Spring 2016 Issue

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The Cornerstone: Public Architects Committee Knowledge Community

2016 - The Year to STEP UP

By David Trevino, FAIA

A message from the Chair

I would like to extend a heart-felt warm 2016 welcome to our Public Architects Knowledge Community Members as well as other KCs. As chair of this KC for this year, we feel this year will be a year of new approaches in how we do business. Our Public Architects Advisory Group has been busy putting together our Public Architects Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th at the AIA Convention in Philadelphia.

Like any new year, 2016 will bring new optimism, new challenges, and re-dedication of past initiatives. With these challenges also comes new opportunities. These opportunities may come in the form of how we think and what we do. Like many professional organizations, the AIA is constantly challenging us to not only learn more about our profession, but, how we perform our services. This is part of AIA's "Repositioning Architects..." initiative. In an ever changing climate of tighter fiscal controls requires for public agencies, and the firms that do business with these agencies to ask ourselves how can we add value; for our clients and to projects, as well as, how and why we can perform better.


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In this issue

Features

Valediction from the 2015 Chair

By Ed Gauvreau, AIA, MPA

I can barely believe that 2016 has arrived, and with that flip of the calendar comes the time to pass the baton of leadership of Public Architects. As I write this in early January, I am still Chair of the Public Architects Knowledge Community (PAKC) through the end of the month as David Trevino, the 2016 Chair, is recovering from surgery in early December. David has assured me that he will be ready for the challenge come the end of January - you can read his welcome elsewhere in The Cornerstone.


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Hollywood, FL Commuter Train Station

By Susan Goldberg, AIA
Deputy Director of Hollywood, FL Community Redevelopment Agency

Architects in the public sector design buildings and urban spaces, and many times raise the bar on the architecture of public buildings by selection of Architectural Consulting Firms. On occasion, we as Architects are also elected officials setting policy in local municipal, state or federal agencies. What makes us stand out as Architects in the public sector is our ability to connect the "dots" of public space, people and the built environment. As Deputy Director of the Hollywood, Florida Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), I am often called upon to explain how projects will function and benefit the community, by utilizing my architectural expertise as an owner’s representative, where the owner is the public entity.

Brightline TrainBrightline

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Books Reviews by PA

Books by 2016 AIA Gold Medal Winners Denise Scott Brown
& Robert Venturi

Reviewed by Paula Loomis, PhD, FAIA, FSAME

In preparation for the 2016 AIA Convention in Philadelphia my book review concentrates on books produced by this year's AIA Gold Medal winners - Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi. I'm sure many of us have seen and used their books in classes and work. I found it especially nice to pull them off the shelf and re-read portions in preparation for the convention and Gold Medal presentation. The biographies (see links below) provide background/context for the books. Happy reading and bring your books to the convention for signing!

Read Denise Scott Brown's and Robert Venturi's biographies

Recommended Books:

  • Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture -Robert Venturi
    First published in 1966, and since translated into 16 languages, many of us had this book as required reading in architectural school. A "gentle manifesto" for a...[Read More]

  • Learning from Las Vegas -Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown
  • Learning From Las Vegas, Revised Ed. -Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown & Steven Izenourat
  • Learning From Las Vegas SuperCrit #2 -Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown
  • Learning from Las Vegas created a healthy controversy on its appearance in 1972, calling for architects to be more receptive to the tastes and values of "common" people and less immodest in their erections of "heroic", self-aggrandizing monuments. Several editions...[Read More]

  • Learning from Hangzhou -Mathieu Boryzevicz with preface by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown & Clarisa Diaz
    Having someone pattern their work on your work is a sincere compliment. This photo essay, which takes its cue from the seminal Learning from Las Vegas, is accompanied by texts that explicate Hangzhou's emblematic role in China's...[Read More]

  • Out of the Ordinary -Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown & Associates
    This engaging book presents the first critical retrospective look at the architectural achievement of Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and their firm with such buildings as the Sainsbury Wing at...[Read More]

  • Acadia Summer Arts Program -Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, & Steven Izenourat
    The founder of the Acadia Summer Arts Program, Marion Boulton Stroud, asked Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour to design and construct houses...[Read More]

  • Architecture as Signs & Systems for a Mannerist Time -Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown
    The views of Venturi and Scott Brown have influenced architects worldwide for nearly half a century. Pluralism and multiculturalism; symbolism and iconography; popular culture and the...[Read More]

  • Having Words -Denise Scott Brown
    Having Words collects together ten essays by Scott Brown from her 1969 text, 'On Pop Art, Permissiveness and Planning' to 'Towards an Active Socioplastics' from 2007...[Read More]

  • The Ordinary -Denise Scott Brown & Rem Koolhaas
    Since the beginning of the century, the field of architecture has fervently turned its attention to documenting the contemporary urban condition. Every city been has been...[Read More]

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Upcoming Events

2015 AIA National Convention

Join PA for Their Convention Session & Reception

WE203 - Architects, Public Architects, & P3 Development: Innovation, Challenges, Lessons Learned
Wednesday, May 18 | 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM | Earn 7.5 LU/HSW/RIBAI | Register ➭

As public private partnerships drive an increasing amount of public sector development, the relationship between design professionals and public project managers has changed dramatically. This session will explore the various roles, responsibilities, and considerations involved in P3 development. [Learn More]

EV102 - Find Your Community at Philly and Beyond!
Wednesday, May 18 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | The Racquet Club of Philadelphia | Register ➭

We invite you to connect with first-time and returning Conference attendees at this new event. Enjoy festive cocktails and hors d'oeuvres as you develop your convention plan, explore the diversity of practice, and revel in the Racquet Club of Philadelphia's unique architectural details.
*This event takes place of last year's PA Reception. [Learn More]

Register Now

Upcoming Knowledge Community Webinars

AIA Documents from the Owner's Perspective: How to Best Protect Your Project
April 5 | 1:00 - 2:30pm ET | Learn more | Register now
Sponsored by AIA Contract Documents and the ABA Forum on Construction Law
Registration fees: $95.00

Understanding Roles, Risks & Responsibilities: Explore the AIA Contract Documents Teaming Agreement
June 7 | 2:00 - 3:00pm ET | Earn 1.0 AIA LU | Learn more | Register now
Sponsored by AIA Contract Documents
Registration fees: Free


Resources

AIAU Courses for Member of the Public Architects Committee

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Take the latest courses on information for architects working in the public sphere on AIAU. New courses includes ADA measures in eduction facilities and selections from Architecture for Humanity’s Design Like you Give Damn: Live! at Dwell on Design NY.

You’ll learn from top instructors on your schedule, from anywhere in the world. Once you complete a course, we’ll automatically update your AIA member transcript with your continuing education credits.

Check out these great courses:

Compliance under the 2010 ADA for K-12 Schools and Housing for Places of Education│Earn 1 LU / ADA / HSW/ RIBA

Design Open Mic: Disaster Recovery and Learning Lessons: Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief│Earn 1 LU / HSW / RIBA

Design Open Mic: Political Discourse and Community Engagement│Earn 1 LU / HSW / RIBA

Design Open Mic: Health and Education and The Green Classroom | Earn 1 LU / HSW/ RIBA

Individual courses are $25 for AIA members and $40 for non-members. Buy four or more courses and save 15%, no promo code needed.

Check out more great courses on AIAU >


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