Photo by Marissa Dello Russo of AIA Pittsburgh Curious to hear how 1800 pounds of ice has held up over the past four weeks in the Pittsburgh sun (and rain) while encased in two separate boxes designed to simulate conventional construction methods versus Passive House Standard? If you’re an architect (and a gambler) you can feel pretty confident betting that the ice in the Ice Box built to Passive House Standard will win out.  And you would be right.  The Passive House Standard Ice Boxes consistently retain at least four times more ice than the conventional boxes. Passive House Standard is a proven methodology for achieving high-performance from almost any building type and is...

Photo credit Rob Larson. October: Design Pittsburgh month has dropped.  Make sure you are voting with a purpose for the People’s Choice Award. Voting will end on October 18th, so cast your votes now. You can vote 1x in each category.  Then, make sure to get your tickets to help us celebrate the winners at Design Awards on October 25th at Nova Place.

Name:  Aaron Hill, AIA Firm:  Bialosky Cleveland Family:  Wife – Carrie & 5-year-old twins – Harper (girl) & Hayden (boy) Years in practice:  20 Education:  University of Florida (B. Design) / Georgia Tech (M. Arch) Your first job:  Official scorekeeper at the local little league baseball par Project you’re proudest of:  NASA Research Support Center – A new workplace being depended on to shift the culture of NASA to attract the next generation of engineers and scientists. What have you always wanted to tell your clients?  “They didn’t teach me about you in school.” What’s the most annoying thing architects do?  Not listen Favorite tool (can be digital, drafting, physical,…):  Moleskine Favorite building: TWA Flight Center Favorite outdoor space:  The High Line Architect you’d like to have...

September: back-to-school and the promise of cooler temps in the air.  Many young architects are just starting out their studies (read about 2018 AIA/YAF Liaison for AIAS at CMU Chitika Vasudeva right here).  

Dello Russo has worked in general contracting and at the National Aviary and Girls Scouts Western Pennsylvania Marissa Dello Russo is AIA Pittsburgh’s new Membership Marketing & Communications Associate. Dello Russo earned a degree in Communication/ PR from Slippery Rock University and brings a wealth of communications and membership experience to her new role from her previous position at the Girl Scouts and National Aviary.  Additionally, experience as an assistant project manager for her family’s general contracting company in Riverhead, NY makes her a natural fit to step into this position at AIA Pittsburgh. “I am excited to learn and grow with the AIA and participate in the large-scale events that go on each year,” says Dello Russo who is also looking...

Quintin Kittle, AIA, Emily Dritz, Michelle Fanzo, Mike Gwin, AIA, and Ken Doyno, AIA enjoying some downtime at A’18. in New York City. This past June, architects from all over the world gathered in New York City for A’18, AIA’s Conference on Architecture.  Local members in attendance remarked that New York City was the perfect place to set the stage for this year’s theme: Blueprint for Better Cities. AIA Pittsburgh President Mike Gwin, AIA had the unique experience this year in that he attended a lot of conversations with architects running for office at AIA National (see the winners here) and through those candidate conversations what became clear were several main themes and elevated priorities for the AIA: Relevancy: How...

Click here or on the image above to view the video of Kermit Baker’s presentation This week AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker, released his Top 10 factors influencing the built environment and discussed the impact they will have on business. Following is a summary of his findings, while the above video provides a deeper dive into his thinking. Top 5 Challenges for the A/ E/ C community 1. Labor force: Few women and young people (under 35) are attracted to the construction labor force, 3.1% and 33.2% respectively. Immigrants, however, are attracted to the work, but half of the immigrant workforce in construction is undocumented and are vulnerable to deportation. 2. Construction costs: Costs are rising faster than inflation. Overall...

It’s that time of year – if you’ve been around here for any length of time you know that the deadline to submit for Design Pittsburgh 2018 is coming up on August 24th, but we MUST receive your Submission Request Form by August 17th.  And then, of course, be sure to save-the-date of October 25th for the Design Pittsburgh 2018 Awards Ceremony and Gala at Nova Place.

Stepping down from the street, Emmanuel Panagiotakis’s gallery feels like a cool cavern away from the hot breath of the city behind you. Upon entering the space, one is immediately bombarded with the deep saturations and bold, sweeping lines that often characterize post-card images of Pittsburgh and other souvenir-worthy destinations. Amidst the showy, prototypical images that speckle the gallery, Leading Lines is an oasis of thoughtful, balanced photography. Panagiotakis capably explores themes of texture, rhythm, and void space within this black and white exhibit that is magnetic and unique in a way that other gallery pieces struggle to achieve. Examining Ceiling Detail, Full View (above), and Ceiling Detail, the observer is first aware of the many textures of the image,...

Using ICRA construction methods in Pittsburgh The CDC estimates that, every year, there are 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections (HAI), resulting in 90,000 deaths. Pennsylvania alone has over 25,000 HAI.  Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) construction is about preventing contamination from fungi (aspergillum, molds) and bacteria (legionella) during construction, renovation, and maintenance projects, primarily in occupied healthcare facilities.  Pittsburgh is a center for excellence and a reference for the ICRA community in North America. Following ICRA construction good practices can actually save lives.  Outbreaks and infections often result in poor outcomes for compromised patients and a precise process must be followed in order to track the origin of the problem. Unfortunately, the construction site is often the source of the infection in...