Over three days from March 9th - 11th 2023 we held the 3rd annual AIA International Spring Conference, with 22 talks presented live from around the globe on the theme Detail & Storytelling. We were delighted to get 1205 registrations from 75+ countries! In our open call for proposals, members were asked to describe a project through the evolution of key Details, or to look at Storytelling as part of the design process.
From AIA Shanghai, Jason Holland, AIA, 2023 Global Practice commitee chair, gave the opening session and kicked off our series of stories with Once Upon a Design: Unleashing the magic of storytelling in Interior spaces. Jason gave great insight into the use of storytelling as part of developing experiences for International and Chinese brands to create retail spaces that reflect the unique voice of the brand and engage consumers.
Our Keynote speakers included James von Klemperer, FAIA, RIBA presenting the global work of KPF through three projects from the recently launched book Design in Detail; Natalia Ford of the British Antarctic Survey presenting Sustainability in Extreme Environments; and Christine Bruckner, FAIA and Illya Azaroff, FAIA presenting COP27, Decarbonization, and the Sustainable Future Award. Then on Saturday, the three International representatives to the College of Fellows congratulated the new Fellows elevated this year, and introduced presentations by Giancarlo Alhadeff, FAIA and Li Xiaodong, Honorary FAIA giving an overview of some of their work around the world.
We were excited to have the leadership of AIA National involved, starting with a conference welcome message from Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA during the opening session where conference chair Alex Miller, AIA in London and Scott Gold, AIA in Tokyo welcomed all the participants. Later, AIA International Strategic Council representative Lester Korzilius, FAIA moderated the popular Women in Architecture panel, where we were joined live by AIA National President Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA and First Vice President Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, NOMAC, who both discussed their careers and several of AIA National’s initiatives. Finally, AIA CEO Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE provided a recorded message to close the conference.
Throughout the conference, the presenters impressed our attendees with the depth of their knowledge, insight, and thoughtfulness. We heard stories about an incredible range of projects on six continents including Antarctica! From Brazil, we heard about several projects in Manaus by Laurent Troost, including Cassina Innovation House. From Ho Chi Minh City, we heard from Dam Vu about Bó Mon Preschool in Vietnam which serves multiple villages.
The AIA United Kingdom Chapter presented a panel for Not Dead Yet: Historic Buildings and the Climate Crisis with Katharine Storr, AIA, Adam Watkins, Sam Harvey, and Morwenna Slade. On the second day, AIA UK’s Etain Fitzpatrick, AIA presented The Northcliffe Story, on the history and refurbishment of the former headquarters of the Daily Mail newspaper, a Grade II-listed building in the City of London. David Martin, AIA and Aaron Taylor shared Science in the Age of the Invisible, about the new facility for the Institute of Regeneration and Repair at the University of Edinburgh. Moving over to the AIA Continental Europe chapter, Robert Schmid, AIA told us about the history of the German Reichstag Parliament building and the process of transforming it, culminating in the new dome.
Presenters from AIA Canada shared two stories. Dr. Nancy Mackin, AIA told the tale of Tsawwassen First Nation Youth Centre near Vancouver, Canada. She interwove how the building was designed in dialogue with its users with the ecological approach of the building and its Dowel Laminated Timber (DLT) structure. Gerry Lang, AIA gave us The Myth of Simplicity, on the five year process to build a house inspired by the Los Angeles Case Study houses in the Canadian climate. From the Middle East, Arthi Balasubramanian shared The Way Our Ancestors Lived: The Power of Storytelling in a Heritage Context. Her talk in four parts described the story of a place, the story of a people, the story of a building, and the story of a typology. From Uganda, Dr. Allan Birabi, Head of the Heritage Studies Program, Islamic University In Uganda presented African Architectural Semiotics: The Untapped Pan-African Architects’ Treasure Trove for Storytelling. He shared the message that architect should never be ashamed of fronting architectural design schemes into storytelling projects rich in African architectural semiotics, and should always revitalize and promote them.
----
From Singapore, AIA International First Vice President Yew Kee Cheong, FAIA’s session In Praise of Light and Bicycles told us about his early life there and his projects, including the detail of bringing light into a house and a larger scheme considering bicycles as a generator of placemaking. From Tokyo, James Scott Brew, AIA shared the story of Resilience by Design: Leveraging a Disaster for Building Solutions, starting from risk assessment to responding to a corporate client’s ethos of safety and reliability for Daiyagate near Ikebukuro Station, a building over 100m tall spanning over the railway lines. From Taipei, David Lee, AIA told the story Cultural Front: Kinmen Public Library & Arts Museum, about the military history of the former barracks site, the inspiration drawn from the geographic features of the site, the proposals for the library and art museum complex, and how the connection of the materials to the craft traditions of Kinmen developed into the design vocabulary. AIA Hong Kong Chapter member and AIA Upjohn research fellow Vikki Lew, AIA shared Quantitative Details: The Application of Data and Simulations in the Design Process. The talk covered simulations to compare base cases versus high performance parameters, life cycle assessments, and shared resources available from various sources including the UN, and articles published on data-driven design in the AIA Young Architect's Forum Connection journal.
From Latin America we also heard from Andres Gobba Hannay, Intl. Assoc. AIA, who told us the story of the Sacromonte hotel, a prefabricated hotel in a remote landscape in Uruguay. Washington Fajardo shared some of his personal reflections on architecture and told us the story of Rio's Reviver Centro Plan (Revive the Center in Portugese), whose aims include improving the public realm, transparency in city planning with publicly accessible 3D models of approvals, and increasing housing density.
The conference sessions were recorded and are now available via the AIA International website on the Conference Program page. These can be viewed readily. For those seeking more CES credits, viewers can submit the accompanying online quiz.
With the closing session, Alex Miller AIA as conference chair gave his closing thoughts in the form of One Last Story, describing two significant buildings in London and their relevance to the conference.
Alex’s AIA lapel pin on the Prime Meridian line, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London
Finally, AIA CEO Lakisha Ann Woods recorded a message for attendees emphasizing the organisation’s focus on climate action for human and ecological health and advancing racial, gender, and ethnic equity, and explained how this informs every aspect of the building renovation project of the AIA's own headquarters. She recognized that there are 2.7 million architects internationally and went on to note that members attending the conference demonstrated how engaged they are with the organization.
AIA International would like to thank all those that participated, including our audience for their engagement and for asking thoughtful questions throughout. And a huge thank you to the fantastic speakers and moderators!
We are proud to be able to offer the conference at no cost to members and the public through the generous support of our sponsors. A special thank you to Dow, ASI, AECOM, American Hardwood Export Council, Informa and TNG NorthGlass!
Alex Miller, AIA
Conference Chair and Adjunct Director, AIA International
