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AIA

AIA|DC Tackles Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

On
by Deane

At a panel discussion hosted by AIA|DC, Kimberly Dowdell, the president of NOMA, and William Bates, the president of the AIA, discussed their respective efforts at improving diversity and equity within the profession. It was my honor to attend and to cover the evening for Architectural Digest; an excerpt of that coverage is below.

Dr. Michelle Joan Wilkinson (left) moderates a panel discussion with
Kimberly Dowdell and William Bates.

5 Takeaways from the AIA’s Latest Discussion of Its Diversity Problem

Architects discussed the crucial steps toward building a more equitable profession, at a panel in Washington, D.C.

By Deane Madsen

It’s no secret that the architectural profession has a diversity problem. Of the AIA’s 94,000 members, just 2,270 are African American, and of those, 452 are women, according to data from the Directory of African American Architects. And, for now at least, the future doesn’t seem to be looking much brighter: Only five percent of students enrolled in architecture programs are African American, according to demographic data compiled by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Last night, a group of architects, advocates, and curators assembled at the Washington, D.C., chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to unpack and address some of these concerns. At an evening event titled “Embracing Our Differences, Changing the World,” AIA President William Bates and National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) President Kimberly Dowdell discussed equity, diversity, and inclusion with Michelle Joan Wilkinson, a curator of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, before a packed house. “It’s not a secret that architecture as a profession has fallen behind,” Bates conceded, adding that the percentage of black students in architecture programs is “not that different from what it was 50 years ago.”

Seizing upon guidelines for diversity and inclusion that the AIA released earlier this year, the speakers reflected upon the urgent need for more equitable representation in the profession.

Read the five takeaways in the full article at Architectural Digest

The AIA versus Tax Reform

On
by Deane

That mammoth tax bill will have repercussions for years to come, but how will it affect architects? That’s the question I was asked to tackle for a recent piece in Architectural Record, specifically looking at what role the AIA’s lobbying arm played in securing policies friendly to architects, and how successful it was in those efforts:

In the aftermath of last year’s election—in which AIA CEO Robert Ivy quickly committed to work with the President-elect on behalf of the entire AIA member body, then just as quickly issued several apologies—the AIA learned how polarized and how vocal its membership was. When strategizing positions related to tax reform, the AIA recognized that its members were as varied in their views as the country’s population, representing every shade on the political spectrum. Thus the AIA chose to focus on three issues that would have ramifications for all architects, regardless of their party affiliation: fair treatment for architects under the new tax laws; protection of the Federal Historic Tax Credit; and the preservation of another tax credit, known as 179D, for efficient building. “The bill at large had the ability to impact all architects in different ways,” says Cindy Schwartz, a senior director for advocacy within the AIA. “We’ve limited our communications and our work to these specific issues.”

I also had the distinct pleasure of speaking with architect Marsha Maytum of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects about historic credits, which her firm has leveraged in several Bay Area projects to achieve successful outcomes that would have been impossible without them:

Without those tax credits, some projects simply wouldn’t happen, according to Marsha Maytum, FAIA, a principal with Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in San Francisco as well as the incoming chair of the AIA’s Committee on the Environment. “Oftentimes, a landmarked building will have a lot of restrictions on what can and can’t be done to it, and if it’s not financially viable to rehabilitate it, it will just continue to decay,” Maytum says. “The tax credits provide some additional financial support to the organization trying to preserve the landmarked building.”

Read the full story at Architectural Record.

Interview with AIA Gold Medal Winner James Polshek

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by Deane

James Polshek, winner of the 2018 AIA Gold Medal, served as design director for The Newseum in Washington, D.C.

“I thought it was a robocall,” James Polshek says about answering the phone to news that he’d won the 2018 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal. “It was a chilly day, and I was walking up 6th Avenue after leaving a chronologically required hearing test, when the phone rang.” Polshek is 87, but could hear the news just fine: “At that point, I kind of lost my breath,” he says. “I was laughing and sobbing simultaneously, with enjoyment, pleasure, and some disbelief.”

A 1955 M.Arch. graduate of Yale University, Polshek founded his eponymous firm in 1963, which evolved through the years to become Ennead Architects in 2010, five years after his retirement. He spoke with RECORD by phone after learning about the AIA award.

Architectural Record: Which projects are you proudest of, and why?

James Polshek: You know the saying, “If you have many children . . .” The most obvious one is perhaps the most nationally prestigious: the Clinton Library. But my two favorites came in succession in 1969 and 1972 and gave me the confidence to pursue the way I wanted to practice. The first was the New York State Bar Association in Albany, which won the 1972 AIA Honor Award for merging a historic building in a historic district with a modernist interpretation. The second is called the Five County Consulting Center in Columbus, Indiana, which solved environmental and ecological problems, as the building is a bridge over a creek that flooded severely. We used some of the foundation budget to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from simply widening the creek. Those two together—and the various themes that connect to later projects—were seminal.

For more about Polshek’s advice for young architects, his firm’s evolution, and ethical codes embedded in his work, read the full story at Architectural Record. 

Practice Innovation Lab tackles the future of architecture

On
by Deane

Participants in the AIA Practice Innovation Lab strategize elevator pitches for new models of practice.

Sixty architectural thought leaders looked ahead to strategize new models of practice

With so much of the world in flux, through changes to climate, technologies, and construction techniques, how will architects adapt ways of practicing to advance the profession? That was the question put to a group of 60 professionals—architects, designers, and practitioners from related fields—at the Practice Innovation Lab, held in mid-October and hosted by the AIA’s Young Architects Forum.

Over the course of the program, attendees heard experiences and examples from innovators before forming smaller teams and brainstorming ideas to evolve architectural practice. Interspersed between these discussions, addresses on the topic of innovation demonstrated means of breaking new ground in fields such as interaction design and public interest design. The smaller teams later reconvened to pitch their proposals to each other before voting on the best practice models.

The Practice Innovation Lab crammed an intense level of consensus-building into a short timeframe, and was designed to get architects out from behind their desks to strategize rather than theorize. Organizers Evelyn Lee, AIA, and Milan Jordan, Assoc. AIA, and moderator Laura Weiss, Assoc. AIA, kicked off the event with a challenge to elevate and propel the profession through the development of new practice models that “make inspiration actionable,” according to Weiss. “[We’re] laying the framework to elevate the profession and move it forward,” she said. Lee called upon emerging professionals to be the vanguard of practice by “pushing boundaries to see values that we bring as architects to the broader community.”

Read the story at AIA.org. A full report from the summit will be available in late 2017.