Message from an AIAO Fellow

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Paddy Tillett
AIA Fellow

My name is Paddy Tillett. FAIA and I’m a principal at ZGF Architects LLP, past-president of the Portland Chapter AIA, and founding chair of the Urban Design Panel – an advisory group co-chaired by AIA, APA and AICP local chapters. I’m also active on a number of civic boards and panels including the Portland Parks Board, Willamette Light Brigade, and I am a former president of the Portland City Club. I’m writing this message on behalf of the AIA Oregon Fellows Committee, which include the 57 AIA Fellows residing in Oregon.

With the largest concentration of AIA members in the state, the Portland Chapter has in the past been very active.  Fellows have met regularly.  Aware that we have focused on issues around those of us who meet regularly, we are now seeking an opportunity to become much more inclusive of practitioners across Oregon.

As a first step, we recently published in T@3 an article encouraging members to consider nominating themselves or others as candidates for fellowship.  This will be a great improvement on the traditional ‘who do we know who might be a viable candidate’ approach.  Another initiative that Fellows have taken is to revive the notion of a ‘Fellows Special Design Award’.  The intention is to recognize a person and their work that has contributed significantly to design and appreciation of good architecture that falls outside the parameters of the Design Awards program.  This award was not made every year; only when an especially deserving subject was found.  Prior recipients include Nohad Toulan, founder of the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at PSU; LeRoy Setziol, famed wood carver; and the McMenamin brothers.  Fellows are exploring with the Awards Committee how the special award might be reinstituted on a statewide basis.

Other topics on which Fellows are actively engaged include mentoring students and emerging professionals, establishment of an Urban Design Collaborative at PSU, improving the supply and quality of affordable housing, back-casting scenarios affecting design from year 2050, and open conversations about other ways in which Fellows can help to advance the profession, its practitioners, and the quality of the built environment.  All of these would benefit from wider engagement of present and future Fellows throughout the state, and through them, engagement of other AIAO members.

Fellowship is a recognition of exceptional contributions to the practice and theory of architecture, so collectively, AIAO’s Fellows present a valuable repository of knowledge and experience that can be drawn on for the benefit of all architects.  The intention is to share these assets among architects everywhere in Oregon.  Currently, Fellows hold virtual meetings each month, so these ideas are already being developed and shared – but our goal of member equity regardless of location has yet to be achieved.  So please let a Fellow near you know how she and her colleagues can help.

-       Paddy Tillett, written at the request of AIA Fellows at the June 2020 meeting.

For more discussion on what the AIA Oregon Fellows Committee is doing, and what it means to be a Fellow, be sure to check out our Virtual Happy Hour this Friday, July 17, at 4pm - where we will address the question, “What is a Fellow of the AIA Fellowship program?” with various AIA Oregon Fellows. Learn More and Register Here