“Many of our practitioners and firms, including my own, are fighting real battles every day to maintain and build value in the services we deliver, and to convince our clients to invest in quality design. The AIA can and should improve the perceived value of our profession which will yield positive results for all architects.”

Delegates to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention in Chicago elected Russell A. Davidson, FAIA, (AIA Westchester Hudson Valley) to serve as the 2015 AIA first vice president/president-elect and 2016 AIA president. William J. Bates, AIA, and Francis M. Pitts, FAIA, will each serve as vice president from 2015 through 2016; John A. Padilla, AIA, as the Institute’s Secretary from 2015 through 2016.

Russell A. Davidson, FAIA, 2015 First Vice President/2016 President-Elect

Davidson, a former president of his local component in 1999 and president of AIA New York State in 2007, joined the AIA National Board in 2009 and served as AIA vice president from 2012-2013. Throughout out his national leadership tenure, Davidson has maintained a special focus on government and public advocacy for architects and architecture. Davidson practices with KG&D Architects in Mount Kisco, N.Y., where he has worked for 28 years, holding every position from junior draftsperson to managing principal. Davidson earned a degree in Architectural Aesthetics from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and a MArch from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

“Public awareness needs to become the lens through which the AIA views all of its efforts,” Davidson says. “With a renewed focus and prioritization of the many programs now in place, the AIA can and should be more relevant to practitioners and the public. Many of our practitioners and firms, including my own, are fighting real battles every day to maintain and build value in the services we deliver, and to convince our clients to invest in quality design. The AIA can and should improve the perceived value of our profession which will yield positive results for all architects.”

Link to full story

Featured: Seven Bridges Middle School and the Jacob Burns Film Center Media Arts Lab

“While many buildings try to contrast forms and materials to create excitement, often with goofy effects, this building manages to combine diverse forms and materials with an easy elegance,” says Michael J. Molinelli of Molinelli Architects in Briarcliff Manor. “It shows that public buildings do not need to be austere and default to off-white walls and oceans of acoustic drop ceilings. It finds opportunities to display the architect’s crafts: manipulating space and light for stimulating interiors spaces and imposing facades.”*

Read the full article here.

*Re: Seven Bridges Middle School, Chappaqua

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This time lapse video provided by the Jacob Burns Film Center shows the construction of a high-performance, sustainable green building – The Media Arts Lab. Designed by KG&D Architects & Engineers, PC, the building earned LEED Gold certification from the USGBC.

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