Archinect - News

AIAS publishes digital resources guide for architecture students

2021-04-20T12:21:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) has published a 65-page document containing a wealth of tools, tips, and resources aimed at architecture students. The “Digital Resources” tool was compiled by the AIAS Design and Technology Task Force, and is described as “a tool for optimizing your design workflow and software knowledge.”

The toolkit is divided into five sections: competitions, entourage, website resources, remote learning, and tutorials. The Competitions section gives descriptions, links, entry fees, and prize information for 16 competitions or competitions platforms accessible to students, with topics ranging from materiality to film. The Entourage section offers links to 13 resources for scale figures for use in collages, montages, and renderings, while the Website Resources section offers 12 online resources where students can access apps, objects, blocks, icons, and textures for a variety of popular programs including Revit, AutoCAD, Photoshop, and Illust...

AIAS selects students to participate in CRIT Scholar fellowship program

2018-01-17T15:21:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) announced the students selected to participate in this year's CRIT Scholar fellowship program. The fellowship program is supported by the AIA and in partnership with several prominent architecture firms. Recipients receive a $1,000 grant for their research project and are matched with a mentor involved in conducting research at an architectural firm.

The students selected to participate are as follows:

Megha Dubey, University of Cincinnati
Sinan Goral, Carnegie Mellon University
Kristen Hoover, Morgan State University
Chelsey Luiz, University of Oregon
Kevin Park, University of Texas at Arlington
Samantha Pires, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Evan Wermers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The program aims to support student research and provide a practical perspective through mentor guidance. Each student's final project will be presented at next year's CRIT Live Research Symposia.

Editor's Picks #426

2015-08-10T09:55:00-04:00

Julia Ingalls reviewed "Work on Work" the current exhibition at Los Angeles’ Architecture + Design Museum, co-organized by Gensler and UCLA’s cityLAB.

Therein she writes "This feeling of being at an un-airconditioned business conference is not helped by the next section of the exhibit, in which the banners stop talking about history and start getting real about Gensler and cityLAB's speculation on the future of the work environment...the privileged and oversimplified overtones of the exhibit, paired with its refusal to envision a more distinguished balance between productivity and (unstructured, unmonitored, human) downtime make it a bit chilling."

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect dissects the upcoming monographic LACMA (by way of the Pompidou) “Frank Gehry” exhibition, opening September 13. Responding to her question about critical distance given Gehry’s involvement, midlander writes "It's inherently difficult to create a critical exhibit on a living architect....

AIAS launches survey to reassess studio culture's broken status quo

2015-05-01T14:27:00-04:00

Sleepless nights and demeaning crits have long been lambasted and perpetuated as part of the necessarily rigorous "rites of passage" for architecture students. While some may accept the difficult studio culture as a badge of honor, there has been a rising volume of protests against the unhealthful atmosphere it creates, with questionable benefits for actual education. The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) first formally addressed such issues in 2002, publishing "The Redesign of Studio Culture", a report meant to outline positive aspects of studio culture that should be made mandatory within NAAB accreditation.

Now, AIAS is launching "Studio Culture 3.0" to reassesses the progress made since that initial study. Focusing in particular on the changing technological aspects of architecture education, the hope is to better understand both the culture and environment of architectural education – physically and pedagogically. The investigation, began in 2014 by the AIAS adv...

Architects Laud Introduction of Bipartisan National Design Services Act As Way to Cut Spiraling Student Loan Debt

2014-03-12T14:39:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) today committed to timely passage of the National Design Services Act (NDSA), which will give architecture students the same relief from crushing student loan debt, which is already granted young lawyers, doctors and others – in return for community service.

"Indeed, enthusiasm for such legislation knows no bounds on the campuses of architecture schools and elsewhere among the emerging professionals community. One young architect, Evan Litvin of Philadelphia, has launched an online petition that enlists the support of architects nationwide for speedy passage of the NDSA. The link to that petition can be found here."

Just Launched: Transformation 2030: A Student Design Challenge

2013-09-16T17:41:00-04:00

Our next Just Launched competition is Autodesk's "Transformation 2030: A Student Design Challenge", in collaboration with Architecture 2030 and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). The Challenge gives architecture and engineering students the chance to use their skills to help transform Hunts Point in New York City's South Bronx, a community that has been dealing with high unemployment rates and has over half of its residents living under the poverty line.