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.