FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2018

HKS Announces Promotions

(DETROIT) – HKS rewards outstanding performance, drive and ambition with the promotion of the following individuals in the Detroit office.

Kendall Ruhberg, AIA, LEED AP, was promoted to associate principal; Steve Stroman, IIDA, LEED AP, was promoted to vice president; and Jacqueline Colaianni, WELL AP, was promoted to associate.

Ruhberg is a project manager with experience managing large, complex design teams. He is a registered architect in Michigan and a graduate of Lawrence Technological University.

Stroman is a senior interior design with over 24 years of experience with healthcare and hospitality projects. He is a graduate of Lawrence Technological University.

Colaianni is an architect with experience in healthcare and commercial project. She is a WELL Accredited Professional and a graduate of The University of Michigan. (more…)

 2018 AIAD Programs Promote Diverse Professionals, Perspectives, and Paths

What will the City of Detroit and the architecture profession look like in the years to come?

If the excitement of the young visionaries in our first-ever K-8 outreach program are any indication, we will all be in great hands! This past Friday, February 2nd, we welcomed over 40 students from the Center for Success, and representatives of several City of Detroit departments, to the Butzel Family Rec Center in Islandview for the conclusion of the first iteration of Architecture Building Communities: Detroit [ABC:D]. I had the opportunity to see these young students, ranging from first through fifth grade, present their big plans for not only their neighborhood, but the broader community at-large to a panel of city officials. Fueled by young energy, unfiltered creativity, and a bit of sugar, each team presented their ideas for Butzel and the surrounding neighborhood of Islandview, addressing issues like adaptive reuse, new development, and streetscape placemaking. (more…)

Download Printable PDF of Press Release Here.

A letter from 2018 AIA Detroit President Kimberly Montague:

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”

Auld Lang Syne, a traditional Scottish poem written by Robert Burns, is sung all over the world on New Year’s Eve. Roughly translated, the tune means “for old time’s sake” and the lyrics are essentially about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the past year, often with a certain reverence. As I reflect on 2017, it was a time of change for AIA Detroit; change that was positive and will allow us to grow, strengthen, and prosper in 2018 and beyond. But it was also a time to remain true to our mission and strategic objectives; seeking to improve the value of great architecture and design in our communities.

Many existing AIA Detroit events and programs remained constant, with improvements based on your suggestions: (more…)

by Charlie Klecha, Assoc. AIA

—On a bitterly cold Thursday morning, Bedrock Detroit, along with a host of city and business leaders, finally ‘broke ground’ on the high-rise that will soon occupy the historic site of the former J.L. Hudson’s department store. Being the top of a parking deck, there was no ground to actually break, so dignitaries symbolically held on to golden shovels, as heavy equipment awkwardly bashed and disfigured an existing elevator tower popping out of the garage just behind them.

The building is expected to rise to 800 feet, making it the tallest in both the City of Detroit, and the State of Michigan. Bedrock’s design team on the project includes a partnership between Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates, represented at the event by founding principal Rainy Hamilton, Jr., FAIA, NOMA, and New York-based SHoP Architects, represented by principal Bill Sharples.

Included in the presentation were a handful of juicy new renderings, mixed in with slightly-revised versions of the views we’ve been seeing for the last few months. For many, these are the most highly-anticipated parts of the announcement of any new development—we in the design profession just love to scrutinize an image to see what we can glean about the early concepts for the project. In that spirit, here are three observations from the new renderings, and speculations on the fun features that these renders might imply are being considered (or are soon to be value-engineered out!).

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Please Join AIA Detroit for our Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 16th, at 6:30PM. The meeting will be held at the Madison Building off Broadway in downtown Detroit.

We hope you will join us for some cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres as we wrap up another successful year at AIA Detroit.  We encourage you to RSVP for this free event.  If you cannot make the meeting in person and wish to participate in the election, you must request an absentee ballot by sending your name and AIA Number to elections@aiadetroit.com by November 10th, 2017.

RSVP Here for the Annual Meeting

GET TO KNOW THIS YEAR’S SLATE OF CANDIDATES… (more…)

RSVP Here

All current AIA Detroit Members are encouraged to join us for the 2017 Annual Meeting, taking place on Thursday, November 16th, at the Madison event space on Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit. This meeting will include the annual report to the membership on significant accomplishments, events, and programming throughout the past year, and the election of the 2018 AIA Detroit Board of Directors.

The Annual Meeting will begin with elections proceedings for the 2018 Board of Directors. Certified Candidates will be permitted to make brief statements, after which all current Architect and Associate members will cast votes for the contested positions up for election. See below for a list of Certified Candidates, and read more about the candidates and their written statements here. (more…)

AIA Detroit is pleased to announce the launch of a new K-8 education outreach program, designed to provide students in underserved areas of Detroit with principles of design thinking, and engage them in the planning process for the communities in which they live. Architecture Building Communities: Detroit [ABC:D], recipient of the 2017 AIA National / Armstrong Foundation Education Grant, is a pilot collaboration between AIA Detroit, Cranbrook Art Museum & Academy—a world-renowned institution with a rich architectural legacy and a pioneering collegiate architecture curriculum—and The Center for Success (C4S), a nonprofit organization committed to impacting youth in underserved areas through education and exposure to social interactions and activities. (more…)

It takes hundreds of people to pull off the biggest event of the year.  Join our team!  Volunteers who put in 4 hours of time will get FREE entry to the 2017 Celebration of Architecture.

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Special Thank You to our Sponsor, Brightwood Architecture, for making this evnt possible.

This July, over forty of our Detroit members gathered at the Emagine Royal Oak Theatre for the Emerging Professionals Committee’s Summer Mixer! Emerging and established architects alike came together to bowl, network, and learn about the many ways to get involved in the AIA Detroit Chapter. We were also able to view the “I Look Up” Film Challenge short films. They were selections from the 3rd installation of the series that invites architects and filmmakers to capture stories of how architecture is helping to change communities for the better. (more…)