Blueprint for the Southwest

Architects Celebrate AIA 150

By Michèle Van Haecke

Forget engraved crystal bowls, silver platters and gold baubles.
Members of the American Institute of Architects are marking the organization's 150th anniversary as only architects can,
by redesigning America.

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Earlier this year the AIA launched "AIA 150: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future," a year-long program honoring architects' contributions to the nation and the field. More than just galas and peer recognition, it includes "Blueprint for America," an initiative that teams architects and community leaders to design more livable towns and cities.

In the Southwest, chapters' AIA 150 programs include redesigning the Arizona state capitol mall, revitalizing Route 66, screening architectural films and holding a 24-hour-long sustainable-design 'slumber party'.

Most programs include charettes, intense planning sessions that team designers and community stakeholders. The groups are marking AIA 150 their own ways but all have the goal of giving back to their communities.

The Northern Nevada chapter has a lot to celebrate. It's one of just five chapters selected to be part of the AIA annual Sustainable Development
Assessment Team program, which links architects and decision-makers to plan for sustainability. Its SDAT qualifying report was unveiled at the group's AIA 150 celebration during April architecture week and will be used to develop a regional blueprint for sustainability. There will also be public meetings, collaborations and peer education, says Ric Licata, past chapter president and AIA Nevada president-elect.

"One of my goals has been to focus on sustainability and the greening of Nevada by educating our profession about the advantages of building green," says Licata, who teaches architecture at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno. "It's an idea whose time has finally come."

Time in Reno and Las Vegas isn't like time anywhere else. The unusual characteristics of what AIA Nevada Executive Director Randy Lavigne calls "24/7 towns" provided inspiration for the Las Vegas chapter's AIA 150 "24-Hour Town Hall Meeting," a livable-design brainstorming session that ran 24 hours.

"When it came to asking how we make a town like (Reno or Las Vegas) more sustainable, more livable, we thought in terms of a 24-hour viewpoint," says Lavigne, who is also president of AIA Las Vegas. "This makes us a little different than others but we're still looking at the same issues."

Participants broke into focus groups to discuss water and energy, public safety, housing, education, planning and more. The results will be published as "Blueprint for Nevada" and presented to Gov. Jim Gibbons and the legislature.

"The AIA 150 was a call for communities to look at what we're doing and ask 'How can we do it better?'" says Lavigne. "The charettes are a first step to say, 'Ok, where are we?'"


People in Arizona know where they are but some don't know where the State Capitol is. As part of its AIA 150 celebration, Arizona members created a statewide initiative to redesign the Capitol Mall, located in a part of downtown Phoenix most people won't go after sundown.

The project will use urban design to foster connectivity between the downtown core and the mall, host statewide charettes and work with the American Society of Landscape Architects to design appealing open space.

"We thought about what we could give back to the community," says Barry Goldstein, president of AIA Phoenix Metro and chairman of the state AIA 150 Committee. "Being the fourth- or fifth-largest city in the country and being the largest city in the country to have a Capitol in it except Washington, D.C., we definitely have an opportunity here."

Other AIA 150 activities included public art shows, home tours, lectures and a student competition to design a bus stop in Avondale, Ariz.

In one activity, members enjoyed a laid-back bash at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens that Goldstein says was long overdue. "I don't know why we had to wait for a 150th anniversary to promote the work we do," he says.
AIA Southern Arizona wondered the same thing. The group is producing
"Architects of the Old Pueblo: A History of Tucson's Leading Architects and the Designs They Create," a documentary film series about the region's great architects that will premier during October Architecture Week.

The films are a fun way to engage the community and honor its architectural past, says Ed Marley, the chapter's AIA 150 champion and project coordinator. "We need to preserve the legacy of some of the distinguished members of our profession because once they're gone, the impact is lost," he says. "The public can build a deeper understanding about these architects and about architecture in general."

The chapter was also selected for the SDAT program and will hold AIA 150 town hall meetings and charettes through the year.

Up north, AIA Grand Canyon in Prescott is creating new recognition programs for sustainable commercial and residential design that will be presented at an AIA 150 gala to be held at year's end. Home tours and public seminars are also being planned.

"I believe now more than ever that the American Institute of Architects plays a vital role in promoting sustainable and energy-efficient building," says chapter President Mark Rogers. "We will do so even more over the next 150 years."

Preserving the past in sustainable ways was the focus for AIA Albuquerque's AIA 150 activities, centered on a comprehensive two-day charette in April.

The meeting discussed the revitalization of the Nob Hill neighborhood, the city's central roadway and a slice of historic Route 66.

"What AIA Albuquerque is hoping is that this is a stepping stone to building stronger relationships with the community and having them view us as a resource," says chapter executive director Cecilia Portal. Festivities also included public education cleverly disguised as home tours and movies. "The idea is to open the minds of people to bring about ideas of how life here could change," Portal says.

Film was the AIA 150 medium of choice for AIA Santa Fe. The chapter has partnered with the Santa Fe Center for Contemporary Arts for a monthly film series covering subjects from Mies van der Rohe to sustainability to Chaco Canyon. Each screening will include a lecture.

"Our film series is a great way to demonstrate the important role architects have had in the creation of our built environment over the past 150 years," says Ryan Bullock, director of associate membership for the chapter and the project coordinator. "Additionally, we will be showing films highlighting issues of sustainability that will be critical in the next 150 years."

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