Latest News

The third AIA Ohio Schools Competition took place in February.  Students from Ohio’s four accredited schools of architecture participated, and submissions were juried on Friday, March 20.  Click here to see the winning submissions and a list of students who participated.  Congratulations to the winners!

Members of all seven components of AIA Ohio attended the AIA National Grassroots program in Washington D.C. this past March 4-6.  The programs focus is on leadership and member advocacy.  This years event kicked off the Year of the Advocate, a program being run by the AIA Government Relations team that focuses member efforts on understanding advocacy activities and ArchiPAC.

A key part of the program is the scheduled Capitol Hill visits to local Senators and Members of Congress. An unfortunate snow storm canceled many Hill viists this year, although some members were able to meet with their House or Senate member during other times throughout the event.  The Advocacy team had four key asks for Congress this year.  They include Historic Tax Credits, 2030 energy standards, the Safe Building Code Incentive Act, and the National Design Service Act.  In 2016, Grassroots will change to a leadership program, with the event scheduled for late February in Detroit, Michigan.  The Advocacy program will take place in Washington D.C. in July.

Building on the social media efforts of the #ilookup awareness campaign that AIA national rolled out in December, the AIA has now started to air a 30 second promotional piece on selected cable programming.  The national media effort expanded on February 8^th, with the ad appearing on CBS Face the Nation, CBS Sunday Morning and NBC Meet the Press.  Since the initial airing, the ad is being aired on CNN, CNBC and Fox News.  It has also aired on several major sporting broadcasts, including PGA tournaments. 

The promotion is part of the three year plan that will focus on the value that architects bring to shaping the built environment.  This ad campaign will be followed by a series of print ads through the fall of 2015 which will lead to the roll-out of two new television commercials in 2016 that will be connected to legislative, component  and additional media efforts.  The campaign is designed to focus the public’s attention on architecture in their everyday lives.  The campaign will also include digital advertising on Google, Yahoo and the Bing Network.  The schedule of dates and times and networks can be found on the aia.org website under practicing architecture.

Click here for information on the Counsel of Educational Facility Planners International Midwest Great Lakes Regional Conference, taking place this April in Columbus, Ohio.

The AIA Strategic Council, formed as part of the AIAs new governance model, met in early February in New Orleans to discuss and explore issues affecting the profession and Institute.  With an emphasis on providing direction to the Strategic Planning Committee, the Council explored a variety of issues on both professional and organizational topics.  

The Council examined and discussed the social impact of hurricane Katrina as well as some well-intended, yet questionably successful responses to community needs.  Some of these responses were specific attempts of the design profession to address local needs while others were more focused on the response as opposed to need.  This exercise preceded the council’s efforts to examine ongoing efforts within the Institute as well as needs to addressing member value and practice.  The meeting was held as part of the AIA’s effort to create and establish the Strategic Council, a visionary body of the organization that will assist the Board and management in focusing on issues that are important to members.  The Council explored a number of defined issues through empathy and STEEP exercises intended to better focus and refine the AIA goals and objectives.  

The primary focus of the Council in 2015 is to establish an organizational structure that will carry the new body forward while providing important feedback to the national Strategic Planning Committee.  The 2016-2020 Strategic Plan is expected to be presented to the AIA Board of Director at their September 2015 Board Meeting.

NEW DUE DATE – March 30, 2015!
The AIA Ohio Valley Region Convention Planning Committee continues their efforts to provide high end programming with the release of the Call for Presentations (2.12.15) for the 2015 AIA Ohio Valley Region Convention.  The convention, to be held October 11-13 in Columbus, at the Hilton Downtown will have programming divided into  three tracks that address the convention theme, “The End of Normal”.  The three tracks address “Technology”, “Alternative Practice”, and “What is Next”.  A copy of the call is available by going to the Convention Tab on the top menu and by clicking on the “Call for Presentations” at the top of the right menu. Proposals should address the information provided in the call and they need to be submitted electronically to AIA Ohio using the link in the notification by the end of business, March 30, 2015.  The final selection of programs will be complete by May 1, 2015.

Members are encouraged to share this information with allied professionals or others who they believe would add to the quality of the presentations.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday-Tuesday, October 11-13, 2015 for the AIA Ohio Valley Convention.  We look forward to seeing you in Columbus.

The 2015 AIA Ohio Handbook of Architects will feature the firm profiles of Ohio architectural firms whose principals are members of the AIA.  In order to be listed in the AIA Ohio Handbook, one principal or partner in your firm must be a member and the firm must have an Ohio Certificate of Authority to practice architecture.  The cost to list your firm profile is $50.  Individual listings are a benefit of membership.  To access the form, click here.

On February 2, 2015, Ohio Governor John Kasich released his “Blueprint for a New Ohio” in which he outlined budget goals for the 2016-2017 fiscal years. Continuing a trend from prior budgets, the plan calls for further reductions in the personal income tax rate, expansion of the small business deduction, revisions to the minimum commercial activity tax for businesses with less than $2 million in annual receipts, and increased personal exemptions for lower and middle income taxpayers. The reductions would be paid for in part by increases in the sales, cigarette and commercial activity tax rates, as well as a revamping of Ohio’s severance tax on oil and natural gas. Overall, the proposal claims a reduction of over $500 million over the two years.

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Cool Spaces, the PBS television program that highlights some of America’s most unique architectural spaces has been available in a number of television markets for most of the past year.  The “Art Spaces” Episode has been uploaded to YouTube and is now available for viewing even for those who may not have previously been able to view the program in their local market.  Hosted by architect and educator Stephen Chung, AIA, Cool Spaces is a program that looks at the best of new architecture in a way that is informative for both the public and the architecctural community.  The program is supported in part by the American Institute of Architects.

The episode online at YouTube is “Art Spaces“, but there is also a segment on “Performance Spaces”.  While your there, you might also want to watch a short interview with AIA national Gold Medal Recipient Moshe Safdie FAIA.  Cool Spaces is a unique program that promotes architecture in a unique way.