Jared,
Good thought. My take is most residential architects are not AIA. AIA does not make a good residential architect. In the Charlotte market, none of the Architects I admire most are AIA. When I ask why, they say
Don, "Sell me on AIA. Tell me how this money is going to benefit my practice? The AIA after my name is not slowing my sells."
Well.
Contracts -not appropriate- they do not even begin to address the residential process, specs - not appropriate-when is the last time you dropped a 2 pound book in front of residential client or builder?, convention -not appropriate. magazine- not appropriate- car discount-AAA, hotels-AAA,
health care-no value, continuing ed- no value, but AIA accredited course providers report for you. and your point? Lobby government to make us valuable- I do not do schools and public buildings, Lobbing to keep government from taxing professional services. Do really think lawyers will tax themselves. No, butt they may tax Architects.
Until CRAN came along, Architects that have made careers in the residential market were not even on the AIA radar except at Membership and awards times. The CRAN conferences have been excellent. But no AIA money, they did provide staff which is appreciated.
I know the AIA does not want to support non members but by doing so, they hurt the profession. I think AIA should build up all residential architects. I am thankful for CRAN and all they are doing. CRAN has certainly provided a spark. But so has CORA and, ArCH. Both of these groups are dedicated and committed to creating better houses designed by Architects, AIA or not. The important part is
Architect, not RA, AIA,
Maybe we can cast a bigger net and catch more fish.
Question to AIA. Do we have the numbers? How many RA Architects with 90 percent of their work in the single family market are AIA vs. just RA?
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Donald Duffy AIA, ArCH, CORA
Don Duffy Architecture
Charlotte NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-09-2015 17:28
From: Jared Banks
Subject: AIA Campaign creates firestorrm of discontent
I could imagine an AIA CRAN spot that is just images of one beautiful home after another. All sizes, all styles. And at the end it says:
what do these homes all have in common?
They were lovingly designed by architects
or
"by members of the AIA"
or something to that effect. It might be good to even shoehorn in something about how the designs are all current like:
these homes have all been lovingly designed by architects in the past 10 years (or since 2000 or some other recent date).
The idea would be to show diversity of designs, styles, etc. Commonality: good design made better by architects.
Maybe between the images show words like: big, small, modern, classic...
Let's break down the misconceptions of our profession and start fixing our image.
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Jared Banks AIA
Owner
Shoegnome, LLC
Seattle WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2015 13:23
From: Susan Skala
Subject: AIA Campaign creates firestorrm of discontent
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Susan Skala AIA
Skala Architecture, A.P.C.
San Diego CA
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Enoch,
My first impressions were very similar to Adam's. The tone of the ad seemed elitist, but inspirational. Once again I think AIA is aiming at a client who already is sophisticated enough to understand an architect's value and is inspired by all the ad conveys.
It maybe another ad campaign, but we need to reach CRAN clients', the homeowner. One of the good lines from the ad says, 'Lookiing up means listening to our clients and to our hearts." This should be illustrated with shots of clients in their homes, living that design. This is where our clients' hearts are. I also think the history section should show historic homes and neighborhood vernacular architecture. Both these ideas would make the as more relateable to the everyman.
The ad emphasizes modern design which may seem allusive or cold to homeowners. About 10% of my clients ask for a modern design.It would be nice to see that architecture has a varied richness of styles that a homeowner would understand and could see themselves living in.
In conclusion, something is always better than nothing.
Susan Skala, AIA
Skala Architecture, A P.C.
San Diego, CA
Original Message:
Sent: 02-05-2015 18:01
From: Adam Trott
Subject: AIA Campaign creates firestorrm of discontent
Enoch,
Thanks for the invite to comment. I have heard of the iLookup campaign, and just viewed one of the videos.
ELITIST
I must agree with the attitude that even though it appears artsy (which is always a good thing from my viewpoint), but it also has an elitist feeling to it.
RE-DIRECT FOCUS
I would ask that the focus be re-directed to the consideration of influences on a building design (daylight, thermal, material properties, flow of space and the value of a well thought-out plan, comfortable and graceful proportions, compatibility with context, etc.....) and then how we have been trained to work with these elements and that we welcome the opportunity to help them realize their project aspirations.
COMMON CLIENT
Aspirational work is good, but those client are already sold on our value. We need to entice the more common client that makes up most of the architectural business, and inform them on our value to their scale of project.
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Adam Trott AIA
Owner
Adam J. Trott Architect
Erie PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2015 18:20
From: Enoch Sears
Subject: AIA Campaign creates firestorrm of discontent
This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Custom Residential Architects Network .
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I have a question for you.
A few weeks ago AIA CEO Robert Ivy FAIA came on Business of Architecture to talk about the AIA's new marketing campaign - iLookUp.
This marketing campaign is to promote the interest of architects and educate the public about the 'value of an architect'.
There was a firestorm of discontented AIA members talking about how the campaign is 'missing the mark'.
Here is one of the comments:
I am again disappointed by the AIA's approach. This was tried in the recent past and it had almost no impact. They simply do not get it. It is not about us - the architects. It is about our patrons, those that actually compensate us for our creativity and our value. We need to engage them, not by telling them how wonderful we are, but by listening to them and understanding their expectations. We need to have a very public conversation with those that use architectural services about how we are performing and what we as a profession can do better.
Graciously, Robert Ivy is returning to Business of Architecture to address these comments and talk about how AIA Leadership is responding to both positive and negative feedback on the campaign.
A variation of the AIA's video ad will be shown on national television across the country starting next week.
I'll be speaking with him at the end of the week, but before I do, I'd like to know:
What would you like me to ask him about the campaign?
What would you like the AIA to know (from your perspective)?
You can listen to the original interview, see the 1st campaign ad (and read the comments) here:
Robert Ivy Interview On Business of Architecture
Regards,
Enoch
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Enoch Sears AIA
Publisher - Business of Architecture
Visalia CA
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