2011 Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship Nominations Open

Completed nominations and applications are due Friday, April 8, 2011, 5:00 pm EDT

The AIA Center for Emerging Professionals has opened the nominations for the 2011 AIA/NAC Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship. The NAC established this scholarship in honor of late friend and colleague Jason Pettigrew, who was committed to professional development and community service. The scholarship recognizes the significant contributions of interns at early stages in their careers and encourages them to complete the licensure process by defraying costs associated with the Architect Registration Examination (ARE).

To be eligible, a nominee must be an Associate AIA member, an NCARB Record holder, or a person who has passed one or more divisions of the ARE but has not passed all divisions.

For full eligibility rules, award criteria, and application procedures, visit the scholarship Web page. A committee of distinguished professionals will select the recipients, who will be honored at the Emerging Professionals Reception at the AIA National Convention in New Orleans.

About Jason Pettigrew

Jason dedicated much of his time towards the development and growth of others and was committed to community and professional service through the AIA. He touched many lives through his engagement and AIA leadership roles at the local, state, and national levels. As a member of the first NAC Executive Committee, Jason was instrumental in the formation of the NAC. He also served multiple years as an intern representative to the IDP Coordinating Committee and contributed to the development of the AIA Emerging Professionals Companion released in 2004.

To learn more about Jason, or to make a donation to the Jason Pettigrew Memorial Fund, visit NAC Jason Pettigrew Memorial page and watch Remembering Jason Pettigrew, a video produced by the AIA.

Record Article and AIA-NJ Response

With the announcement regarding the SDA this month, there has been a variety of information regarding. Your AIA-NJ board members, L&GA committee and PA committee have been staying on top of this issue.

A similar article to the one in the Star Ledger was printed in The Bergen Record on 2/15/2011, a letter in response was submitted by AIA-NJ and printed in the 2/26/2011 Opinion section.

See AIA-NJ’s response:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/116970008_The_Record__Letters__Feb__26___2011.html?page=all
The response is the second Letter to the Editor on the page, titled ” One School Size Does Not Fit All”

See the original article:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/editorials/116456208_Building_schools.html#comments

Update – Solar Decathlon Stays on National Mall at New Site

An update has been announced regarding the article Keep the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall dated February 9, 2011

Yesterday (2/23/2011), the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 will be held at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park, on the banks of the Potomac River along the path between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

The Decathlon will begin on September 23 as originally scheduled. It will run through October 2.

To read the full article go to the Solar Decathlon website

Architecture Firm’s Hoboken, N.J. Studio Receives Design Award

AIA New Jersey Honors Team at Minervini Vandermark Architecture

AIANJ 2010 Design Award - Minervini Vandermark Architecture

A mixed-use building designed and used by Hoboken, N.J.-based Minervini Vandermark Architecture has won a Merit Award in the “Design/Build” category from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA-NJ).

The award for the half-studio, half-residential structure in Hoboken, N.J., was announced this past September at AIA-NJ’s annual “Design Day” conference at Bally’s Atlantic City in Atlantic City, N.J. The design award was presented at the annual AIA-NJ awards dinner to be held in January 2011 in Princeton, N.J.

“We are excited to see projects being created at this high level of innovation and quality by New Jersey firms,” said Jason Kliwinski, AIA, LEED AP, 2010 president of AIA-NJ. “I am honored to recognize these architects for their dedication and commitment to their craft and to the architecture community.”

AIA West Jersey Banquet Awards and Installations

AIA West Jersey installed its 2011 officers and presented annual awards on January 29th at its Inaugural Banquet held at The Mansion on Main Street, Voorhees, N.J.

Van B. Bruner, Jr., FAIA Presented with the Prestigious Louis Goettelmann Award

2011 AIA West Jersey Board with Goettleman Award recipient Van Bruner, FAIA

AIA West Jersey presented the prestigious Louis Goettelmann Award to Mr. Van B. Bruner, Jr., FAIA, for his commitment and exemplary service to the profession and the West Jersey Chapter of AIA. The award was presented to him by William Fearon, AIA, Past President AIA-WJ.

Reminder – IDEAS Competition

Reminder – The AIA Young Architects Forum (YAF) and the AIA Committee on Design (COD) invites architects, students, and allied design professionals to submit sketches to the international 2011 YAF/COD IDEAS Competition.

In this unique sketch competition, submitters are asked to explore the principles of Universal Design as well as their overlap with values of social and environmental sustainability.

Winners will be announced and will have their work exhibited at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2011 National Convention and Design Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 12-14, 2011. Selected entries will be displayed on the AIA website.

For Complete Submission Details, Download the 2011 Ideas Competition Call for Entries (PDF) http://lyris.aia.org/t/1260623/2450492/16869/0/
Entries may be submitted anytime between January 14, 2011 and March 14, 2011

Before beginning your submission, please visit the 2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition Walkthrough to familiarize yourself with the online submission process. (PDF) http://lyris.aia.org/t/1260623/2450492/16870/0/

Visit the Submission Site to Submit Now!
http://lyris.aia.org/t/1260623/2450492/16871/0/

AIA-NJ Response Printed in Star Ledger

An abbreviated version of AIA New Jersey’s response to the Star Ledger article of 2/15 ran in today’s paper and posted online: http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2011/02/school_development_authority_o.html

To see the original response and article read older post

Sad News Regarding Elly Matzko

It is with a heavy heart that I have to let you know that our beloved Elly Matzko left us. She died peacefully yesterday, Sunday February 20, 2011.

Elly has been at NJIT for over 25 years. For that whole time she has represented the heart and soul of the School of Architecture. For over 25 years, she was an advisor to literally thousands of students. She was their academic advisor but she was much more than that. She was trusted by students, faculty, staff and alumni alike. Elly was universally loved by all those that came in contact with her.

The old adage that no one is irreplaceable does not apply to her. Elly was unique. She had an enormous and always positive influence on all that had the privilege to work with her or be advised by her.
Elly was an extraordinary person. She will be remembered fondly by all of us. We are filled with sorrow for losing and with gratitude for having had Elly in our lives.

Urs P. Gauchat, Dean, School of Architecture, NJIT

Funeral services will be at the Quinn Hopping Funeral Home, 145 East Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, N.J. 07039. Phone number 908-313-1443. Viewing is Wednesday, February 23rd 2-4pm and 7-9 p.m. Funeral will held on Thursday, February 24th at 12 Noon (PLEASE note this is a changed time )

Daniel Libeskind Lecture at NJIT

The AIANJ Endowed Lecturer Daniel Libeskind will present this Monday 2/21 at 5:45 pm.
Please RSVP to Hope Allen hope.c.allen@njit.edu

The event will take place in the Ballroom on the second floor of the Campus Center – this will ensure that everyone should get a seat within the space, as opposed to remote seating as we’ve had to do in previous years.

AIA-NJ Responds to Star Ledger Article

The following is a Letter to the Editor submitted by AIA New Jersey in response to an article published yesterday in The Star Ledger:

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To the Editor:

Regarding “Christie to announce $584M plan for construction, renovation of 10 N.J. schools” Feb. 15, 2011:

The article states: “New projects will also use a standardized design, described by critics as “cookie cutter” schools, that will save an estimated $4 million for each site. The savings will be realized by eliminating the need for architects and project engineers.” Clearly, whoever made such a statement does not understand the complexity of construction in the 21st century.

Architects are uniquely trained, licensed professionals, statutorily required to protect the public health, safety and welfare. The use of stock plans has been tried, and failed, in 21 other states across the country. The New Jersey Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has been explaining this for years. But, the constant clamor for prototype plans for schools belies the complexity of modern architectural design. Architects are required to design buildings specifically suited to their location. This includes a number of unique local conditions such as: soil type, grading, vehicular access, site utilities, snow load, rainfall intensity, seismic conditions, wind speed, solar orientation, and more.
Further, New Jersey has rural communities, suburban communities and urban communities. These sites require a multitude of single story and multi-story design solutions. School sizes will vary with the number of students, and floor plans will vary with curricular differences.

It would be utterly imprudent and financially wasteful to design to a worst case scenario for all these factors. As they say, “For every complicated problem, there is a simple and equally as wrong answer.” Simply put, “there is no ‘one size fits all’ model, and every change in a ‘model’ has a ripple affect making savings illusory.”

Designing and constructing a school, or any other building for that matter, is a complicated process. We at AIA New Jersey unconditionally support the competent and ethical practice of architecture. We are steadfastly committed to providing the highest quality, cost efficient learning environments and firmly believe architects should maintain those standards while fulfilling their contractual obligations to the citizenry of the State of New Jersey. We welcome a conversation about ways in which construction costs can be contained, but we cannot accept such an egregious underestimation of the role of architects in the process.

Bruce D. Turner, AIA
AIA New Jersey Public Awareness Committee Chair

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To read the original Star Ledger article go to nj.com