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Next week, scores of U.S. architects will head West for the AIA’s 2009 convention, which takes place from April 30 to May 2 in San Francisco, at the Moscone Center. While diversity is the theme of this year’s event, the economy also will be a key topic. To best serve its members, the AIA has added seminars and services devoted to business and career survival. There are now 15 workshops specifically related to the economy. (See list here.) “Remaining topically nimble is hard,” explains conference chair Patricia Benton Oliver, FAIA, but the educational sessions are the primary reason architects attend

Since it was planted in the landfill of Boston’s Back Bay district in the 1970s, I.M. Pei and Henry N. Cobb’s John Hancock Tower (1976) has been an emblem of spectacular but problematic commercial architecture. Excavation for the tower cracked the masonry of H.H. Richardson’s neighboring Trinity Church, faulty curtain walls rained glass onto surrounding streets, and the building swayed excessively. Photo © Tomtheman5/courtesy Wikipedia The Hancock Tower was sold in a foreclosure auction in late March for $660 million. The previous owners paid $1.3 billion in 2006. Now, it’s a ready symbol of today’s vertiginous commercial real estate market. The

In the firmament of U.S. presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower may not be known for his star power. But the Washington, D.C., memorial planned for the 34th commander-in-chief will enjoy the talents of a marquee-name architect: Frank Gehry. Image courtesy GSA The $110 million project is set for completion in 2014. On March 31, after six months of sifting through 44 entries, the commission assigned to the job of creating the memorial announced it picked Gehry, a Pritzker winner, to design the four-acre site, which is located a block south of the National Mall. The $110 million project, which is part

The official exhibition from the U.S. pavilion at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale has arrived in the States—and it’s proving to be more relevant than ever. Although it was originally intended to serve as a showcase of American design for a foreign audience, this time the exhibition is being presented as an example, and even a call to arms, for those at home.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), which administers the Green Globes building rating system, and have signed a memorandum of understanding that expresses their intent to work in concert to promote green building. Chris McEntee, AIA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, praised GBI’s “engagement in life-cycle assessment and promotion of post-construction third-party review.” Included in the memorandum, announced in March, is a pledge to collaborate on educational programs that address life cycle assessment, Green Globes New Construction, and Green Globes Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings. First released in Canada in January 2002,

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), which administers the Green Globes building rating system, and have signed a memorandum of understanding that expresses their intent to work in concert to promote green building. Chris McEntee, AIA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, praised GBI’s “engagement in life-cycle assessment and promotion of post-construction third-party review.” Included in the memorandum, announced in March, is a pledge to collaborate on educational programs that address life cycle assessment, Green Globes New Construction, and Green Globes Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings. First released in Canada in January 2002,

The Glasgow School of Art, one of Britain’s oldest and most distinguished design schools, has launched an international competition to select a team for a new studio and classroom building opposite Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s 1898 masterpiece, itself a competition winner.

Think you’ve been overlooked in the $787 billion economic stimulus package? Architecture and engineering (A/E) firms may find more opportunities than they would expect, says Elaine Howley, editor of the recently released manual, Guide to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, produced by ZweigWhite, a Massachusetts-based research and consulting firm. “A lot of designers are put off by the term ‘shovel-ready,’” Howley says. “They think this bill isn’t really for them, but that’s not necessarily the case.” Howley notes that while getting shovels in the ground is a priority, government agencies with stimulus funds have a wide variety

If you aren’t one of the 200 million Facebook users, now might be a good time to set up an account.  Starting next Monday, the American Institute of Architects is using the popular social networking site to host a series of “virtual” conversations about issues related to architecture. The forums are being held in conjunction with the third annual National Architecture Week, scheduled for April 13 to 19. Each day on the AIA’s “Virtual National Architecture Week” page (pictured at left) on Facebook, the association will present a different discussion topic. The lineup is as follows: Monday, community revitalization; Tuesday,