Fall Lecture Series Recap

                         

The return to in-person AIA Central PA lectures occurred when Elizabeth Whittaker, AIA spoke to a full house on Thursday November 4th at the Armstrong campus in Lancaster. She is Founder and Principal at MERGE architects. Beth’s presentation was titled “Material Logic(s)” and I found her to be disarming in her approachability and inspiring in her focus on doing great architecture. 

MERGE creates work that is undeniably modern and creative. They craft spaces and buildings that enrich the lives of the owners and occupants thru original approaches to materiality and spatial configurations. Beth’s interest in the practical, context, and how things go together in the service of modern housing and workplace environments was communicated as she walked us through projects in Boston, Cambridge, Lexington, Detroit, and Williamstown.

Elizabeth Whittaker and her firm’s work has been widely honored and undoubtedly more great work is to come. The link to the AIA Central PA lecture page is at https://aiacentralpa.org/what-we-do/lecture-series/

Thank You to all the Sponsors – 13 sponsors made the spring lecture possible and we always welcome additional support. Despite the challenges of the COVID crisis we were thrilled to be able to gather again, listen to an inspiring practitioner, and reconnect with our peers in a manner only possible thru AIA. We look forward to more lectures in 2022 and hope to be able to grow our sponsorship support.

 

2021 Conference, Expo, and Design Awards

AIA Central Pennsylvania held their annual Conference and Design Awards virtually on Thursday, November 5th. The event began at 6pm with our keynote presentation “Real World Perspectives: Anticipating a Changing World through Resilient Design” by Carolyn Sponza & Chuck Rudalavage with Gensler; a share of their research on Resilient Design.

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the AIA Central Pennsylvania 2020 Design awards.

We would like to thank all of the firms/architects who submitted projects; this year there were 41 entries. An excellent testament to the great talent in Central Pennsylvania.  In addition, a special thank you to this year’s jury from AIA Fort Lauderdale. We appreciate their time and commitment to reviewing all submissions and their thoughtful evaluations. And as always, we could not do this without all of our sponsors and their continued commitment to AIA Central Pennsylvania.  We are greatly appreciative and look forward to future events together.

See all 2021 Design Awards

REVIEW THE SUBMISSION CRITERIA

VENUES WANTED!

The Conference, Expo, and Design Awards will be an in-person celebration again in 2022.

Next year’s event planning is already underway and is expected to be held in Harrisburg, PA as we rotate around our geographical area.  We are looking for potential event spaces and recommendations on continuing education seminars – including tours of recently completed projects in Harrisburg as well as recommendations for our keynote speaker.  If any members have any ideas on a unique venue space or speakers please pass them our way! Please email any ideas to Rachel Haynes at rhaynes@tippettsweaver.com. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

* this event will be held in accordance with CDC guidelines and ballpark facility safety guidelines

2021 Student Scholarship Recipients

2021 AIA National Scholarship Grants Awarded to AIA Central PA

AIA Central PA has been selected for the fifth straight year as a recipient of a Scholarship Program Grant Award from AIA National, this year in the amount of $1,500!  The recipients of the 2021 AIA National Scholarship Grant Award are Nina Markle (Marywood University) and Hazel Pfarr (Thaddeus Stevens College). 

Since 2005, AIA National has been awarding the scholarship grant to local and state components with established scholarship programs.  A huge thank you to the founding members of the Central PA Architects Foundation Scholarship program which has made the receipt of this grant possible, AIA National for supporting this grant program and the members and friends of AIA Central PA who continue to invest in the future of the architectural profession.

To contribute to the Central PA Architects Foundation Scholarship click here https://aiacentralpa.org/emerging-professionals/scholarship/

 

AIA PA Architectural Excellence Awards

Each year, AIA Pennsylvania celebrates the best of architecture in Pennsylvania and the people behind it. Through the AIA Pennsylvania Architectural Excellence Design Awards programs, more than 50 honors are awarded annually to AIA members, allied professionals, government and civic leaders, academic leaders, and nonprofit community service organizations. Each award is given in recognition of leadership and positive contributions to a better and more sustainable built environment and advancement of the profession of architecture.

Learn more about the awards programs and view past recipients of the Design Awards, COTE Awards, Special Awards, and Student Awards.

2021 Architectural Excellence Awards 

You can watch the  2021 Architectural Excellence Awards Broadcast! See all of the individual and firm honorees in five programs including the Committee on the Environment (COTE) Awards, Design Awards, Special Awards, Student Awards, and EPiC Firms.

Call for Member Articles

AIA Central PA would like to feature scholarly articles / blogs related to our profession in each quarterly newsletter. This is an excellent opportunity to have your article published and available to your fellow architects / engineers in Central PA. If you are interested in submitting an article or blog please send your inquiries to Brett Hallacher at bhallacher@rlps.com.

Membership Notes

A short note and reminder from AIA Pennsylvania about membership.  Thank you to all of AIA Central members that have already renewed their membership and paid their dues.  A quick reminder that dues is due by March to avoid a lapse in membership.  Please know that there is a software issue with your dues calculation in AIA Central Pennsylvania.  When you log in to pay your membership you will see no state dues.  AIA is working to resolve this and will be sending state dues separately this year.  If you would like to pay your dues in full this can be completed by contacting AIA Member Services at stevenbell@aia.org.

Capitol Advocacy & Education

From its Harrisburg headquarters, AIA Pennsylvania manages state government affairs on behalf of all its members. The Government Affairs Committee, in collaboration with staff, oversees these responsibilities:

  • Reviews and monitors state legislative activities
  • Develops AIA Pennsylvania’s positions on legislative issues
  • Represents AIA Pennsylvania’s interests involving state agencies
  • Plans and implements advocacy and communication strategies
  • Informs and engages AIA members in government affairs activities (e.g., Architects Action Day)

Learn More about current legislative activities here https://aiapa.org/what-we-do/capitol-advocacy-education/

Upcoming Webinars

Join AIA Pennsylvania, AIA New York State, AIA New Jersey, and presenters from Willdan – Implementer for First Energy’s Commercial New Construction Program – for “Live Energy Analysis: Aligning Budgets with Energy Conservation Goals” on Tuesday, February 15 at 12 PM EST.

REGISTER

DESCRIPTION:

Identifying energy efficiency strategies while balancing real-world constraints such as budget can be challenging when designing a building. Take part in this interactive course that demonstrates how energy-efficiency goals—when addressed beginning early in design—can be successfully achieved, saving valuable resources such as design-time and client budgets. The session begins with an overview of comparative analysis towards achieving energy conservation goals alongside factors that drive energy use. A real case study forming the basis of the charrette will be presented, including an overview of conservation strategies available for consideration. Participants will utilize live polling to assemble “bundles” of selected energy efficiency measures to play out what-if scenarios. Facilitators will run real-time energy modeling simulations to show the results of bundled measures and discuss the merits and challenges of each. Charrette results will be revealed alongside energy-savings trends, dispelling common misconceptions about the link between budget and energy savings. Actual energy performance of the case study building will be reviewed.

Job Opportunities

View the latest positions posted to our job board!

Hiring? Submit your position HERE