September1996

AIA Services


| Inside: PDR |

| Committee Bulletin Board |

| Se Habla Espanol? |

| Photo Workshops |

| Educators and Practitioners Discuss the Future of the Profession |

| Drive Time Seminars and more: |



Inside: PDR

Tuesday, September 24, 1996

6 - 8 pm

1200 Smith Street #1100

RSVP by September 23 at 622-6261.

 

Planning Design Research Corporation is an architectural firm specializing in interior architecture and workplace design, space planning and strategic facilities management. Founded in 1975, PDR has planned over 50 million square feet of corporate America from their Houston headquarters.

The firm is comprised of 25 professionals including an even mix of architects and interior designers, with the addition of nationally-recognized expertise in furniture design, graphic design and computer technology as well as an efficient administrative staff. There are six principals, two senior associates and five associates who direct the work of the firm in sites across the United States and overseas.

PDR's downtown office is designed to support the high performance characteristics of the firm and is organized around a single distinctive studio space that promotes highly interactive and collaborative work among project team members. Indeed, many of the firm's clients enjoy the living room-like quality of the space so much that they utilize the office as their own whenever the project allows.





Committee Bulletin Board

 

LU opportunities in this issue of Perspective: 199

 

Young Architects Forum

To provide a focus for the activity and interest of architects and interns under 40 or in the first 10 years of practice.

Fourth Tuesday of the month

Chapter office, 6 pm.

Thursday, September 12, Happy Hour, Mesa, 1971 W. Gray, 6 pm.

Tuesday, September 24, instead of our regular meeting we will tour PDR.

Please join us on the tour and at our regular meetings to discuss activities for this fall. We hope you will become involved. For more information call me at 520-5446.

Reagan Miller, AIA, Chair


AIA Design Committee

To conduct the annual award program and to foster other opportunities for discussion of design issues.

Thursday, September 12

Chapter office, noon

LU Credits for programs and seminars.

RSVP, 622-6261.

Selection of jurors for the 1997 Design Awards program is on the agenda. Everyone is invited to attend this meeting. I will fax a preliminary list of juror candidates to regular committee people before the meeting, so please call me at 871-7205 with names you'd like to see on the list.

Mark Lange, AIA, Chair


Residential Committee

To serve as a forum for those engaged in the practice of residential architecture; to develop continuing education programs in that specialty.

Thursday, September 26

Chapter office, noon

Business meeting and program with catered lunch

1 Learning Unit

RSVP required, 622-6261.

This month's meeting/program will be in the showroom of Colours of the Rainbow Granite Corporation, 4340 Southwest Freeway. Tommy Schlitzberger, Sr. Executive VP, will discuss the cost, durability and low maintenance of natural stone and the modern trend of the use of granite as counter tops. Dr. Y.J. Liu, President, will explain how the prices have become more reasonable for marble and granite. There will also be a drawing for a door prize of a beautiful polished granite table top.

October program will feature Geotech Engineering.

Rand Silverman, AIA, Chair


Business Practice Committee

To provide a forum for discussion of practice management issues.

Thursday, September 19

Chapter office, noon

1 Learning Unit

RSVP, 622-6261.

Carolyn Ferguson, Marketing Manager of The Lentz Group, will discuss marketing at the strategy development level: the process of identifying the firm's niche or target market, evaluating the firm's competitive strengths and weaknesses relative to that segment and creating a feasible plan to position the firm accordingly. This is going to be a great presentation and qualifies for LUs.

Walter Murphy, AIA, Chair


Micro-Firm Roundtable

Dedicated to the exchange of information, ideas and resources relevant to the 1-2 person firm.

Monday, September 9

Chapter office, 11:30 am-1:30 pm

Mark your calendar:

Open roundtable session. This is an opportunity to speak your mind, bring your most recent success or quandary, and seek information and ideas from other small firms.

We are an energetic, positive group, and our Monday meetings usually leave us "charged" and inspired by each other.

Betty Avary, AIA, Chair

Hy Applebaum, AIA, Co-Chair


Architecture for Kids Committee

To develop and implement programs which inform the public about architecture and the built environment, with specific emphasis on primary and secondary school students.

Tuesday, September 3

Chapter office, noon

RSVP, 622-6261.

AIA Houston will host an Architecture is Fun Teacher Workshop on Saturday, September 21, 9 am-noon, at the Chapter office. The workshop will include a brief introduction to the world of architecture, as well as a hands-on project which can be used in the classroom; there will also be a discussion as to how the concepts of architecture relate to all grade levels and subjects. Architecture is Fun is a program which involves students in activities and projects to develop their awareness of architecture and the built environment, and is funded by the Houston Architecture Foundation.

Julia Nolte, AIA, Chair


IDP Practice Seminar

To support the Advisor/Intern Program; to develop seminars for Interns.

Third Tuesday of the month

Chapter office, 6-8 pm

Cost: $10 member, $5 member intern, $10 non-member intern, $15 non-member, college student free with ID.

Value Units for Interns; LUs for Architects.

On the third Tuesday of even months, a seminar will be presented by the IDP Committee. The seminars for 1996 focused on the Construction Industry and provided information that not only is required training for Interns, but also address subjects that are often difficult for Interns and young Architects to obtain in the typical Architect's office. With your support, these seminars will also serve as an opportunity for Architects, Interns, Students and Associated Professionals to meet and exchange ideas.

On Tuesday, October 15, the changing relationship between Architects and the Construction Industry will be the topic of the fifth and final seminar of the year: Contractors: Partners or Adversaries? Several specialists in the area of design-build, arbitration, mediation and partnering &emdash;from attorneys to owners, to educators, to builders, to Architects &emdash;will present a wide range of viewpoints at the seminar. Seating is limited; reservations can be made with AIA, call 622-6261. Thank you.

Robert Burnham, AIA, Chair

e-mail=


Continuing Education Committee

To coordinate and monitor the Chapter's continuing education offerings; to develop programs as needed.

Tuesday, September 17

Chapter office, noon

RSVP, 622-6261.

I have good news. As of August 1, more than fifty percent of the Houston Chapter membership have taken the time to obtain learning units and have reported them to National AIA record keeping at the University of Oklahoma. Remember, in 1996 all AIA members must begin to obtain learning units (LUs); 36 LUs by December 31, 1997.

Members can obtain LUs by level 1 self-directed study, level 2 seminars/lectures and level 3 workshops.

The Chapter will notify those members with 0 learning units in September. Transcripts will be mailed to all members later in the fall.

We still need additional volunteers to serve on the committee for 1996. Duties might include writing monthly newsletter articles, coordinating programs with other committees or evaluating programs in accordance wi the AIA Guidelines. Your contribution would be greatly appreciated.

Kurt Hall, AIA, Chair


 

 

Se Habla Espanol?


Mondays and Wednesdays

6 - 8:30 pm

Chapter office

September 23 through October 30, 1996

Level 3, 90 learning units.

Does your marketing require it? Your clients? Your vacation plans?

AcceleSpeak offers 30 hours of intensive training that will concentrate on conversational communication and will give a foundation for developing further skills in Spanish. Small classes (6-16) and an integrated approach that uses all the senses and both sides of the brain lead graduates to describe the experience as both fun and effective.

Instructors are all certified Spanish teachers who are trained in "Accelerated Learning." The approach is used by many universities, including the University of Houston, as well as the US State Department, the Moscow Institute of Languages, Shell Oil, and others.

The cost is $360 ($12/hour). There is a 10% discount for payment prior to the first class and an additional $30 discount for additional persons from the same family or firm.

Watch your mail for a registration form. Or call the office and we will fax you one (622-6261). For a free information package, call AcceleSpeak at 367-4933.



 

Photo Workshops

 

HOUSTON CENTER for Photography offers two six-week courses led by Richard Payne, FAIA, for the fall of 1996:

Introduction to the Art of Photography

Instructor: Richard Payne

Location: HCP

Dates: Six Monday classes, September 30 - November 4, 7-9 pm

Fee: $250 students/seniors, $300 HCP members

36 LUs on self report form.

Advanced Fine Art Photography

Instructor: Richard Payne

Location: HCP

Dates: Six Tuesday classes, October 15 - November 19, 7-9 pm

Fee: $250 students/seniors, $300 HCP members, $350 general public

36 LUs on self report form.

 



Educators and Practitioners Discuss the
Future of the Profession

A Unified Profession

Thursday, October 3, 1996

Innova, Room 4

5:30 pm, Reception

6 - 7:30 pm, Forum

RSVP by October 2, 622-6261.

A panel of Lars Lerup, Dean of the Rice University School of Architecture; Bruce Webb, Acting Dean of the University of Houston College of Architecture; Charles B. Thomsen, FAIA, 3D/International; and Jeff Ryan, AIA, Jackson and Ryan Architects, will discuss the future of architecture from the perspectives of the academy and practice. Where is architecture headed? How can schools position themselves to meet the future? Shape the future? Is the frequently bemoaned "gap" between school and practice a chasm or a positive condition of creative tension? What is the role of the professional society in facilitating a constructive dialogue?

Facilitated by Alan Fleishacker, Associate AIA, the Forum will include responses from Jan Blackmon, AIA, President-Elect of the Texas Society of Architects, and Michael Stanton, FAIA, Vice President of the American Institute of Architects, as well as opportunity for audience participation.

This Forum is the first in a series of discussions prompted by the Carnegie Foundation report on architectural education and practice, Building Community. Boyer and Mitgang, authors of the report, suggest that practitioners and educators form partnerships "to enrich schools, to support experience, to sustain learning."

There are implications here for life-long learning and for a more intentional relationship between the academy and the office to implement the goal.

Subsequent Forums include on-campus sessions for students and alumni and another inclusive session on necessary dialogue with the public and the role that both the school and the office have to play. The focus of the latter is the section of the Carnegie Foundation report, An Enriched Mission, which recommends "building to beautify; building for human needs; building for urban spaces; preserving the planet."

Most practitioners and educators have some ideas about this subject. Come to the Forum and share yours. If you want a copy of the report, call the Chapter office. The cost is $15 plus tax and postage and handling, if you want it mailed to you.


Drive Time Seminars:

Seminars on audio tape available in the Chapter office:

John Belle, FAIA, 1995 AIA Architecture Firm Award-Winner

Kermit Baker, AIA, Forecasting Economic Futures

Design and Construction Forums:

January 18, 96, Managing Risk II

June 29, 95, Project Delivery Options

November 9, 95, Managing Risk I

AIA/AGC Seminars: Recommended Practices:

June 17, 96, Focus on the Owner

May 20, 96, Project Delivery Systems

April 22, 96, Programming and Planning for Facilities Design

Video tapes in the Chapter office:

Back from the Brink (Saving America's Cities by Design)

Building Design Concepts (An Architectural Perspective)

ISTEA: Shifting Gears (The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991)

Frank Lloyd Wright Companion (CD)

The U.S. Capitol, an exploration in design (Autodesk).

 

 

  • New in the Library
      Planning to Stay, William R. Morrish and Catherine R. Brown. A book about neighborhood planning and seeing. A practical guide for members of a community to assess the place they live, and to take control of its development.

       

  • S Corporation Status
      It can avoid or mitigate "double tax" on portions of corporate income. The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice will show you how. Call the Chapter office, 622-2081, for details.

     


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