Archinect - News

Ukraine's rebuilding will be plagued by a lack of manpower, French architect warns

2024-06-15T08:37:00-04:00

In a new interview with France 24, France/Singapore-based architect Martin Duplantier explained the concerning lack of manpower that may imperil rebuilding efforts in Ukraine if and when the more than two-year-old conflict there comes to an end. Duplantier is involved in the preparatory reconstruction of Izium, where he says 80% of all buildings have been ‘damaged.’

As per the most recent World Economic Forum reports, the estimated cost of rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and built environment is $486 billion. Between three and five million residents have reportedly vacated their homes as a result of the destruction as of January, according to Le Monde.

Beyer Blinder Belle-designed new National Urban League headquarters rises in Harlem

2024-06-15T06:22:00-04:00

Beyer Blinder Belle’s design for the National Urban League’s new headquarters, which also houses New York City’s first civil rights museum, has risen in Harlem.

The National Urban League is a historical civil rights organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of and the elevation of living standards in historically underserved urban communities. This milestone marks the completion of the organization’s relocation from their former Lower Manhattan office.

Called the Urban Empowerment Center, the new 17-story, 414,000-square-foot building was delivered through a collaboration between private, public, and state organizations. In addition to the headquarters, it will include the Urban Civil Rights Museum Experience and the National Urban League Institute for Race, Equity, and Justice.

The building also features 90,000 square feet of office space, 84,000 square feet of retail space, and 171 affordable apartments. The changes in the structure’s glass curtain wall and massing resp...

Here are the 22 winners of this year's RIBA International Awards for Excellence

2024-06-14T17:41:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of this year's International Awards for Excellence.

22 projects, spread across 14 countries, have been recognized for showcasing architectural excellence through key themes, including: climate resilience and connection to nature, creative reinvention and extension of existing architecture, and space for wellness, mindfulness, and community through design.

All of the projects are now in the running for the fourth RIBA International Prize, which will be announced in November 2024.

Look below for the complete list of winners and project photos.

MVRDV transforms 19th Century structure into new multifunctional NIO House Amsterdam HQ

2024-06-14T17:22:00-04:00

MVRDV’s remade space for the electric automaker NIO has opened in Amsterdam. The Chinese brand’s new European flagship offers just over 29,000 square feet of showrooms and other spaces carved out of a seven-story heritage structure in the Keizersgracht district that's held over from the 19th Century.

Partner Jacob van Rijs says: “The exciting challenge of this project was in unifying the history of this building with the identity of NIO, a company which in many senses is interested in offering a vision of the future. In a sense, we are confronting the same challenge that Rietveld resolved so gracefully 90 years ago. NIO House Amsterdam shows how the old and the new can provide a counterpoint for one another and ultimately enrich each other.”

Image: © Ossip van Duivenbode

The building has changed hands several times throughout its long history after originally being constructed for the New York Life Insurance Company in 1891. Special features include a second-floor “Joy Camp” childre...

Your next role could be designing signage and wayfinding with Pentagram

2024-06-14T14:29:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for an Architect at Shigeru Ban Architects, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Signage & Wayfinding Project Manager at Pentagram.

The role, based in New York, calls for an individual to “execute signage, wayfinding, and environmental design projects,” including “understand design intent and translate schematic design into fully developed design intent documents.” Among the requirements for the role are 2-4 years of experience in Environmental Graphic Design, Interior Design, and Architecture in a similar role, alongside proficiency in CAD and 3D modeling programs, Adobe CC, Keynote, Google apps, and Microsoft Office.

Visual identity for Maker Mile - Pentagram's Astrid Stavro and team. Image courtesy of Pentagram.

Why the role interests us

The open role at the Pentagram offers us the opportunity to explore some of the high-profile projects to recently appear in our edit...

Federico Babina's architectural flag illustrations deconstruct the notion of borders to imagine an alternative world

2024-06-14T13:27:00-04:00

Today is Flag Day in the United States and in celebration of the country’s first adoption of the national flag as a symbol of unity in 1777, we’ve decided to present some of the select architecturally inspired works of the Italian-born graphic designer Federico Babina.

Babina describes his approach: “I like trying to explain the world I see through different techniques of expression.” Indeed, as Jasper Johns' own six-decade experimentations in vexillography showed us, flags are as much cultural symbols as they are communication devices to be manipulated by various (and sometimes opposing) parties in order to accomplish different political and social aims.

Federico Babina's architectural flag artwork

Babina crafts his own versions of national standards using elevations, section drawings, plans, and silhouettes that are sometimes representative of each country's endemic architecture to give forms which, in turn, fit into the visual field to create imaginative counternar...

Norman Foster Foundation and Holcim unveil Essential Homes prototype designs for Latin America

2024-06-14T13:24:00-04:00

The Norman Foster Foundation has unveiled details of its new Essential Homes prototype design with Holcim that will deliver low-cost options for emergency shelter in Latin America using low-carbon concrete and cement products in demonstration of the principles of a circular economy.

Image: courtesy Norman Foster Foundation

The prototypes, which are currently being displayed as part of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, expand on a presentation made during last year's Venice Biennale and incorporate research performed by the Swiss materials manufacturer. The design has since morphed into a better scalable row house version that will be rolled out next year. The homes are said to be fully recyclable and showcase Holcim's proprietary ECOPact low-carbon concrete and ECOPlanet low carbon cement products.

Image: courtesy Norman Foster Foundation

Foster describes: "This project grew out of a workshop organized by the Norman Foster Foundation for young graduates devoted to the iss...

Featured job opportunities at 9 LGBTQIA+-led architecture firms

2024-06-14T08:48:00-04:00

This week's edition of our curated jobs roundup from Archinect Jobs highlights 14 exciting job opportunities at LGBTQIA+-owned firms across the country.

To see and keep up with the range of roles at firms run by or founded/owned by LGBTQIA+ individuals, use our Diverse Ownership filters or this direct link.

For helpful guidance on how to get that next job, make sure to check out Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series and our Archinect Tips collection.

CTK Architecture and Project Management seeks a Project Architect in New York, NY
"We are looking for a skilled Project Architect who is ready to handle exciting challenges and contribute to our team's success in a dynamic environment." Qualifications include experience in managing complex projects and meeting deadlines, proficiency with technical, management, and communication skills, familiarity with the intricacies of project schedules and budgets, and a strong understanding of BIM processes and tools.

Conversation Plinth by TSKP x ...

Tohoku University researchers develop real-time stress monitoring materials for aging infrastructure

2024-06-14T08:08:00-04:00

A team of researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University has developed a new mechanoluminescent construction material they say can be used in infrastructure to monitor daily use stress information in real-time in order to avert potential future catastrophes that may result from its aging stock of bridges, roads, and dams.

"What makes our material truly innovative is that it operates without a power supply, complex equipment, or on-site observation and is easily combined with IoT technology," Professor Chao-Nan Xu explains.

Image: © Tomoki Uchiyama, Chao-Nan Xu et al.

Their findings were published in the Applied Physics Letters in early April. The material works by responding to mechanical strain with luminescence using Pr-doped Li0.12 Na0.88 NbO3 (or LNNO). The LNNO finish is then applied to the surfaces of objects, emitting an afterglow produced with the application of a flashlight and then measured quantitatively using a series of light sensors.

"Our findings are expected to allevia...

Billionaire-backed plan to erect a model California city qualifies for the ballot

2024-06-13T19:25:00-04:00

The billionaire proponents of a brand-new city that would rise from the rolling prairie northeast of the San Francisco Bay cleared their first big hurdle Tuesday, when the Solano County Registrar of Voters certified the group had enough signatures to put its proposal before local voters in November.

The plan calls for up to 400,000 residents to be housed nearly 60 miles from San Francisco on an over 16,000-acre land parcel currently used mainly for tomato, walnut, and plant nursery farming. The group responsible for the development, California Forever, has continued quietly surveying Solano County residents for their opinions since our last update in January. But, the LA Times says: “Project opponents said a recent [independent] poll they conducted found that 70% of the people surveyed were skeptical.”

What could come next might provide a case study for the long-held theories of Ebenezer Howard, Leon Krier, and other noted New Urbanism scholars.

Quinn Evans' remake of the iconic Michigan Central Station debuts in Detroit

2024-06-13T19:18:00-04:00

Quinn Evans Architects has shared some photos of their completed work on the newly remade Michigan Central Station in Detroit. The home of the Ford Motor Company’s 1.2-million-square-foot technology hub in the historic Corktown district re-established the 110-year-old landmark through an expedited six-year process described as a "hybrid approach" by senior associate Angela Wyrembelski.

The project is the largest central piece included in the 30-acre master plan from Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). The building re-opened for the first time since closing in 1988 over the weekend with a star-studded musical performance and remarks from special guests like Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Integral to the design team were several native Detroiters and proud alumni of the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (more on that here.) The project was completed at a cost of $950 million, helping the firm to be named as the AIA Architecture Firm Awa...

Princeton University researchers develop tougher cement inspired by shells

2024-06-13T14:48:00-04:00

Engineers at Princeton University have developed a new cement composite, inspired by the material found within certain shells, that is 17 times more crack-resistant than standard cement and 19 times more able to stretch and deform without breaking.

The research team was led by Reza Moini, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. In a recently published article in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the team reported that creating alternating layers of tabulated cement paste and thin polymer can significantly increase the material’s durability.

Often looking towards biology for inspiration in their work on building materials, the researchers were drawn to a natural material called nacre, also known as mother of pearl. The material is produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer, and it is also the material that pearls are made of. According to the researchers, nacre consists of a hard mineral called aragonite, which are glued together by a soft bio...

Taliesin's $1.1 million restored Hillside Theater debuts in Wisconsin

2024-06-13T13:41:00-04:00

Taliesin Preservation’s restoration of the Hillside Theater at Frank Lloyd Wright’s former estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin, has been completed following a five-year and $1.1 million transformation effort for The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Originally designed in 1903 to serve the Hillside Home School that was included in the 800-acre estate in the heavily forested Driftless Area, the space is now once again capable of hosting theatrical productions and will precede its public reopening with a series of film screenings and musical performances throughout the summer.

Photo by Tim Long, courtesy of Taliesin Preservation

Aspects of the restoration work included adding a new HVAC system, repairing subgrade water damage, ADA-compliant accessibility enhancements, adding two new green rooms to the basement, and issuing major repairs to the building's roof and interior/exterior finishes.

Photo by Kyle Dockery, courtesy of Taliesin Preservation

The hand-sewn curtain, gifted to Wright by p...

AIA Board of Trustees issues statement in response to controversy

2024-06-13T12:01:00-04:00

A new statement written by the AIA’s Board of Trustees in response to the swirling controversy surrounding CEO Lakisha Ann Woods has reiterated their broadscale support amidst criticism about certain actions during her more than two-year tenure.

While the statement does not address specifically the claims that were put forth in last week's Bloomberg article concerning corporate misconduct and the letter circulating that was signed by 22 former AIA presidents, it did issue a number of salutary proclamations about her strategic endeavors and performance while in office. Woods joined the organization in 2022 after serving as the President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

"Among the matters brought forward, the Board directed external counsel to review the planning and execution of the AIA Staff Learning Retreat that took place in March 2024," part of the statement read, referring to their decision to retain a local firm to conduct an independent inquiry into the...

NYT: Rising insurance costs impinging on affordable development efforts nationwide

2024-06-12T17:50:00-04:00

Less attention, though, has been paid to rental housing, particularly for low and moderate income people. Unlike market-rate apartment developers, those building multifamily projects financed by subsidies and tax credits do not have the ability to simply pass on those higher insurance costs to tenants, since they are limited by government guidelines as to how much rent they can collect.

The Times points out, many “low-income areas tend to be more prone to flooding and other catastrophic damage” – meaning that resilient design strategies often have to be added to the list of considerations for architects and their clients (as the ASLA’s most recent industry survey proves). The article quotes another conducted last year by the National Leased Housing Association as finding “nearly one-third” of all affordable housing developers nationally reporting insurance increases of 25% or more between 2022 and 2023.

RODE Architects announces acquisition of McMahon Architects, expanding workplace capabilities

2024-06-12T17:48:00-04:00

Boston-based design and architecture firm RODE Architects has announced the acquisition of McMahon Architects, a full-service practice that specializes in workplace interiors, hospitality, restaurant, residential, and environmental design.

The acquisition aims to strengthen RODE’s capabilities in several key sectors, especially its mission to reimagine the modern workplace to suit a post-pandemic landscape. The firm views workplace, hospitality, and retails as areas of growth and strengths of McMahon Architects. According to RODE, the acquisition will center around a commitment to client service, collaboration, and design excellence.

“We have long maintained an entrepreneurial spirit, and as business owners, we seek out opportunities to strengthen our team and expand our reach,” said RODE co-founder and principal Eric Robinson. “The strategic acquisition of McMahon Architects and its expertise is a milestone moment in our history and enables us to shape the future of workplace and h...

Here’s what the critics are writing about the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion

2024-06-12T16:31:00-04:00

The 23rd Serpentine Pavilion exhibition opened last week in London’s Kensington Gardens, drawing the usual mixture of praise and derision from UK-based critics who responded to the Archipelagic Void from Minsuk Cho and Mass Studies.

Kicking things off was the perfunctory Rowan Moore review. The Guardian’s longest-tenured critic seemed to enjoy the programmatic diversity of elements such as the Library of Unread Books and Play Tower, quipping that it is “an architectural equivalent of Korean multi-dish meals.”

Serpentine Pavilion 2024, Archipelagic Void, designed by Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies © Mass Studies Photo: Iwan Baan Courtesy: Serpentine

“It’s an enjoyable, playful, centrifugal-centripetal place, loose but distinctive, not afraid to be a bit ugly, full of contrasts and surprises, that gets a lot into its fairly small square footage,” he concludes. “The design is characterful but not dominating. It feels like what it is – a temporary building – rather than one that wishes it were...

Obama Presidential Center tops out in Chicago

2024-06-12T13:48:00-04:00

Construction on the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center’s main museum building has topped out in Chicago. A ceremony held yesterday, June 11th, with the 44th President in attendance celebrated the progress on the TWBTA-led project as it reached its culmination at 225 feet height just two years before its expected completion in the spring of 2026.

Once it is completed, the new landmark of the city’s South Side will anchor a 19.3-acre campus with a landscape design from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Another key component, Moody Nolan’s athletics center building, is also advancing towards a 2026 completion after breaking ground in March. May Lin’s engaging water garden installation will complete the program. You can see more photos from yesterday's important milestone below.

Fumihiko Maki, a leading icon of modern Japanese architecture, passes away in Tokyo aged 95

2024-06-12T12:56:00-04:00

Fumihiko Maki, the 1993 Pritzker Prize laureate and a leading figure in Japan's Metabolism movement, passed away in Tokyo on June 6th, his Maki and Associates firm announced late Tuesday. He was 95.

Maki was born in Tokyo in 1928 and immigrated to America to study at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and then the Harvard GSD, working in the New York offices of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) and for Josep Lluís Sert's Cambridge, Massachusetts studio before returning to Japan to found his own practice in 1965.

Online, Maki is being remembered for his many varied important works spread across three continents. Fans will recall his visionary contribution to the rich lineage of residential architecture in his home country, most notably the multiphase Hillside Terrace Apartments (completed between 1967 and 1992) that garnered several awards, including the country's prestigious Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 1973.

Maki's MIT Media Lab (E14) building, home to the Jerome Leme...

Vibrant pavilions by Foster + Partners and NEON utilize recycled everyday materials

2024-06-12T06:02:00-04:00

Real estate developer and operator Brookfield Properties has today announced the launch of two pavilions, one designed by Foster + Partners and the other by NEON, as part of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA).

“Radial” by Foster & Partners and “Squiggle” by NEON are located outside of two of Brookfield Properties’ key London office buildings. They were designed as landmarks, inspired by themes of circularity, community, and sustainability. The structures respond to the LFA’s theme of “Reimagine,” in which they utilize everyday materials in innovative ways to encourage reflection on material recycling, reuse, and climate change.

"Radial" by Foster + Partners. Photo: Aaron Hargreaves

“Radial” aims to function as a space for pause and reflection. It features a radial pattern of flags made from 100% reused and recycled construction materials, including plastic bottles and scaffolding.

Photo: Aaron Hargreaves

The flags hang above curved wooden benches and are colored in tones of ...

The New Yorker goes inside the architectural cadaver Kanye West made in Malibu

2024-06-11T17:45:00-04:00

Saxon had been hired to carve an oceanside Turrell out of an angular fifty-seven-million-dollar Ando. Ye revealed to Saxon—although not all at once—that he wanted no kitchen, bathrooms, A.C., windows, light fixtures, or heating. He was intent on cutting off the water and the power (and removing the house’s cable and wiring, which ran through the concrete in plastic tubes). He talked of clarity, simplicity, and a kind of self-reliance.

Former contractor Tony Saxson opens up to The New Yorker about his time working with Kanye West and Bianca Censori on the stripped-bare interiors of their Tadao Ando-designed home in Malibu. Some of the better quotes include Ando saying “my decision to accept [clients] projects depends mainly on their personality and aura” and Ye telling Saxson triumphantly “This is going to be my bomb shelter. This is going to be my Batcave.”

Saxson would later file a lawsuit against West for the alleged illegal termination of his services on the demolition project. The house (which appears in a state of decay and cinematic disrepair via a drone video) was re-listed for $39 million – $14 million less than the $57.3 million West purchased it for in September 2021 – in early April.

Olson Kundig expands into Midwest with new Chicago office

2024-06-11T16:42:00-04:00

Olson Kundig has expanded into the Midwest market with a new Chicago location that bridges its already bi-coastal New York and Seattle operations after 57 years in the industry. The firm will now work out of a new space in the city's Fulton Market there and says their move will precipitate a new central hub for global business while supporting a growing body of work locally that began twenty years ago.

"Chicago is recognized around the world for its trailblazing design. For over 150 years, Chicago architects have carved out a reputation for big thinking and an ability to reimagine our built world,” founder Tom Kundig said in a press announcement. “We are honored to join this incredible community of designers, makers, and creatives.”

Previously on Archinect: Olson Kundig is expanding to New York City after six decades in Seattle

His colleague Kirsten Ring Murray added: “We have always worked globally, and across building types. Expanding to Chicago, a vibrant city with a historic cu...

Is the sight and scale of New York’s new 5G towers appropriate for the city?

2024-06-11T14:41:00-04:00

“There is a harm to having these 32-foot- tall futuristic towers, often with large video display terminals on them, in residential neighborhoods in historic districts”

The New York Times picks up on the growing “visual distraction” that the appearance of 5G towers has created, along with a debate about their existence vis-à-vis the historic street-level visual character of neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village. LinkNYC is planning to add up to 2,000 more to its already 150-strong inventory. Alternative designs to the “shroud”-covered 32-foot poles were apparently too “ugly” by New York standards.

Still, an expanding chorus of detractors has led to FCC reviews and complaints from at least 16 community boards. Crain's also reported last week the city's Chief Technology Officer, Matthew Fraser, is considering a massive redesign campaign in deference to them and the torrent of tech companies' proposals that have followed since their roll out in 2022.

Featured architecture jobs this week at Payette, Mapos Architects, EYRC, COOKFOX, and VMDO

2024-06-11T13:52:00-04:00

Take a look at our latest curated selection of architecture and design firms currently hiring on Archinect Jobs: This week's featured employer highlight includes job openings in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Charlottesville, Virginia.

For even more opportunities, head over to the Archinect job board and explore our active community of job seekers, firms, and schools.

Boston-based architectural design firm Payette is hiring for a Project Manager with at least ten years of experience and a Mid-Level Architect/Designer with at least four years of experience. The Project Manager should possess experience managing project financials effectively and excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills. Applicants for the Architect/Designer role should be proficient with Revit and have project typology experience in university, healthcare, or laboratory design and renovation.

Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex at Northeastern University by Pa...

Yinka Ilori’s inward-seeking look at football racism takes stage at the HKW Museum this summer

2024-06-11T12:17:00-04:00

Yinka Ilori has debuted a new pavilion at the HKW museum that will explore the complexities of racism and sports as part of the institution’s Ballet of the Masses—On Football and Catharsis programming, which takes place through the end of October in the German capital.

Foster + Partners' CBS Television City redevelopment plan clears major planning hurdle in LA

2024-06-11T12:08:00-04:00

The proposal from Foster + Partners to author a major redevelopment of the CBS Television City campus in Los Angeles' Fairfax District has cleared a vital hurdle after local planning officials certified an EIR last month for the $1 billion project. Once it is completed, the project will yield more than 1.7 million square feet of state-of-the-art facilities, including new sound stages, office suites, a retail component meant for the 25-acre campus perimeter, and the first all-electric production studios in the city.

William Pereira's original 1952 buildings will also be preserved through the effort. Beverlypress.com, which first reported the news last week, says: "The project will next be heard on Sept. 12 by the Los Angeles Planning Commission." RIOS and Adamson Associates are also included in the project team. Other outlets have said work is expected to wrap up by the end of 2028.

ALNY chat discusses 'Domicide' and its application to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza

2024-06-11T12:05:00-04:00

How might this destruction be stopped? International law remains one of the only paths to seek accountability. And it is not only lawyers who make its systems function. Through their stewardship of the built environment (including long-standing engagement with the right to housing and the politics of climate change), architects, planners, and preservationists can shed light on the techniques, procedures, and consequences of modern urban warfare. They also have the potential to change them.

Berlin-based Palestinian urbanist and scholar Natasha Aruri, formerly of the TU Berlin, breaks down the concept of ‘domicide’ with MIT's Balakrishnan Rajagopal and SITU founding partner Brad Samuels. The term can be traced to the 2001 title Domicide: The Global Destruction of Home, but has roots in modern conflict (namely the U.S. bombing of Japan and Germany during World War II). The most recent reporting from human rights groups, including the UNWRA, has said that more than half of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed since fighting began there on October 7th.

Saudi officials ordered lethal force to make room for NEOM, former security forces commander claims

2024-06-10T18:31:00-04:00

Saudi authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, an ex-intelligence officer has told the BBC. He said the April 2020 order stated the Huwaitat was made up of "many rebels" and "whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home".

The village of al-Khuraybah, home to members of the displaced Huwaitat tribe, was the target of Saudi security forces during the deadly raid that left one member dead. The report states, however, “The BBC was not able to independently verify Col. Alenezi's comments about lethal force.” The Line, which has now shrunk to 2.4 kilometers (about 1.5 miles), is expected to house its first 300,000 residents by the end of the decade.

Three other members of the tribe are still facing pending executions over their resistance, according to the UN. The state executed more than 170 people last year despite leader Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud's promises to enact more liberal reforms.

These four finalists will compete for the coveted Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize for 2024

2024-06-10T17:54:00-04:00

Today, the Harvard GSD announced its list of four candidates who will compete for this year’s Wheelwright Prize honoring emerging architects and their ambition to make the world better through research into design. The prestigious $100,000 award is given annually to early-career practitioners, along with the chance to deliver a special lecture at the GSD and have their research published in Harvard Design Magazine or any of the school's other leading publications.

The GSD shares: “The proposals from this year’s four finalists apply architectural and design thinking and research to address a range of complex global issues — the ways in which practices of design for sacred spaces can inspire more sustainable architecture; the emergence of increased sovereignty and self-determined design taking place in postcolonial countries in Latin America; how design, fiction, and performance can be combined to explore strategies and methods for radical reimagination of forms of spatial and politi...

AIA members decry nepotism and other misconduct claims

2024-06-10T16:53:00-04:00

Allegations of executive misconduct on the part of American Institute of Architects (AIA) CEO Lakisha Ann Woods and senior staffers who allegedly engaged in nepotism and other forms of unethical behavior have surfaced amidst the annual AIA24 conference that was held last week in Washington, D.C.

The list of accusations stemming from an April 4th letter signed by more than twenty past AIA presidents calls into question the organization’s leadership at a critical time. In an article published by Bloomberg late Friday, Woods and others were maligned for a series of missteps that includes a $152,000 staff retreat to the Dominican Republic in early March, unlawful firings and other retaliation, changes to the College of Fellows nominations process, and an increasingly toxic work culture within the AIA National ranks.

Additionally, as Bloomberg reported, former Chief Council Terrance Ona has recently entered an employment discrimination suit against the AIA, claiming he was unlawfully te...