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June 22, 2007

Two AIA Public Outreach Efforts Earn Associations Advance America 2007 Awards of Excellence

Washington, D.C., June 22, 2007 — Two public outreach efforts of The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Blueprint for America nationwide community service initiative marking its 150th anniversary and the SustAIAnability 2030 Toolkit, a resource created to encourage mayors and community leaders to advocate eco-friendly building design, earned an Award of Excellence in the 2007 Associations Advance America Awards, a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership.

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February 2, 2007

Empire State Building Ranks Highest in Poll of America’s Favorite Architecture

The American Institute of Architects’ Public Poll Ranks America’s Favorite Architecture

It’s official: Two of the most iconic buildings in the United States—the Empire State Building and the White House—top the list of America’s Favorite Architecture, a public poll of the 150 best works of architecture conducted and released today by Harris Interactive and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This time, at least, the White House beat the U.S. Capitol building, which ranked #6.

Even the fallen World Trade Center Towers live on in the poll, ranking 19th. Other notable structures that made the list of America’s Favorite Architecture are the Golden Gate Bridge (5th), Biltmore Estate (8th), and the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (22nd).
The poll was conducted in conjunction with the AIA’s commemoration of its 150th anniversary, which occurs in 2007 and is dedicated to “Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future.” The 150th anniversary is an opportunity to focus on how AIA members can help shape the built environment over the next 150 years. The cornerstone program of AIA150, Blueprint for America has provided funding for community-service projects in 156 communities across the country. Blueprint initiatives celebrate the vital role of architects in creating a healthy, more sustainable world.

“This poll of America’s Favorite Architecture confirms that architecture resonates with people,” said RK Stewart, FAIA, 2007 AIA president. “The choice of the Empire State Building shows that when you ask people to select their favorites, they chose buildings and designs that symbolized innovation and the spirit of their community – but also, more importantly – they chose structures that hold a place in their hearts and minds.”

The Empire State Building, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the U.S., star of movies from King Kong to An Affair to Remember, and the dominant feature of midtown Manhattan, clearly rose above the rest, literally and figuratively.

Completed in 1931, the Empire State Building stands 1,454 feet tall and is second only to Chicago’s Sears Tower (#42 in the survey) as the tallest building in the United States.

The Top 10 List

Washington’s public buildings and memorials dominated the top 10 list, but New York city easily led the list for the sheer number of structures in the top 150. Following are the top 10 structures and their architects and designers:

1. Empire State Building - Shreve, Lamb & Harmon 
2. The White House - James Hoban 
3.  Washington National Cathedral - George Bodley and Henry Vaughan, FAIA
4. Jefferson Memorial - John Russell Pope, FAIA
5. Golden Gate Bridge – Irving F. Morrow and Gertrude C. Morrow
6. U.S. Capitol - William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, FAIA, Montgomery C. Meigs
7. Lincoln Memorial - Henry Bacon, FAIA
8. Biltmore Estate/Vanderbilt Mansion - Richard Morris Hunt, FAIA
9. Chrysler Building - William Van Alen, FAIA
10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Maya Lin with Cooper-Lecky Partnership

New York, D.C., and Chicago: Destinations for America’s Favorite Architecture

The Harris Interactive survey of 1,804 randomly selected Americans ranked America’s Favorite Architecture from a list pre-selected by an AIA panel of 248 structures in numerous categories, including famous homes, public buildings, sports arenas, transportation hubs, and office buildings. Nearly one-half of the projects in America’s Favorite Architecture are in three cities: New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

The list of 150 buildings in America’s Favorite Architecture reads like a tour book for New York City, as 32 of the city’s most prominent architectural landmarks dominate the list. The list includes St. Patrick’s Cathedral (11th), Grand Central Station (13th), the St. Regis Hotel (16th), and Rockefeller Center (56th).

Seventeen of the projects ranked in America’s Favorite Architecture are located in Washington, D.C., and include the U.S. Supreme Court (15th) and the Library of Congress (28th). Chicago is well represented with 16, including Wrigley Field (31st), the Sears Tower (42nd), the Tribune Tower (38th), and the Field Museum (52nd).

Where We Live, Work, and Play

The list represents a broad swath of architectural styles from diverse periods of American history. Buildings and structures represent where we live, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater (29th) in Pennsylvania; where we vacation, such as the Hotel Del Coronado (18th) in San Diego; and where we escape to have fun, such as Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards (122nd) and the Ingalls Ice Arena (149th) at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Transportation hubs and structures are also among America’s Favorite Architecture. The Golden Gate (5th) and Brooklyn (20th) bridges are here, as are many main rail stations, including Cincinnati Union Terminal (45th), Union Station in St. Louis (40th), and Union Station in Kansas City (127th), among others.

“The 150 buildings, bridges, monuments, and memorials on this list represent the best of America’s architectural heritage. And members of the AIA are taking the milestone of our 150th anniversary to rededicate themselves to helping create healthy and sustainable buildings and cityscapes that could be future candidates for America’s Favorite Architecture,” said Christine McEntee, Executive Vice President/CEO of the AIA.

Methodology

On behalf of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Harris Interactive conducted research to identify America’s favorite works of architecture. The research included interviews with AIA members followed by a survey of the general public.

Interviews were conducted online with a random sample of AIA members. Members could nominate as many as 20 of their favorite structures in 15 predetermined categories; an “other” category was included for structures that did not clearly fit in the 14 specific categories. [1] The interviews were conducted online between October 18, 2006, and November 22, 2006. The final results included nominations from 2,448 AIA members (some of whom did not complete the full interview).

From the member nominations, a list of the top 248 structures was developed for inclusion in the survey of the public. These 248 structures represent all works receiving six or more individual mentions from AIA members. For the general public survey, 1,804 U.S. adults, age 18 and older, were interviewed online between December 27, 2006, and January 3, 2007. Respondents evaluated up to 78 structures, selected in random order from the larger list of 248. Respondents were shown a photograph of each structure they evaluated. Like the member survey, the public survey included the option to write in other works that were not among the subset evaluated.

The list of America’s Favorite Architecture was calculated using the mean score from the likeability scale used to evaluate each project in the public survey. In the case of ties in the mean score, structures were ranked by the number of times they were mentioned as a respondent’s personal favorite, and then by the number of nominations the structure received by the AIA members.

During the compilation of the list of 248 works, the Apple Store Fifth Avenue in New York City was inadvertently omitted from the public survey. The building was subsequently evaluated by a separate online survey of the general public, using the same question and overall structure as the original survey. Based on the results of interviews with 2,214 U.S. adults for this survey, the Apple Store Fifth Avenue ranked 53rd on the overall list. These interviews were conducted between January 16, 2007, and January 18, 2007.

For both of the general public surveys, figures for gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, education, and region were weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was adjusted for respondents’ propensity to be online.

With pure probability samples and 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1,804 U.S. adults, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.31 percentage points. With a pure probability sample of 2,214 U.S. adults, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.08 percentage points. However, these percentages do not take other sources of error into account. The online surveys are not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About AIA150
Celebrating 150 years, the AIA is the premier professional organization for America's architects. The AIA150 program, “Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future.” honors architects for their dedication and commitment to excellence in design and livability in our nation’s buildings and communities. The cornerstone program of AIA150, the Blueprint for America, serves as a nationwide platform to unite architects and citizens to collaborate on their communities’ design priorities. For more information on other AIA150 news and events, including the Blueprint for America, visit www.aia150.org. AIA150 is supported, in part, by Founders Circle and official media sponsor, McGraw-Hill Construction.

About The American Institute of Architects
For 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. AIA members have access to the right people, knowledge, and tools to create better design, and through such resources and access, they help clients and communities make their visions real. Go to www.aia.org.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions, which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what could conceivably be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents: The Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and tracking research consultation. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.


January 18, 2007

National Architect Group Awards American Institute of Architects San Diego Funding for C Street Corridor Project Design

San Diego Architects Receive Funding to Advance Community-Based Work from the American Institute of Architects

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Institute of Architects San Diego Chapter has been awarded $7,500 of grant funding from The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, D.C. to develop and implement an enhancement and revitalization plan for San Diego’s C Street Corridor. The grant award is a part of AIA’s community-based initiative “Blueprint for America” that is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2007.

Titled “Downtown San Diego, C Street Corridor Enhancement and Revitalization,” the initiative coordinates AIA San Diego efforts with The Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), which is working on a Master Plan to realign the trolley along C Street in the heart of San Diego. The Master Plan objectives include improvements to landscaping, architecture and transit services along a 17 block corridor.

The grant funds will allow AIA professionals to participate in three stages: 1) Provide input and insight to the Master Plan, 2) Design and construct a temporary bus shelter for transit customers providing a preview of better things to come prior to construction commencing as a result of the Master Plan, and 3) Publication of a “Design Guidebook” for the city’s Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), assisting transportation officials in the future design of shelters and related buildings in other parts of the city.

While the design input as part of a constant timeline, the design and construction of the bus shelter will incorporate assistance from architecture students from the New School of Architecture and Design, and Woodbury University in San Diego, with both schools located near the Master Plan design area. The Design Guidebook will be developed in the latter stages of the Master Plan’s construction.

With a focus on providing support and resources to advance the development of livable communities throughout the nation, the AIA earmarked grant funding available through a competitive bid process to support the efforts of regional architect member groups to engage in community-based work.

The AIA San Diego is a non-profit organization that serves as an architectural community resource and represents the interests of organized architects and associated professionals within San Diego, and is a part of both The AIA California Council and the National AIA, its grant benefactor.

“We are excited to have been selected for this grant,” said Paul E. Schroeder, AIA San Diego President-Elect and champion of this project. “I believe that this AIA grant gives us the unique opportunity to partner with many groups – both industry and grassroots organizations – interested in this community-involved design that positively impacts San Diego. I’m genuinely impressed with the level of collaboration and talent that this project has initiated. I hope that this level of volunteerism is a precursor to future projects in this county, whether or not the San Diego AIA is involved.”

For more information about the initiative or AIA San Diego, please call 619-232-0109 or go to www.aiasandiego.com.

AIA San Diego is a component of both AIA California Council (AIACC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). It is the third-largest chapter in AIACC with 1100 members and is 77 years old.

By Greg Bolt
The Register-Guard

If the tune "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" runs through your mind a lot when you drive Franklin Boulevard, you'll soon have a chance to help change the music.

An effort begun by local architects will soon expand into a regionwide brainstorming session on how to make the major arterial better for everyone. The yearlong program kicks off Feb. 2 and 3 with a public workshop to come up with ideas for a redesign of the three-mile stretch of Franklin from the Ferry Street Bridge to the downtown Springfield bridge.

That corridor, with the University of Oregon in the middle and the Willamette River paralleling it, is one of the busiest and most important roadways in the region. Local businessman and civic activist Don Kahle, a spokesman and member of the project's steering committee, said the idea is to come up with a plan that improves the look of the corridor and also makes it work better.

"This whole project is about the front door of Eugene, the front door of Springfield, the front door of the U of O, because it all is happening in that three miles," he said. "You seldom get this concentration of issues in a three-mile strip of land."

The project was started by the area chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary as a national organization in 2007. To mark the occasion, the association invited local chapters to apply for grants for projects that engage communities and celebrate architecture.

The Southwest Oregon chapter is the only one in Oregon to receive a grant, and the $15,000 award is one of the largest in the country, said Eugene architect Eric Gunderson of PIVOT Architecture and the incoming chapter president.

Gunderson said the study area will stretch from the properties along the south side of the street to the river on the north and will attempt to deal with all of the sometimes conflicting uses of the corridor, from access to businesses to speedy through traffic to bicycle and pedestrian needs to natural areas. Toss in housing, land use, mass transit and a few other things and it's a project that faces a cacophony of issues right from the start.

But by looking at the entire corridor and involving the public from the very beginning, Gunderson says the project has something going for it that a city or state planning effort wouldn't.

"What's unique about this group is that it's pretty holistic," he said. "Often, fragments of this corridor get looked at with regard to single issues. Here's a chance to really bring nature, transportation, development, sustainability, housing together and look at them all and not just from the viewpoint of any one jurisdiction. It's a no-boundaries investigation."

By involving the public as well as the government and private stakeholders in the corridor, Kahle said the group hopes to overcome the sometimes-fractious nature of local planning. They want to get people involved at the ground floor and give them a chance to weigh in on design issues and offer ideas in public workshops, starting with the February event.

"We want this to not be just another study that gathers dust on the shelf," he said. "What we believe to be true is if we have a significant number of people who felt like they participated in the process that will perpetuate itself much better than any report, no matter how glossy and colorful and well-bound it may be."

Finding consensus on the many issues presented by the corridor will only be one hurdle. Another will be getting local governments and property owners to buy into it.

Eugene senior planner Alan Lowe, also a member of the steering committee, said the study will offer both cities a coherent vision to help guide future infrastructure investments.

"I look at processes such as this as really being visionary rather than being implementation-based," he said. "It's more about setting the tone and creating ideas and creating a perspective, a way of looking at opportunities and challenges in a large area."

Any significant changes in Franklin Boulevard's lane arrangement or orientation would involve a large cost, and no sources of possible funding for such work has been identified yet. But even more important, Lowe said, is showing property owners and developers that the corridor is worth investing in.

"To a large degree I hope this process is going to open private property owners' eyes to the potential of what's there," he said. "I think it has that kind of potential because it's setting the tone for a new era of development in the Franklin corridor. Ultimately, the reinvention of areas of all cities really depend on private investment much more than public."

October 13, 2006

AIA awarded supplemental grants to 96 components in support of their Blueprint for America community visioning initiatives.


October 4, 2006

McGraw-Hill Construction named official media sponsor of AIA150. MORE

August, 2006

AIA Lubbock Hits a Home Run!

AIA150 Kickoff Gala-photo (left to right): Lubbock Mayor David Miller,James White, President-Elect, AIA Lubbock; Gary Smith- President AIA Lubbock; Brian Griggs, AIA150 Champion; and Merle Blosser, member Lubbock Downtown Redevelopment Coalition Cmte.

August 2006 has proven to be a very busy start to our campaign and a month resulting in wild success for our AIA Lubbock AIA150 Goals. Almost all of our chapter's efforts have been poured into an event that occurred this last Tuesday evening, the 29th; the AIA150 Sesquicentennial Kickoff Gala. The event was held at the Merket Alumni Center on the Campus of Texas Tech University, and featured a garden reception that began at 6:30 PM followed by dinner which began at 7:00. The highlight of the event was the presence of our keynote speaker, the Honorable Jeremy Harris, Hon. AIA who spoke on the critical value of architects, livability and sustainability in the urban setting.

We were honored to have such a wide range of attending guests at the event, including: Lubbock Mayor David Miller, a number of Lubbock City Councilpersons, all Lubbock County Commissioners, Rob Allison - City of Lubbock Director of Community Development, representatives from the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, mayors and senior representatives from the neighboring cities of Wolfforth and Slaton, TX and representatives of a number of local organizations and major businesses heavily involved in the Lubbock Community.

To give you an idea of the level of success of the event: Mayor David Miller took down a whole page of notes during Jeremy's presentation, city council and local leaders approached myself and others after the event to make sure that AIA Lubbock contacts their office before beginning our initiatives, and the day after, I had received requests from a number of people in the City and other organizations that wanted everything from copies of Jeremy's book and copies of his slideshow to copies of our operations schedule for AIA150 events to be held through 2007. Simply put, this was the biggest event in our chapter's history, and the political capital built between Lubbock area architectural professionals and the leadership of our region was immeasurable.

Our strategy with how we were going to conduct AIA150 changed a bit since submitting the grant in April 2006. We realized as a chapter that to ensure that the local government, media outlets and community in general was involved, our Kickoff event must be greater in scale and scope than what was initially planned. This is why we went to the expense of bringing in Jeremy Harris, and making the event the size that it became. It was a gamble, perhaps the gamble being the biggest in terms of the cost of the event. Yet, the gamble paid off, and for the first time in the history of Lubbock and the South Plains, the leadership of Lubbock knows who the AIA is and what we are doing. We will be moving quickly now to capitalize on our success and to work with the City of Lubbock to determine the location and project scope of the Community Design Charrette, and move forward in the next steps for AIA150.

July 13, 2006

Stirring Idea

Regional design center could spark monumental growth in Memphis

By Andy Meek
The Daily News

World of Ideas: Heather Baugus, executive director of the American Institute of Architects in Memphis, looks over some paperwork at her Third Street office. AIA Memphis is one of the groups spearheading the creation of a regional design center. -- Photography by Andy Meek

In the early 20th century, famed architect and city planner Daniel Burnham ridiculed small-scale ideas as having "no magic to stir men's blood."

Thinking big was the cornerstone of his philosophy, as it likely will be during a public forum scheduled today at 6:30 p.m. at the BRIDGES Center at 477 N. Fifth St. The forum, "Design Matters: Great Urban Solutions Through Collaboration," is where architects, planners and designers will interact with the public for the first time to promote the creation of a regional design center in Memphis.

A grand scheme

It's surely an idea Burnham would approve, since the design center is a blueprint for city growth that's as big as they come. Forum panelists Stephen Luoni, Anthony Costello and Thomas Davis all more or less will sing the praises of design centers to a community - design centers being think tanks where issues related to urban design and planning can be hashed out.

"The Memphis Design Center, we're hoping, would be an entity that would tackle - with a very broad brush - urban problems and try to come up with solutions that everybody could buy into," said Lee Askew III, the founder of Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects in Memphis.

He's also the American Institute of Architects' AIA 150 Champion, a title that makes him the local chairman for a yearlong observance in 2007 whose primary program will be the "Blueprint for America." That yearlong observance marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the American Institute of Architects, and as part of that, AIA gave the local chapter $10,000 to get the center started.

"The Memphis Design Center would do all of those things by a careful process of open meetings, charrettes, panel discussions, things like that," Askew said. "And then, with help from leading designers and experts, they'd come up with some recommendations for how problems would be solved."

Your own two legs

Tonight's BRIDGES forum is an opening salvo in the battle against architectural and design ills like suburban sprawl and communities built with automobiles instead of people in mind.

Heather Baugus, executive director of AIA Memphis, said the sponsors of the design center are in the throes of choosing a consultant who will help craft the center and determine what issues it confronts and how it operates. Potential sites are being scouted in Midtown and Downtown for a permanent home for the center.

The goal is to have everything up and running, with a staff and director in place, by fall 2007. Sponsors of the center include AIA Memphis, the UrbanArt Commission and the University of Memphis Architecture Program, along with many other community groups.

A list isn't yet floating around with a catalog of projects the design center will end up pursuing, but planners already are considering everything from lectures to consulting work.

Baugus offers other examples. In February, Memphis and Shelby County officials mingled with area residents and stakeholders in the Binghampton neighborhood to scope out a future for the blighted area. That, Baugus said, would have been a perfect opportunity for the design center to lend its know-how, had it been up and running by then.

Other projects could be more personal. Sponsors of the design center are working with the family of the late architect Paul Williams - the first black member of AIA's Memphis chapter - possibly to establish a traveling exhibit that features images of his work. Among the buildings designed completely or in part by Williams include the Los Angeles International Airport and the United Nations Building in Paris.

A matter of inclusion

Wherever the design center ultimately is set up, sponsors insist it be something that's easy to get to, is handicap accessible and has a generous amount of parking. The idea, Baugus said, is to get people engaged and thinking seriously about the city around them.

"So for (tonight's) presentation, we wanted to bring in individuals who were not only within the region but outside the region, and who had experience with successful community design centers," Baugus said. "We've been working on this for about 10 months now, and our committee has researched every design center in the country."

The three speakers at tonight's event include Luoni, director of the University of Arkansas' Community Design Center. His current work there includes design and planning for residential real estate projects, parks and big-box retail outlets.

Davis, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, is design director for the Nashville Civic Design Center. Since taking over that role, he has given five public talks on urban design and served as a moderator/panelist at more than 20 monthly urban design forums, among other highlights.

Costello is the Irving Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. He has a resume that is as vast as a grand piece of historic architecture, and he's the national chairman of the task group for the AIA 150 "Blueprint for America" initiative.

"With this first meeting, we're going to have the panelists talk a little bit about why design centers are an important aspect of a community," Baugus said. "We are then going to follow up with an extensive Q-and-A for the public."

And then the real work begins. Askew said the design center still needs the interest, input and financial support of the public for it to get off the ground.

"I think (tonight) is going to be an interesting discussion, with people who can tell us what we should be doing and how to get there," he said. "I do think if we can pull this off it'll be good for Memphis. If nothing else, it'll act as a clearinghouse for all these different groups that have different ideas about things."

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AIA Components and AIA150 Champions in the News

Blueprint for America - AIA Chattanooga
The headline of a “breaking news” article in the April 12 issue of the Chattanoogan.com, a Web-only daily newspaper, read, “Architects to Provide Free Design at Farmers Market.” Chattanooga’s mayor, Ron Littlefield, announced that he had “accepted the free services of the American Institute of Architects for the redesign of the Chattanooga Farmers Market.” AIA Chattanooga’s champion, David Hudson, AIA, tells the story of how the Farmers Market project became a Blueprint for America initiative.

A new champions directory is on the AIA150 Web site.

For more information, please contact us.