The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced that its AIA Conference on Architecture 2020 has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. 

As part of the cancellation, AIA will be refunding conference registration fees for those who had previously purchased tickets to the three-day event, which was originally scheduled for May 14-16th in Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles authorities have indicated that the city’s shelter-in-place directives would remain in place through mid-May at the very least. In mid-March, AIA announced that it was postponing the conference, but did not give a new date for the event.

Now, as the likelihood that social distancing measures will remain in place perhaps into the summer months becomes more widely acknowledged, the organization has opted to begin preparations for a potential virtual event, the latest in a series of such transitions. 

In a statement published by AIA, AIA 2020 President Jane Frederick, FAIA writes, “After carefully monitoring COVID-19 developments, we have determined that we will not be able to reschedule conference given the number of uncertainties we face as a nation in the coming months.” 

Frederick added, "We believe this decision is in the best interest of the health and safety of our members, colleagues, exhibitors and speakers and out of consideration for all attendees. At this time, we are focusing all of our efforts on assisting our members through these economic uncertainties and supporting their important work in contributing to the COVID-19 response.” 

See the AIA conference website for more information.