Utzon Wins 2003 Pritzker Prize
Danish architect Jorn Utzon, Hon. FAIA, who designed the iconic Sydney Opera House, has been selected as the 2003 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. While best known for the Australian commission, which he won in an international competition at the beginning of his career in 1957, Utzon continued to influence the built environment with several other significant works, including, according to the Pritzker jury, “handsome, humane housing; a church that remains a master work with its remarkably lyrical ceilings; as well as monumental public buildings for government and commerce.”

Architects Employ Conventional Wisdom
The glass façade and flagship design of the new Washington Convention Center beckon guests to enter the massive complex and take in the details and amenities that abound in each corner of the 2.3-million-square-foot building. The center, designed by Thompson, Ventulett and Stainback, Atlanta, recipient of the 2002 AIA Firm Award, with Mariani Architects-Engineers, and Devrouax & Purnell Architects-Planners, both of Washington, D.C., is intended to be a monument unto itself, and city officials and building designers are banking on the fact that city dwellers, visitors, and meeting planners will share their excitement for the latest addition to the Washington, D.C., skyline.

Poll: What Do You Think About the Profession?
Please share your views on these 11 questions
Grassroots Leadership Conference participants expressed their opinions on six topics—architecture education, financial realignment, the profession, communications, knowledge, and membership—during the annual Issues Forum, March 10, in Washington, D.C. Now it’s your turn. Please respond to these 11 questions about the third topic: the profession. AIArchitect will run polls of the other topics, tally the results, and share them in our convention issue, May 9. See also comments from past polls.

Bell Honored as a Top Newsmaker by ENR magazine
AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA (left), and AIA President Thompson E. Penney, FAIA (right), congratulate AIA New York Chapter Executive Director Fredric Bell, FAIA, on being named one of Engineering News-Record’s 25 Top Newsmakers of 2002. Feted at an April 3 gala in New York City, Bell received the award for “catalyzing a Who’s Who of 400 individuals from 21 design and planning groups to create guiding principles for the renaissance of Lower Manhattan” immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Bell was quick to share credit with his fellow participants in New York, New Visions, the pro bono group that has become advisor to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the voice of public opinion, which has shown—unequivocally—that people can own the design of their city.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only)
AIArchitect links members to three stories a week from the pages of the renowned Kiplinger Letter. (Nonmembers may subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.)
After the War: Quick return to mild recovery Economy: Profits up, hiring flat Global Markets: China outpacing everyone, Japan still shrinking.

PROJECT WATCH
New Indiana Building Honors Native Son Red Skelton
URS Corporation of Grand Rapids, Mich., recently unveiled its design for the Red Skelton Museum and Performing Arts Center for Vincennes University, in Vincennes, Ind., the famed comedian’s hometown. The 98,000-square-foot performance center/museum will replace the school’s 35-year-old drama and music complex. The performance center’s repertoire will include a balconied, semicircular theater seating 800; instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms; acting lab; construction lab; dressing rooms; and faculty offices. The museum will house a 100-seat video room showing the many facets of Skelton’s life as a comic, actor, writer, painter, and composer; conference rooms; and an open area displaying his costumes, artwork, and other performance memorabilia. Construction on the $15 million facility will begin this fall, with completion slated for the fall of 2005. (Rendering courtesy of URS.)

Need to catch up on recent editions of AIArchitect This Week?
March 17 | March 24 | March 31 | April 7

BEST PRACTICES (members only)
Building Codes ILLUSTRATED Illluminates
International Building Code
Clear text, clear drawings facilitate code compliance
This excerpt comes from the just published Building Codes ILLUSTRATED: A Guide to Understanding the International Building Code, by Francis D. K. Ching and Steven Winkel, FAIA (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). This book speaks to architects in their language by graphically detailing the intent of the new International Building Code, the single document that replaces the three U.S. model building codes. The authors, an architectural drawing guru and a well-versed building codes expert, wrote it as a companion book to the IBC itself, meaning the guide is to be used in tandem with the code. They include a “how to use this book” for students, emerging professionals, and seasoned practitioners.

Don’t Miss This Great Course on Building Security!
AIA eClassroom just released a new distance-learning course, "Contemplating the Unknown: Trends and Predictions for Protecting the Built Environment in a Society at Risk," based on a Grassroots Leadership Conference program March 10 by Frances Halsband, FAIA, principal of New York City’s R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects. Halsband shares her experiences with federal-building design, presents a brief history of security design, and offers a range of components to be considered in creating safe and beautiful environments. (For the AIArchitect coverage of that session, click here.) The half-hour seminar, truly about an architect sharing her ideas with other architects, offers one HSW learning unit. $49.95 AIA members/$74.95 retail. Check it out today!

ASLA Awards Entry Forms Due May 2
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2003 Awards program features four categories of professional awards: design, analysis and planning, research, and communications. Any individual, firm, agency, or academic institution may enter the design and analysis and planning categories if the project’s participants include a landscape architect or a graduate or faculty member of a landscape architecture program. Anyone may enter in the research and communications categories. ASLA also is soliciting entries for its new Community Service Award, recognizing public service, and the Landmark Award, recognizing a project completed 15–50 years ago that contributes significantly to the public realm. Entry forms are due May 2, and materials must be submitted by May 16. Download the entry form from here.

AIA Career Center
Here are this week’s featured opportunities: Architect, ATI Architects and Engineers, Roseville, CA | Architectural Project Manager, DLZ Ohio Inc., Columbus, OH | Chief Architect, Kling, Washington, DC | Development Manager/NY-NJ, Big Wave Recruiting | Healthcare Architect, HLM Design, Denver, CO | Healthcare Architect/Project Manager, Thomas, Miller & Partners, LLC, Brentwood, TN | Intermediate Project Architects/Designers, Perkins & Will, Inc., Los Angeles | Job Captain, OJMR-Architects, Inc., Los Angeles | Manager, Specifications, URS Corporation, Columbus, OH | Northeast Territory Sales Manager, Interstate Brick | Project Architect/Production Manager, Blankenship McMillen Architects, Longwood, FL| Project Architects, Dorwin Thomas Architect, Grand Cayman Islands, BWI | Project Architects, Kling, Washington, DC | Project Manager, BJAC, Raleigh, NC | Project Manager/Architect, Oliver-Glidden-Spina & Partners, West Palm Beach, FL | Project Manager/Intern, Thomas, Miller & Partners, LLC, Brentwood, TN | Specifications Professionals, ARCOM, Alexandria, VA. Visit the AIA Career Center for a full list of openings.

This service is brought to you as an AIA-member benefit. The email list used to deliver AIArchitect This Week is maintained exclusively for that purpose by the AIA national component.

To keep up with the universe of information the AIA gathers exclusively for members, visit the AIA's Web page.

AIArchitect This Week is published by the AIA, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects. Home page