Embracing Change: Signature Events Go Digital

AIA Virginia is pleased to announce that our signature programs for 2020 will be delivered virtually under the umbrella of Foresight 2020. You’ll get to experience Visions for Architecture, Design Forum: In Praise of Shadows, and Architecture Exchange East in exciting new ways.

While we’ll miss getting together in person, keeping you safe and healthy is more important. And, because that face-to-face interaction is so critical, we’ve invested in a virtual event platform that encourages connections and interactions.

What stays the same?

High-quality speakers and content. Our planning committees are committed to delivering the very best speakers and most compelling discussions.  They’ve already confirmed an incredible set of speakers for the Design Forum and the lineup at ArchEx is going to be just as impressive.

Exhibit Hall. We’ll still feature the latest products, services, and solutions from the industry’s best building product manufacturers in our virtual Exhibit Hall.

Networking and relationship building. We’ve built plenty of time into the schedule to engage with your colleagues.

What’s different?

No travel cost. You can login to the event wherever you happen to be on the day of the program.

Schedule. We’ve spread the programming out over a month.

Location. We’re planning to host everything in one virtual “spot.” After you register, you’ll download an app that will serve as our event lobby and hangout. It will work on any of your devices — your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.

Registration fees. It will cost less than ever before to attend. You can get a ticket to just one event, like the Design Forum or ArchEx, or get an all access pass to all of the Foresight 2020 programs.

And, Visions for Architecture will be free for everyone. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Registration for Foresight 2020 opens in August.

Foresight 2020

Architecture Exchange East. It’s our reunion, research lab, Academy Awards, election day, and graduation ceremony, all rolled into one annual, three-day event.

So, what’s it going to look like this year? To be honest, we’re not exactly sure — but we do know it will be pretty different from anything we’ve done in the past. Like everyone else, we’re learning new technologies and exploring innovative ways of doing business. We’re imagining all the possibilities. And, right now we’d love to hear from you.

Our theme, suggested by a brilliant (and possibly psychic) board member last October, is Foresight 2020. What topics and trends will be critical in the next 5, 10, 20 years? Let us know who you want to hear from and what research and innovations you need to know about.

With crisis, comes opportunity. Growth. Change is inevitable — let’s prepare to design the future instead of catching up to it.


Architecture Exchange East: Foresight 2020

Breakthroughs in technologies, research, and thinking are dramatically transforming the AEC industry at an unprecedented pace. For 3 days this November, come together to envision what the future holds for the profession at Architecture Exchange East: Foresight 2020.

Identify critical changes designers must make to address the climate crisis and learn how to effectively advocate for systemic change. Consider how “the internet of things,” design automation, autonomous transportation, and AI will change the way you work. Discuss what the “city of the future” looks like and understand how you’ll need to adapt as a designer now and over the next 5, 10 and 20 years.

Change is inevitable — be prepared to design the future instead of catching up to it.

Save the dates for Nov. 4–6, 2020

Suggest-A-Session

We believe community-driven content is the cornerstone of a great conference — which is why we want you to have a voice in the programming at ArchEx.

Our call for presentation proposals will launch in late March, but you don’t need to be a speaker to help shape ArchEx. Simply let us know what you want to discover.

Is there a topic you’ve been wanting to explore or experts you want to hear from that align with our theme of Foresight 2020? Maybe you have a panel discussion idea that has been percolating in your head for a while. Or a project you’ve always want to tour. Or a workshop concept that just needs to become a reality.

The idea can be rough around the edges, but we’re looking for something a bit more refined than “sessions for emerging professionals” or “historic preservation.” (Don’t get us wrong. We’ll definitely be curating content on those topics.)

Suggest a session below and we’ll help make your vision come alive. Plus, if your idea is selected, you’ll receive a discount code for 25% off your registration. Deadline: May 15, 2020

Highlights from Visions for Architecture 2019

The profession came together at Visions for Architecture on Nov. 8, 2019 to celebrate AIA Virginia Honors Awards and Design Awards. Photos by Yuzhu Zheng.

Visions for Architecture is generously supported by:

Underwriter Sponsors
3north
VMDO

Patron Sponsors
Clark Nexsen
Glave & Holmes Architecture
Hanbury
O’Hagan Meyer
Riverside Brick & Supply Co., Inc.

ArchEx 2019: In Review

For 3 days in November, the profession came together at Architecture Exchange East 2019 for a dynamic exploration of culture and design. Here are a few highlights from the program.

Some of the speakers have given us permission to share handouts and presentations. Check them out.

Registration Open for ArchEx 2019

I don’t know about you, but the anticipation has been killing us. Registration is now (finally!) open for Architecture Exchange East 2019 — one of the largest and most exciting annual gatherings of architects and design professionals in the mid-Atlantic.

ArchEx 2019 features dozens of educational sessions, spectacular behind-the-scenes architectural tours, engaging special events, and more than 60 vendors in the ArchEx Exhibit Hall — all organized around our theme of re:culture. Check out the complete agenda. (View as a PDF)

This year, during the Early Bird registration period, we’ve frozen registration fees. Register today to secure your tickets at last year’s best price – but don’t delay. Discount registration ends Oct. 9. Check out all the registration options and fees.

Keynote Speakers

Our general session features three keynote speakers. We kick off with an opening talk by Dwayne Oyler from Oyler Wu Collaborative. The firm has been published globally and widely recognized for its excellence in architectural design, research, and fabrication. Learn about the firm’s approach to fostering creativity and collaboration, and then hear about their experimentation around fabrication and 3D printing — including their LACE line of products.

Then, hear from Pascale Sablan, AIA. She’s a Senior Associate at S9ARCHITECTURE as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond the Built Environment. Pascale is the 315th living African American woman in the United States to attain her architectural license. She was recently appointed to AIA New York’s Board of Directors and to the AIA National Strategic Planning Committee. Pascale was named one of 25 Young Architects to Watch in 2019 by Architizer and recognized with the 2018 AIA Young Architects Award. She is an architect, mentor, intrapreneur and a passionate advocate for bringing visibility and voice to the issues concerning minority designers. 

The general session wraps up with an address by Patricia Gruits, Senior Principal and Managing Director of MASS Design Group. Gruits leads both design and research projects in health, education, and equity. Since joining MASS in 2013, she has led the design of the Maternity Waiting Village in Malawi with the Malawi Ministry of Health, a series of primary schools in East Africa with the African Wildlife Foundation and the M2 Foundation, and is currently leading the development of an assessment tool to measure the impact of design and infrastructure investments.

Prior to joining MASS, Patricia worked with Kennedy & Violich Architecture in Boston and co-founded the global non-profit, Portable Light, which provides a portable and sustainable source of power and light to those in resource limited areas of the world. Her work has been featured in journals of architecture and design as well as on the BBC World News and the Discovery Channel.

About the Program

This year, we’ve organized our carefully-curated program into learning zones. You can pick and choose sessions from any of the zones or do a deep dive into a particular theme.  Check out descriptions of learning zones below or see the seminar titles in a grid.

The Inspiration Zone: In this zone, you’ll attend design-focused sessions that are intended to recharge your creative batteries.

The Future Zone: In this zone, you’ll discover emerging technologies, methods, and research and find out what’s on the horizon for the profession.

The HSW Zone: In this zone, you’ll focus on health, safety, and welfare – and earn up to 15 HSW learning units.

The Practice Zone: In this zone, you’ll discuss practice management methods and explore the topic of firm culture.

The History/Community Zone: In this zone, you’ll hear case studies, discuss preservation, and deliberate the power of building community.

The Public Work/Good Zone: In this zone, you’ll discuss the opportunities (and challenges) of engaging in public work as well as the benefits of working for the public good.

The Crowd Sourced Zone: In this zone, you suggested the sessions, we invited the speakers.

About Architecture Exchange East

ArchEx is AIA Virginia’s annual conference and expo. This year, it takes place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center from Nov. 6–8, 2019. The program is curated to bring together the brightest minds and most engaging speakers to explore the theme of culture.

ArchEx 2019: HSW Zone

This year, we’ve organized our carefully-curated program for Architecture Exchange East into learning zones. You can pick and choose sessions from any of the zones or do a deep dive into a particular theme.

Join us in our HSW Zone to focus your ArchEx experience on Health, Safety and Welfare programming. If you attend all three days, you can earn up to 15 HSW credits.

View the complete agenda or register online today.

Some sessions in other Learning Zones offer also offer HSW credit. All ArchEx seminars offer 1 AIA/CES learning unit unless otherwise noted in the agenda.

Health Safety and Welfare Learning Zone

WEDNESDAY

01: 2015 Virginia Existing Building Code Overview

02: ADA Really Stands for Accessibility Done Awry

03: Crime Prevention through Environmental Design Workshop

THURSDAY

102: Acoustics in Architecture

202: Designing with Architectural Insulated Metal Panels

302: Designing a Safe and Compliant Automated Vehicular Gate System

FRIDAY

412: Wood is Structural and Beautiful but Can it be Healthy?

502: Noise and Vibration Control in Contemporary Fitness Centers

602: Next Generation Classroom Evolution

702: Prefabricated Ornamental Railing Systems

802: Fire Safety in the Built Environment

902: Creating Healthy Environments with Advanced Paint Technology

ArchEx 2019: Future Zone

This year, we’ve organized our carefully-curated program for Architecture Exchange East into learning zones. You can pick and choose sessions from any of the zones or do a deep dive into a particular theme.

Join us in our Future Zone to find out what’s on the horizon for the profession. Discover the latest research, emerging technologies, and trends.

View the complete agenda or register online today. The Early Bird discount ends on Sept. 18.

THURSDAY

101: Floating Communities: Cultural Shift to Living ON the Water
Floating communities are environmentally sound, socially focused, and a wellness living environment second to none.  Michael Winstanley AIA AICP and Leejung Hong LEED AP will present their vision and plans for a series of floating communities ranging from a small community of 25 homes in an existing urban marina in downtown Washington, DC to a large 84 home new community in Woodbridge.  The proposed plans document a net-zero development of homes ranging from 1,500 gsf to 3,000 gsf each constructed on a concrete “float” foundation in a remote location and brought in by barge an assembled to create a vibrant and integrated community.  Power, water, and sewage are all part of the discussion as well as common facility and shore-based support functions.

201: Moon Base: Designing a Lunar Village
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has released the conceptual design for the first full-time human habitat on the lunar surface, called “Moon Village.” Learn about the proposed concept and hear how the team had to consider entirely new challenges, such radiation protection, pressure differentials, and how to provide breathable air.

301: Virtual Reality and the University of Virginia Hospital Expansion
The University Hospital Expansion project (UHE) is a 14-story, 440,000 square-foot patient-tower currently under construction at the University of Virginia. Seeing the value of the use of Virtual Reality during project design, the on-site team decided to set the challenge of finding a way to use VR during construction administration. Through this presentation, the design team will share their journey over the last 5 years of software exploration and the ever evolving use of technology during construction.

FRIDAY

411: Technologies for Inclusion
Computational design and digital fabrication technologies—including robotics—have afforded new potential for all design disciplines. Global architecture and design discourse continue to profess the potential of ‘emerging’ design technologies and fabrication methods as the drivers of the future of creating buildings. Computational design, collaboration, project management, and fabrication technologies have enabled projects to happen faster while utilizing global supply chains, global labor and universal methods, often without respect for impact—both positive and negative, in the short and long term, on local communities, economies, environments, and culture. In opposition are amazing stories emerging from the discourse surrounding the Architect as an inclusive creator. Often as one-offs or special projects outside of the normal practice, these altruistic endeavors rarely result in sustained solutions with systemic impact. In this dichotomy, we have people that make buildings at a pace to meet global demand and in opposition we have people that make buildings that meet local and regional human needs, through processes that empower—a healthy framework for discourse but the practical reality is that development is outpacing altruism at an alarming pace.

To meet global demand while also empowering local communities we must find ways to leverage the same design technologies that are allowing the global construction industry to thrive, to enable collaboration, engagement across stakeholders, find new ways of working, and to reinvent the value proposition of design. Through a series of examples from the Center for Design Research at Virginia Tech, this talk will explore ways in which design and construction technologies help us do more, better and faster, while enhancing the human experience by enabling inclusive processes.

501: Goldilocks and the Power of Ten
Scientists are providing greater and greater access to the design of materials at super-small scales. This talk will provide case studies that explore how designers can make, size, and apply these new materials to orchestrate the flow of energy through buildings in novel and efficient ways.

601: Emerging Leaders in Architecture Session
Celebrate the achievements of the 2019 Emerging Leaders in Architecture and hear about this year’s class project. Dramatic changes in technology and workplace behavior has contributed to an excess of vacant office space, with Northern Virginia approaching a 20% vacancy rate. This year, the Emerging Leaders in Architecture class identifies strategies and creative interventions that revitalize these structures to provide space and amenities that contribute to their local communities.

701: [yaf]CON
[yaf]CON aims to unite and connect members of YAF chapters in Virginia through a mindfully curated micro-conference intended to forge connections and advance the careers of attendees.

ArchEx 2019: Inspiration Zone

This year, we’ve organized our carefully-curated program for Architecture Exchange East into learning zones. You can pick and choose sessions from any of the zones or do a deep dive into a particular theme.

The Inspiration Learning Zone at ArchEx 2019 offers 9 sessions to help you find inspiration in new work and creative approaches. Check them out below or review the full agenda. Registration for ArchEx is now open.

THURSDAY

100: Introduction to Cultural Landscapes
Cultural landscapes are places that have acquired significance through interactions between people and the land; they may surround one or more historic buildings or be significant sites in their own right. Interest in Cultural Landscape Reports (CLRs), the landscape counterparts of Historic Structure Reports (HSRs), is on the rise among stewards of historic places who seek a deeper understanding of their site. Get an introduction to the key issues in the analysis of cultural landscapes.

200: Transforming Office Culture: Parkitectural Expression
Where do you spend most of your “awake hours?” For most of us it is at the office … so why not make it a “LIVING OFFICE” that supports the way you live, work, collaborate and play! The City of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department had been deprived of a new administrative facility for decades and entrusted the presenters to bring them a fresh new definition of the workplace for their staff.

300: Creating a Culture of Integrative Design
A firm’s commitment to the 2030 Challenge helped transform a design culture to embrace high-performance design using an integrative design process. Recognizing that clients do not always want an official sustainability certification, the presenters worked to embed an integrative design process into the culture utilizing a network of sustainable design leaders, early and more energy modeling, and a more metric-driven design process. They’ll review the strategies that helped transform the culture to help enhance the firm’s design process to meet projects’ energy, water, habitat, and material sustainability goals.

FRIDAY

410: Architectural Ethnography as a Learning Tool in Study Abroad
How could study abroad programs for architects teach cultural empathy? Drawing from on-site observation of buildings raises questions that help us understand cultural forces that shapes architecture. For example, why do wood lattices conceal Kyoto’s machiya storefronts instead of revealing the interior with an expansive window? Such question may uncover why contemporary Japanese architecture take on forms different from the western counterparts. The presenter demonstrates how architectural ethnography in study abroad programs can deepen cultural understanding.

500: How Drawings Work: A User Friendly Theory
Pulling from a diverse and eclectic landscape of theories from grammar, functional linguistics, philosophy, art criticism, science fiction, popular culture, and, of course, architecture, Susan Piedmont-Palladino proposes a new way to think about architectural communication and how drawings really work.

600: The Work of Joeb Moore & Partners
Joeb Moore & Partners is an architecture and design firm known for its intellect in design, craftsmanship, inventive formal and spatial systems, and details. The practice specializes in precise and creative buildings, landscapes, and furnishings that sensitively respond to their environment and ecologies of place. Hear from principal Joeb Moore, FAIA about the firm’s approach to residential design.

700: The Work of Ann Beha Architects
Hear about the work of Ann Beha Architects. The firm seeks a dynamic discourse between heritage and the future. With an equal emphasis on contemporary architectural expression and the revitalization of historic resources, their projects shape and strengthen community life, establish new directions, identities, and vibrant settings for education, the arts, and the civic realm.

800: AIA Virginia’s Design Awards Session
See the winning projects from AIA Virginia’s Design Awards program. Discuss the jury’s comments and hear insights from the jury chair.

900: Pecha Kucha: The Best Darn Thing I’ve Ever Done
Four presenters will have 6 minutes and 40 seconds to tell us about the best d@mn thing they’ve ever done as a designer. We’ve built some time in for discussion at the end. Join us for this dynamic session to wrap up your ArchEx experience.

About Architecture Exchange East
ArchEx is AIA Virginia’s annual conference and expo. This year, it takes place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center from Nov. 6–8, 2019. The program is curated to bring together the brightest minds and most engaging speakers to explore the theme of culture.

Register online.

Call for Entries: SAY IT LOUD VIRGINIA

AIA Virginia is also pleased to collaborate with Pascale Sablan to bring SAY IT LOUD VIRGINIA to Architecture Exchange East 2019. The exhibition features projects by the diverse design professionals that contribute to Virginia’s rich built environment. ​

​ The SAY IT LOUD series of exhibitions has been featured at A’18, South by SouthwestNOMA 2018 Unbounded, and the United Nations Visitors Center. The UN exhibition has been translated and displayed in Bujumbura, Geneva, Harare, Lagos, Lome, Nairobi, New Delhi, Minsk and Yaounde.

To date, SAY IT LOUD exhibitions have been viewed by an estimated total 27,000 visitors since January 2017. From inception, multiple online publications (such as Curbed and The Architects Newspaper) with large subscription bases have helped promote the exhibitions further expanding its impact.

Entry Fees:
Early Bird Submission:  Aug. 25, 2019 ($100)
Standard Submission: Sept. 29, 2019 ($150)

Entry Deadline: Sept. 29, 2019 11:59 (EST) 

Learn More.