Susana Andrade, Assoc. AIA, Hammel Green and Abrahamson Inc., Minneapolis

I attend the AIA AAH conference because I am passionate about learning and practicing health-care architecture and I am fortunate enough to be one of the speakers this year. One of the challenges in this field is providing spaces appropriate for different care levels across the continuum of care while supporting materials, methods, and technology for emerging care. Learning and keeping up with trends in the delivery of care is crucial, and attending a conference is a very intense way to accomplish this. By attending, you get to meet the architecture health-care community, which is like a big family and very welcoming of young professionals. It is a great networking opportunity and the path to take when you are young and know that health care is your thing!

Jean Mah, AIA, principal, Perkins + Will, Los Angeles

There are two primary reasons to attend. The first is networking and meeting other people in your professional interest area from around the country. Whatever building type you’re working on, it’s always good to know what’s happening in your field. The second reason is that it is important to gain knowledge about what is state of the art or innovative in the project or building type you are interested in. It’s also a good way to learn how you can apply that knowledge to your own projects, clients, and practice.

Frank Pitts, AIA, principal, Architecture +, Troy, N.Y.

Do I have to stop at one? Just the sheer amount of knowledge from the people who know the most about the topic at hand. I’ve met many friends, created business partnerships, developed clients, and managed to develop a love of the blues. [After a serendipitous gathering that Pitts arranged of the young people he knew at an Academy meeting at a blues club, a trip to the best blues lounge in town is now customary at Academy of Architecture for Health meetings.]

George Tingwald, MD, AIA, director, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, San Francisco

As a director of health-care design at Skidmore Owings and Merrill, a physician, architect, and founding member of the American College of Healthcare Architects, I’m kind of what you call a health-care junkie. With that in mind, it’s important to see what the current trends and complex issues are within our industry and how other professionals are approaching them. What’s unique about the Academy of Architecture for Health education fall conferences is that they are focused on a certain topic or building type that we can look at in depth. The other thing that’s nice about the health-care conferences is that well more than 50 percent of the speakers are not architects. They are health-care providers or other leaders in the industry who are discussing topics that affect architects. It’s not architects showing other architects their completed work. It’s really discussing what the current issues are.

Copyright 2005 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. Home Page