1. Bike Laws
The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) continues its Traffic Advisory
Speaker Series this winter with Helle Søholt, founding partner and CEO
of Gehl Architects, the firm that helped transform New York City’s Times
Square into a multimodal, pedestrian-friendly nexus. Søholt will
identify ways to adapt the lessons of Times Square for other cities at
BSA on Jan. 23, and discuss the urban imperative to strike a balance
between biking, automobiles, and mass-transit systems.
Learn more and register to attend at architects.org/programs-and-events.
2. World Wide Storefront
New York City’s Storefront for Art and Architecture ends its call for
proposals on Jan. 31 for World Wide Storefront, a competition to
establish alternative art, design, and architecture exhibition spaces
modeled after Storefront’s successful Little Italy digs, designed by
Vito Acconci and Steven Holl, FAIA. But the $1,000 seed money prize
isn’t about encouraging your average pop-up shop; it’s about encouraging
multiple pop-up shops that will open their doors simultaneously from
Sept. 19 to Nov. 21, all backed by a curatorial vision, compelling
programming, and a digital strategy.
Learn more and register before the deadline at wwstorefront.org.
3. My Kind of Town
Adler, Atwood, Barney, Beeby, Bofill, Booth, Burnham, Cohen, Coolidge,
de Blois, Freed, Gang, Griffin, Hayden, Holabird, Hood, Howells, Jenney,
Kerbis, Merrill, Mies van der Rohe, Nagle, Owings, Perkins, Rapp (x2),
Richardson, Root, Rutan, Shepley, Skidmore, Sullivan, Tange, Tigerman,
Viguier, Weese, Will, Wright. Sure, there are other architects who have
made Chicago an extraordinary city, but we’d need this entire issue of
architect to list them.
Learn more about the Chicago experience at the 2014 AIA National Convention on June 26–28 at aia.org/convention.
4. Sky High
The central theme of the 1972 BBC documentary Reyner Banham Loves Los
Angeles is fairly clear. But if you’re looking for a more nuanced take
on L.A., seek out an old copy of the historian and critic’s 1971 book
Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies, which centers on the
beach, the freeways, the flatlands, and the foothills. Banham is not the
first to observe that cities are composed of seen and unseen elements
such as infrastructure, ecotomes, geology, and culture. He was, however,
one of the most colorful proponents of a holistic view of urbanism.
Skyline 2014, a free architecture, art, and technology exhibition (Feb.
13–23), will offer a spin on Banham’s thesis with 16 installations in
downtown Los Angeles, curated by L.A. mainstays Greg Lynn, Eric Owen
Moss, FAIA, Francois Perrin, Intl. Assoc. AIA, and others.
Learn more at lerata.org/upcoming-projects.
5. ACD5 Alive
The new AIA Contract Documents online service, ACD5, launches this month
and offers convenient online access to over 160 time-tested AIA
documents. ACD5 also has new features such as a personal clause library,
custom templates, and easy contract collaboration. Plus, you can rock
your administrative capabilities for multiple-user accounts. Compatible
with Macs and PCs.
Learn more at www.aia.org/contractdocs.
6. Grassroots
This year’s AIA Grassroots Leadership and Legislative Conference
experience will provide attendees the advocacy skills to better serve
their AIA chapter and component constituents. It’s also a chance to join
members of the AIA Advocacy team for visits to Capitol Hill to speak
with members of Congress and inspire a new generation of leaders. “In
addition to making our voices heard on Capitol Hill, AIA Grassroots is
an exceptional opportunity to network among component leaders,” says
Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, 2014 AIA first vice president and 2015
president-elect. “It’s a great time to learn from each other, share
successes and challenges.”
Learn more at aia.org/conferences.