Right On! At COD, we have an Honors and Awards Coordinator. I will make sure he sees this and see if he can figure out a way for us to work on this. I trust you understand that we already spend a large amount of volunteer energy submitting the various nominations, but maybe we can expand our team and make some progress. I have also recently been reading some documents authored by Barton Phelps FAIA on these subjects. Maybe we could hook him into this.
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-27-2011 12:02
From: Stephen Loos
Subject: Camels on the Head of a Pin
Mike, I think you have asked some important questions, and our good friend, Walter, has started you on the path to some significant answers. I'd like to build on Walter's comments with a few thoughts.
First, to me, the primary objective of our knowledge agenda must be the enhancement of the credibility of our architect members. By that I mean that we must use knowledge to further strengthen the understanding of and demand for architectural services - what we bring to the party as an integral component of the team charged with creating the built environment.
To that end, I believe the COD could have a very beneficial discussion about our awards programs at every level of the Institute. I don't believe the general public is well enough versed in design excellence to be able to consistently "know it when they see it." To often, awards are given at local and national levels with very little accompanying information about why these projects were truly worthy of awards. About the only thing the public sees are the beautiful photographs which translate, in their minds, as equating awards with nothing morer than aesthetics and great photography.
i would encourage COD's contribution to the knowledge agenda to be a "fleshing out" of the rationale for receipt of design awards - establishing clear, comprehensive criteria for award designations, and helping to make sure that more of the reasoning behind the award's relevance and merit makes it to the published commentaries. I can't tell you how often I have been frustrated by the published results providing so little insight into the real merits of the projects being recognized.
I believe that this greater depth of documentation would go a long way to alleviating some of the public's preconceptions about design being all about aesthetics and ego satisfaction.
As with Walter, I would welcome the opportunity to help move this discussion forward.
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Stephen Loos FAIA
Principal
The Mulhern Group Ltd.
Lyons CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2011 14:05
From: Mike Mense
Subject: Camels on the Head of a Pin
Walter
Thanks for your thoughts. I don't think I am alone in being able to cheer harder when I know what I am cheering about. I hope when you said you don't care about names, you didn't mean the same about words. To the point, though, either through drawings, pictures or words, can you explain the value of architecture? Does that value increase in proportion to the excellence of the architecture? I think it's ok for lay people to operate on a "know it when I see it" basis. I don't think that's an adequate basis for the practice of architecture.
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Mike Mense FAIA
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