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.