Committee on Design

 View Only

Community HTML

Via Aequalitas

Quick Links

Who we are

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Promoting Architecture

  • 1.  Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-14-2019 04:37 PM
    My wife and I were on a trip recently that included Porto, Portugal.  We visited with the Concierge of our hotel and told him about our interest in Architecture. He shared with us hard copies of several brochures about Porto Architecture.  What I found interesting was that these were prepared and promoted by the city and a hotel concierge was giving them to us.  I have attached the websites where these can be found.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could get cities and hotels in the US to do something like this?

    http://www.oasrn.org/pdf_upload/120713-mapa-eduardo-ing.pdf
    http://www.visitporto.travel/Lists/ISSUUDocumentos/siza_en.pdf
    https://issuu.com/visitporto/docs/ingles
    https://www.cm-braga.pt/archive/doc/mapa_barroco_frances2017.pdf

    ------------------------------
    David Brotman FAIA
    Past AIA Regional Director
    Scottsdale AZ
    ------------------------------
    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-17-2019 05:31 PM

    Great idea David.  I believe our newly elected AIA President Peter Exley might find this fits with some of his thinking about leveraging our public engagement investments for greater impact ...

     

    Michael F. Malinowski FAIA

     




    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 3.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-17-2019 05:50 PM
    Great resource! It is clear that Art Nouveau, Rococo and Neoclassical added to the Architectural style of Porto. The mix of Plateresque elements in a white Rococo shows some of the more unique design styles as a late feature in the Neo-antiquitous movement.

    ------------------------------
    Seth Trotter Assoc. AIA
    Sole Proprietor
    tdtCREATIVE
    Prescott AZ
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 4.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-18-2019 03:02 PM
    https://freetoursbyfoot.com/chicago-architecture-tours/

    ------------------------------
    Bridget Basham, Assoc. AIA, OWADP
    HKIT Architects
    Oakland, CA
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 5.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-18-2019 05:14 PM
    Bridget,

    Thank you so much for sending the link.  This site is full of all kinds of, for fee, guided tours all over the country.  Very impressive. The Porto tours I talked about are a little bit different.  When you click on a link that I posted it takes you to page that shows a brochure that is available in hard copy.  I got mine at our hotel concierge. The brochure is meant to assist in self guided tours and focus on architecture and architects.  It seems to me that there is a place for both.  

    Posting my message and reading responses has gotten me going.  I find there are lots of examples of architectural guides out there.  However, hardly ever a reference to the AIA.  Here are a few.

    https://www.xplorebro.com/brenda/city-boston-architecture/#Boston_Travel_Guide

    David J. Brotman, FAIA

    Sunset Consultants
    24350 North Whispering Ridge Way, #38
    Scottsdale, AZ 85255
    C:  310-409-7111
    T:  480-247-2218







    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 6.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-18-2019 07:09 PM

    Hi David,

     

    I am really pleased that you are spotlighting this.  I am originally from Melbourne, Australia and we have a wonderful, much celebrated Australian architectural heritage. In-large part owing to Australian  Architects' volunteering, educating and engaging the public in the discourse of Architecture.  During the 2000s, my community revisited Australian-modern contributions (events/ silk-screened tees by students/ forums etc. etc.) which helped reaffirm the role of Architecture in the public eye.  Proudly I may boast, that on any given day, walking through Melbourne, you may find teenagers talking about what they like and don't like about certain buildings, or relationships that they have within the city fabric.  Good design seeps into and permeates the rural areas also. 

     

    One of the reasons that this is possible is that Australian's celebrate public spaces, have many of them and they are designed.  An ever-changing array of billboards reflecting creative solutions to complex problems.  A small anecdote:

     

    I live/ work in Oakland.  Early on in the design process for a project we have under construction, I suggested that the development our "affordable/ low-income" housing parcels were located in, should be connected to the adjacent urban neighborhoods via a bike bridge spanning train tracks and a freeway.  This could also be the gateway to City.  This would also undermine the "gated" nature of the new waterfront development.  I remember Rod Henmi FAIA, Design Director at HKIT mentioning later to me, (Rod referred to here without any negative subtext etc.)  something to the effect that "we don't do things like that here."  I sent him this link:

     

    https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&biw=1382&bih=646&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=d2wJXdG6FdWE-gSS6LPACA&q=pedestrian+bridges+melbourne&oq=pedestrian+bridges+melbourne&gs_l=img.3..35i39.19052.45070..47004...0.0..0.73.107.4......0....1j2..gws-wiz-img.....0.UQCD1I6oVk8

     

    Sadly, it has become my impression that Architecture is so undervalued by the broader public here in the US, that we still see New York headliners "Where are all the Women Architects?".

     

    I'll be dong my part next Spring as a Programming Coordinator, to establish the an inaugural Women in Architecture exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area.  It's hard to focus on the work, when the obstacles to practicing so desperately need spotlighting.  A design exercise right there.

     

    I hope to continue these conversations, and look forward to digging into the links you have generously provided.  It may all appear a bit tangential, however I believe it's all interrelated.

     

    Sincrely Thanks, Bridget

     

    Bridget Basham, AIA Assoc., OWA + DP

     

    HKIT 70th Anniversary2....................................................................................................................

    538 Ninth Street Suite 240 Oakland California 94607

    T 510 625 9800 • DIRECT 510 318 6222 • bbasham@hkit.comwww.hkit.com  facebook_square-24  linkedin_square_color-24 

     

    This message contains confidential information. Unless you are the addressee (or authorized to receive for the addressee), you may not copy, use, or distribute this information. If you have received this message in error, please advise Bridget Basham immediately at HKIT (510) 625-9800.

     




    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 7.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-18-2019 07:37 PM
    It can be an interesting study to extract value of the emergent /deconstructivism of Federation Square against gothic stylings from the "Neo-middle aged" styles and stripped classicism / minimalist of architects like Sean Godsell. Porto and Melbourne give a similar dissemination of style with elegant and refined boundaries that define regionalist movements of Neoclassical styling that differ from American formal interpretation.

    ------------------------------
    Seth Trotter Assoc. AIA
    Sole Proprietor
    tdtCREATIVE
    Prescott AZ
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 8.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-18-2019 09:00 PM
    Bridget,

    When I was with RTKL I spent a fair amount of time in Australia so I know what you are talking about.  We worked on several projects with The Buchan Group. I really enjoyed my time there.  As a matter of fact, I crossed one of those bridges depicted on your link.  I have a lot of respect for Ron Henmi and I know what he is talking about especially in the automotive society of California.  Fortunately, there are many other communities in the USA that recognize what good planning can do for Society.

    ------------------------------
    David Brotman FAIA
    Past AIA Regional Director
    Scottsdale AZ
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 9.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-19-2019 08:32 PM

    Hi David,

     

    What other groups/ societies are you aware of that push the public agenda as it relates to our built environment?  Local to you or national?

     

    Sincerely Thanks, Bridget

     

    Bridget Basham, AIA Assoc., OWA + DP

     

    HKIT 70th Anniversary2....................................................................................................................

    538 Ninth Street Suite 240 Oakland California 94607

    T 510 625 9800 • DIRECT 510 318 6222 • bbasham@hkit.comwww.hkit.com  facebook_square-24  linkedin_square_color-24 

     

    This message contains confidential information. Unless you are the addressee (or authorized to receive for the addressee), you may not copy, use, or distribute this information. If you have received this message in error, please advise Bridget Basham immediately at HKIT (510) 625-9800.

     




    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 10.  RE: Promoting Architecture

    Posted 06-19-2019 08:51 PM
    The Urban Land Institute does a pretty good job. 

    David J. Brotman, FAIA

    Sunset Consultants
    24350 North Whispering Ridge Way, #38
    Scottsdale, AZ 85255
    C:  310-409-7111
    T:  480-247-2218







    2024 HRC Taliesin West