AIA Central Massachusetts

AIA National Leadership Conference 2023: Report to our Members

Recently, I had the pleasure of representing AIA Central Massachusetts at the annual AIA Leadership Summit (formerly Grassroots) in Washington, DC. The Summit was four days filled with workshops, educational lectures, and field trips. The focus was on two things: learning how to better serve our members, and advocating for pro-architect policies at the federal level.

We devoted one entire day to touring Capitol Hill and meeting with legislative staffers. I was fortunate enough to speak with staff members from the offices of Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Richard Neal – who represent numerous cities and towns in Central Massachusetts – as well as staffers from the offices of both Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Ed Markey. Along with a few other architects, we expressed to these offices the importance of design freedom and resilient infrastructure to our industry.

The AIA supports a bill currently in Congress known as the “Democracy in Design Act,” which was drafted in response to a 2020 Executive Order mandating the use of Classical-style architecture in federal buildings across the country. This bill would codify the otherwise long-standing government practice of soliciting public, transparent design proposals and receiving community input, without expressing preference for one particular style over another. As architects, we believe that architecture should always be a collaborative endeavor between architects, clients, and the community, not something to be dictated by bureaucracy. Enacting this bill will ensure greater levels of transparency and protect the people’s voice.

Another important bill about to be introduced and supported by the AIA is known as the “Resilient AMERICA Act.” The focus of this bill is to improve the resiliency of America’s built environment by bringing more communities up to current building codes and will also provide more funding for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. This program provides funding for local communities to improve vulnerable buildings. In recent years, the United States has spent over $700 billion on disaster clean up alone. Sadly, we know that environmental disasters are no longer a matter of “if,” but “when.” By spending on preventative improvements to better weather storms, floods, fires, etc., we can reduce the cost – in both lives and dollars – when the next climate disaster strikes.

We are fortunate to have congressional representation that is also ideologically in favor of these bills. However, there are a lot of competing priorities in Congress, and only so much time and effort available to passing bills during each session. If any member believes these endeavors to be important, I would strongly encourage them to contact the office of their Congressmen and Senators, to make sure they know that these should be priority issues.

Back in the conference hall, I attended many informative workshops. A key topic that came up repeatedly was generational change in our industry. As we look to recruit and retain the next generation of architects – “Gen Z” – it will be important for established firms to understand what they value in an architectural career, and how that may align or differ from the values of other generations. Members of Gen Z view remote work and the flexibility it entails as the norm, rather than the exception. Some have recognized that their optimal working time is very early, or very late, or otherwise outside of the conditions that, until recently, would’ve been common in a typical “9 to 5” office. To survive as this highly diverse generation forms more of our practicing body, more established architects will have to learn to balance the needs of the firm with the goals of the young staff, or risk missing out on the energy and innovative thinking they are ready to provide.

Finally, we brainstormed ways that our board, and others like it, can provide more creative programming to our members. We are excited to explore partnerships with different products and industries to continue to provide our members with important industry connections and learning opportunities. Maybe just as important, we look forward to social events where we get together as friends and colleagues to celebrate our work and inspire students and emerging professionals.

I want to thank AIA Central Massachusetts for the opportunity to represent the chapter at this event, and I’m excited to see what we can do together as a community.

Anthony DiManno

Secretary, AIA Central Massachusetts

Tour of the Prior Performing Arts Center at Holy Cross

In a joint program sponsored by AIA Central Massachusetts and the Worcester Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute, local architects, students and construction professionals were given an inside look at the new Prior Performing Arts center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester last month.

Close to 50 people attended the discussion and tour through the building led by designers from Diller, Scofidio, Renfro, architects from Perry Dean Rogers, and members of the construction team from Dimeo Construction.

The 84,000 square foot building opened this past Fall and includes flexible learning, work, and performance spaces, an art gallery, as well as a variety of outdoor spaces.

You can read more about the space and the designers’ vision: the project was featured recently in Architectural Record and the Architects Newspaper.

AIACM 2022 Scholarship Recipients Announced

AIACM is pleased to announce the scholarship recipients for 2022: Daynah Guyton, a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, received a scholarship for $1,000, and Stephany Medina attending Wentworth Institute of Technology is the recipient of a $2,000 scholarship.

The scholarships are made possible by a partnership between AIA Central Massachusetts and AIA National, who matches the chapter’s commitment. Thanks to this substantial matching program, AIACM was able to award two scholarships this year.

To qualify for consideration, scholarship applicants must submit an essay and letter of recommendation. Here is what the two students’ recommendation letters shared about the candidates:

“Daynah has proven to be a very well-rounded individual with many interests and hobbies alongside of her career aspirations. She is charming when discussing her hobbies and thoughtful when sharing her ideas. She has applied herself fully to all the tasks we have given her, which range from graphic renderings to sketching ideas for architectural interventions. She has an intuitive understanding of spatial relationships and a creative imagination – both of which will serve her well in the architecture world. She is also sensible, thorough, and whip smart, which doesn’t hurt either!”

“Ms. Medina has proven to be very hard working, methodical and persistent, having a consistent and systematic approach to new projects and a real personal interest in architecture. Her strong representational skills and design capabilities lead to exciting projects. Her participation in my classes has always been active and substantial since she has an inquiring mind that asks the right kind of questions. Moreover, at a personal level, Ms. Medina is a well-disciplined and reliable individual, who inspires others with her friendly demeanor and positive attitude. She works equally well independently as with others, and I am confident that she will achieve excellence in any project she undertakes.”

AIACM Celebrates Design Excellence at 2022 Awards Dinner

AIACM hosted its annual Excellence in Design Awards dinner earlier this month, once again celebrating architecture in our region and the talented people behind these exceptional projects.

This year we received more than 30 submissions encompassing a broad range of project types, from schools and libraries to residential and outdoor spaces and structures - the jury took on the difficult task of selecting just eight projects for recognition.

Our jury was comprised of three accomplished architects from outside of Central Massachusetts: Stephen Shreiber is from the Western Massachusetts AIA; Tolya Stonorov is from AIA Vermont, and John Priestley is from AIA Maine. You can learn more about our jurors here.

We were fortunate to have Mr. Shreiber share the jury's thoughts at the awards presentation, giving attendees some insight into the projects as well as the selection process.

The winning projects are:

Honor Award

Oudens Ello Architecture

Gladys E. Kelly Public Library

Honor Award

Arrowstreet

Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter School

Merit Award

Studio InSitu Architects

Studio Apartment

Merit Award

Paul Lukez Architecture

Deleeuw House

Merit Award

SMMA

Templeton Elementary School

Citation Award

Studio InSitu Architects

Azucar Pavillion

Citation Award

Abacus Architects + Planners

Taft Public Library

Honorable Mention

Studio InSitu Architects

Triangle Common

In-person Programs Bringing People Together Again

As AIA Central Massachusetts is able to hold more in-person events, turnout is growing and people are enjoying the social aspects of our educational programs once more. Over the summer, affiliate members, Van Oppen and Co. hosted a program at Polar Park.

Attendees learned about risk control, industry trends and strategies to improve business performance and profitability before watching the Woo Sox win against the Red Wings.

AIA Central Massachusetts facilitated a free tour of the new Unity Hall Building at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This well-attended event gave participants an inside look at the design by Gensler Architects and the opportunity to ask question of the architects. In addition to the chapter membership, several students were in attendance.

A Current Student's Reflection on her Architecture Education

What is architecture school like in 2022? How are the studio courses structured? What kind of projects do architecture students of today work on? Architecture schools of 2022 can be influenced by many factors: digital and physical tools, history, sustainability, professional experience, outside activities, and connection with others.

My name is Abby McCue, and I am from Northborough, MA. I am a rising third-year architecture student at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. I am also pursuing minors in music composition and landscape architecture. In addition to my education, at NC State I participate in multiple activities to build my leadership, teamwork, and time management skills. Some of the organizations that I am part of include AIAS, my sorority, and an honor fraternity. Outside of school, I run a small Etsy shop, do freelance graphic design, and am a childcare provider.

These different opportunities and activities help shape my unique experiences in architecture school. Being exposed to multiple avenues of creativity has allowed me to learn more about my interests and approach to the design process. I have found that exploring different areas of interest is helpful in the broad scope of architecture, as it is a cross-disciplinary field.