Kira, you refer to the importance of “how buildings perform for people”. For some reason you seem to set that against aesthetics. I do not think there is any conflict between your goals and aesthetics.
More importantly though, not one of the framework’s standards seeks to measure how and whether this new piece of the built environment supports the human activities for which it is designed. These standards measure the engineering designs of the built environment. Architects can make moves that support more effective engineering. But that is not our most important skill. The special skill of architects must be their understating of human beings and how built environments can support human behavior, both practically and spiritually. COTE’s standards dance around those skills but never directly reward them.
Let us hope that someday it becomes generally understood that there is no sustainability in the built environment without successfully focused attention on the human/built environment interface. Architecture lives at that interface. Everything else, indeed, everything COTE chooses to measure is supporting infrastructure, not architecture itself.
Sincerely
Mike Mense FAIA
Hamilton Heights
New York City
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Original Message:
Sent: 8/14/2020 1:41:00 PM
From: Kira L. Gould
Subject: AIA Framework for Design Excellence: Design for Resources Session
Design for Resources | AIA CA Climate Action Webinar Series
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020 | 12:00 PM PT
Design is not just about aesthetic components, but how buildings perform for people. The AIA Framework for Design Excellence is made up of 10 measures, formerly known as the COTE Top Ten. These can help organize our design thinking, can facilitate conversations with our clients and with the communities we serve, and they each set meaningful goals and targets for climate action.
Join architects Larry Strain | Siegel & Strain and Brad Jacobson | EHDD who will speak about Design for Resources, including best practices, high impact strategies, resources, and case studies that promote climate action. Earn 1 LU | HSW for attending.
Register Now!
More information on the Climate Action Series can be found here: https://aiacalifornia.org/climate-action/
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Kira Gould
Principal
Kira Gould CONNECT
Oakland CA
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