Riding the elevator up to the AIA office on the seventh floor of one of Pittsburgh’s stately old office buildings, you could tell we were all a little bit nervous. It was mid-September 2017, and each of us had been accepted into the second year of the AIA Leadership Institute for Emerging Professionals. What this actually meant and what our experiences would be over the course of the next nine months, few of us had any idea about. But we would soon find a unique mix of professional camaraderie, personal inspiration, healthy discomfort, and perhaps slow to develop but deeply sincere friendship. I have often found myself to be an ersatz leader, filling space when there is a leadership vacuum,...

Can you believe it’s July?  This month offers some nice opportunities to beat the heat and stay connected.  Also, be sure to save-the-date of October 25th for the Design Pittsburgh 2018 Awards Ceremony and Gala at Nova Place.  Look for the new Awards Criteria to be posted shortly.

Kellner has worked in the nonprofit field her entire career, most notably spending 10 years at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and five years with the American Diabetes Association. Kira Kellner is AIA Pittsburgh’s new Manager, Programming and Development, replacing Rachael Kelley who left in April to become the executive director of the Housing Innovation Alliance. Kellner brings a wealth of fundraising and event planning experience for other notable nonprofits making her a natural fit to step into this highly demanding role at AIA Pittsburgh. In her spare time, Kellner serves as the race director of the Brentwood Firecracker 5k, one of the largest 5k races in Western Pennsylvania, which takes place on the 4th of July in Brentwood, PA. In...

On June 14th and 15th, AIA Pittsburgh hosted AIA PA President Scott Compton, AIA, and AIA PA Executive Director Stephen Swarney for two days of advocacy events. Compton and Swarney brought their Harrisburg expertise to Pittsburgh to provide a training on how to be an advocate to AIA Pittsburgh architects as well as contractors and engineers and other members of the design/build community.   Following the Advocacy 101 event and happy hour, a Roundtable breakfast was held the next day where updates were provided on current legislation AIA PA has sponsored. Read more about AIA Pittsburgh advocacy in this coverage of AIA Pittsburgh’s participation in AIA PA’s Architects Action Day and this legislative update from the Construction Legislative Council on PAS Infrastructure.

Photo credit: Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture / Christina Brown This past fall, the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture (SoA) inaugurated EX-CHANGE, an end-of-semester exhibition celebrating student work. On 4 May 2018, the school opened the second EX-CHANGE, which featured a week-long exhibition followed by a day of discussions with Ming Fung, AIA, principal, and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Hodgets+Fung and director of Academic Affairs at SCI-Arc; Mitch McEwen, assistant professor at Princeton University School of Architecture, principal of McEwen Studio and co-founder of A(n) Office; and Amy Kulper, associate professor and head of the Department of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. Discussions on Saturday, May 5 covered issues of pedagogy and practice framed by questions posed...

Got Advocacy?  This month affords several opportunities to learn more about how the AIA advocates for you AND how to get more involved.  AIA Pittsburgh is hosting AIA PA President Scott Compton, AIA and AIA PA Executive Director Stephen Swarney for two days of events.  You can also see AIA Pittsburgh by the numbers as our 2017 AIA PGH Annual Report has just been released.  And finally, be sure to save-the-date of October 25th for the Design Pittsburgh Awards Ceremony and Gala.  More details coming soon.

In my first week of graduate school, the department chair told our cohort – “What we do here is not normal. That’s why we provide student health services.” He then launched into a listing of the various services provided by the university for student wellness, reciting a litany of different offices and facilities for safety and security, mental, physical and emotional health. Over time, we’ve come to think of student wellness as a set of disparate health services provided for student well-being. This change has largely resulted from specific trends and changes in college healthcare needs, such as rising stress and anxiety levels among students, attention deficit disorders, suicide awareness and prevention, and increasing levels of violence and sexual assault on...

Securing basic credit and even modest visibility for design projects is a frequent frustration for architects. If your firm does not have the resources for a high-impact publicity campaign, a few simple steps can still help you receive appropriate credit. The process does not have to be time-consuming or expensive, but it does require a little creativity and follow-through. Write it down One of the first and most important steps begins with your contract. Include a requirement that all project publicity will mention your firm. Whether your firm is the “prime,” part of a design-build or JV partnership, design architect or architect-of-record, be sure this is addressed in your professional agreement. Next, create a solid description of the project. While...

Two opportunities right at the start of the month for continuing education credits, including a building tour of Morningside Crossings, a Passive House in a Large-Scale Retrofit as a follow-up to Build Pittsburgh 2018.  Look for more tours in the coming months.  It’s FINALLY warm enough to be getting back outside.  Look for walking tours and other fun programs to experience the city in the Events section.

Attendees having some fun in front of the Pennsylvania State Capitol.  Image credit AIA Pennsylvania. Tuesday, April 17th members of AIA Pittsburgh joined with architects from across the state, led by AIA Pennsylvania, for Architects’ Day 2018.  Nearly 50  architects joined in for this advocacy day in Harrisburg where they met with senators and congressmen from their respective districts. It was a busy day for Pittsburgh members who met with Senator Randy Vulakovich, Senator Jay Costa’s staff, Senator Wayne Fontana, Representative Jake Wheatley, Representative Paul Costa, Representative Dom Costa, Representative Frank Dermody, Representative Ed Gainey, Representative Harold English, and Representative Michael Turzai. In order to promote architects’ role in the health, safety, and welfare of the public, attendees dropped off over 200 educational...