Architect 2014-02.pdf

AIAnow
Across the InstItute
35
Compiled by William Richards
4
Detroit Days
March 27
3 Aloha, Architecture
April 1–30
february 2014
iMAge 4: © steve hAll, hedrich blessing.
1 What TED Said
March 17–21
1 What TED Said. In 1984, the
Philadelphia architect Richard Saul
Wurman, FAIA, launched TED—short
for technology, entertainment, and
design—as a one-off event intended to be
a multidisciplinary forum for “ideas worth
spreading.” Since then, it’s become an
annual series of conferences that serves
as populist bellwethers of innovation
and storytelling for the creative class,
which has included architects from the
beginning of TED’s three-decade run. To
commemorate 30 years, TED organizers
have decamped from their usual Long
Beach, Calif., venue to Vancouver, B.C.,
and have planned a special track for
TED2014 on “30 Years of Architecture”
for the March 17–21 event.
n Learn more at ted.com.
2 Nervous Laughter
April 17–18
2. Nervous Laughter. Two planets walk into a bar.
“How are you?” asks one. “Not so well. I’ve got
the Homo sapiens,” says the other. “Oh, well,”
the first planet replies, “don’t worry—that
won’t last long.” There are other groan-worthy
sustainability jokes out there, but the point
of them all is to raise awareness of intractable
environmental problems. One of the ways you
can make a difference is by attending the fifth
annual Sustainable Structures Symposium
at the Portland State University School of
Architecture in Portland, Ore., on April 17 to 18,
which will go beyond building envelopes and
daylighting to assess structural systems and
materials in high-performance buildings.
4 Detroit Days. This is a big year for
architecture in Detroit. The University
of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture
celebrates 50 years and the Detroit
Collaborative Design Center celebrates 20
years in a one-two punch that includes
special events, lectures, exhibitions, and
community service projects. Among the
festivities, John Ronan, AIA, founding
principal of Chicago-based John Ronan
Architects, will talk about his firm’s recent
work during a March 27 lecture, which
will include a discussion of the Poetry
Foundation headquarters in Chicago
(completed 2011), which garnered several
national prizes, including the 2012 AIA
Chicago Distinguished Building Award.
n Learn more at udmercy.edu
or jrarch.com.
n Learn more at sustainablestructure.org.
3 Aloha, Architecture. Sure, AIA chapters around the country will celebrate National
Architecture Week (April 6–12) with seven days of fun. But AIA Honolulu has claimed the
entirety of April for Architecture Month—a series of public-facing events, including film
nights, walking tours, and a celebration honoring newly minted architects. There’s even
an architecture firm crawl around Honolulu (Solo Cup not provided).
n Learn more at aiahonolulu.org.