Archinect - News

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Ruth Carter to give keynotes at 2024 AIA Conference

2024-04-05T11:47:00-04:00

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Ruth Carter have been announced as keynote speakers for the upcoming AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2024. Gupta will deliver his speech to the Washington D.C. conference on June 7th, with Carter delivering her speech on June 8th.

Gupta is the Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN, where he reports on health and medical news domestically and internationally. “Since 2001, Gupta has covered some of the world’s most important public health and safety stories, including the COVID-19 pandemic — reaffirming his role as a trusted guide to millions of viewers navigating between facts and fiction,” the AIA said.

Meanwhile, Carter is an Academy Award-winning costume designer most well-known for her work on Marvel’s blockbuster film Black Panther, where she made history as the first Black person to win the category. “Her career in film and television spans over three decades, collaborating with prolific directors like Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, and Ava DuVernay,” A...

Jacinda Ardern, former New Zealand Prime Minister, will headline at the 2023 AIA Conference on Architecture

2023-05-04T15:25:00-04:00

Another international head of state will follow last year’s A’22 keynote speaker Barack Obama in headlining the upcoming AIA Conference on Architecture in San Francisco after the Institute announced that former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern will be in attendance at the event.

The 42-year-old Ardern, who was inaugurated in 2017 as her country’s youngest-ever Prime Minister, will speak to attendees on June 10th, likely on subjects related to her tenure as New Zealand’s leader and her ongoing support for the rights of women across the globe.

The AIA says: "Ms. Ardern’s focus on people, kindness, and what she has called 'pragmatic idealism' saw New Zealand achieve some of the lowest losses of life experienced by any developed nation through the pandemic."

Earlier on Archinect: Obama's remarks at the 2022 AIA Conference on Architecture speak on the intersection of inequality and sustainable design

Ardern is now serving in several advisory roles, including as a board member ...

Obama's remarks at the 2022 AIA Conference on Architecture speak on the intersection of inequality and sustainable design

2022-06-27T19:13:00-04:00

Barack Obama was greeted by a packed house at the close of the Friday session of this year’s A’22 Conference in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

Speaking to the capacity audience in a Q&A hosted by new AIA President Dan Hart, the two-term former U.S. President used his platform to touch upon the crisis of available affordable housing in America.

“Chicago is a case study of times architecture reinforced inequity,” he said, echoing long-held criticism of the city advanced recently by filmmaker Jordan Peele and documented by other observers of the city for a period of decades. Obama then spoke about the role government can play in aiding the delivery of more affordable units to the residential market, claiming that, in some cases, left-leaning policymakers are to blame for the predicament facing a number of states and municipalities.

“Good planning and skilled architects are needed, but this is where government policy makes a difference,” he said. “Sprawl in America isn’t good for our...

Barack Obama to speak at the 2022 AIA Conference on Architecture

2022-05-31T17:56:00-04:00

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has been announced as the surprise headline speaker on Day 3 of this year’s A’22 Conference in Chicago.

Obama will join for a moderated conversation about a yet-unnamed topic at the close of the conference’s Friday session on June 24th at the McCormick Place Convention Center.

His appearance follows that of his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, who spoke at the A’17 conference about the importance of equity and diversity efforts in the world of professional design. The President’s appearance comes just a few months removed from the groundbreaking of the TWBTA-designed Obama Presidential Center complex in Chicago's Jackson Park which is scheduled to open in 2025 following years of delay.

Obama’s legacy and impacts as it relates to the fields of architecture and urban planning are still being examined by scholars, but he was influential in mandating new stan...

AIA's 2021 conference will take place online this summer

2021-04-14T20:54:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects has revealed more details about this year's AIA Conference on Architecture: due to ongoing COVID-19 safety concerns, the event will be, for the first time ever, held entirely online over the course of four days spread across June, July, and August. Each conference day will be dedicated to one of these four themes: firm resilience, sustainable practice, community engagement, and building efficiencies.

Keynote events outlined in the A'21 schedule so far include chef, restaurateur, and humanitarian José Andrés, the "father of environmental justice" Dr. Robert Bullard, and 99% Invisible creator and host Roman Mars.

The conference dates are June 17, July 8, July 29, and August 19, and special pricing on tickets is available now through May 4. All keynotes and seminars will be available on-demand following each event.

Last year, the 2020 conference, originally scheduled for May 14-16th in Los Angeles, was initially postponed and ultimately canceled in r...

Breaking: 2020 AIA Conference on Architecture has been postponed

2020-03-13T18:09:00-04:00

In a statement released today, the 2020 Conference on Architecture announced its postponement due to the progressing developments of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will no longer take place May 14th to 16th in Los Angeles.

This comes after Mayor Garcetti's directive to City Departments issued Thursday, March 12th which put "a ban on all events or conferences on City-owned properties that are anticipated to attract more than 50 people." As the LA Convention Center, a city-owned property, fits this criteria, the news seemed inevitable.

Currently the AIA says it is exploring options to reschedule the event and will update members with details when available. "The health and safety of our members, colleagues, exhibitors and speakers is paramount and we feel compelled to postpone the annual conference to minimize the risk to our valued participants and partners. By making this decision in advance, we also hope to minimize any stress or inconvenience for our participants and partners...

Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation and A+D Museum unveil "Built by Women" exhibit in Los Angeles

2020-02-25T14:02:00-05:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) and the Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles (A+D) have announced the latest iteration of the Built by Women exhibition, a program designed to celebrate "the breadth of achievement by women at the building industry’s highest levels in cities across the nation."

The exhibition, which features the work of 56 women-led architecture, landscape, engineering, and construction projects from the L.A. area, goes on view on May 15th at the A+D Museum and is timed to coincide with this summer's American Institute of Architects (AIA) Conference on Architecture, which is slated to take place in Los Angeles May 14-16th.

The Santa Monica Public Library by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners. Photo by John Linden

The exhibition is curated BWAF's all-female jury, a group made up of: Carrie Byles, FAIA, LEED AP, a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Andrea Cochran, FASLA, president of Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture; ErLeen Hatfi...

Virgil Abloh will be the keynote speaker for the AIA 2020 conference

2020-02-11T18:23:00-05:00

Virgil Abloh, the artistic director for Louis Vuitton's menswear collection who has positioned himself as quite the polymath, has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 2020 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Conference on Architecture. On May 14th, Abloh will sit for an interview with keynote host Roman Mars of 99% Invisible to discuss "democratic design and intellectualizing the mundane" at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Previously on Archinect: The Manifold Transparencies of Virgil Abloh. "...Abloh is himself trained as an architect...and has since gone on to describe the lessons learned and architecture studied during these years as crucial to his current success." - Shane Reiner-Roth. Shown: A fashion shoot styled by Virgil Abloh in the Barcelona Pavilion, by Mies van der Rohe. Photo by Fabien Montique.

Abloh has earned degrees in both architecture and engineering. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Mad...