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Dear Members of the Academy of Architecture for Health:
As the 2008 President of AIA/AAH, I would like to thank you for
your continued support of the Academy. And as each of you are
aware, we practice in a challenging marketplace; one in which we
must rapidly respond to the ever-changing needs of our clients and
our communities. It is imperative, therefore, that the Academy
maintain --- and enhance --- its relevance and value
within that marketplace. Toward that end, I would like to take this
opportunity to bring you up to date on the Academy’s
accomplishments for 2007 and inform you of our plans for 2008.
Major Accomplishments in 2007
2007 was a successful year for the Academy under the leadership of
Scott H. Miller, AIA, FACHA. The year’s initiatives reflected
input broadly gathered from the membership and focused on
leadership within the healthcare industry and service to our
membership and related professional organizations.
Spring Conference - PDC 07
The AAH again served as a co-sponsor of the American Society for
Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) International Conference and
Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design and Construction
(PDC).
Summer Leadership Conference
Held in Chicago on July 13-14, 2007, the conference included
advanced educational content, and expanded participation
opportunities for emerging professionals. Other opportunities for
architecture students and emerging professionals included the
Herman Miller scholarship, the Tuttle Fellowship (which celebrated
its 20th year with an exhibit at the AIA convention in San
Antonio), and annual architecture student charrette, the latter
programs supported with generous sponsorship of STERIS.
Fall Conference - HCD.07
Held in Dallas on November 3–6, 2007, this conference
initiated a partnership with the Center for Health Design and the
Vendome Group to present a joint fall conference with record
attendance.
Guidelines
The Academy, jointly with ASHE, offered a series of regional
workshops introducing the updated AIA Guidelines for Design and
Construction of Healthcare Facilities.
Webinars
The Academy also continued a very successful Webinar program and is
pleased to have inaugurated a new ‘Healthcare 101’
Webinar series in 2007 (with the support of the AAH Foundation),
targeted at emerging professionals in healthcare design.
The Fourth Factor
A major Academy accomplishment in 2007 was achieved with the
support of AAH members: in recognition of the 150th Anniversary of
the American Institute of Architects (AIA150). The AAH published
The Fourth Factor: A Historical Perspective on Architecture and
Medicine, authored by John Michael Currie, AIA, which looks
broadly at the history of architecture for health and offers as a
central theme that architecture has always been the partner of
medicine in providing the special place of healing for the
patients. The Fourth Factor is available through the AIA Bookstore.
Major Initiatives in 2008
2008 promises to continue to provide significant value to members
of the Academy through the following programs:
Spring Conference - PDC 08
Held in Orlando on March 10-13, this conference continued a
collaboration of the Academy with ASHE in presenting a premier
educational and networking conference.
Summer Leadership Conference
To be held in Chicago on July 18 – 20, 2008, this
conference will offer outstanding educational content on the
“value proposition” offered through design excellence in
healthcare facilities; presentations by the recipients of the AAH
Healthcare Design Awards, and a new program of tours.
Fall Conference - HCD 08
Scheduled for November 8 – 11, 2008, in Washington, DC,
this conference will be presented in collaboration with the Center
for Health Design and the Vendome Group. AAH programs include:
Facility tours, Tuttle Fellowship presentation, student charrette,
forums, multi-track educational sessions as well as a ‘deep
dive’ single track, and more. Please see the HCD 08 website for
details.
AIA Healthcare Design Award Program
The Academy is proud to announce the initiation of the National AIA
Healthcare Design Awards program, which will showcase the best of
healthcare building design and healthcare design-oriented research.
Importantly, there are presently only two annual healthcare awards
programs endorsed by the AAH: the new National AIA Healthcare
Awards and the longstanding Vista Awards (a joint effort with
AHA/ASHE). The present schedule will have submissions due on May
15, 2008, and the winners announced in July. The publication
date is set for November. Details of the entire awards program are
available on the AAH
website.
Webinars
The Academy is pleased to continue this series of web-based
seminars that are geared towards both the emerging HC Architect
(Healthcare 101 Webinars), as well as the more advanced
practitioner. Our recent ‘101’ series Webinar was on
Maternal Care on April 8. And our next will be on Guidelines for
Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations on May 12 -
16, 2008. Please click here for
details.
Student Fellowship Program
The Academy focuses on student research as a key source for
emerging information. We fund, through sponsorship, a number of
grants to graduate level and PhD level students, focused on
development of in-depth research studies that are presented to our
membership. Their work is published and maintained in our
fellowship library – a continuing database of emerging
information available to our membership and the AIA.
Student Charrettes
Each year the Academy holds an invited student charrette program in
which 5 to 6 ACSA schools are funded to send a team to participate
in a 4-day design charrette focusing on healthcare design. This
exposes architectural schools to healthcare design and future
professionals to the Academy and the AIA. It is highly successful
and has returned good students to our community and to active
participation in the AIA.
Website, Academy Updates and Journal
AAH provides resources, research reports, articles, and best
practices online and in the printed Academy Journal. Current
issues, and archived copies are available online. We
encourage member contributions to this valuable publication; for
details on calls for submission, please click here.
The many programs described herein demonstrate how dynamic the AIA
Academy of Architecture for Health continues to be, and the level
of value the Academy offers to AAH members and the profession, as
well as the larger healthcare industry. We encourage you to contact
one of the members of the Academy Board to become
more engaged with the Academy at the National level or through your
component. If you have any questions or comments, or wish to become
more involved in AAH, please email aah@aia.org.
Sincerely,
Peter Bardwell, FAIA, FACHA
2008 President
AIA Academy of Architecture for Health
The American Institute of Architects
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006
E-mail: aah@aia.org
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