The 2026 AIA Conference on Architecture & Design Kicks off in San Diego June 10
Record Reveals
In less than a month, the American Institute of Architects will host its annual national gathering in sunny San Diego. The host venue for this year’s AIA Conference on Architecture & Design (AIA26), running June 10–13, is one of the most distinctive facilities of its kind in the United States: the fiberglass sail–topped, inclined elevator–featuring San Diego Convention Center, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson and opened in 1989. While the convention has been hosted in “America’s Finest City” in the past, it has been a while: the event was last held there in 2003.
Times have dramatically changed since then, and the AIA returns to San Diego with a newly installed leader, CEO/EVP Carole Wedge, amid a backdrop of formidable professional challenges—and potential opportunities—faced by architects and the larger AEC industry. Titled “Levering AI for Greater Impact and Innovation,” the June 12 keynote talk delivered by “disruptive leadership expert” Charlene Li is indicative of these changes. While other headlining keynotes have yet to be announced, additional featured speakers include the 2026 AIA Gold Medalist Shigeru Ban, who will lead a June 11 “Architalk” on “Humanity, Sustainability, and the Future of Architecture.” The following day, Roy Decker and Anne Marie Duvall Decker, founders of the 2026 AIA Architecture Firm Award–winning practice Duvall Decker, will present “Design as an Act of Service.”
In addition to the conference’s main-stage speeches, attendees can expect a packed agenda of seminars and symposia, tours and open studios showcasing the work of local firms, and celebrations aplenty, including the AIA Awards Gala honoring Ban, Duvall Decker, the Whitney M. Young Award recipient Michael Ford, and others. New this year is a peer-discussion program called “Braindate” and a special focus on the mounting hurdles faced by architects. To that end, AIA Chief Economist Richard Branch will be sharing live daily market outlooks from the expo floor and hosting CE sessions on real-world economic implications for firms.
Although AIA26 is being staged against an ominous backdrop of financial uncertainty, upheavals to architectural education, sweeping technological shifts, and kneecapped climate protections, conference attendees can expect to let loose during the conference and, if they have time, hit the beach. (After all, as the AIA notes, San Diego is famed for its “coastal beauty and signature spirit of happiness.”) Catering to those looking to peel off from the convention center floor and explore the host city, RECORD’s forthcoming Architect’s Guide to San Diego will feature the best watering holes, stretches of sand, and south-of-the-border destinations—all recommended by local practitioners.
RECORD will have a presence at AIA26. Be sure to stop by expo booth 2611 to meet the team and pick up a copy of our June issue, featuring our 2026 Design Vanguard cohort, a special section on the state of practice, and, just in time for summer, a selection of park and recreation projects. Also on display at the RECORD booth will be the winners of this year’s AIA National Photography Competition organized by AIA St. Louis.
We’ll see you in San Diego next month!
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