As November comes to a close I’m reminded of two major fall events (other than the Apple Cup): the November election, and the AIA Seattle Honor Awards. David Miller already posted an excellent blog regarding the AIA Seattle awards program, commending our local chapter for its standout event. However, there was another fall AIA Seattle event worth blogging about.
Prior to the November election, AIA Seattle hosted a candidate forum for Seattle City Council candidates to hear from them on issues regarding the built environment. The event was held in our office and was co-hosted by the local chapters of ULI, AGC, and USGBC. All ten council candidates attended the event, and many of the leading architects in Seattle came out to hear what the candidates had to say.
The interesting coincidence that caused me to reflect on these two events was when on stage to receive an AIA Honor award for the Vancouver Community Library, I was happy to be shaking hands and sharing congratulations with Mark Reddington of LMN and Walter Schacht of Schacht Aslani, who also both won awards for outstanding buildings for local public institutions that evening. Both Mark and Walter are recognized design leaders in Seattle and are members of the AIA Public Policy Board (PPB), which I chair, and which sponsored the candidate forum. What can be interpreted from the fact that three of the five PPB members were receiving design awards? Why are design leaders so interested in advocacy?
The answer is simple: we share a passion for making a positive impact on our quality of life, whether that be for a community through the design of a new public building, or for a community through smart public policy.
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One interesting, yet saddening point she brought up, was how long it takes for young architects to be given projects to run themselves. She used the example of how the Melbourne Olympic Games swimming pools building was awarded to two 25 year olds, and how this would be unlikely in today’s times. This saddened me a little to think it may be decades before we get full reign on a whole project without going completely on our own into a practice.
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