I am still recovering from AIA24.
To be honest, this was only my second AIA conference ever. (I mean, really, who wants to spend that much time with 13,000 architects, am I right?) So, I was as shocked as anyone to learn that it’s both fascinating and empowering to spend a few days comparing notes with professionals facing the exact same struggles. Transforming the profession to take on the biggest design challenge of our time can be daunting, frustrating, and lonely. Belonging to a community is essential to keep you both grounded and motivated, and that community was in full force at AIA24. A couple of observations on the conference in general:
· Climate action is becoming mainstream: As a result of a dedicated track on “Climate Action and Net Zero Design,” the number of sessions addressing climate action has skyrocketed, even compared to last year’s conference. It included keynote speakers, including White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, who launched the federal definition of zero-emissions buildings (operational energy only) during his remarks on Thursday. The White House conducted listening sessions afterward with leaders to shape how embodied carbon will be incorporated into the definition. Climate action was even present in the conference bookstore, which in addition to the sexy monographs we all love included tables and tables of books devoted to low carbon design and circular economy. At the Fellowship induction, sustainability, resilience, and/or ecological design were mentioned in over a third of the “zinger” statements read as people walk up to receive their medals.
· It wasn’t just carbon. The AIA bookstore was selling copies of Braiding Sweetgrass (if you haven’t read it, you should). Ken Yeang gave a master class on the science of ecology and nature-based architecture. Dean Sakamoto gave a powerful presentation on resilience and the Lahaina fires. There was a full court press on the Common Materials Framework, supported by the soft launch of the Materials Pledge reporting schema that signatories will see later this summer. It was heartening to see the complexity and beauty of whole-systems thinking on display across the conference. It’s what architects do so well, and I forget this in my day to day work.
My duties as both COTE chair and a new Fellow had me running from event to event, so much of the conference is a blur. Some of the highlights include:
· At our COTE Leadership Group in-person meeting on Wednesday, we discussed evolving COTE’s role given the sea change at AIA and the current COTE mission and goals expiring next year. One of the best parts of volunteering with COTE is that you get to spend time with really smart people envisioning where we need to go and how to get there. Highly recommend.
· The COTE Open Forum, our annual conference event, was standing room only, with great remarks from Lindsey Falasca, Director for Net Zero Federal Buildings at the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Kira Gould, past COTE LG member and COTE communications lead; Robin Puttock, 2025 COTE Leadership Group Chair; and Dan Stine, COTE LG member. 140 people filled out the after-session survey; there’s nothing like reading those comments to renew one’s appreciation of the importance of community. In a new twist this year, we coordinated with the other Climate Action Groups (2030 Commitment, Materials Pledge, Building Performance KC, Resilience and Adaptation Advisory Group and the Disaster Assistance Committee) to share the same resources at all of our Open Forums. That meant that folks who came to the COTE Open Forum were inspired to join other groups, not just ours.
· The Committee on Design invited both HRC and COTE to participate in the COD Forum: A Conversation with Quinn Evans, recipient of the 2024 Firm Award. The collaboration across the Knowledge Communities was rewarding and, I hope, the precursor of more to come. Quinn Evans’ work was beautiful, but what struck me most was the firm’s humility and collaborative spirit. They spoke of the themes of place, time, stewardship, inclusion, and resilience that run through their work. My favorite quote scribbled down in between questions: “these projects aren’t ours to control, but the communities’ that we help them to realize.”
· Finally, the 2024 AIA COTE Top Ten Award winners were revealed at the first-ever AIA Gala, and it brought the program full circle. What started as a rebellious act in 1997 has now been fully integrated into the AIA Honors and Awards programs. The COTE Top Ten was the first set of awards to be announced and the headline in the press release the day after.