VSAIA

© 2006, The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.

Students from Hampton University, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, and the University of Virginia took part in the 32^nd annual Virginia Society AIA Prize competition over the weekend of Jan. 27–30, 2012. From those submissions, each school advances 10 finalists; the winning design will be selected by a jury in February.

This year’s competition problem was developed by faculty at Hampton University and addressed our ability (or inability) to provide temporary emergency housing. Students were asked to propose a semi-permanent and reusable intervention in one of the region’s most naturally vulnerable locations — Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The problem asked students to design one prototypical unit, not to exceed 600 square-feet, capable of housing up to 4 individuals. Designs were to include a site plan demonstrating how four of these prototypical units could be arranged to form the embryo of a community. Students were also asked to envision how these structures could be used as housing for special events during non-catastrophic times.

The Virginia Society AIA Prize — along with the accompanying $2000 check — will be awarded during the Virginia Design Forum: Skins, March 16-17, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Best of School nods (and possibly an honorable mention or two) will be noted as well. An exhibition of all of the finalists will tour each of the schools and will wrap up in the ArchEx Exhibit Hall at Architecture Exchange East on Nov. 8–9.

The Future of the Past, by Steven W. Semes

How should contemporary additions to historic structures or new buildings in historic districts relate to the existing character of the neighborhood? Noted expert and author Steven W. Semes discusses the challenges faced by review boards, architects and designers, and the difficulties inherent in following sometimes confusing historic standards and guidelines  on March 5^th, 5:30-7 pm,  at the Virginia Center for Architecture,  2501 Monument Ave.

Increasing public concern has arisen over new buildings and additions to old buildings that are conspicuously in contrast with their surroundings. Such projects are often justified by an interpretation of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (the de facto national preservation policy written and administered by the National Park Service) that places greater weight on “differentiation” than on “compatibility”—the two requirements for new construction in historic settings specified in the Standards. This interpretation has led architects and historic district commissions to adopt contrasting styles of architecture to satisfy the “differentiation” requirement, though the Standards do not mandate any stylistic approach. In many instances, architects designing in traditional styles have encountered resistance from preservation authorities when proposing stylistically sympathetic designs in historic settings.

In his book, The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urban Design and Historic Preservation (W. W. Norton & Co., 2009), Semes  reflects on the emergence of new traditional design practice among contemporary architects and urban designers and the issues this raises in the preservation field. He makes a persuasive case that context matters and that new buildings and additions to old buildings should be visually harmonious with their neighbors.

A practicing architect for more than 30 years, Semes has designed a variety of projects for preservation and new construction throughout the United States. In addition to many articles, Semes is also the author of The Architecture of the Classical Interior (2004) and a contributor to “The Elements of Classical Architecture” (2001), also published by W. W. Norton & Co. An Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, Semes  was Academic Director of the Notre Dame Rome Studies Program From 2008 to 2011.  He is a fellow emeritus of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America (ICA&CA) and was educated at the University of Virginia and Columbia University. He is also the recipient of the 2010 Clem Labine Award for contributions to a humane built environment.

Semes’s presentation is free and open to the public.  A reception and book signing will follow.   Because space is limited, reservations are required.   Please contact Andy Liguori, at aliguori@aiava.org or (804) 644-3041, extension 100 for reservations. Sponsored by Old House Authority and Fan District Association.

1140 Formosa Ave. Lorcan O' Herlihy Architects. Photo by Lawrence Anderson.

It is often said that beauty is only skin deep, and yet striking — sometimes astonishing —  façades are quickly becoming a device to charm developers, funders, and the public alike. Clients are beginning to understand what architects have long known: innovative building skins can be used to woo investors and buyers for commercial projects as well as funders for museums and universities. Because apparently impossible structures jar us out of our everyday pursuits and force us to contemplate the built-environment, unusual façades generate a tremendous amount public interest in contemporary architecture as well. But more than just a potential selling point, building skins are evolving as new computer technologies, new materials and new societal behaviors are changing the perception of architecture.  As architecture is functioning more as a synthetic organism working within its surrounding ecosystem, more literal comparisons are being made between biological skins and built skins, and thus the topic for the tenth bi-annual Virginia Design Forum was born.

The Virginia Society AIA has assembled some of the world’s most acknowledged experts on building skins to speak at the upcoming tenth Virginia Design Forum: SKINS in Charlottesville on March 16 and 17, 2012. Registration is open.

About the speakers:

Keynote Speaker

3XN's Bella Sky Hotel. Image courtesy of 3XN.

Kim Herforth Nielsen, MAA, RIBA of 3XN, Copenhagen

Kim Herforth Nielsen is founder and principal of 3XN. He graduated from the Aarhus School of Architecture in 1981 and was one of three founders of 3XN in 1986 (all with the surname Nielsen). He has been involved in all the practice’s major projects, including The Blue Planet, Kubus in Berlin, Museum of Liverpool, Ørestad College, Muziekgebouw Concert Hall in Amsterdam, the Danish Embassy in Berlin, and the Architects’ House in Copenhagen. Often called upon as a jury member in international architectural competitions, and as lecturer at art academies and universities around the world, Nielsen is also a Knight of Dannebrog and has received Denmark’s highest architectural honor, the C.F. Hansen Medaille.

LOHA's Habitat 825. Photo by Lawrence Anderson.

Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA, of Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, Los Angeles

Since LOHA’s inception in 1990, founder and principal Lorcan O’Herlihy has sought opportunities to engage the operative layers of the urban landscape with respect to spatial, sensory, and experiential information. In 2004, the Architectural League of New York selected O’Herlihy as one of eight Emerging Voices.  His firm has garnered 42 national and international awards including 17 AIA Design Awards. He has taught and lectured extensively over the last decade, including the Architectural Association in London, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan, Columbia University, New York, and the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., among others. Previously, Lorcan worked at Kevin Roche/John Dinkeloo & Assoc. on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at I.M. Pei and Partners on the celebrated Grande Louvre Museum in Paris, and as an associate at Steven Holl Architects, where he was responsible for several project, including the award-winning Hybrid Building in Seaside, Fla., which received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.

Marc Simmons, Front Inc., New York City

Marc Simmons, a founder of the New York-based façade-engineering and-design consultancy firm Front Inc., is a faculty member at the Princeton University School of Architecture and holds both a bachelor of environmental studies and professional BArch degrees from the University of Waterloo, Canada. His specialist façade knowledge and experience in custom curtainwall and hybrid cladding system design is built upon previous work at Foster and Partners, Meinhardt Façade Technology, and the structural glass and façade consulting group at Dewhurst Macfarlane & Partners in New York.

Voussoir Cloud by IwamotoScott with Buro Happold. Image courtesy IwamotoScott.

Lisa Iwamoto of IwamotoScott Architecture, San Francisco

Lisa Iwamoto received her MArch from Harvard University, and a BS in Structural Engineering from the University of Colorado. She has worked as a Structural Engineer at Bechtel Corporation, and Architectural Designer at Schwartz Silver Architects, Thompson and Rose, and Architectural Intern at Morphosis. She previously taught at the University of Michigan where she was a Muschenheim Fellow, and Harvard University. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at University of California Berkeley where her design research concentrates on the perceptual performance of material and digital fabrication techniques.

Moderator
Sarah Amelar, critic, journalist, and editor, Los Angeles

Sarah Amelar is a critic, journalist, and editor. For nearly a decade, she served as a senior design editor at Architectural Record, where she was chief editor of Record Houses and Interiors. From her current base in Los Angeles, she is a contributing editor and West Coast correspondent to Architectural Record. Her articles, primarily on architecture, design, and urban issues, have also appeared in The New York Times,  Dwell, Metropolis, Azure, Architecture, New York Newsday, Arquitectura Viva and db deutsche bauzeitung. (Her first published work appeared in Archie Comics when she was 10 years old.) A contributing writer for The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture (Phaidon, 2008), she also authored Thomas Phifer (Rizzoli, 2010) and is co-authoring a forthcoming book on bicycling in Los Angeles. She is a recipient of the McGraw-Hill Corporate Achievement Award and was a lead member of the team that won the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)’s 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. She holds an MArch from Yale University.

The Virginia Design Forum X is sponsored by:

Special thanks to our sponsors

Benefactor Sponsors 

Clark Nexsen

College of William and Mary

HITT Contracting, Inc.

Mathers Construction Team

Potomac Energy Group, Inc.

US Smoke & Fire

Patron Sponsors 

Perkins Eastman

EvensonBest LLC

Sustaining Sponsors 

Hanbury, Evans, Wright Vlattas + Company

University of Virginia School of Architecture

School of Architecture + Design, Virginia Tech

Supporting Sponsors

AIA Northern Virginia

Alliance Lighting

Atlas Carpet Mills

BCWH Architecture Interiors Planning

Bonstra | Haresign ARCHITECTS

Forrester Construction Company

Green Roofs of VA/McNeil Roofing, Inc.

Pinnacle Architectural Lighting/Ambiance Lighting

Pyrok, Inc.

Seaman Corporation’s FiberTite Roofing Systems

The Snead Co.

Steel Windows and Doors

VMDO Architects

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

The 16th annual AIA/COTE Top Ten Awards is one of the best known sustainable design recognition programs in the nation. The program recognizes projects that address environmental challenges through design that seamlessly integrates architecture, technology, and natural systems. The deadline is Jan. 23. For more details, check out the COTE Top Ten Website.

Several other AIA Knowledge Communities have award deadlines coming up as well.

Jan. 17, 2012: Building Information Modeling Awards
Jan. 20, 2012: Educational Facility Design Awards
Jan. 23, 2012: Top Ten Green Projects
Feb. 3, 2012: Small Project Awards
March 12, 2012: Justice Facilities Review

AIA Emerging Professionals has developed an IDP question and answer resource for members.  NCARB also publishes several newsletters that communicate the registration and testing requirements that affect members.

ARE e-News
ARE e-news is a quarterly electronic publication sent to ARE candidates. Topics cover the latest news about the exam, commonly asked questions, important reminders, and information related to the exam from NCARB’s Annual Meeting and Conference held each June.

e-Connection

The e-Connection is sent to all Record and Certificate holders electronically twice a year as a companion to our print newsletter, Direct Connection. Topics cover the latest information on NCARB’s programs and services.

IDP e-News

The IDP Supervisor e-News is a quarterly electronic publication sent to supervisors with interns in the IDP. Topics cover the latest news about the program, important reminders, and tips for successful supervising.

IDP Supervisor e-News

The IDP Supervisor e-News is a quarterly electronic newsletter. This e-News is designed to provide tips for successful supervising and resources that will assist both supervisors and their intern(s) to navigate the program.

Stay abreast of developments and changes by registering for one of NCARB’s electronic newsletters.

Low impact development (LID) focuses on maintaining or restoring a site’s natural hydrology. Retaining and filtering storm water on-site rather than conveying it to storm sewers recharges groundwater, reduces the scouring of stream banks, and helps keep watersheds clean and healthy. This two-stage open competition—sponsored by the James River Association, Friends of the Rappahannock, Potomac Conservancy, and Virginia Chapter of the American Society for Civil Engineers—focuses on three actual sites in Virginia.

Competition entries must come from integrated teams of at least three design professionals licensed in Virginia and must include at least one civil engineer and one landscape architect. The registration fee is $100, and the stage-one submission deadline is February 17, 2012. Teams may register online.

Stage one will be scored by a five-person jury comprising:
• Civil Engineering: Don Rissmeyer, PE
• Landscape Architecture: Kennon Williams, ASLA
• Low Impact Development: Thomas Schueler
• Architecture: Patrick Farley, AIA, LEED-AP
• Hydrology: (Judge Pending)

Finalists will be announced March 4 at the Virginia Lakes & Watershed Association Conference.

In stage two of the competition, finalists will present their entries verbally and through PowerPoint to a jury of influential Virginians from the development, civic, and government communities. Those presentations will be April 12 in Lexington, Va., at the 23rd Annual Environment Virginia Symposium. The jury will select winners that same day in each of three categories. The award for each category is $15,000.

The three categories (and site locations) are:
1) Suburban Mixed Use (Fredericksburg area)
2) Urban Redevelopment (Fredericksburg)
3) Green Roadway (Arlington)

Submissions will be judged on how well they conserve natural resources, provide natural functions to control and filter storm water, and use small-scale decentralized landscape features to:
• Reduce the amount of runoff by mimicking the natural hydrologic function of the site and matching pre-development hydrology
• Minimize the use of and/or reduce the size of pipe and other centralized control and treatment infrastructure
• Lower the total cost of development when compared to traditional infrastructure design
• Minimize and disconnect impervious surfaces, lengthen time of concentration, and promote bio-filtration of runoff to improve the quality of storm water leaving the site
• Minimize or eliminate the use of potable water resources needed for irrigation and, where practical, provide for the reuse of rain water
• Use enhanced quality of life values and reduced maintenance costs inherent in LID practices to increase marketability of the development and longterm property values.

For more information on the sites and competition rules, visit the Virginia LID Competition site.

For specific questions, contact Adrienne Kotula by email or phone, 804-788-8811 x206.

On December 9, the AIA Board of Directors voted to modify the AIA’s calendar year continuing education requirement. Per year, AIA members will be required to complete 12 hours of health, safety, and welfare (HSW) education, an increase from the previous requirement of 8 HSW. The AIA Board will re-evaluate the sustainable design (SD) requirement in 2012. The new HSW requirement goes into effect in January 2012 and AIA members should fulfill their total 18 hours of continuing education during the calendar year.

Increasing the HSW requirement per year sets a higher standard for AIA members and will enable them to fulfill state licensing requirements for most states.  Additionally, increasing the required number of HSW credits will raise the level and quality of our continuing education and professional development of architects.

Additional information and list of topics on health, safety and welfare (HSW).

Additionally, in calendar year 2012, aligning closer with state licensing boards’ practice, AIA members will no longer be able to self-report HSW courses for credit. Members will need to complete HSW credits by taking qualifying courses from registered AIA CES Providers and Providers will need to report HSW courses for members to receive HSW credits. Members can continue to self-report learning unit (LU) credit hours for non-provider courses and programs.

In the past, AIA members were able to attend courses outside of the AIA CES Provider network and submit a self-report online to be reviewed for HSW or SD credit. AIA CES is implementing this new HSW and SD credit policy to ensure quality education and establish an educational standard for the courses that AIA members attend.

The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) announces the call for applications for its 2012 Sustainable Cities Design Academy (SCDA).  AAF encourages public-private partnership project teams to apply. Successful applicants will join AAF for one of two design workshops:

• April 11-13, 2012, San Francisco
• July 18-20, 2012, Baltimore

SCDA connects project teams and multi-disciplinary sustainable design experts through highly interactive design workshops that help project teams advance their green infrastructure and community development goals. To support a diverse portfolio of SCDA projects, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) generously underwrites participants’ attendance costs.

Applications are due Friday, December 30, 2011. Application materials and instructions are available here. If you have any questions regarding SCDA or this application process, contact Elizabeth Blazevich, Program Director, Sustainable Cities Design Academy, by calling (202) 639-7615 or by email to eblazevich@archfoundation.org.

Past SCDA project team participants include:

• Philadelphia Navy Yard
• Shreveport-Caddo Master Plan
• Northwest One, Washington, DC
• Uptown Triangle, Seattle
• New Orleans Mission
• Fairhaven Mills, New Bedford, MA
• Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse, Atlanta
• Brattleboro, VT, Waterfront Master Plan

To learn more about these and other SCDA project teams, visit AAF’s website at www.archfoundation.org.

The Sustainable Cities Design Academy, organized by the American Architectural Foundation in partnership with United Technologies Corporation (UTC), provides leadership development and technical assistance to local leaders engaged in planning a sustainable building project in their communities.

VSAIA announces the schedule of International Code Council seminars for Winter-Spring 2012.

You can view descriptions and register for any of these events on the Upcoming Continuing Education Events page.

• January 20 ICC 2009 I-Codes and Green Building, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville Click Here to Register
• February 17 ICC 2009 IBC Solving Means of Egress in Commercial Buildings, Virginia Tech Roanoke Center, Roanoke.  Click here to Register
• February 23 Wall Bracing Seminar Virginia Center for Architecture, Richmond. (Registration opens soon)
• February 24 VUSBC Code Update Virginia Center for Architecture, Richmond, (Registration opens soon)
• April 20 ICC 2009 IBC Solving Means of Egress in Commercial Buildings, Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton.  Click here to Register
• June 21 ICC 2009 I-Codes and Green Building, Virginia Center for Architecture, Richmond. Click Here to Register
• July 20 ICC 2009 IBC Solving Means of Egress in Commercial Buildings, Fairfax, tentative  (Registration opens soon)
• September 21 ICC 2009 IEBC Fundamentals, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville  Click Here to Register

As the markets begin to thaw, now is the time to position your award-winning talents before the eyes of your clients, potential clients, colleagues, and public through the 2012 Inform Awards, which recognize outstanding work in landscape architecture, interior design, and object design. The program is open to anyone in the Inform magazine primary circulation area, including architects, interior designers, landscape architects, furniture designers, industrial designers, students, and faculty.

Entrants must have a business address in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or North Carolina, and submitted work must have been completed after January 1, 2007. And for members of the Virginia Society AIA, there is a special entry-fee discount.

Award winners in both the Honor and Merit categories will be featured in a special section of Inform magazine and announced to the public. The registration deadline is March 9, 2012, and you can enter online or via email, fax, or mail using the PDF registration form.

The Inform Awards fee structure for 2012 is $135 per project for members of the Virginia Society AIA, and $175 per project for entrants who are not members of the Virginia Society AIA. Note that the fees are due upon registration, non-refundable, and non-transferable.

As a clarification, the Object Design category covers furniture, appliances, fixtures, and building components and systems, as opposed to full-building design. For more details, click on one of the registration links above.