Tag Archives: conference

Transforming the Built Environment: What are our ethical responsibilities to communities as architects?

When stepping into the AIA Annual Conference at the Javits Center in NYC this year, I began to question the theme of the conference, a “Blueprint For Better Cities.” The expansive expo center sprawled out on three levels with thousands of booths promoting their products, from software to interiors to exteriors, but the one thing missing was representation from community groups or visible connection to the place of NYC.

Of course, the Javits Center adequately represents the grand nature of NYC amidst the building boom currently happening in Hudson Yards. It is hard to imagine anything but extravagant wealth when passing by the $150 million stairway to nowhere, aka the “Vessel” being constructed across the street. In a time of such great wealth disparity, what role do architects play in gentrifying our cities and creating safe public spaces for those without wealth and privilege? I believe architects continue to have a large impact on the growth of our cities and it is important to check our ethics as professionals on the impacts made in communities that may not be represented. The AEC industry seems to be expanding in exponential ways and defining our cities at a faster and faster pace, so conversations on equity and inclusion need to be brought to the forefront. Even though my first impression walking into the AIA conference at the Javits Center was not one of equity and inclusion, there were some great speakers bringing the conversation back to these important topics.

DESIGNERS ADDRESSING EQUITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
One session on Architectural Activism included a panel with Deanna Van Buren of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, Bryan Lee of Colloqate, and Michael Ford of Hip Hop Architecture. These designers are addressing equity in the built environment and setting new standards for the profession.

Byran Lee reminds architects to think about the communities’ cultures when designing and not to perpetuate systems of oppression. Architects have the ability to change the built environment and also be advocates for the communities in which they work. Laws that allow the victimization of marginalized communities need to be challenged. Public spaces which should be the democratic spaces available to all people are made unsafe to communities of color because of ambiguous laws around vagrancy and other systems of oppression. Understanding the needs of communities in which you are working in paramount. Architects can start by supporting marginalized communities through youth education, advocacy for groups with less priviledge, and equitiable policy and placemaking.

Michael Ford has been working on the youth education component of architectural activism. Hip Hop Architect facilitates youth camps that introduce design, architecture, place making through the expression of hiphop culture. The camps provide an opportunity for youth of underrepresented populations to learn about the architectural practice and reinvision the future of our built environment. A factor in the lack of diversity in architecture is lack of accessiblity to the field, and this program strives to provide that support to youth.

Deanna Van Buren talked of her work around restorative justice and restorative economics, exploring alternative to prisons and addressing the root causes of mass incarceration. Restorative justice is statistically proven to build empathy and decrease recurring offenses by 75%, while allowing for reconciliation and healing. Deanna reiterated that prisons are the worst form of architecture, created to express the harm that we are doing on another. Altnernatives presented were popup resources villages that provide services to isolated communities and peacemaking centers that use Native American practices for healing communities that have experience the trauma of violence and racial oppression.

Many speakers recalled quotes from Whitney Young Jr when talking about equity in the architecture profession, especially from his poignant speech regarding equity at the 1968 American Institute of Architects Conference in Portland. A well quoted statement was “[A]s a profession, you are not a profession that has distinguished itself by your social and civic contributions to the cause of civil rights, and I am sure this has not come to you as any shock. You are most distinguished by your thunderous silence and your complete irrelevance.”

LANGUAGE AROUND ETHICAL AND EQUITABLE DESIGN
I would argree that the profession as a whole still struggles with its social and civic contributions, even though there are some great leaders as mentioned previously. Currently, the trend in most large cities is gentrification resulting in loss of community connections and a huge housing crisis. Do the ethics of architecture speak towards our professional responsibilty to provide for the well being and safety for all within the communities in which we design for? In the AIA Code of Ethics, the only somewhat relevant bylaw I found was “In performing professional services, Members should advocate the design, construction, and operation of sustainable buildings and communities.” Perhaps the lack of language around ethical and equitable design is why it seems so lacking within the built environment. There needs to be a shift.

Large firms may promote their community work by supporting employees to volunteer a couple days of the year, or provide pro-bono design services. This approach is too compartmentalized and does not build the disruptive change needed to challenge systems of oppression in our built environment. These one-off gestures of pro-bono work can easily be perceived by communities as a savior complex instead of community building. The factors that push architects to design without community in mind needs to be resisted by the industry. Rather, more efforts need to be made so our ethical responsibilities to the public outweigh the profit driven interest groups’ needs that are currently prevalent in our industry. The sustainability movement has started to touch on some of our ethical responsibilities for healthier spaces, but these efforts are not preventing people from losing their homes, connection to place, civic amenities, and much more. There is much work to be done. To promote equity and inclusion for all when designing spaces, I believe we must work on our role as architects to listen, learn, be humble, engage, teach, and provide support and advocacy that serves the communities in which we are working.


Written by Hali Knight Assoc. AIA, Designer

At A Glance: Preservation of Modern Built Heritage

Associate, Halla Hoffer, AIA, Assoc. DBIA, recently participated in a three-day course on the preservation of modern built heritage from the Getty Conservation Institute: Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative, in partnership with the National Center for Preservation Training and Technology (NCPTT), and with support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The course included lectures regarding the technical challenges of preserving modern heritage within the framework of historic preservation practice and philosophy, laboratory sessions, and visiting one of LA’s most iconic modern houses.

Mid-century modern era structures are approaching historic status, if not already there. This status necessitates finding the best option(s) for renovation and rehabilitation – from integrating current energy conservation standards, to updating components to meet current code and seismic regulations – because aesthetic impacts to a historic resource must be kept to a minimum.

OVERVIEW OF COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
– Understanding the importance of following preservation methodologies when working with modern heritage.
– Using case studies as examples, understand how to apply these to actual modern buildings and sites
– Understand how developing successful preservation solutions depend on thorough and detailed analysis of the site.
– Learn how to assess the cultural significance of modern building.
– Understand the historical development of reinforced concrete.
– Learn about the material characteristics of reinforced concrete.
– Understand the most common decay mechanisms of reinforced concrete.
– Understand the principles for conserving historic reinforced concrete.
– Understand the historical development and building typologies of the modern era.
– Explore the challenges to preserving buildings from the modern era.
– Learn how existing preservation standards and charters are applied to modern buildings.
– Learn about the listing and protection of modern buildings.
– Learn about the development of glass used for 20th century windows.
– Learn about glass making techniques and how to determine the fabrication techniques.
– Learn about glazing types such as IG units, and film applications.
– Learn how various metals in windows weather and how to treat them.
– Learn in a lab session how to identify corrosion as it is expressed in different metals.
– Understand how saving a work of modern heritage is different from saving the heritage of other
eras.
– Learn how to decide, prioritize, and build support for protecting and preserving modern places.
– Explore the issues involved in determining how modern resources can be saved.
– Explore how to evaluate significance relative to the vast number of modern buildings that exist
today.
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COURSES AT A GLANCE
The three day course began with an overview of the history, designation, and conservation methodology of our built heritage of the modern era. A highlight included a case study presented by Sara Lardinois – Utilizing the Conservation Methodology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The Salk case study focused on the restoration of the teak window wall assemblies, from significance to performing an integrity evaluation of the window wall assemblies. The Salk Institute is an international masterpiece of architecture from the modern era. The treatment recommendations had to stop fungal biofilm from further damaging the window wall assemblies, improve performance, abate hazardous materials, all the while preserving the integrity original teak structural members.

Day two was focused on windows and curtain walls – something especially interesting to PMA. Stephen Kelley led lectures and a lecture/lab on the history of modern windows and curtain walls, European and American precedents, fabrications, types, common problems, field testing, fabrication practices, history of sealants, and engineered sealant joints. Day three closed-out the course with a special day at the Eames house. Participants learned about the conservation planning and building materials case study created for the house.
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COURSE HANDOUTS
15 Preservation Briefs – Preservation of Historic Concrete
Salk Institute Report
Eames House Case Study

Written by Halla Hoffer, AIA, Assoc. DBIA / Architect

Future Trends for Architectural Conservation

As part of the sesquicentennial celebration of Canadian Confederation independence, the National Trust for Canada and the Association for Preservation Technology International co-sponsored the largest joint conference of heritage professionals. Over 1,100 attendees from twenty countries attended the week-long event focused both on technical issues and heritage planning.

The shear size of the conference was overwhelming, but the host city, Ottawa, (APTI) was an ideal venue because of its position as the capitol city of Canada, the quantity of heritage resources, including the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site, and beautiful world class museums and parks.

As with all APTI annual conferences, the week begins with two day long workshops highlighting the craft of preservation. This year’s workshops included Logs & Timbers, Masonry Mortars, and Digital Tools for Documentation. Masonry Mortars has been offered several times over the last five years at APTI conferences and is always popular demonstrating the continual need to understand mass masonry walls, their performance, and specialized products and skills required to restore and preserve the walls.
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HOW ROBOTS CAN ASSIST WITH CONSERVATION
National Trust conferences, in both Canada and the United States offer many tours during the course of the conference and one of tours focused on robotics for heritage conservation. A conservation lab at Carlton University, founded after World War II and one of Ottawa’s public universities, has created a curriculum around the use of robotics to enhance the preservation craft of traditional materials. Conference attendees viewed a demonstration of a robotic arm manufactured in Germany, by the supplier of robotic arms to the automotive industry, with a custom built “hand” designed to hold stone cutting tools. As a demonstration, the Carlton University staff carved a block of sandstone scheduled to replace original material on the Canadian parliament buildings as part of a massive restoration effort. The demonstration was fascinating in the speed by which the robot carved the material with fine accuracy. Attendees were interested in the conservation aspect of the robot and asked about the stone cutting techniques and potential replacement of stone carvers.

Since the robot uses circular drill bits as cutting tools resulting in smoother finishes than traditional chisel cutting, some attendees were skeptical of the robot as a tool for capturing traditional stone techniques. As to the replacement of stone carvers, the response was straight forward: there are fewer and fewer trades personnel that know how to carve stone. The robot is envisioned as a method to allow traditional stone decoration to return to modern design.
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With seven separate tracks of Paper Sessions, it was impossible to take in the full offerings of the joint conference. The use of robots, technology, and computer software simulations continued throughout some of tracks of the Paper Sessions. Particularly interesting was hearing from archeologists in Italy and Chile that, unlike US archeologists, are involved in the documentation, history, and preservation of building materials. Using traditional archeological approaches to documentation and recordation, the archeologists combined their research, historic photographs, current images, on-site destructive testing in unique ways of explaining the chronology of construction and materials used.

Demonstrating the continued convergence of building envelop science with preservation science, many Paper Sessions focused on windows, energy retrofits, and the need to develop better science and research of traditional construction means and methods. One session on mass masonry walls hypothesized that mass masonry walls have a temperature ductility allowing them to expand during cold wet weather in order to accommodate the stress induced by freezing temperatures. One early study in the 1960’s documented the phenomena but without sufficient repeated testing. The engineer making the presentation asked for all those in the audience to create an accessible database of masonry performance in order to expand the collective knowledge base.
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THE FUTURE OF PRESERVATION LOOKS MODERN
One of the plenary speakers called on heritage preservation to continue leadership in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, specifically mid-century modern structures, because of the huge environmental impact conservation efforts will have on global warming, waste reduction, and heritage values.

Attendance at APTI national conferences are a great way to gain new knowledge, converse with professional peers, anticipate future trends, evaluate current business practices, and interact outside day to day professional demands.


Written by Peter Meijer, AIA, NCARB / Principal