On April 30 at its national convention in San Francisco, the American Institute of Architects released replacement construction manager documents and an updated version of AIA Contracts Documents software. The CM documents cover CM as advisor (CMa) and CM as constructor (CMc). The CM documents replace those released in 2007 and 2008. They include a dispute resolution check box that enables parties to select the method of binding dispute resolution. They incorporate the concept of an initial decision maker fill point where the owner and contractor may identify a third neutral party IDM other than the architect. The documents include
Correction appended May 22, 2009 When former Vancouver B.C. mayor Sam Sullivan introduced the city’s groundbreaking Eco-Density initiative in 2006, one of the key goals was to increase the amount of affordable infill housing. Several years later, the Vancouver city council has followed up on that promise—by approving the use of “laneway housing” in the city’s single-family home neighborhoods.
Correction appended August 27, 2009 Beijing and London made headlines last year for building sustainable facilities for the Olympic Games. Now, Vancouver is continuing that trend by going for LEED Gold. All 16 residential buildings in the city’s 2010 Winter Olympics Athlete’s Village will meet the USGBC’s Gold-level sustainability standards, according to Ian Smith, manager of the development office for Southeast False Creek, the district where the complex is located. Additionally, a 30,000-square-foot community center will be certified LEED Platinum. Image courtesy Millennium SEFC Properties The 1.4-million-square-foot complex will accommodate 3,000 athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Related Links:
In comparison to the building boom that was the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Vancouver Games have had little architectural fanfare: Most of the venues are existing stadiums, either left alone or slightly renovated. Even accounting for the lesser requirements of a Winter Games, the Olympics won’t leave much of an architectural stamp on their host city. Images courtesy Vancouver Convention Centre A 6-acre green roof tops a 338,000-square-foot addition to the Vancouver Convention Centre. Related Links: "Laneway Housing" Gets Green Light in Vancouver Olympic Village Aims High on Sustainability Scale Amid Gentrification, Vancouver Seeks Balance Bing Thom Designs New
The Cuban-born architect Max Borges Jr. passed away at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, on January 18, after an extended illness. He was 90 years old. Borges was born to a well-to-do family in Havana on July 24, 1918. He received a bachelor’s degree in architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology (1939) and subsequently earned a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard (1940). He maintained a successful Havana practice founded by his father, Max Borges del Junco, until departing for exile in the United States in 1959.
The economic woes affecting architects nationwide are echoing through the ranks of the AIA. The association has announced sweeping plans to cut costs as a means of combating slumping revenues brought on by the recession. “The Institute is feeling the impact of the recession just as we are in our firms and practices,” said Marvin Malecha, FAIA, 2009 president of the AIA, in a March 23 statement. In the first quarter of the year, the AIA saw a shortfall in membership dues, as some architects deferred payments and others ceased membership completely. Malecha also cited a decrease in revenues for
The residents of the Carrollton district of New Orleans must be prescient. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Carrollton United Neighborhood Organization (CUNO) decided that reopening Alfred C. Priestley Junior High, which had been closed since 1993, would spark local revitalization, and a survey of residents indicated widespread support for an architecture and construction charter school. In spring 2005 CUNO began negotiating with the Orleans Parish School Board to secure the vacant building for its reuse as the Priestley School of Architecture & Construction.
Atlanta has long been an epicenter of the civil rights movement, and the hometown of many of its most influential figures. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded here in 1957; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee staged sit-ins at Atlanta department stores in 1960; and the city is the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In January, Minneapolis-based Cuningham Group Architecture submitted a proposal for a public elementary school in Austin, Texas. It expected to be one of ten competing firms, says firm principal Tim Dufault, AIA; instead, it was one of two dozen. Similarly, it expected little competition for an elementary school in suburban Albuquerque—a project that ultimately drew 32 proposals. Traditionally, public schools are not the most sought after commissions, due to low budgets and little room for unique designs. That so many firms are now pursuing these types of commissions reflects a hard reality: the public realm is one of the only
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