From advocacy with local government to planning continuing education series and even axe-throwing, here is what the AIA Pittsburgh committees have been working on the last few months and what to keep an eye out for coming up! Interested in any of the topics or activities below? Get involved – committees are open for additional members! Send an email to info@aiapgh.org and ask to be connected with any of our committees.
Advocacy Committee Chair: John Ryan
The Advocacy Committee is in conversation about opportunities for City Council and/or County Council outreach and reviewing approaches to affordable housing. Committee members will meet with Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak on June 14th and PLI Director Sarah Kinter and David Green on June 30th, along with DCP Director Karen Abrams, and Kyle Chintalapalli, Chief Economic Development Officer.
Blueprint for Better (B4B) Committee Chair: Amanda Markovic
The Blueprint for Better Committee is currently building out their calendar to include Advocacy with mayor’s office, city council, Allegheny County Commissioners, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership.
Committee on the Environment (COTE) Chairs: George Rieke and Cat Wick
The Committee on the Environment is planning a 2-part series about urban mining and deconstruction in September. A 4-part series about tall/mass timber will follow in October/November in conjunction with the GBA.
Design + Research Group Chair: Joshua Lee
Design + Research Group began participating in Collective Joint Research Brainstorming for the AIA Upjohn Research Grant. Coming up, they will be taking part in the IEQ Sensor Show and Tell at Carnegie Mellon University.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Community Chair: Chuck Coltharp
The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Community continues to work on EDI presentations and developing topics for foundational conversations as part of starting the EDI conversation within firms.
Young Architects Forum Chair: Greg Coni
The Young Architects Forum (YAF) hosted AIA Pgh Board of Directors member Quintin Kittle at their General Assembly meeting to give an introduction to Advocacy for architects. They intend to use the interest generated from this meeting to participate in other advocacy events through AIA Pittsburgh, such as District Days. Additional events included axe throwing in Millvale – a great success with many new faces – and teaming up with AIA Pittsburgh for the building tour of the Assembly building on Baum.
Coming up, YAF is beginning to plan for the Young Architects Studio Competition, continuing ARE review sessions, and is looking to bring more representatives in from other committees in order to continue connecting YAF members to the organization at large. Their next “building” tour will be the CAP project over 579 on Monday, June 20; RSVP here.