the coming year. Joining the AIA as sponsors for the event are Autodesk and Aon. For more information and registration details, visit McGraw-Hill’s construction.com Web site.

Heads Up
Regional/Urban Design Honor Award Submissions Due Soon
Just a friendly reminder that submissions for AIA Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design must be postmarked by October 7. The AIA will continue to accept submission fees until this date. For more information, contact Kelly Pickard, kpickard@aia.org or 202-626-7563. (Pictured is Cady’s Alley, Washington, D.C., by Sorg & Associates PC, with Frank Schlesinger Associates Architects; McInturff Architects; Martinez & Johnson Architecture PC; Shalom Baranes Associates Architects; and landscape architect The Fitch Studio, for Eastbanc, Inc., a 2005 AIA Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design recipient. Rendering courtesy of the architect.)

Congratulations to AIA.org
The AIA’s Web site, www.aia.org captured a 2005 Webaward for an “Outstanding Web Site” recognizing “work above and beyond the standard of excellence” from the Web Marketing Association. The Web Marketing Association offers four awards levels (best of show, best of industry, outstanding Web site, and standard of excellence) in 95 different categories (the AIA was judged in the “associations” category) according to seven criteria: design, ease of use, copywriting, interactivity, use of technology, innovation, and content.

AIA CAREER CENTER
Here Are This Week’s Featured Opportunities

Explore the negotiated contract method for RFPs: Successful RFPs in Construction, by Rick Fria (McGraw-Hill Companies, 2005), describes and discusses the negotiated contract method for RFPs, in which only 10 percent of the design work is done before a contractor is brought to the table. Successful RFPs in Construction is available now to AIA members for the special price of $27.95 ($34.95 retail). To learn more or purchase, visit the AIA Store or call 800-242-3837, opt. #4.

Early Registration Ends 9/16 for “Justice and the City:” The Academy of Architecture for Justice Conference and Exposition, November 2–5, San Diego will ask ”What is the role of criminal justice facilities in the urban environment?” and “How are efficient criminal justice services provided in an urban setting?”

Free Postings Through Year-end: You can post your project, firm, award, and other news for free on the AIA’s online new service through the end of 2005.

Use Your Brain—And Get CES Credit Half Price: For the month of September, AIA eClassroom is offering its online course, “Update on Neuroscience and Architecture,” with 1.5 HSW learning units for 49.98 AIA members/$67.48 nonmembers.

AIA Members Save with United Parcel Service (UPS): Save up to 20 percent on U.S. and international overnight air shipping with UPS, the world’s largest package-distribution company.
Call 800-325-7000, ext. 7600. Reference No. C-000-070-0037

Free Continuing Education: After reading the standards and other information on environmental issues and products, references, and more in each MASTERSPEC topic, licensed users can access online tests to earn AIA/CES learning-unit hours.

Save Time! AIA.org now features a trouble-shooting Knowledge Base to address your AIA Contract Documents software questions quickly and efficiently.

Consider 10-Year Level Term Life Insurance for Your Family: The AIA Term Life Insurance Plan lets you purchase or add more protection to your life insurance portfolio easily and inexpensively. Click here for specific information about this program. For more information about all AIA Trust programs, visit their Web site.