Others have declined to sign thus far, citing the paper’s criticisms of the AIA and other institutions, academia, architectural journalism, and the government. “As I look at this paper, we seem to be calling on everyone else, not each other,” says John Senhauser, FAIA, also a CORA founding counselor. “But it’s a good place to begin a dialogue. These are impassioned people, and I truly respect that.”
CRAN (the AIA’s Custom Residential Architect’s Network) has not taken an official position on the matter. “We did not feel it was right for CRAN to endorse it or not endorse it,” says Luis Jauregui, AIA, CRAN’s president. “We wanted to let individuals decide for themselves.” AIBD (American Institute of Building Design) president Dan F. Sater II, AIBD, said he hoped to collaborate with CORA members as long as the paper steered clear of trying to exclude residential designers. “I will be glad to meet and work with them in ensuring a better built world,” he says. And while the U.S. Green Building Council, which administers LEED credentials, had no direct comment on the paper, spokeswoman Ashley Katz noted that architects helped write the original LEED standards. “We’ve always convened architects in the discussion,” she adds. AIA National, for its part, is waiting to comment until the paper has been presented at its June convention.
Dennis Wedlick, AIA, the co-founder of CORA along with Dickinson and Eck, agrees with Senhauser that the paper places too much focus outside the profession. But he’s signed it and has posted an additional letter urging others to sign, even if they disagree with some portions. He also is encouraging his peers to attend the AIA national convention in June. “Residential architects need to come to Miami en masse,” he says. “If they don’t show up, there’s a missed opportunity.”
If CORA’s resolution is adopted by the AIA delegates in Miami, it will go to the AIA’s board of directors, who would vote on it at a September 2010 board meeting. At that time, according to AIA spokesperson Scott Frank, the board could vote to ratify the resolution in its complete form, partially, or not at all. If some form of the resolution is ratified, the AIA would then take further steps to act on it, depending on how or whether it affects the institute’s bylaws provisions.