William Mitchell, a longtime technophile and booster of the idea that computers could aid designers, died on June 11 in Boston of complications from cancer.
Licensed U.S. architects working globally, a group that is growing, need support from the American Institute of Architects in several ways, including promoting and endorsing a strategic plan that enables U.S. architects to gain professional practice licenses in foreign jurisdictions. AIA also should endorse the International Union of Architects’ (UIA) professional advisory standards, international education standards and international accreditation/validation standards. “The AIA should be advocating practices that enable its members to diversify their geographic, civic and cultural involvements,” said Thomas Vonier, an architect based in Paris and AIA’s international director. These recommendations and others relating to working globally were issued
Image courtesy Lutron Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. A significant contribution to modern building design and science was celebrated on April 29 in the daylit halls of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History [recently renovated by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill] in Washington, D.C. Joel Spira, inventor and developer of the solid-state electronic dimming device, as well as chairman and founder of Lutron Electronics (1961), donated a range of his company’s most innovative and historic materials to the museum’s Electricity Collection—home of Thomas Edison’s earliest light bulbs. “The tools of everyday life, like light switches,
Photo courtesy NTHP Stephanie Meeks Yesterday the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) named a replacement for longtime president Richard Moe, who announced his pending retirement in late 2009 and left earlier this month. Scheduled to start work on July 6, Stephanie Meeks will be the eighth president of the 61-year-old organization, which was created by legislation signed by President Harry Truman. Currently Meeks is president and CEO of Counterpart International, a nonprofit organization that offers economic-stimulus aid and governance assistance to impoverished communities. Prior to assuming that role in November 2008, Meeks held various positions over 18 years at
The American Institute of Architects has released an Excel-based tool that generates a report on predicted energy use and project modeling. The tool, called the 2030 Commitment Annual Progress Reporting Tool, is part of the group's push to get its members to design carbon-neutral buildings and practice architecture in a more sustainable way. Although the tool was designed for architecture firms only, it is being tweaked for use by structural engineers. AIA released the tool at its 2010 convention in Miami. To date 105 architects have signed on to the AIA's voluntary 2030 commitment program, said Kelly Pickard, AIA's project
A plan by Rafael Viñoly to transform New York’s former Domino sugar refinery into homes, offices, and shops has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, even if a few tweaks are required. Bitter Debate Brews Over Domino Sugar Plant On Monday, June 7, the city’s planning commission voted 13-0 to approve the $1.5 billion New Domino proposal, which calls for adding 2,200 apartments to a five-block esplanade in Brooklyn, near the Williamsburg Bridge. About a third of the apartments, or 660, would be affordable. While most of the old buildings now standing on the 11.2-acre site would be razed, Viñoly’s plan
Haiti is beginning to fade from the headlines, five months after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the impoverished island country. But many in the design and construction industry are determined to stay involved. On Friday, June 4, more than 150 people filled a Cooper Union auditorium in New York City for a five-hour symposium dubbed “Rebuilding a Sustainable Haiti.” Organized by the Institute for Urban Design, the free event was open to the public and was intended to present an overview of redevelopment strategies for the struggling Caribbean nation. Panelists included representatives from key entities such as Partners in Health, the
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