About The AIAPrograms & Initiatives

Michael Stepner, FAIA, FAICP, FIUD
Professor, NewSchool of Architecture and Design, San Diego

Cesar Pelli, a contemporary architect, has noted, "The city is more important than the building." With those words, Pelli reinforces the fact that architecture is a social art and the profession has a responsibility to participate in the public building process. The community—more than the client—should shape what we, as architects, do.

The concept of "livable communities" has been a part of my professional life as an architect, city planner, and advocate for over thirty years. When I first came to San Diego to work at the city's planning department, I was at the bottom of a bureaucratic pyramid. It was not a very conducive place to be an advocate, and I wasn't! However, I was a member of AIA San Diego. The component was vocal about issues affecting our community, and I began to see it as a powerful venue for contributing my concerns to the public discussion. Inspired by the AIA component’s energetic advocacy, I became an activist for livable communities.

The AIA, through its members and in collaboration with other organizations, has played a central role in shaping San Diego into the wonderful place that it is. Although much work remains to be done, the AIA's activities range from commenting on proposed initiatives to developing policy papers, holding community workshops, and helping people rebuild their homes and neighborhoods after recent devastating fires in southern California.

Quality of life is what our profession is about, and it must go beyond our work in the office and for our clients. It must address the entire community, the context within which our work takes place. I strongly urge every architect to become involved in advocating for a beautiful, healthy and safe built environment. The amount of time you devote will depend on your circumstances, but what you give will be beneficial to you and to the community.

My life has been immensely enhanced throughout the 30 years that I have been an advocate. This kind of activism is fulfilling, both professionally and personally, because I am helping to shape and improve the community I live and work in, and I am doing it for my family, my neighbors, and for those who will come after us.

In the words of the great architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram, once recorded, will never die but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us."