By Dustin Littrell, AIA – Design Awards Chair

Did you already receive the Design Awards postcard in your mailbox? We hope so, and  we encourage you to submit a project (or two, or three) to this year’s Chapter Design Awards Program!

Here’s a reminder of the dates which are QUICKLY approaching:

Thursday, May 30 is the date to let us know that you’re entering.
Click here for an entry form.

Saturday, June 8 submittals are due.
Click here to download the submittal templates.

We are especially excited about this year’s program…

For the first time, the Awards Presentation will be open to the general public. To make the presentation more engaging for the public, we’re asking you to share your project’s “story” along with your submittal. What is your story? Will it be to convey the programming challenges you were able to overcome through design? Perhaps how the design affects the experience of the occupants or business? How you provided energy efficient materials and strategies that will save the client money? How the project enhances an existing community?

Your story will provide a “behind the scenes” look at what goes on during those long nights at the computer (or drafting table), in those boardrooms or around the kitchen table with your clients. These stories will be shared in the Comstock magazine insert that will go out as part of the Architecture Festival. This is a fantastic way to help educate the public and attract the attention of new clients and decision makers in our region.

The general public will also have an opportunity to vote for their favorite project in a “Public Choice” category, with special recognition given at the Awards Presentation in October.

We are also thrilled to announce that the Board of Directors of AIA Kansas City will be serving as this year’s jury. As peers, they will select projects that represent the variety of projects and firms in our region. Sole practioners and residential architects—this is the year to enter!

Click here to visit the Chapter website Design Awards page for full details, or contact the Chapter office at info@aiacv.org, or 916-444-3658 with any questions.

P.S. I wanted to share some reasons why I’ll be entering the program for the first time and hope that you might consider joining me.

• This year’s program will be more visible than ever before—share your work with peers, the public, potential clients, city officials, etc.

• You can’t be recognized for all your hard work unless you submit, so stop talking about how good you are and start showing how good you are.

• A little friendly competition is healthy, right?

If you practice residential architecture for individual homeowners—whether you work on bathroom or kitchen remodeling projects, additions to existing residences, or ground-up new homes – you are doing “custom” work and are an ideal leader or participant in CRAN. Inclusivity is key to CRAN and its future growth. CRAN is a style-neutral group that recognizes AIA members who are engaged in all types of residential architecture design idioms and practice models.

CRAN’s mission is to “develop knowledge and information to benefit architects who are engaged in, or who are interested in learning more about, custom residential practice. CRAN presents information and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and expertise to promote the professional development of its members via discussion forums, national symposia and conventions, publications, and local activities.” Visit http://network.aia.org/cran/CRANHome/ for full information.

To help get the Chapter’s CRAN off to a solid start, the Board of Directors has voted to cover the registration fee for the new Chair to attend the 2013 CRAN Symposium: Elevating the Art of Residential Design & Practice, scheduled for August 22-25, 2013 at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Interested? Please send an e-mail to the Chapter:  info@aiacv.org

In the e-mail include why you would like to lead the group, if you are interested/able to attend the CRAN Symposium this summer and any questions you have by Tuesday, June 18th.

AIA Central Valley members, non-members and their guests are encouraged to attend a special evening conversation regarding your thoughts on how to reposition the AIA–so that the Institute’s perspective shifts to you, the member–and the issues you find most important.

We have invited two of California’s representatives on the AIA Board of Directors, Nick Docous, AIA of Lionakis and Mike Malinowski, AIA of Applied Architecture to  kick off the conversation. Visit the AIA Repositioning page for more information.

Discussion topics will include:

•  Engaging emerging professionals. AIA seeks to be an essential resource for all architects, at every stage of their career, but the organization has yet to successfully embrace the values and interests of emerging architects.
• Component autonomy versus unity. While a necessity, component autonomy leads to inconsistency in how members experience and value AIA through the local component.
• Inefficacy of communications. Bombarded with communications, members “tune out” AIA. At the same time, most are unaware of the full scope of AIA offerings that benefit them and many have difficulty finding the information they seek.
• Component structure. The component structure is unwieldy and challenging for even seasoned members to comprehend.
• Lack of tier coordination. Many members and staff noted a lack of cohesion among the local, state, and national levels of AIA and are unclear about the distinct function and responsibilities of each tier.
• Prioritization of initiatives. Given that the AIA cannot be all things to all people, the organization must decide the programs and services most essential to the majority of members so that resources can be allocated effectively and members receive the greatest value.
• Passive reactiveness. Members and staff feel that AIA is often slow to take a stand on important issues that define and impact the architecture profession.
• Resource allocation. Financial and other organizational resources are seen as disproportionately benefitting national at the expense of local and regional components.
• Leadership tenure and agendas. The one year terms and changing agendas of elected leadership contribute to a lack of continuity and impact in identifying and acting upon organization priorities.
• Board size and composition. The national AIA Board, with nearly 60 members, is large for an organization of AIA’s size. Similarly, your State or Local AIA Board may also be too large. However, the greatest concern is whether AIA Boards’ composition are truly representative of the range and diversity of membership.
• The success of the Repositioning effort depends on members taking ownership of the mandate for  change.  The evening will be focused on your thoughts and feedback, and we’ll be sending the results to AIA National following the meeting.

Your involvement is vitally important to the outcome. Please plan to be a part of the conversation!

Date: Thursday, June 6, 2013
Time: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Place: AIA Central Valley Gallery, 1400 S Street, Suite 100, Sacramento
Cost: A $5 reception fee covers the wine and cheese reception

Register: http://bpt.me/388311  by Wednesday, June 5th

Questions? Please contact AIACV at info@aiacv.org  or call 916-444-3658

The woes of Detroit are emblematic of the collapse of the U.S. manufacturing base. Is the Midwestern icon actually a canary in the American coal mine? DETROPIA is a cinematic tapestry of a city and its people who refuse to leave the building, even as the flames are rising. Written by Loki Films

Click here for the flyer

When: Wednesday, May 29th , 2013 at 5:45pm
Where: AIACV Gallery, 1400 S Street, Ste. 100, mid-town Sacramento

FREE ADMISSION!

Join AIACV, ASLA and ULI for a lively discussion on civic amenities in our region.

When: May, 30th from 5:45-7:30pm
Where: AIA Central Valley Gallery, 1400 S Street, Sacramento (Enter on 14th Street)

The event is FREE and open to anyone.

Click here to view the Soul of the City event flyer
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SacSoul2012

For more information please email bcastro@ucdavis.edu

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Soul of the City is an engaging dialogue series between the public and the design profession on issues of importance to the community and the region with a focus on improving communication, understanding and collaboration. The series was formerly known as the 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue series. It is being run as a partnership between the American Institute of Architects, Central Valley Chapter and the California Sierra Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects