Health-Care Facilities and Neuroscience Knowledge
Good design can speed patient recovery and help visitors find their way, says John Eberhard, FAIA, in the latest article in his Architecture and Neuroscience series. Eberhard asks: Have you ever had a feeling of panic when you cannot find your way? If someone you really care about is a patient in a hospital and you get lost finding his or her room, you know about this frustration. But imagine you are a 70-year-old person going to visit your critically ill spouse and you get hopelessly lost in the endless corridors of the hospital. You would be having an experience that is all too common—you are being stressed because of difficulty in “wayfinding.” This concept of finding one’s way from one place to another is becoming a major concern of neuroscience research.

AIA Lobbies Mayors to Vote for Sustainable Future for Cities
The May 23 AIA Angle reports that the U.S. Conference of Mayors will vote in June on a plan to endorse a goal of carbon neutrality for all city-funded buildings by 2030. Resolution 50—sponsored by the mayors of Chicago, Seattle, Miami, and Albuquerque—specifically cites the AIA and reflects the Institute’s sustainable practice position statement approved last year by the AIA Board of Directors. The AIA national component is actively lobbying for passage of the resolution and has also created a new online resource to provide national policymakers access to news and information about sustainable design. Read more about the mayors’ plan, how to contact your elected officials, and how, in one state, building green makes sense for both the environment and the pocketbook. (Pictured, Ed Mazria, AIA, right, with Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez at last week’s Summit for Energy.)

America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
“America’s priceless heritage is under attack from all sides, from the Gulf Coast to the nation’s capital to a site associated with America’s most tragic day,” reports the National Trust for Historic Preservation in its annual message calling attention to the country’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Among the 11 sites the group calls out in its 2006 list are the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building in Washington, D.C., masterpiece of architect Adolf Cluss; the “‘Survivors’ Staircase,’” in Lower Manhattan, the only remaining above-ground fragment of the vanished Twin Towers; and the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

the Member’s Voice
What are you most looking forward to doing in Los Angeles at the Convention?
AIArchitect posed this question to several emerging professionals, and—from shopping to an IBC seminar to the World Party to a tour of the Huntington Estate to Sprinkle’s Cupcakes—we think their responses cover the gamut.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Contract Docs
Expanded online site tells you about their content
The online Knowledge Base for AIA Contract Documents has been expanded to include information about the documents’ content as well as how to use AIA Contract Documents software. Available on the AIA Contract Documents page, the Knowledge Base now provides you with concise answers to nearly 250 of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about selecting and using the documents. How do you use it? Read on!

Turning Torso Is Turning Heads in Sweden
Calatrava’s mixed-use tower voted World’s Best Skyscraper of the Year
The “Turning Torso” skyscraper in Malmo, Sweden, designed by AIA Gold Medalist Santiago Calatrava, FAIA, was chosen overwhelmingly as the World’s Best New Skyscraper of 2005 by a jury of editors from Emporis, a multinational real-estate data provider. The annual award was presented at the building itself on May 15. The architect formed the 623-foot-tall building—the tallest in Scandinavia—by stacking nine cubes of five stories each, rotating each cube about 11 degrees from the one below it, and holding the twisting formation together with an exterior skeleton on two sides. From bottom to top, the building completes a 90-degree turn. For more information about the award, now in its sixth year, or to use the free buildings database, visit the Emporis Web site.

project watch
Little Museum on the Prairie
GWWO’s Heritage Center shows homesteaders’ struggles, triumphs
On January 1, 1863, the Homestead Act went into effect. Legend has it that 10 minutes after midnight in Brownville, Neb., Daniel Freeman filed his claim for 160 acres of land with $18 and a promise to make improvements and live on it. He found his piece of the American Dream in a place four miles west of Beatrice, Neb.—a place that is now the site of the Homestead National Monument of America. Now, the new $4.79-million Homestead Heritage Center, by GWWO Inc./Architects, Baltimore, helps tell the story of these early settlers and the effect the Homestead Act had on people, the land, and the world.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
The economy: Soft landing from this year’s inflation?
Business costs: Demand for metals still outstripping supplies, but a downward correction is at hand.
Small business: Keeping an eye on state legislatures, where the action is.
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.

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Now 30 Percent Off: House Transformed: Getting the Home You Want with the House You Have by Matthew Schoenherr, AIA (Taunton Press/AIA, 2005) shows you how to create the perfect place out of the not-so-perfect space you currently call home. Discover the seven keys to a successful remodel. The book lists for $32; AIA members may purchase it for $22.40. Order online or phone 800-242-3837, option #4.

Learn Docs Online: AIA eClassroom’s “Contract Documents Software Training” is an online tutorial that allows you to use a sample project to create some of the agreements and forms that you might use on a typical project, thus demonstrating the software's primary features. This course, which offers 1 CES credit, is available through June 2 at a 10-percent-off discounted price, $59.35 AIA members/$80.95 nonmembers (regular price: $65.95 AIA members/$89.95 nonmembers).

Learn about Supplementary Conditions: You know what General Conditions are. But what are Supplementary Conditions? Go to the online Knowledge Base and type “supplementary conditions” into the Search window. The Knowledge Base provides instant answers 24 hours a day to frequently asked questions about supplementary conditions and other common practices in using AIA Contract Documents.

Free Summer Job Postings: Are you looking for extra help in your office this summer? The AIA Career Center again allows firms to post limited-time summer job offers for free on its popular job board. Click “Post Jobs” on the Employers page; log in if you are a regular user, or register if you are new to the service; then enter all relevant information. When you get to “Type” option, be sure to check “Summer Job.” You will not be charged for the listing. Offer runs through July 31. The AIA is working with the American Institute of Architecture Students to get the word out to candidates.

It’s Not Too Late: Register now for the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in LA, June 8–10. Catch up on the latest in design and technology, see the newest products, and meet old friends and make new ones as we explore “Innovation . . . Engagement . . . Inspiration” in the City of Angels.

Time to Head for the Beach (or really close to it.) Earn learning units at the AIA National Convention in Los Angeles.

Watch Your Budget: Budget offers AIA members up to a 25 percent discount every day. Use your coupons to save even more. Call 800-455-2848.

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.

Integrated Practice: Technological change is one catalyst accelerating radical improvement through the entire construction industry, from owner to architect to contractor to facility manager, through the full length of the project and building lifecycle. Learn more about how this change will transform architectural practice into Integrated Practice at www.aia.org/ip.

Press Tap News Service: Reporters from The Wall Street Journal to Michigan Construction News have signed on to get full access to AIA’s news service. Post your news today.

Free Condo Risk Management Tools: The AIA Trust commissioned attorney-architect Bill Quatman, FAIA, to develop “Risk Management Ideas for Condominium Projects,” a white paper now available on the AIA Trust Web site along with contract clauses, risk management tools, sample letters, statutes and an overview of the high risk condo market. The AIA Trust is also cosponsoring a seminar on “Aggressive Condominium Risk Management” at the upcoming AIA Convention in Los Angeles on June 10, 8:15–9:45 AM. Visit the AIA Trust site for more information.