Message from the Chair of the AIAO Facilities Task Force

Bill Hart, AIA
Former AIA Portland Board director/officer
Chair, AIAO Facilities Task Force

AIA Oregon Facilities Task Force

The Task: To determine the physical presence of AIA Oregon within our state-wide system.

Historically AIA in Oregon has had an organizational structure and governance which is very different than the one we have today.  The new statewide structure of AIA Oregon being under one chapter with five local sections was a format intended to primarily improve and provide a better experience for AIA members.  Our state served as one of the few states that moved in this innovative and transformative direction under guidance from AIA National. The secondary goal would be to support and enhance the improved and sustainable environments for our communities and neighborhoods through community outreach and engagement.

In the past the AIA has had two formal locations to serve the design community.  The (CFA) Center for Architecture in Portland, a 5,000-sf space which has served as a multi-purpose center for AIA Portland offices, education space, conference room and community gathering space.  In Eugene, we have had the Octagon, a 391 sf glass-wrapped space that serves as office, meeting, and display space..  Currently, the AIA Eugene PCA boards are on display and can be viewed from the exterior.

As we consider the transition of the state-wide AIA Oregon, we need to assess and review our facilities to determine if we are truly leveraging our resources.  We would like to provide maximum effectiveness of our efforts and resources, but we need a few things. We need your voices and engagement along the way.  With the assistance of our current EVP, Curt Wilson, we have identified several members to form a state-wide Task Force that represents each geographical section of the state.  I have accepted the request from the AIA Oregon Board to chair the task force.  Collectively, and along with your voices, we will consider our existing spaces in Eugene and Portland and see what the future holds in store.  We will examine the programs and activities along with the expenses of providing these services to consider the financial feasibility and stability of our programs.

As we think about the future it is time to focus on a vision.  What do we want the AIA Oregon to do for its members and the supporting community?  What kind of services and programs do our members desire and require?  What opportunities for support and engagement do we have with our associate partners in associated design fields, engineering, and construction?  How do we systematicly work with our vendors to provide opportunity for social engagement and networking?  These are just a few of the questions as we consider the future. 

While we begin to consider our spatial needs let us focus on our vision of design integrity, support, education, and community engagement on our state-wide system.  While the goal is to have a centralized operational system state-wide, we anticipate and continue to support each section so it is an authentic representation of the local community.  Central to all this effort is your voice in describing and representing a variety of visions.

This is a difficult challenge but the advent of COVID has forced us to move faster than anticipated.  Using technology our profession has been able adopt to virtual meetings and social distancing.  We find ourselves in a temporary condition which has lasted far longer than expected, but it will provide us a memory of a lifetime.  As we move ahead and consider distance learning and virtual meetings, we seek a blending of technology with human interaction.  In the future, when COVID has receded away, we will not return to the old ways.  I believe there will be a blending of many forms of communication and engagement.  The comfort of working from home (WFH) will combine with an occasional visit to the office for collaboration and creativity which we all relish. 

How does this all work?  We do not have all the answers, but a few of us have some thoughts about solutions.   Some things we would like to share with you to “get the conversation started”.  To initiate discussion on how we all stimulate our colleagues to continue to promote quality design.  To challenge us to mentor and encourage the next and future generations of architects and designer.  To fully engage and participate in the education of our communities about their role in making our environments sustainable and healthy for all of us.  We need you to get “out of the box” and explore how our industry can effectively leverage our resources to enhance our contribution to our entire communities.

An immediate goal of the task force is to develop recommendations to the AIA Oregon Board for our occupancy of the CFA.  The original construction loan will be paid off in the middle of 2022 and our current lease expires at the end of 2021. 

The topic of the 12/4 Virtual Happy Hour is an overview of the Facilities Task Force goals and process, and an open discussion about how we may use space in a post-Covid world, which will give any member the opportunity to comment on spatial needs.  Register Here to participate.

If you would like to be a participant on this journey, please contact Curt Wilson, AIA at cwilson@aiaoregon.org with your thoughts, concerns, and ideas.

Join us.  We welcome your voice.

Message from the AIAO Public Policy Consultant

Cindy Robert
AIAO Public Policy Consultant

Oregon General Election Results 

 No great election surprises in Oregon. Senator Shemia Fagan (D) beat Senator Kim Thatcher (R) in the race for the Secretary of State, Treasurer Tobias Read (D) was reelected to a second term, our US Senators and Congressional members remain the same, though with Congressman Walden’s decision to retire, Cliff Bentz (R) will replace him in DC.

In the legislature, the Democrats retained super-majority control of the Oregon Senate and House. But, ultimately, Democrats were unable to pick up the seats needed to assure a quorum-proof body in either the House or Senate (the walkouts in last two sessions were tools used by Republicans to halt action as the Oregon Constitution requires a 2/3 quorum to conduct business). So Democrats can pass tax increases without Republican buy in, but can’t convene for business in either body without Republicans showing up.  The tactics of the Republicans in the 2019 and 2020 sessions weigh heavily on the legislative leaders as they plan for the 2021 session.  Will we see a less aggressive agenda?   Time will tell.

In the Senate, Democrats in the majority lost a south coast seat but gained one in Salem to retain control and remain at 18 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

In the House, Democrats in the majority lost south and north coast seats and Republicans lost a seat in Bend, leading to a net of one Republican seat and new numbers of 37 Democrats and 23 Republicans.

All of our statewide ballot measures passed so the path is paved for campaign contribution caps, cigarettes will be taxed higher and be joined by e-cigarettes and vaping devices, psilocybin mushrooms are legal in therapeutic settings, and some hard drug crimes are decriminalized and addiction recovery centers are funded.

The AIA Oregon Legislative Affairs Committee, lead by co-Chair Kim Olson, AIA and EVP Curt Wilson, AIA are planning for the 2021 session, which will be unprecedented due to social distancing measures.  The LAC is working with ACEC Oregon (American Council of Engineering Companies) on a bill to limit the impact of Duty to Defend clauses in contracts, we remain in close contact with the Oregon State Board of Architect Examiners on potential changes to statute, and we are paying close attention to the status of leadership at the Building Codes Division and how that might impact the implementation of the Governors Executive Order 20-04 to increase the minimum energy performance requirements in the code through 2030.

The LAC Steering Committee will be providing an update on the 2021 session preparation at a Zoom event on Thursday, 12/3 at 5:00.  Follow this link to learn more and register.

Message from a Fellow

Martha Peck Andrews, FAIA
”Looking for a few good Fellows”

A few weeks ago, at a meeting of the Oregon AIA Fellows – a virtual meeting, of course,  due to the COVID-19 pandemic – I volunteered to write a column about what AIA Fellowship is all about.  That got me to reflecting about how my own architectural career has evolved from a student at the University of Oregon in the 1960’s-70’s, into my first part-time job in an architecture firm during college, through internship and employment in several firms (Texas and Oregon), and eventually partnership with my husband James E. Andrews, AIA, in our own Portland-based firm for 35 years.  Even though I am recently retired, the American Institute of Architects has been an important part of my professional life, especially with election to AIA Fellowship. 

Frequently I have been asked what that means, to be a “Fellow” in the AIA.  This column is written on behalf of the Oregon AIA Fellows Committee to help answer that question.

It’s been 163 years since a group of thirteen New York architects met and agreed to form an architectural society, one that they soon audaciously decided to rename as the American Institute of Architects.  Those AIA Founding Fathers were all talented and creative, responsible for designing many of the landmark buildings being erected in their era, but they probably couldn’t envision the evolution of architecture as we practice in 2020.  And yes, they were all men.  White men.  Not a Founding Mother in the bunch. 

For that matter, they weren’t even architects by today’s standards.  In 1857, there were no educational standards, no internships, not even requirements to demonstrate experience or competency in the interest of public welfare and safety.  All it took to be an architect back then was to simply proclaim yourself an architect. 

But they were visionary, and they were influential in setting standards for our profession. We are the fortunate inheritors of what they started.  Some of us initially join the American Institute of Architects so that we can put the letters “AIA” behind our names. Most of us soon take our professional involvement to a higher level through volunteer service in our communities, education, research, and mentoring. Along the way, we reap the benefits of AIA membership like seminars and tours, design awards programs, and especially the camaraderie of other professionals – not a small thing where many of us work solo or in very small firms. A few AIA members are granted the distinction to add an “F” in front of the AIA to designate “Fellow” in the American Institute of Architects.

So what really is that “FAIA” all about?   To quote the AIA’s own history, “The origins of the term ‘Fellow’ are lost amid the earliest records of the AIA.”  When founded, the organization recognized two levels of membership, Associate and Professional.  And it appears that “Fellow” was interchangeable with Professional. Just like you could decide to call yourself an architect, you could call yourself an AIA Fellow. Beginning in 1935, the AIA board appointed a jury with the responsibility of selecting AIA Fellows, and in 1952 the College of Fellows was established, which is the system of selection for Fellowship that is essentially still in place today. 

Annually the AIA College of Fellows invites submissions of applications for Fellowship, and across the entire country the AIA grants Fellowship to about 100-120 architects.  The applications are detailed and must show how that particular architect’s contributions in the profession and the greater community are outstanding.  Oregon has a legacy of extraordinary architects who have made significant contributions in design and also education, public service, and the profession.  

A candidate for Fellowship must be an AIA member for at least ten years, and then is eligible to apply for Fellowship under one of the five original founding principles of the AIA:

• To promote the esthetic, scientific and practical efficiency of the profession;

• To advance the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education, training, and practice;

• To coordinate the building industry and the profession of architecture;

• To ensure the advancement of the living standards of people;

• To make the profession of ever-increasing service to society.

The application must be endorsed by an AIA chapter or by at least ten individual AIA members, and supported by letters of recommendation.

My own pathway to Fellowship wound through private practice with a focus on elderly and special-needs housing; leadership positions in AIA Portland and AIA Oregon; and volunteer service in my community including the Portland Planning Commission.  My contributions best fit the category of “advancing the living standards of people through their improved environment.” With significant help from other women in architecture and the hands-on guidance of AIA Portland’s Fellows Committee, my application was completed and put in the mail to the College of Fellows at AIA headquarters.  (Since then, the application process has become digital.)

Early in 1998 I received a letter indicating that I had been elected to AIA Fellowship, and I was invited to the investiture ceremony during the AIA national convention in San Francisco in May 1998.  Although the AIA’s College of Fellows is headed by a Chancellor, it is nothing like any other college that I ever attended.  The leadership definitely knows how to create pomp and pageantry.  Traditionally the investiture is held in an historic or architecturally significant location.  The 1998 investiture was held in St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco designed by AIA Gold Medalist Pietro Belluschi, FAIA, an inspiring and light-filled space.  As each candidate approached the dais, a summary of their contributions was read; and Seattle architect and 1992 past-Chancellor Jane Hastings, FAIA, made a point of warmly greeting each Pacific Northwest or woman architect.  It was quite a moving experience.

At that time, I was the third woman architect in Oregon to be granted Fellowship, following in the footsteps of Marjorie Wintermute, FAIA (1979), and Mary Alice Hutchins, FAIA (1997).  Those two remarkable women had begun their architectural careers during World War II when most of the young men were marching off in uniform, and architecture firms were desperate enough to take a chance on a “girl.” (Those firms definitely got an excellent return on their gamble.)  I was part of the next generation of woman architects and I am so delighted now to see many women in our profession. 

AIA Oregon is now proud to claim about 64 Fellows, including 10 women.And we are always looking for a few more good Fellows. . . . If you would like to suggest an AIA member for nomination to Fellowship, please contact The Fellows Committee through AIA Oregon.