AIA150: the founding years
Join AIArchitect as we embark on a 15-month exploration of the Institute’s rich history in celebration of “AIA150,” our sesquicentennial anniversary in 2007. Beginning with this issue, AIArchitect will present a decade-by-decade countdown of the most significant events in our Institute’s glorious past. We will share our countdown stories the first week of every month, with topical histories every third week and brief vignettes (such as the one to the right) in between. Look for the “AIA150” logo as an identifier. Our first story, by architecture historian and former AIA archivist Tony P. Wrenn, Hon. AIA, outlines 1857–1866, the Institute’s beginnings as a community of 49 men with a passion for architecture.
Also enjoy the AIA150 Web site as your constantly updated source of information on the Institute’s exploring the past and designing the future.

Hattiesburg Hopes to Restore its Architectural Pride and Joy
Katrina’s timing imperils key restoration project now in desperate need of emergency repair funds
Architect Sarah M. Newton tells us how after Katrina’s sustained winds of 95 mph battered Hattiesburg, Miss., the town’s citizens were very relieved to see their beloved landmark, the Old Hattiesburg High School, still standing. Closer inspection quickly turned relief to alarm, and the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association immediately began mobilizing efforts to mitigate extensive damage to the building’s envelope. The town’s plans and hopes for a new home for the University of Southern Mississippi’s art and design department and art museum—and the impetus their downtown revitalization—now hang in the balance.

Spotlight
AIA New Orleans President Looks Forward to Planning and Rebuilding
AIA New Orleans President Angela O'Byrne, AIA, in a September 26 interview with AIArchitect at AIA national headquarters, says she looks forward to the architecture community’s role in the planning and rebuilding of her hometown city. O’Byrne is the owner of Perez, APC, a 65-year-old New Orleans firm. She tells us that the most important message she is bringing from New Orleans to Capital Hill is to make sure a real comprehensive planning effort happens before billions get spent too quickly. O’Byrne also offers her viewpoint on how architects are doing in the Crescent City.

Hurricane Relief Update Bulletin
AIA issues Gulf region economics outlook: “The Economic and Construction Outlook in the Gulf States After Hurricane Katrina,” will be released by the AIA October 7. This analysis—written by AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA, and drawing from material supplied to the AIA by the economics consulting firm, economy.com, and from surveys of AIA members—addresses the effect of the broader economy on the rebuilding of the Katrina-stricken Gulf Region as well as a likely timetable for the construction. It presents separate economic and construction indicators for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, plus materials price estimates and the labor outlook for the region. Download the PDF report.
Help find these 19 architects! Thanks to your caring and diligence, AIA Louisiana and the national component have been able to narrow the list of Gulf-Coast architects with displaced practices down from 53 last week to 19, out of the original 360. We have a list of the remaining 19 in the gray column to the right. Can you help? If so, visit the AIA’s Web site to send the information.
AIA produces new directory of displaced architects and firms: To reconnect displaced New Orleans architects with those involved in assessment and rebuilding efforts, AIA Louisiana and the national component have published “Reconnecting New Orleans: The AIA Guide to Displaced Member Architects and Their Firms,” a directory of contact information that includes areas of expertise to help those involved with assessment and rebuilding match architects to tasks. AIA representatives will distribute directories as they hold meetings with government agencies and officials regarding the future of the city. As new information comes to light, updates will be posted to the AIA’s online locator, which serves as a central information source of architects from the wider devastated region. The PDF directory will be available next week on the AIA Web site.
Displaced architects can waive CES credits: If you’re an AIA member in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi and unable to earn Continuing Education credits as a result of the recent hurricanes, please e-mail the AIA national component, CESAudit@aia.org, to request a waiver of that mandatory requirement for AIA membership. The Institute will work with you to ensure that your membership is not lapsed because your local component, or another local CES provider, is not offering CES programs for AIA members at this time.

Here Comes the Sun!
Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman opened the 2005 Solar Decathlon Village October 6 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Douglas L. Faulkner (to Bodman’s immediate left) and the cosponsors look on, including AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA (far left).

Praising the efforts to advance the cause of solar energy and other renewable sources, Bodman announced that the Solar Decathlon will henceforth be a biennial event. Next week’s AIArchitect will recap the event.

from our friends at aia kentucky
Five Projects in the Bluegrass State Recognized for Excellence in Design
AIA Kentucky recognized a diverse group of architecture projects for Excellence in Design on September 16 in Indianapolis. The chapter presented two Honor Awards and three Merit Awards at ceremonies during AIA Kentucky’s annual convention, held in conjunction with architects in Indiana and Ohio. Additionally, the chapter presented seven awards to individuals to recognize outstanding service to AIA Kentucky and the profession of architecture within the state.

Norwegian Royalty Takes Interest in Architecture
When Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta’s Principal Craig Dykers presented the firm’s recent projects September 20 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., he did so to a royal audience. Their Majesties, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway looked on as Dykers; Randall Ott, AIA, dean of Catholic University’s School of Architecture and Planning; and Russell V. Keune, FAIA, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Iowa, presented a panel discussion of Snohetta’s works, including the Lillehammer Winter Olympic Art Museum, constructed for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games; Norwegian National Opera; and the planned World Trade Center cultural building at New York City’s Ground Zero. King Harald and Queen Sonja currently are touring the U.S. in celebration of Norway’s centennial anniversary. (Picture: Dykers, left, discusses project with King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway as Ott looks on. Photo © Arild Strommen/Royal Norwegian Embassy.)

project watch
Revival for a Storied Courthouse
Restoration in Wharton County proceeds clue-by-clue
In a public event that had citizens eagerly waiting in lawn chairs on the town square, Bailey Architects crowned the Wharton County Courthouse (Tex.) with its “new” tower on August 26. The tower rises 92 feet and features a restored 1889 E. Howard clock, exactly the same as the original, and a restored courthouse bell. The raising of tower tops off the completion of the first phase of restoration of Eugene T. Heiner’s 1889 courthouse, a state historic landmark that is shedding some drastic changes to return to its original appearance.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
The economy: Firms rein in spending plans HR: Bigger merit bonuses this year
Katrina: Fed aid should be less than expected.
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?
September 12 | September 19 | September 26 | October 3

BEST PRACTICES in risk management
Zen and the Art of Construction Administration, Part I
AIA Documents Committee gurus James B. Atkins, FAIA, and Grant A. Simpson, FAIA, remind us that construction administration—like many facets of practice—sometimes requires confrontation when we must defend ourselves and rebut accusations. However, we must be mindful, they say, that such confrontation need not be hostile or overly consuming. In this article, the first of two parts, Atkins and Simpson explain how it is more beneficial if we discipline ourselves to approach construction administration with a peaceful attitude, somewhat like the followers of the Zen school. Much can be accomplished, they say, if we remain calm, study and develop responses to the threatening dangers, and become intuitive in our risk management actions and behavior.

Calls for Entry
Two Residential Design Awards Programs
Housing Awards: Entry fees for the 2006 AIA Housing Awards are due November 18; submissions are due December 16. This program emphasizes the importance of housing as a necessity for life, sanctuary for the human spirit, and valuable national resource. Awards are presented in four categories: single family, multifamily, design innovation, and community design. For more information, visit the AIA Housing Awards Web site.
AIA/HUD Secretary’s Awards: Entry fees for the 2006 AIA/HUD Secretary’s Awards also are due November 18 and submissions due December 16. This program of the AIA Housing Committee Knowledge Community and the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recognizes excellence in housing and community design. Program categories are mixed-use/mixed-income development, community building by design, and the Alan J. Rothman Housing Accessibility Award. For more information, visit the AIA/HUD Secretary’s Award Web site. (Pictured is Alegria—The Salvation Army, Los Angeles, by Birba Group, a 2004 AIA/HUD Secretary’s Award recipient. Photo courtesy of the architect.)

Design Competition for Pittsburgh’s West End Bridge
Registration is open until November 23 for the West End Pedestrian Bridge Competition, Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Riverlife Task Force, a nonprofit organization created to design a master plan for the city’s waterfronts. This open, two-stage competition calls for design improvements and enhancements to Pittsburgh’s historic West End Bridge, including pedestrian and bike access across the Ohio River to complete a loop of riverfront trails known as Three Rivers Park. Stage 1 submissions are due December 21; three to five finalists will receive a $1,000 stipend to advance to the second phase. Finalists in Stage 2 will receive a $15,000 stipend to further develop their submissions by February 2006. For more information, visit Riverlife Task Force’s Web site and look for the West End Pedestrian Bridge Competition link.

AIA Store Bestselling Books and Products for September
From AIA logo gear and the newest compensation report to Nathaniel Kahn’s documentary about his legendary father, here’s what was crossing your colleagues’ desks during September.

AIA CAREER CENTER
Here Are This Week’s Featured Opportunities

Bag it! The AIA Logo Laptop Computer Bag by JanSport is your personal travel assistant. It announces you are an architect with a big red “AIA,” keeps your cell phone and water bottle handy in external pockets, has an extra large main compartment, and never talks back! The computer bag is available now to AIA members for the special price of $47.96 for AIA members ($59.95 retail). To learn more or purchase, visit the AIA Store or call 800-242-3837, opt. #4.

Architects We Would Like to Find:
Dorothy D. Black, Assoc. AIA
John H. Bohlke, AIA
Walter C. Bonie, AIA
David F. Campisi, Assoc. AIA
Steven J. Finegan, AIA
Jose' C. Frantz
Anthony J. Gendusa, AIA
George L. Groh, AIA
Henry G. Heier, Assoc. AIA
Leslie G. Jordan, AIA
Douglas C. Mayo, AIA
Thomas S. Meric, AIA
Carol H. Merlin, Assoc. AIA
B. A. Moss, AIA
William W.Neill, AIA
Steven H. Rome, AIA
Jeffrey Scanlan,Assoc. AIA
Terry G. Schellhaas, AIA
Alva B. See, Assoc. AIA.

Realizing a Sustainable Architecture for Health,
Los Angeles, October 19–22.
The Academy of Architecture for Health’s fall conference highlights how the principles of sustainability relate to health-care design.

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.

Check out these October specials: Courses—offering HSW credit—at a discounted rate for AIA members through October 31.

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.