Here are some snapshots from the second day of the AIA show in D.C., including some new materials, technologies, and designs I discovered while walking around the expo floor. The annual Architectural Record Ad Awards breakfast kicked off the morning. 

  After the exhibit floor closed today, many AIA 2012 attendees found their way to one of the last panel discussions of the evening: Design Connects to Nature—Examining the Myriad and Innovative Ways the Built Environment Uses Nature as a Metaphor and Amenity. Nadav Malin, president of BuildingGreen, Inc.

Are you in D.C. for the AIA Convention? Be sure to visit the Hirshhorn. But go after sunset--when the museum is closed. Through Sunday night a site-specific video and sound installation by artist Doug Aitken is on view. As RECORD has already noted in a  “first look” piece  and a  lighting story,

The U.S. Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale will look at grassroots architecture.

If you are at the AIA show in Washington, D.C. on Friday May 17th and want to be see some of the latest building products on the show floor while resting your feet, make sure to stop by our annual Say it in a SNAP presentation at the McGraw-Hill Construction booth (#2603).  

History writer David McCullough cited hearing Yale legend Vincent Scully speak about the Brooklyn Bridge as the inspiration for his second book, which was all about the New York City landmark. The subject of his latest—the enthralling influence that the city of Paris had on many players in American history—also stemmed from an encounter with architecture, he went on to explain during his keynote address at the opening session of the American Institute of Architects’ convention in Washington, D.C.

The shorter hours of the convention this year (10-4) made it harder to see everything in one day (not that I recommend trying that anyway) but most manufacturers that I spoke to said that they were very pleased with the traffic. One manufacturer even said that she had more traffic today than she had in the last two AIA

Architectural Record gets a sneak peek at James Turrell's new skyspace at Rice University. New York–City based Thomas Phifer and Partners served as the architect of the project.