Message from the AIA Oregon Executive Vice President

Heather Wilson
AIAO EVP/CEO

It’s not very easy to plot a path from A to Z. Contrary to what the linear nature of that phrase suggests, the path is so curly you can’t see straight. Anyone with a few years of adult life under their belt will tell you that the Heard it through the Grapevine lyrics are true: “people say believe half of what you see….and none of what you hear.” That doesn’t make for easy ways to the solutions of complex problems. And it doesn’t matter how you feel about that.

There are a lot of people who make a lot of money to help people figure out how to get from A to Z; one of my favorite “gurus” is currently Brene Brown; I also love listening to “Revisionist History” with Malcolm Gladwell; and in person, no one beats Patty Dobrowolski at Up Your Creative Genius. I rely on my personal coach, Tamara Williams Van Horn, and I call on family and friends as needed. You learn to stock your toolbox if you stay on that purpose-driven journey.

My grandmother was a hard-tack woman who stood nearly 6’2” tall. She had beautiful but severe features that I assumed came from giving birth to nine children, spending some time in an insane asylum, and being a black woman charged with feeding, clothing, and housing those nine children to reasonable independence. I learned that lesson about building a toolbox from her. She told me the most important tool to carry was gratitude. That it would be the source of my resilience.

I may have already said this: I remain encouraged by the stories of our history that remind me that those who came before me did more, with less, and were more grateful for the results.

This is how I come by the tactic of how to take a next step in anything difficult: Breathe – get grateful for your last glimpse of the world as you blink, and then get active as your eyes open again and you are gifted with another moment. It’s that complex and that simple. It’s a cycle and a lifestyle. It’s a way of being that invites waves of gratitude into each moment to prepare you for the next. It is maybe uncomfortable as a concept as first, but then very reassuring as a practice in the moment.

And make no mistake – we are in the middle of so many moments. We are working on so many complex issues. Diversity, Inclusion and Equity; Resilience in the built environment; the real issues of climate change and its imperatives. Reopening built space after pandemic. Homelessness.

Your tasks are not small.

But next steps are possible.

Take a deep breath.

Get Grateful.

Let’s begin our next moment.

Message from the AIA Eugene Director-Elect

Rex Prater, AIA
AIA Eugene Director-Elect

Small Firms Exchange

So what exactly is the AIA Small Firm Exchange (SFx)?  Is it where I can I sell that old plotter in the backroom? 

Joking aside, let me introduce myself. I am Director-elect for the Eugene Section and work for (as principal owner) a small multidisciplinary design firm named BALANCE architecture+design, p.c. In practice we provide design services to clients around the PNW. Established over ten years ago, I can honestly testify that each year is an incredible experience. Part of what has made it incredible has been my engagement with my AIA Section and SFx group. My practice wouldn’t be where it is today without the support and resources of this organization.

Now to loop back to my comment regarding SFx as a member resource. What I like about SFx Eugene Group is that it is a group of dedicated members who really value sharing information and their experiences in running a small design firm. When we meet every few months - except during the pandemic - it is always an opportunity to share and to ask other small firm members questions such as best practices, process or exchange design ideas. These events are always open to any member.

In Eugene the group meetings usually take place at a casual setting - someone’s office or the neighborhood pub with an emphasis on social time. That’s important. Though the events are (usually) constructed around a topic or predetermined idea, such as ‘work-life-balance,’ what I find exciting are the conversations and the exchanges within those conversations. 

I am grateful for the resources this organization has made available to members and for me personally as well as for my business. Much of this has come from my engagement with the SFx group. If you, too, are interested in small firms discussions, please consider attending an upcoming SFx event. Contact info@aiaoregon to learn how to get involved in the SFx in your area.

Message from the NOMA PDX Treasurer and a Principal at LEVER

Chandra Robinson, AIA
Principal, LEVER Architecture
Treasurer, NOMA PDX

I am Not Resilient

What do you think about when you hear the word “resilience”? Initially, I think about technical design features like rocking walls and flexing diagrids and their role in allowing buildings to recover after seismic events. I think about how the most advanced building air filtration systems can at least partially protect occupants from unforeseen threats like wildfire smoke and airborne viruses. What I do not like to think about is how humans have to be resilient. It's an American value to be strong and fight; to never give up and to rise up when you have been pushed down. Resilience is bending and not breaking.

The reality is that almost everyone in the world has been pushed down a lot since the pandemic started. Many have been pushed much more than me. I am lucky. I am healthy. I have security in my career and security in my housing. By all accounts I should be emotionally resilient and able to scroll past news when I see politicians enact laws that take away people's rights. I should be able to bounce back when people who look like me are killed in the streets. The reality is that I don’t bounce back. I have bent and I have broken and I am building myself back up, but I am not the same anymore. Injustices hurt more every time I see them, not less. I suspect that many of you feel the same way. I hope that like me, you are not the same anymore.

Soon, we will have the opportunity to come together again in offices, industry events and community meetings. I will be thrilled when we can collaborate closely and in person. I am excited to have that easy rapport with colleagues and friends. However, when we do come together again, I want you to remember that we are not the same people who last worked together in March 2020. I do not want to go back to “normal” because normal was willful ignorance. Normal was narcissism. When we come together, let’s be different, let's be broken, let’s be better.