“LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS” AT A’19
“LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS” AT A’19
Jason Darling, AIA – President-Elect
Earlier this month, I attended A’19, this year’s AIA Conference on Architecture, the foremost international architectural event of the year. (Full Disclosure: This was actually my first AIA conference. I know now that I’ve missed out on past years, but I’m vowing that won’t happen anymore!) This year, the conference was held June 6-8 in Las Vegas, with preconference events occurring on June 5. Like the Grassroots Leadership Conference I wrote about earlier this year, A’19 included a number of events covering equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as sustainability. However, like all AIA conferences, the conference offered a wide array of events, speakers, panels, information sessions, and workshops of interest to architects and those employed in the architecture field. There were also many networking opportunities with peers and AIA national staff.
As a delegate to the conference on behalf of the Chapter, my involvement began early, with attendance on June 5 to hear the final speeches of all candidates for National office, including listening and discussing further during the regional caucuses, and to take part in the Annual Business Meeting. The meeting included an overview of the year-over-year status of the organization, as well as discussion and voting on proposed By-Laws amendments and Resolutions. By-Laws amendments (both of which passed) were extensively discussed. One modified how AIA Allied members can refer to themselves – an additional naming convention was added (a third style was proposed, but not adopted). The other modified the AIA National budget policy regarding how the National Board may utilize its reserve funds for organizational programs. Reserve funds are excess funds collected over the years by National, and are separate from the yearly budget. The Board no longer must call a meeting of the entire membership to spend reserve funds, but is restricted in how much reserve funds can be used, and the Board is obligated to pay these back within two years. Several Resolutions were also put forth, most in congratulations to outgoing members and staff, to those with membership or AIA employment anniversaries, and to the conference hosts – all of which were adopted unanimously. However, two Resolutions were extensively discussed during the meeting. One would have supported the adoption of chapter subdivisions within the International Chapter (the component covering most overseas members). This was ultimately not supported by the membership, at the behest of the National Board and Strategic Council, since a review of this potential policy is currently being conducted by a special committee to the National Board. The other Resolution of note was presented from the floor, entitled “AIA Resolution for Urgent and Sustained Climate Action”, and brought forth with sponsorship from, among others, AIAPV’s former Chapter President and Immediate Past National President Carl Elefante. This Resolution calls for its 94,000 members worldwide to “exponentially accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, the building sector, and the built environment.” There was much discussion of this Resolution (all praise!), and it passed by a wide margin.
One of the highlights for me was the first Keynote session. This was set up as a live version of a podcast, and was moderated by Roman Mars, founder and host of the architecture-focused radio show “99% Invisible”. The event began with an appropriately-developed segment discussing the seminal work by Denise Scott-Brown and Robert Venturi: “Learning from Las Vegas”, and interspersed spoken word by the live ensemble on stage with recorded interviews with Ms. Scott-Brown. Another particularly interesting segment was the final segment of the event, in which Mars interviewed Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. You may recall that her organization has sparked a national conversation about increasing the number of women in tech and closing the gender gap. Her influence is driving a new model of leadership focused on embracing risk and failure. She shared how her bravery revolution is inspiring a better, more diverse, more equitable future, and discussed how that can be applied to other fields, including architecture. She was particularly entertaining to listen to, and offered much insight into the role that we must all play in creating a more diverse and inclusive professional and corporate culture, not matter the field.
Other important and enjoyable aspects of the conference are continuing education seminars, the Expo, and off-site tours of significant architectural or built wonders. I attended several continuing education seminars, as I had several more credits to complete for my license renewal. One particular seminar focused on leadership and ownership transition within firms, and looked at this from multiple vantage points, including as leaders ready to retire or divest, as well as new or future leaders looking to take on leadership and ownership roles. The bottom line of the discussion: The firm and owners must have a transition plan! This was particularly interesting to me, as I’m looking to move into an ownership role within my own firm in the near future. The Expo was certainly an amazing experience, speaking as a first-time conference-goer. Divided into sections, the Expo floor showcased technological services (such as computer- and cloud-based software for documentation or existing conditions data gathering), interior finishes, exterior envelopes, roofing, HVAC systems, plumbing products, and so much more. I walked around the Expo floor for hours (at a rather brisk pace, I might add), and still saw only about a quarter of the booths and products on offer. It really is an experience!
Probably the most amazing experience was a tour that my husband and I joined that traveled to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, located in the western area of the canyon, on Hualapai Nation land. This is a particularly interesting architectural and structural achievement, boasting a glass-bottomed U-shaped bridge that cantilevers over the edge of the Grand Canyon, giving patrons a straight-down view over almost 4,000 feet to the bottom of the canyon. It’s thrilling to say the least! Our tour was guided by the structural engineer who was in charge of the design of the structure, Kenneth W. “Bill” Karren of Lochsa Engineering (pronounced “lock saw”), and he told us entertaining tales of the design and construction of the project (including one or two tid-bits that aren’t fit to print!). The bridge was designed to withstand 100mph winds from all angles, and an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. Bill’s favorite part of visiting the project is to go out onto the bridge, right at the middle, and jump up and down as much as he can! He did this while our tour was out there, and I have to say, it was certainly a bit unsettling. My husband just loved the visit, while I “managed” to walk from one end of the U-shaped bridge to the other without fainting (I have a pretty strong fear of heights). Even so, I sure am glad I participated – it’s certainly an amazing experience.
We were fortunate to meet up with representatives from our sister components from AIA Maryland, AIA Baltimore, and AIA Chesapeake Bay. We got together several times to discuss the sessions, as well as our own components, and we put together an impromptu reception one night so that we could shrug off the business for a while and have a good time. It was a lot of fun!
Finally – I’d like to encourage everyone to consider going to next year’s A’20 Conference in Los Angeles. It was really a great experience, and offers a lot of benefit to you as a member. But you can’t go if you’re not a member! Please make sure you renew your membership for 2020!
