 | | Architect Barbie Debuts |
Rich Gribble, President Elect, and I attended the 2011 AIA Convention in New Orleans to represent the AIA Central Pennsylvania Chapter. I have now attended 3 straight AIA National Conventions and they each have had their individual flavor. Rich and I voted for the candidates for AIA National Offices and participated in the Business Meeting where, among other things, amendments to the by-laws and resolutions are voted on. This year was not as contentious as recent conventions but lively nonetheless.
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Lessons Learned
by the Yeoman Architect |
 Maintaining direction during a meeting may be one of the most challenging tasks we have as architects, especially during presentations to the residents of the community whose lives our work will affect.
The most dramatic "left turn" I can remember occurred during a presentation to residents of a community for a proposed aquatic and fitness center. All the normal issues about number of lanes, water temperature, fitness equipment and the like came up, and as usual, no one agreed completely on any of them. One man in particular was an avid swimmer and was the most vocal during the meeting. Then, out of the blue, this man begins to talk about food service, which was not part of the program of this fitness center. It only got worse.
 I will never forget the next words out of his mouth, "what are you going to do about my green beans, because they are always mushy!" Had it not been for his sensible wife and her pointy elbow, I don't know if we ever would have gotten out of there. "They're architects, not cooks!" she scolded him, as she delivered her elbow to his ribcage.
People are such an unpredictable species. To try and steer them in the right direction is not always easy, because a pointy elbow is not always handy.
James Mehaffey, AIA
Reese, Lower, Patrick & Scott, Ltd.
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Inaugural Young Architects Award |
 Call for Nominations!! The Inaugural Young Architects Award will be issued at the Design Awards Gala Event on October 28, 2011. The award will be given to an architect who has been licensed 10 years or less and shows exemplary performance in architecture, leadership, vision and community service. Who in your firm should be recognized for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the field of architecture?
Eligibility: Architect members of the AIA who have been licensed to practice architecture fewer than 10 years by the submission deadline are eligible to be nominated; the term young architect has no reference to the age of nominees. Any component, member of the national AIA Board of Directors, knowledge community, or College of Fellows may nominate one or more individuals
Submission: All information must be submitted online before 5pm on September 12, 2011. Nomination information and forms can be found on the AIA Central PA website. |
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Design Awards Call For Entries |
We are going DIGITAL this year! Please see AIA Central PA website for the NEW Submission Requirements.
Submissions are due no later than 4pm, August 19, 2011. Winners will be announced and all work celebrated at the Design Awards Gala on October 28, 2011.
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Our 2011 AIA Central Pennsylvania Spring Lecture was held Thursday, April 21 at HACC York's Glatfelter Community Room. Sebastian Schmaling, AIA presented the work of his firm Johnsen Schmaling Architects based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a lecture entitled "Restraining Order."
Sebastianproved to be talented, thoughtful, and sincere. Johnsen Schmaling Architects is an 8 year old firm with 4 employees with an impressive portfolio ranging from residential, entertainment, hospitality, and institutional projects. The designs were all highly contextual though abstract in nature and examined intensely through iterations of immaculate study models. The firm appears to be at a threshold of growing and being able to tackle larger commissions or reaching an equilibrium and staying satisfied with the scale of their current work. Sebastian spoke in a restrained manner befitting his message and the sincerety of his passion for architecture was evident in not only the images of the work but his stories about the process behind each project.
Our lecture series is not possible without the support of our sponsors...Thank you to each one:
Armstrong World Industries
Centria
Chris Dawson Architect
Engineering Society of York
Fessenden Hall of PA
Interface FLOR
Keith Bush Associates
Kinsley Construction
LSC Design
Modernfold of Reading
Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects
Penn Lighting Associates
Pennsylvania Concrete Masonry Association
Reese Lower Patrick & Scott Architects
TONO Architects
Whitney Baily Cox & Magnani
Chris Dawson, AIA
President |
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Creating a Powerful Personal Brand |
If there is a word Frank Gehry hates, it is "starchitect." As he told The Independent in 2009, "I am not a 'starchitect,' I am an ar-chitect..." But don't tell that to the industry media. A simple Google search on "Starchitect" and "Frank Gehry" returned 37,000 hits. The term, which is based upon a combination of "star" and "architect," is usually limited to a handful of architects who have become celebrities; Gehry is probably the most famous of those architects currently practicing, though the term has been applied retroactively to such icons as Frank Lloyd Wright and I.M Pei.
The one thing these so-called starchitects have in common is that they've each built a powerful, unique personal brand. And while the odds of any architect rising to this level of fame are extremely limited, the concept of personal branding is something that every architect should embrace.
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