Celebrating Architecture: Highlights from #AIAcon16
IMAGINE MORE: more beautiful, more creative, more useful, more amazing, more efficient, more value…. The AIA Convention 2016 in Philadelphia last week was dedicated to inspiring architects to imagine more.
LMN Architects won the AIA 2016 Architecture Firm Award and created this Thank You AIA video below – a pretty spectacular showcase of who and what makes LMN so special. I thought this was one of the more motivating moments of the AIA Convention. (For more of a description of LMN’s work and team here’s a link to the AIA 2016 Architecture Firm Award video.)
“The great thing about our profession is we’re always learning and we’re never done.” – LMN Architects
Thank You AIA from LMN Architects on Vimeo.
“One of the things that is really interesting about this practice (LMN Architects) is the use of digital strategies to re-establish a relationship between thinking and making. …and how architects deliver value in that intersection is the big question for the 21st century.” – Phil Bernstein, FAIA
AIA Convention 2016: Imagine +
Keynote Day 2: Neri Oxman: Design at the Intersection of Science + Engineering
My favorite event from AIACon16 was the Keynote Day 2: Design at the Intersection of Science + Engineering. Neri Oxman is brilliant, full of energy and her excitement and passion for what she does is certainly inspiring. Her dynamic presentation was definitely the highlight for me from the AIA Convention this year. (Must watch: Neri Oxman’s TED Talk)
Experiencing Architecture
There are so many reasons to attend the AIA Convention – it is an intense 3 days packed with dynamic speeches, amazing architecture, networking, touring, talking, walking, inspiration, learning, listening, socializing…and that’s just one day! One of the main reasons I love going to the AIA Convention each year is to experience the architecture. Lee Calisti sums up his visit to AIACon16 perfectly: Image is not experience.
Two more highlights worth sharing that have a lot more to do with experiencing architecture: One day we visited The Barnes Foundation by TWBTA on a tour with one of the architects who worked on the project…
And perhaps my other most favorite thing from my visit to Philly this year was having the opportunity to walk through and experience a home designed by Louis Kahn. As a residential architect this was…well, as Lee puts it in his post, mind blowing. “There is no substitute for the real thing – and in one of my visits, it did not disappoint. As I walked around, slowly and methodically, I could begin to speculate the intent and strategy of the architects. Simply mind blowing. A narrative was developing in my mind as the story revealed itself in what I saw, what I heard and what I could smell. I felt the materials with my hands, and I sensed the space as I ascended and descended the stairs, and as I walked outside…” Truly an inspiring experience.
To sum it all up, I’ll share the image below that a friend took of me as I was taking it all in and finally sorting through for the best image of the Kahn house to post on instagram with the description, “Residential architecture heaven…” (I realize I’m looking at my phone rather than the architecture at this moment….but it’s also a lot of fun to share my most favorite architecture experiences with my virtual world too!)
