As hospitals in the United States are starting to hit capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Institute of Architects has released a new design guide from their COVID-19 Task Force. The “Preparedness Assessment Tool” is intended to assist non-healthcare design professionals with identifying alternate sites suitable for patient care. The task force developed the tool using established healthcare design best practices and standards in combination with federal documents issued during the crisis.
Boston City Hall. Image Courtesy of Kallmann, McKinnell, & Knowles
Michael McKinnell, a British-born American architect, known for his work on the acclaimed Boston’s Brutalist City Hall, and co-founder of the Kallmann McKinnell & Wood architectural design firm, has passed away on March 27, 2020, at the age of 84, from COVID-19-induced pneumonia.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is recognizing seven projects with its 2020 Interior Architecture Awards. The Interior Architecture program celebrates the most innovative interior spaces. As the AIA states, these building interiors make their mark on the cities, places, and spaces where we live and work.
The Board of Directors and the Strategic Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) have awarded renowned architect Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, with the 2020 Gold Medal. This prize credits an individual that had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.
In the context of the AIA Conference on Architecture 2019, Craig Schwitter, engineer and partner at BuroHappold Engineering, told with ArchDaily about the structural challenge behind Safdie Architects' latest Jewel Changi Airport and other technology-related topics around architecture:
Jewel is a project along the way of a whole series of grid cells that our firm have done and have been increasingly about experience and space underneath these massive roofs, and I think Jewel has really moved into the next level. These structures are not structures really, they are filters. They are balancing an exterior climate and interior climate; they are trying to make a space, you know, habitable, enjoyable. [...] But we couldn't have done that 10 years ago, because the technology that makes that possible is a culmination of the advances in computer-aided manufacturing.
https://www.archdaily.com/920974/craig-schwitter-of-burohappold-on-jewel-changi-airport-and-technologyAD Editorial Team
During the recent AIA Conference in Las Vegas, ArchDaily had the opportunity to interview Tom Kundig, Principal at Olson Kundig who has been designing and building for the firm for the last 30 years.
Having been raised in a mountain context, Tom relates strongly with the landscape and its natural elements, acknowledging the weathering of materials as something valuable and poetic. In this conversation, Tom explains the importance of context in each project, particularly the contrast and dispersion of buildings as a meaningful response to the landscape. He also addresses the importance of technology and communication as part of a new design process that we must all start to integrate, as well as open source initiatives.
Keep reading to see the video and complete interview.
This year, the AIA Conference on Architecture 2019 is announcing "Blueprint for Better" as the theme of the event. Held in Las Vegas on 6-8 June, the occasion encourages local components to "reflect upon those areas in their own communities" and use the opportunity to solve problems and improve communities themselves.
The organizers explain the "Blueprint for Better" theme as the recognition and response to the issue of the lack of affordable housing and the growing problem of homelessness. Participants are encouraged to explore these topics and create proposals for solutions on how to help the homeless and build a better and progressive community in the 21st century.
https://www.archdaily.com/917437/must-visit-booths-at-the-aia-2019-architecture-expoAD Editorial Team
The purpose of this competition is to challenge Architects and Students to design a replacement for the Townsite Homes in Henderson, NV, which have outlived their intended use and have mostly fallen into disrepair, creating neighborhood blight. The project should fully embody the principles of sustainable design and livable communities. It is the responsibility of the entrants to determine the number of new dwellings on the site, or re-purpose the existing home. The only city requirement is to provide a single parking space per dwelling. Please visit the competition website for information on Henderson, the Townsite, and how to enter.
Selected works from six of the nine new honorary AIA Fellows.
More than 100 American architects and nine international practitioners have been elevated to the American Institute of ArchitectsCollege of Fellows. Fellowship in the AIA is a prestigious honor conferred upon those who have lasting contributions to the profession. While primarily a national award, the AIA also awards fellowship to a number of international designers each year.
https://www.archdaily.com/912052/aia-elevates-new-members-and-nine-international-honorary-members-to-the-college-of-fellowsKatherine Allen
The American Institute of Architects has selected nine projects for its 2019 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture. The award program celebrates the best contemporary architecture and highlights the many ways buildings and spaces can improve lives. AIA’s five-member jury selects submissions that demonstrate design achievement, including a sense of place and purpose, ecology, environmental sustainability and history.
The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has presented 27 projects with 2019 Design Awards. AIANY announced the results after two days of deliberations by a a jury of independent architects, educators, critics, and planners. For each of the five categories, winning projects were granted either an “Honor” or “Merit” award, and were chosen for their design quality, innovation and technique.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected Venturi Scott Brown's Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery of London as the recipient of the 2019 AIA Twenty-five Year Award. Designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown in an international competition, AIA commended the project for its ability to “...make its context better than it found it” - a citation borrowed from Venturi himself.
The award is presented annually to a project that has "stood the test of time by embodying architectural excellence for 25 to 35 years."
https://www.archdaily.com/909184/venturi-scott-browns-sainsbury-wing-national-gallery-london-receives-aia-25-year-awardKatherine Allen
Mundo Verde at Cook Campus / Studio Twenty Seven Architecture
A misconception often surfaces in design circles that architectural beauty and evidence-based environmental performance are mutually exclusive. To address this, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) is releasing a new tool that can assist architecture firms in designing high-performance energy-efficient buildings.
Despite the federal stance on paramount environmental issues, the AIA upholds and advocates for the responsibility of architects to mitigate against the effects of climate change. Aware that the construction industry consumes nearly 40% of the energy supply nationwide, the AIA COTE® Top Ten Toolkit presents a series of strategies to promote sustainability without compromising the design.
Honoring “an individual or pair of architects whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture,” the AIA Gold Medal is often considered the highest honor awarded in the United States for architecture.
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.jpg?1576138404 "The Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion . Image © Timothy Hursley")
