Message from the AIA Eugene Section Director

Colin Dean, AIA
Eugene Section Director

Update from AIA Eugene on in-Person Events and the Fate of the Octagon

Well, the “dog days of summer” are certainly here! I hope everyone is taking any opportunity they can to safely enjoy the remaining sunny days and warm temperatures on tap for us this season.

AIA Eugene members are also experiencing some mental “Dog Days” of their own. Like all of you, I know we’re feeling the impact of not being able to see each other face to face on a regular basis. We really miss the camaraderie that goes along with our in-person events (a new term in our COVID world); lunch and learns, building tours and committee events. Most of all, we miss our friends. We want to see our colleagues in a meaningful way.

We hope there is an end in sight, and that we’ll be getting back together sooner rather than later. If you haven’t already taken an opportunity to get vaccinated, we hope you might consider it. It gives us our best chance, currently, of getting back together in-person and being able to share so many of those meaningful interactions we miss sorely in this moment.

If you are still weighing the costs or benefits of inoculation, please know we aren’t here to proselytize. We just want to let you know that we can’t wait to get back together, and anything any of us can do to help that happen is deeply appreciated. We are all in this together and we miss your faces. Please do everything you can to move the needle.

While we have so much to look forward to in the coming months, namely the AIA/ASLA Summer picnic and the 31st Annual People’s Choice Awards in the fall, it’s with great sadness that I share with you that we will soon be saying goodbye to our home, the Octagon. Our leaseholder, Summit Bank, has informed us that they’re unable to offer a lease renewal at the end of our current term ending September 30, 2022. To help ease our transition, we’ll have an option for an additional 6-month lease (on a month-to-month basis) at our current rent. While it’s not news we hoped to hear, we are glad that Summit Bank has been such a good partner for the last handful of years and will extend to us up to another year and a half to develop our new office solution. We will make this a topic of discussion at upcoming meetings of which all AIAO members are welcome to join. We hope our Eugene cohort will take a seat at the table to inform and provide vision for our next move.

I hope that, in the upcoming months, we’ll be able to properly celebrate, commemorate, and close our relationship to the AIA Eugene Octagon. It has served us well, and we’ll look forward to our next move as a Section. We hope that all of AIA Oregon will participate with us as we host our upcoming events – our Annual Picnic on August 26 is a great time to join us, and we’ll have plenty to talk about. Until then, stay safe – and thank you for everything you do. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Message from the AIA Oregon EVP/CEO

Heather Wilson
AIA Oregon EVP/CEO

No one cares about your cool

cri·tique /kriˈtēk/

noun
a detailed analysis and assessment of something, especially a literary, philosophical, or political theory.

verb
evaluate (a theory or practice) in a detailed and analytical way.

"the authors critique the methods and practices used in the research"

I wish there was a better word than “concurrent” to express the duality of a critique. A good critique is both noun and verb – it is a detailed analysis embedded inside an evaluation, an assessment of research. If delivered properly, it is the ultimate reflection; not just a mirror, but one handed to you, freshly cleaned off by a friend. Those who care deeply for one another would never let them leave the house disheveled; it is a deep love that abides at the center of critique, and I look forward to it every year of my professional life around this time. Not to be mistaken for criticism (disapproval expressed by pointing out shortcomings), critique comes from a place of assistance, not adjustment.

It’s design awards season, and I feel like these nuances between words matter during this time. I have enjoyed a privileged seat as an AIA Executive for the past several years, and that is to watch our AIA members grow and develop – sometimes from student to firm principal; and I get to watch their design acumen grow, change, and also develop. I applaud this profession for maintaining the time-honored practice of honest and genuinely respected critique, because it is an enriching experience. It takes a great deal of grit and determination (resilience, even?) to expose yourself to review that way. Our juries deliberate for hours – HOURS - with detailed discussion that teaches me something new about the practice of architecture and the people who choose to participate in it. Every. Single. Time.

I am also encouraged when I watch the discourse that comes with the design awards season. What IS good design? Well, I can tell you what it isn’t: it isn’t decoration. It isn’t art, per se; and it isn’t science, alone. It is a balance; it is a recognition that we can do both, because we know that form follows function. What we seek to dig out, through precedent research, through academic pursuit, through artistic representation, is the truth of the function: what purpose does this serve? It is not enough to be beautiful, where design is concerned. It is not really enough, just to be cool. In fact, I don’t care about your cool, and neither will your jury.

They’ll care about your story; how you solved a problem by marrying art, creativity, materials and expertise into an elegant solution that elevates the practice of architecture somehow; that advances the conversation of how we find the truth in every project to serve. I am especially excited this year because I will be introduced to all of you by way of your entered work, and I simply can’t wait to see it. I am looking forward to seeing what we’ve been able to produce in this extraordinary year, and I hope everyone able will participate. If you have any questions about this years’ process, please do not hesitate to reach out to AIAO Staff. Please keep an eye out for submission deadlines and event updates, and please submit your entries this year!

Message from the AIAO President-Elect

Kaley Fought, AIA
AIAO President-Elect

Facilities Update - Moda Center Suite

As many of you know, we are reaching the end of our lease at the CFA in Portland this year. In conjunction with the board, our Facilities Task Force reviewed and discussed the various options for staying in place or moving to a new location. Working remotely has allowed all of us to rethink the way we work, communicate, and socialize, and this mindset adjusted the lens through which we were reviewing spaces up for consideration. With this in mind, we are very excited to be taking up interim residence at a suite in the Rose Quarter.

Following a rather chaotic, and yet strangely isolated year of events, AIAO has decided to shake things up and leverage the current uncertainty as an opportunity to extend our reach. During the last 12 years at the Center for Architecture in the Pearl District, we have hosted numerous events, members, galleries and notable installations to share achievements in architecture and opportunities for education and connection with our peers and the public. The importance, and influence, of architecture and the spaces we choose to share in experience is always at the forefront of my mind, and I think it’s important for our physical location to be a place that facilitates our goals as an organization. The value in having a space to land for CEU opportunities, social gatherings, and architecturally relevant displays is, I believe, a critical component to a successful AIAO. We will have reservable access to the many well-appointed venues at the Rose Quarter, ranging from conference rooms to large event gathering spaces.

Each space is effectively ready to go with A/V, furniture, and catering, and allows easy access for members and staff via secured free parking and public transportation.

There are numerous factors and points of discussion that we have considered during the last year, and ultimately came to the conclusion that our current location and lease arrangement is no longer our best option. Rather than jumping immediately into a new lease and/or location, we have decided to spend the next few years exploring options, evaluating our needs as an organization, and gathering insight into how we will function moving forward. Financially, this move creates independence as we expect to recoup the cost of the lease through ticket sales. With our 3-year lease at the Rose Quarter, we will not have the financial burden of finding and building out a new space, while improving our ability to host in-person and broadcasted events. The ticket sales for the upcoming concert season are projected to be a net gain in our revenue over the next three years, placing us firmly on solid financial footing to explore a new space, or possibly several spaces around the state.

We have had ongoing conversations around how we can better position ourselves in the broader community so that we not only have a positive influence on the built environment, but also become a viable resource for community leaders and allied organizations. This location gives us an opportunity to reach new sponsors, broaden our public awareness through strategic marketing and events, and have an elevated platform to extend our reach. I’m excited for the unique approach this takes, and thrilled that Heather has come out of the gate with a new perspective on how we serve our members. It should be an engaging few years, and I’m looking forward to the shift!

Learn more about the Facilities Big Picture in Heather’s article for the July 22 T@3