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The Committee on Design (COD) was founded to promote design excellence among members of the AIA, the broader design community, and the public at large, both nationally and internationally.

2024 COD Conferences

Arkansas

April 3-7 | 21c Hotel | Bentonville and Eureka Springs - Registration is sold out.

Brazil

Thu, Oct 17 - Sat, Oct 26, 2024
Sao Paulo > Brasilia > Rio de Janerio.  Registration will open in late April.

2024 Sponsorships

Download the prospectus for Arkansas and Brazil opportunities.


2023 COD Conferences

Last year, COD held two domestic design conferences investigating The Authenticity of Place.  The first conference was held in New Orleans, LA.  View the short video of the venue tours and download the conference program book. The second conference was held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, September 21-24, 2023. Download the Minneapolis guidebook and view the conference video

  • 1.  The car as a weapon - a threat to urban design?

    Posted 09-06-2017 12:11 PM

    Will the Car Reshape our Cities Again - as a Weapon?

    In the eyes of some urban planners the automobile was a deadly force on the urban environment for a long time. Figuratively in terms of shaping cities but also literally in terms of high urban pedestrian and bicycle fatality rates. While the premeditated destruction of urban spaces for freeways and parking has never risen to the level of criminal offense, vehicular manslaughter is a law on the books of most States and countries when it comes to gross driver negligence.

    Another and newer threat is the vehicle as an instrument of terror. For some time vehicles have been used to break through safety perimeters and hide bombs to destroy targeted buildings. But the vehicle as a bomb in itself, as an apparatus that does the killing has opened an unexpected specter and elevated the deadly aspect of the automobile to new heights, not only for the people in cities but also for the design of cities.

    A car crashes at Baltimore's city hall after a police chase killing a pedestrian
    (Baltimore SUN)

    Even if the statistical likelihood that an urban flaneur would be hit by a bad driver is far higher than being hit by a terrorist, it is likely that the new threat will have serious implications on how we see the automobile and how urban design will respond.

    Read full article

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    Nikolaus Philipsen FAIA
    Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
    Baltimore MD
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    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: The car as a weapon - a threat to urban design?

    Posted 09-07-2017 05:22 PM
    brilliant post - thank you and well said


    2024 HRC Taliesin West