The AIA California Council (AIACC) is hosting its 16th Annual AIACC Monterey Design Conference on September 12-14, at the breathtaking Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, Calif. Asilomar, which means “refuge by the sea” in Spanish, and its 13 historic houses are considered Julia Morgan’s masterwork.

This year’s program features as keynote speaker the internationally acclaimed and honored Enrique Norten, Hon. FAIA, who founded TEN Arquitectos in Mexico City in 1985. The firm’s work has been honored with the Mies Van der Rohe Medal for Design Excellence, the highest prize in Latin America, and with two Benedictus Awards. Critics have described his approach as “courageous for rejecting both formulaic ‘Mexicanidad’ and historical eclecticism; resulting in provocative and enticing buildings that lend a legibility to the orphan images overloading the city.”

Joining Norten will be panel moderator Robert Ivy, FAIA, editor-in-chief of award-winning Architectural Record magazine. AIACC guarantees that those who have attended past Monterey Design Conferences or AIA national conventions will remember Ivy as an intelligent, humorous, and lively moderator.

The conference offers opportunities to earn up to 15 AIA/CES continuing education units and 5 pre-conference health-safety-welfare units. Thought-provoking educational sessions will focus on transportation, community-based public work, and livability. During free time, attendees can take on Monterey’s golf courses, take in a traditional late-night movie, and relive their youth at the evening campfire.

Register by August 8 to receive a discounted rate. To register and for more information, visit the AIACC Web site or call conference coordinator Mandi Hultsman, (916) 448-9082.

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