Hurricane Katrina Relief Bulletin
Once lost, now found: The AIA national component and AIA Louisiana are conducting an intensive effort to locate all Gulf-Coast architects with displaced practices. Starting with usable contact information for 60 out of 370 architects, staffs for both components this week undertook a phone and e-mail drive and were able to secure contact information for 201 architects. Additionally, the Emergency Action section of the AIA Web site offers “Architect Relocator,” a section where architects—members and nonmembers alike—who have relocated can update their own contact information. Architects searching for their colleagues or who want to reconnect with friends or offer outsourced work to displaced architects as well as clients searching for Gulf Region architects can make good use of this list. Please look at the Architect Relocater: unchecked names still need updated contact information. Please add what you can. (Pictured, AIA New Orleans President Angela O’Byrne, AIA, reviews names on the architect-location wall at the AIA national component headquarters. Photo by Jim Dinegar.)

Toward a Federal Agenda: The AIA national government advocacy team released the Institute’s agenda for recovery and rebuilding the hurricane-torn Gulf Region on September 20. The agenda includes a $50 million federal grant program to fund 10 "New Community" demonstration projects, a $200 million schools demonstration program, new tax incentives and federal grants for rebuilding preservation projects, Good Samaritan legislation, and brownfield cleanup incentives. For details, read this week’s AIA Angle, the biweekly electronic newsletter presenting government news and analysis from the AIA Government Advocacy Group. (Pictured, Devastation along the Mississippi coastal area. Photo by Daniel Lobo.)

Teams assemble for assessment training, early planning preparations: Led by Charles Harper, FAIA, and Neil Hall, PhD, PE, a team of more than 100 Gulf Region architects assembled September 20–22 in Mississippi for three training sessions in damage assessment. Damage assessment marks the second, or recovery, phase of disaster assistance, which normally begins three weeks or so after a disaster, takes approximately six months, and includes examinations of the condition of buildings, including analysis of historic properties and other non-building structures. Simultaneously, a 40-person team of New Orleans architects and other members of the community gathered at AIA Louisiana headquarters in Baton Rouge to begin the first preliminary design-assistance initiative planning the rebuilding of the area. (Pictured, Mississippi architects at the AIA’s first damage assessment training session. Photo by Daniel Lobo.)

Fundraising efforts continue: The AIA Web site offers members the opportunity to contribute to a displaced architects fund or sponsor computer equipment and accessories for displaced firms. To date, AIA components, firms, and individuals across the country have donated more than $100,000 through the Web site, while the AIA national staff (with a matching contribution from the national AIA component) has contributed an additional $43,000. (Pictured, AIA Louisiana Administrative Assistant Jean Porche [left] and Executive Assistant Kathy D. Lachney at AIA Louisiana headquarters in Baton Rouge unload computers donated through the AIA to go to architects in need.)

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.

WORK-ON-THE-BOARDS SURVEY
Business Conditions Ease a Bit in August Heading into Katrina Fallout
Rebuilding after natural disasters typically occurs over a three-year or more timeframe
Heading into the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, architecture firms were reporting solid business conditions, reports AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. Growth in billings in August was somewhat below July rates, but above those reported in June. This article also discusses the economic ramifications of Hurricane Katrina on construction over the coming year and the Work-on-the-Boards panel’s estimated timeframes for rebuilding after natural disasters in general.

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
A Shared Identity, A Shared Humanity
As the region affected by Katrina struggles to recover, AIA President Douglas L Steidl, FAIA, says tough questions must be asked: What’s the vision? What’s the goal? The aftermath of the storm could ultimately be more devastating than the storm itself if we do not rebuild with forethought and purpose.

Ten Projects Top Tarheels’ List
AIA North Carolina presented this year’s component design awards to 10 winning projects at the component’s annual design awards banquet this summer. The four-member jury selected the recipients from a record 126 entries. The component also paid homage to the 2005 Firm Award winner FreemanWhite, Charlotte; 2005 Gold Medal recipient John L. Atkins III, FAIA, Charlotte; and the 2005 Deitrick Medal recipient Paul David Boney, FAIA, Wilmington.

MEMBERS’ VOICES
Can One Architect Make a Difference in Education?
Yes, say members of the Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE). The CAE fall conference, “Implement the Dream: Collaboration Is Required,” will be held October 26–28 in Hartford, Conn., where architects, educators, and policymakers will focus on the need for exemplary design to raise the quality of schools. The CAE spring conference, “Dare to Dream,” focused on how this can be done with a focus on federal policy, whereas the fall conference will center on the impact of evolving state and local policy on designing learning environments.

Extreme Makeover: Student Edition
20 architecture students featured in ABC show
Twenty students from Traci Sooter’s Design/Build class at Drury University in Springfield, Mo., got the chance of a lifetime late this summer, only they didn’t know it when they agreed to work on the project. Without any prior knowledge of what they would be doing or for whom, this group of 4th- and 5th-year architecture students signed on to design the interior of a bunkhouse for camp counselors for the hit television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Piano Creates Light-Filled Expansion for Art Institute of Chicago
Pritzker Prize recipient Renzo Piano is designing a 264,000-square-foot expansion for the 1893 Beaux Arts Art Institute of Chicago building. The new building, which will showcase the museum’s contemporary collection, features a monumental glass curtain wall and a light-catching aluminum canopy, which the architect calls “a flying carpet.” A double-height circulation court will split the three-story east and west pavilions. Construction started earlier this summer and is slated for completion in spring 2009. To explain and detail the new building, the Art Institute is sponsoring the “Zero Gravity: The Art Institute, Renzo Piano, and Building for a New Century” exhibition through October 2. Visit the Web site for more information.

project watch
Spaaaah!
“Keeping Mohonk the same, only better”
Need to get away? The new 30,000-square-foot spa wing by Saratoga Associates at the historic Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, N.Y., 90 miles north of Manhattan, may be just the paradise for you. Capitalizing on its natural setting to enhance and heighten the relaxation and renewal of its guests, the new wing is an extension to the turn-of-the-century historic Mohonk Mountain House. “Given the overall goal of the institution, which is sustainability and renewal, the first order they gave us was, ‘Make us better, but don’t change us.’ They wanted it to look like it had always been there,” says Michael Rudden, AIA, an executive vice president at Saratoga Associates, and the firm’s principal in charge of the Mohonk spa project. That, indeed, was their challenge in completing the $13-million, multi-level facility.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
Energy costs: High prices mean shorter payback periods for conservation upgrades. Here are some ideas.
The economy: Katrina drives up inflation, wreaks havoc on economic indicators.
Trade: Expect a stable dollar into 2006.
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 29 | September 5 | September 12 | September 19

Best Practices
Risk Alert on Mold
What if the architect is the only one with insurance?
AIA Risk Management Committee member Jamie Aycock, AIA, warns us that although many professional liability policies for architects still provide coverage for mold claims, contractors’ general liability policies frequently exclude such coverage. As a result, it is possible that in a claim for mold-related damages caused by the contractor’s activities on the job site, the architect and its insurance carrier could become prime targets.

Be Part of “Shaping the Future of Design and Construction”
AIA joins McGraw-Hill Construction in presenting third innovation conference
McGraw-Hill Construction's third annual conference on significant innovations in building construction, November 15–16 in New York City, for the first time expands its audience from architects and designers to include engineers and contractors. ENR and New York Construction join Architectural Record to present the conference, which will feature Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, as keynote speaker. Sessions will focus on topics such as how new materials are developed, innovative construction materials, and digitally enabled fabrication. The conference also will present a multidisciplinary case study of the innovations used to design, build, and operate New York City’s Hearst Building (pictured) by Foster and Partners and Adamson Associates. Conference sponsors include the AIA and the American Institute of Steel Construction. For details, visit the conference Web site.

USGBC Launches LEED™ Green Building Rating System for Homes Pilot Demonstration
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in August launched a one-year pilot demonstration of its newest green-building rating system, “LEED for Homes.” The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes rating system is a voluntary program to recognize the top 25 percent of green home builders for environmentally sound construction. New homes built to LEED standards will be designed and constructed to use less energy, less water, and fewer materials. The homes will provide improved indoor air quality through better ventilation and filtration systems design and improved controls of pollutant sources.

AIA CAREER CENTER
Here Are This Week’s Featured Opportunities

Get Up to Code: ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003 Standard on Accessible and Useable Buildings and Facilities 2003 (written and published by the International Codes Council, 2004). The intent of this standard is to allow a person with physical disability to get independently to, enter, and use a site, facility, building, or element. ICC/ANSI A117.1-2003 is available now to AIA members for the special price of $26.40 ($33.00 retail). To learn more or purchase, visit the AIA Store or call 800-242-3837, opt. #4.

“Getting to Great” in New York City, October 26-28: The AIA Practice Management Committee and AIA New York component jointly offer a conference at the Center for Architecture on what it takes to build a “great” architecture firm. Register by October 7 to receive a discount rate!

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.

Members-Only Life Insurance: The AIA Term Life Insurance Program for Firms offers AIA member firms specially negotiated rates and benefits. For instance, if you employ 10 or more people, you are eligible for guaranteed enrollment, with a benefit of up to $50,000 per person. Click here for specific information about this program. For more information about all AIA Trust programs, visit their Web site.