Can we talk more about Design?
To succeed as architects we need to talk about design.
Post architectural school, the only real opportunities we have to talk our colleagues about design is when we collaborate on projects or competitions. Otherwise we go to lectures and read magazines to find out who is doing the most provocative and interesting work and what is behind it. What are our fellow architects working on and how are they approaching issues that we face? How do they make design decisions?
Abby has been creating forums for design discussions at the AIA.
Scalable AIA Design Programs
2012-2014 Director of Programs & Strategy on the AIANY Board
2011 - 2021 Co Chair of the Architecture Dialogue Committee
Probably the most scalable programs that talk about design issues Abby initiated at the AIA is the Cocktails and Conversation Series which is nearing its 10th anniversary. Other program series include ‘Not In New York’ which has been organized in a salon format and features the work of architects usually from smaller practices who practice in other cities. She has organized programs about aspects of design such as the impact of photography (which was held at the BSA Space).
There is another new series currently in the planning stages which will start later this year called 40 under 40 . As currently envisioned, there will be 10 programs each highlighting a country. 4 architects in each country will present a snapshot of their work with the focus of each program being a theme. The Global Dialogue and ENYA committees are participating in the discussions. There is also talk about having an emerging chef create an hors d’oeurve in keeping with the Dialogue Committee’s food theme.
If you miss the programs there are the books
Not everyone can make all the programs. Even if they do, books can help later if an architect wants to refer to the content. Abby assembled two books both inspired by lecture series that she organized.
By Their Own Design was inspired by a series she did as a student
Cocktails and Conversations: Dialogues on Architecture Design was the first 40 programs at the AIANY
Coast to Coast to Coast
8 : 1 : 2013 Pecha Kucha : One Event - 3 Cities New York, Los Angeles, Boston, at AIANY, AIALA, BSA
In 2013 there were internships in 3 cities concurrently. It turned out that the students in each city were not familiar with the work of the architects elsewhere. What to do? So we decided to experiment with a simultaneous program. About 500 people attended and the short presentations flipped from city to city.
Frames of Reference : New York / Boston
2015 Pecha Kucha style program similtaneously in New York and Boston focussing on the influence of place in design. We reached out to architects who had designed buildings in both cities to talk about how that impacted how they approached their projects.
At the BSA Space : David Fixler FAIA (not shown), Franziska Amacher FAIA (not shown) , Ann Beha FAIA (not Shown), Frano Violich FAIAJeffry Burchard AIA, Hector Tarrido- Picart, Christina Lanzl, Maryann Thompson FAIA, Marie Law Adams
At the Center for Architecture: Jeremy Edmiston, Sylvia Sidney FAIA, Elie Gamburg, Thaddeus Pawlowski, Joel Sanders FAIA, Emma Fuller, Audrey Matlock FAIA, Ken Smith, Stephen Cassell FAIA, Jeff Murphy FAIA, Caterina Roiatti AIA, Adam Yarinsky FAIA, Jim Russell FAIA and Abby Suckle FAIA