Many of the most inspiring stories to come out of Metro Detroit involve volunteers and their tireless efforts.  Volunteering can be both an extremely rewarding experience as well as a chance to get out of the office and try something new.  We here at AIA Detroit are fortunate to have within our membership many firms and architects who believe in wielding the powerful tool of design to give back to the local community.

Perhaps you have planted trees, built tiny homes, or lent your skills in constructing a habitat for those in need.

Maybe you have volunteered your time directly through AIA Detroit and our network: whether you have contributed to the revival of a street corner, lent your afternoons introducing architecture into the world of Detroit students, partaken in NOMA Detroit’s Project Pipeline, labored with us during the annual neighborhood-wide undertaking by Life Remodeled, or spent countless hours chairing or working for one of AIA Detroit’s numerous committees or programs, we salute you. 

No effort is too small, and your donated time will never go unnoticed.  As architects, you have the vision to change the future, and your involvement in such community efforts is guaranteed to leave a positive, lasting impact on the way we approach equity and diversity in design.

What makes an AIA membership truly worthwhile? One could easily offer up some basic examples—discounts on contract documents, the tracking of your continuing education credits, access to resources like health coverage through the AIA Trust—but there is something much more intrinsic at the core of AIA membership, something many of us often overlook or don’t even think to acknowledge. It is the reason the AIA still exists today: At the core of your AIA membership, there are individuals—some paid staff, many more simply passionate volunteers—who pour their hearts and souls into working countless hours to ensure that your time spent in the architecture and design profession is the best and most opportunistic that it can possibly be.

These people are part of an international organization 90,000-strong, with a legacy stretching over 160 years. They advocate on your behalf; fight for the future of the profession and its emerging designers; maintain an institutional framework that brings together architects to explore advances in the way we design; and create safe spaces that allow for those difficult, but necessary, conversations surrounding such topics as equity, diversity, and sustainability to occur.

Here at AIA Detroit, we are fortunate to have so many individuals who are willing to share their passion with the greater Metro-Detroit region, to volunteer their expertise and leverage their connections, so that our AIA member experience is enriching and advantageous. When you are a member of AIA Detroit, you are welcomed into a community that believes quality architecture and design make the world a better place. It is a bustling network waiting for you to engage, and the constant efforts of its volunteers to support and improve the architecture profession are what make your AIA membership so valuable.

We encourage you to join us next Monday, June 18th, for a Midyear Membership Meeting, where you will be able to meet the folks who drive our Chapter’s activity, and receive an update on all the exciting upcoming programs and initiatives they have planned for the AIA Detroit community.

We look forward to seeing you there!

This article originally appeared in the June 1 issue of AIA Architect, and was authored by ConstructConnect. You can view the original posting on aia.org.

Construction growth remains sluggish; for architects, embracing technology’s role in the numbers, as well as in design, can make a difference. (more…)

Meet our distinguished panel of Jurors for the first

Commerce Design: DETROIT

Celebrating the Role of Design in Strengthening Neighborhood Business

Commerce Design: Detroit is a competition aimed at raising awareness of, and access to, professional design services for neighborhood small businesses, and to celebrate the impact of commercial design projects on the communities in which these businesses reside. The competition will recognize projects, submitted jointly by the business owner and design team, that have been completed within the City of Detroit, including Highland Park and Hamtramck, in the last 5 years.
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This article was originally published on aia.org, authored by Michael Heinsdorf. You can view the original article here.

As data privacy concerns make headlines, architects should consider how much they share when specifying products
Building products have always made up a significant portion of construction project budgets, and the specification of those materials takes up a large amount of architects’ time. But while product selection was once generic and took place in a closed environment, today it happens in increasingly transparent ways, such as via the internet or BIM. Information gleaned from this process is very valuable to the construction ecosystem. As an architect, do you know who is collecting and using your data? (more…)

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
~Coretta Scott King

Compassion is no stranger to Detroit. In fact, it is the actions of compassionate individuals that have not only sustained its people through tough times, but fortified Detroit in the international community as a UNESCO City of Design in 2015.

This month, AIA Detroit celebrates those efforts, and recognizes the people whose creative works are having a positive impact throughout Detroit’s neighborhoods. From policy makers and city officials, community stakeholders and residents, to local architects and designers, May is filled with opportunities to dive deep into the endeavors that look to shape our communities for the better. (more…)

The Bureau of Professional Licensing (BPL) within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) would like to inform you that the Administrative Rules for Architects were promulgated effective May 4, 2018.

Below is a summary of the significant changes to the rules: (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ghafari Associates Acquires Leading Grand Rapids Commercial Design Firm,
Concept Design Group

The Combined Resources Strengthens the Firm’s Corporate and Commercial Design Strategic Direction

Dearborn, Mich. – April 30, 2018 – Ghafari Associates, Engineering News-Record Midwest’s “2017 Design Firm of the Year,” is proud to announce that it has acquired Concept Design Group, an award-winning architectural and interior design firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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IN BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL SPACES, PAINT IS ONE OF THE LEAST EXPENSIVE MEASURES WITH THE HIGHEST POTENTIAL IMPACT.
This article was originally published on aia.org, authored by Benjamin Moore. You can view the original article here.

With indoor air quality a crucial component of design, AIA partner Benjamin Moore examines how paint is evolving to reduce pollutants while preserving aesthetics.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people spend the majority of their time indoors, including homes, offices, schools, and other environments, where they may face significant health risks due to repeated exposure to air pollutants. A major contributor to indoor air pollution is volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals emitted from certain building materials and household products such as paint, carpeting, interior furnishings, and cleaning and personal care products. (more…)

For the sixth day of National Architecture Week, our focus shifts to the future with a look at Architecture Education. Various organizations in Detroit are developing innovative new programs with goals ranging from youth architecture education, to shortening the path to licensure, to teaching kids the power of music, lyrics, and dance to describe—and advance improvements to—the built environments in which they live, play, and learn.  (more…)