Summer 2008

by John G. Jessen, AIA, NCARB, IIDA

Welcome to the Interior Architecture Knowledge Community's summer 2008 newsletter. The focus of this edition is education, including discussions of the "traditional" architectural curriculum, new degree programs with an interior architecture specialization, Intern Development Program (IDP), web-based tools, professional continuing education opportunities, and learning from each other as peers. This issue presents multiple perspectives, offers lessons learned, captures forecasts and provides information to help optimize your practice.

Featured in this newsletter are articles by Margo Jones, FIIDA, IDEC, LEED AP, and Annie Chu, AIA, NCARB. "A Win-Win Scenario: Interns in Office Practice," by Margo Jones, is a discussion of the evolving role of interns in architectural and interior design firms as they begin to play a larger role in the design of project-related work and provide expertise in the field of building information modeling (BIM), sustainability, and other developments which are being prominently featured in institutions of higher education. "What of mobile emergency relief centers, truck stops and courthouses?", by Annie Chu, tells the story of the 1:2 Student Design Charrette, a one-day student scholarship program competition with a $23,000 purse shared amongst the top three tier teams.
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A Win-Win Scenario: Interns in Office Practice
By Margo Jones, FIIDA, IDEC, LEED AP
Savannah College of Art and Design

During recent visits to architectural and interior design firms in Chicago and the Washington, DC, area, a key topic for discussion was the evolving role of interns in office practice. In addition to assisting with traditional overhead tasks, such as updating vendor information, cataloguing materials and archiving projects, principals and project team leaders are engaging emerging professionals in a broader range of project-related work, often relying on the intern as much as they would on any other team member.
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What of mobile emergency relief centers, truck stops and courthouses?
(A report on the 1:2 Design Charrette)
by Annie Chu, Interior Architecture Advisory Group member
Principal, Chu+Gooding Architects, Los Angeles

When the Interior Architecture Advisory Group began our outreach to local component committees, we discovered a noteworthy scholarship program that captured our imagination. This is a 16-year-old Los Angeles story; a joint effort between the professional, academic and product communities that has resulted in a robust annual student competition whose goals reach beyond benevolence. The program has evolved as a unifying purpose for the committee and a force that encourages the committee to continue to thrive.

The 1:2 Student Design Charrette is a highly anticipated event on the spring calendar of Los Angeles area architecture and design schools that offer programs in interior architecture, environmental design and architecture. The long-running program has progressed to become a one-day interior architecture scholarship competition with a $23,000 purse shared amongst the top three tier teams and the three finalists.
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Sink or Swim
By Adrianne Gregory, Heitman Architects Incorporated

In 2006, Heitman Architects initiated its own educational experiment with the goal of fully integrating what we believed to be a better way of providing architectural services, utilizing a new software platform that would change our architectural practice and office dynamics, as well as the services for our clients.

Although Building Information Modeling (BIM) came on the scene in 1997, few firms across the country were harnessing its power. As we explored the complexity and capabilities that BIM could provide, it seemed that one roadblock to architecture firms’ implementation was the steep learning curve, combined with an unwillingness to put aside what for most of us was already a universally-recognized platform: AutoCad. Additionally, existing hardware did not have the power needed to run these programs, and upgrading was costly.
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Intimacy of the In-Between
By Randall Stauffer, IIDA, IDEC, Chair of Interior Architecture, Woodbury University

Elizabeth Grosz in Architecture from the Outside (2001) writes, “The space of the in-between is the locus of social, cultural, and natural transformations…where becoming, openness to futurity, outstrips the conservational impetus to retain cohesion and unity.” In many ways the idea she espouses illustrates the importance of interior architecture, whose main formal attribute is inherently about in-betweeness. It aspires to the design of space that is open to the possibilities of fluid interaction between multiple subjects and their relationship to the material world. In its investigation into the critical articulation of space and its social conditions, the practice of interior architecture becomes an act of designing space that reinforces an intimate relationship between the human body and the material world.
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The Interiors Architecture Knowledge Community Advisory Group (AG) met with AG members from the other AIA Knowledge Communities in Denver July 9-11 for the Knowledge Leadership Assembly (KLA). The annual meeting provides a forum for each AG to meet the others and share successes, describe work in progress and receive updates from Institute leadership and staff about existing programs and new initiatives. KLA also provides each AG the opportunity to come together as a group and prepare the strategic plan for the upcoming year.

Members of the IA KC AG in Denver. L to R: Steve McCollom, Annie Chu, John Jessen, Tim Hawk.

Several members of the IA KC AG are participating in various conferences this fall - if you plan to attend any of these events, be sure to make time for these presentations!

AIA Ohio 2008 Convention
Oct 2 - 4, Akron OH
Tim Hawk and Hank Hildebrandt: "Rapid Prototyping of the Inside"
Thursday Oct 2 3:30 - 4:30pm
www.aiaohio.com

Texas Society of Architects 69th Annual Convention
Oct 23 - 25
Fort Worth TX
Richard Logan and Steven McCollom: "Interior Architectural Design as a Business Strategy"
Thursday, Oct 23 2:15 - 3:30pm
www.texasarchitect.org

AIA California Council Practice Conference
Nov 14 - 16, San Diego CA
Annie Chu and Steven McCollom: "Grow Your Practice: the Interior Advantage"
Saturday Nov 15 9:30am
www.aiacc.org

Build Boston
Nov 18 -20, Boston MA
John Jessen, Angie Lee and Tim Hawk : "Grow Your Practice: the Interior Advantage"
Thursday, Nov 20 1:00-2:30 pm.
www.buildboston.com

Please email interiors@aia.org if you have any additional questions, comments, or would like to become more involved in the Interior Architecture Advisory Group! We are seeking architects for a number of committee positions including Research, Outreach, Programs, and Sponsorship.

AIA San Francisco: "Architecture and the City" Festival
Sept 1 -30
www.aiasf.org

The 11th Annual Design Meets Los Angeles Beaux Arts Ball
Saturday, Sept 27
www.aialosangeles.org

Green and Design Conference and Expo, Georgia World Congress Center
Oct 2-3
www.greendesignexpo.com

Applied Brilliance 2008 Conference, Bolton Landing, NY
Oct 14 -16
www.appliedbrillance.com

AIA New York: Armstrong World Industries: "Specifiers Symposium for Ceilings, Walls and Architectural Specialties"
Oct 23
www.aiany.org

AIA Chicago: Designight at Navy Pier
Oct 24
www.aiachicago.org

AIA New York: Heritage Ball at Chelsea Piers, Pier 60
Oct 30
www.aiany.org

We also encourage everyone to visit www.contractmagazine.com for the "Who's Coming, Going and Moving Up" in the News link, and to check the Competitions and Awards link on the same website. Additionally, the Interior Design Magazine website (www.interiordesign.net) has a new feature ID TV with interviews and new product offerings from NeoCon 2008.