Summer 2007

2007 Conference Chair Michael Ross, FAIA, and Miami Conference Chair Roberto Espejo, AIA

A Note from the Chair
With this issue we inaugurate re: Design, the COD eNewsletter. It is part of our attempt to make the COD’s activities more valuable to more AIA members. We are especially grateful to Ann Gray, FAIA, of Balcony Press for sponsoring this issue. We hope you enjoy this newsletter and welcome your comments at elCommuniCODo@mmense.com.

This year we are considering “The Rejuvenation of American Cities on the Water.” Our first conference exploring this theme was in Miami in April, and we want to thank Roberto Espejo, AIA, and all of our hosts in Miami for their efforts. The fall conference, On the Waterfront, will be held September 27-30 in Minneapolis. Both cities experienced a boom in the early 20th century and a decline in the later part of the century, followed by a total renaissance at the start of the 21st century. Come experience the unique architectural expressions of the Minneapolis design community.

—Michael Franklin Ross, FAIA, 2007 COD Chair

News for and about the Committee on Design

2008 AIA COD Design Ideas Competition: Living—out of the car . . .
A challenge to resolve infrastructure, architecture, and product design through ideas of combining an energy system, garage, and automobile. Look for the entry invitation this fall.

AIA Honor Awards in San Antonio
As a part of its commitment to excellent design, the COD established a process to seek and support qualified nominees for certain AIA honors. This year the following successful COD-nominated candidates were celebrated at the AIA 2007 National Convention in San Antonio:

Architecture Firm Award: Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Boston
Twenty-five Year Award: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, designed by Maya Lin with Cooper Lecky Architects
Honorary AIA Fellows

David Chipperfield, Hon. FAIA, United Kingdom
Emilio Ambasz, Hon. FAIA, Italy
Francine Houben, Hon. FAIA, The Netherlands
Dominique Perrault, Hon. FAIA, France
Eduardo Souto de Moura, Hon. FAIA, Portugal

Institute Honors for Collaborative Achievement

Bryan Bell, advocate for architecture for indigent communities
Francis D.K. Ching, author
The Directory of African American Architects
Harvard Design Magazine
Thomas S. Hines, architectural historian and educator
Public Architecture, San Francisco
Witold Rybczynski, Hon. FAIA, author

For further information about these and other award winners, see the AIA National Honor Awards Web page.

Preserving Modern Architecture
As American Modern architecture matures, more and more of it faces the possibility of demolition to make way for progress or insensitive modification. The AIA Committee on Design wants to help preserve those works that may have more design value than historic value.
Read the full article

Fountain of Use: Winners of the AIA COD 2007 Design Ideas Competition
by James Bowen, AIA

The downtown Miami waterfront provided the background for exploring the meaningful use of water as a component of urban planning—thus the title of the 2007 COD International Design Ideas Competition, "Fountain of Use." The competition jury announced two winning entries on April 14 following a reception at the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami:La Nueva Costanera de Miami (The New Miami Waterfront), designed by Mike Mense, FAIA, with Ron Andersen and PALM (Planting in the Aquifer for a Livable Miami), designed by Wendy Evans Joseph, FAIA, with with Jonathan Lee and Farzana Gandhi.
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Conference attendees enjoyed a rich and insightful walking tour of Miami Beach, highlighting its Art Deco architecture.

COD Meets in Miami for the Rejuvenation of American Cities on the Water
by Eduardo Quintero

The 2007 AIA COD conference in Miami, held April 12–15, 2007, was enthusiastic, diverse, provocative, and a whole lot of fun. The Rejuvenation of American Cities on the Water, was carefully planned to explore the exciting developments along Miami’s several waterfronts." Most of the talks and tours focused on this exciting, already commenced transformation, which promises to secure Miami’s role as the gateway to the Americas.

Population and geography could both significantly drive Miami’s architectural resolution. Newly termed during our conference as "geo-fabulous,” this tropically hot topic of a city was explored by the attendees and rediscovered as possibly one of the most important emerging cities in the world in terms of social infrastructure and architectural growth.
Read the full report