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Thursday, December 29, 2022

Recap of Minnesota AIA Convention 2022

The annual Minnesota Conference on Architecture 2022, hosted by the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is now behind us. I was honored to present for the fifth year in a row (for in-person events) on the exciting work we are doing here at Lake|Flato.

Today I will share a recap of this event, including a session I was involved in with Simona Fischer (MSR Design) and Alissa Kingsley (HGA)!


keep reading to learn more...

Venue

As in years past, the conference was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis. This worked out great as my youngest is studying at MCAD, and lives nearby.



Keynote

There were several great keynotes. I will share the one I enjoyed the most: Walking Backwards into the Future, by Wanda Dalla Costa, AIA, FRAIC, LEED AP, who is a Principal at Tawaw Architecture Collective.

Here is the program description:
"In the Indigenous worldview, in both historic and contemporary times, there is an understanding of eternal connectivity between humans and the natural environment. In this system, often referred to as ethical relationality, time and space move fluidly forward and backward between generations, offering reflection and reimagining. Ancestral ideologies are practiced across many biomes around the world and are beginning to seep into design practice. With the world undergoing unprecedented environmental changes, these notions, which prioritize collective resilience, may provide a path forward."



Exhibit Hall

As usual, the exhibit hall offered lots to see and experience!


A longtime friend and architect, Randy Larson, had some fun with wooden swords at his booth. Pictured here, battling it out, are Randy and an old colleague Mark Poirier.


Randy reps a lot of great products through his company Meteek Supply. Pictured below is a solid wood custom window they are developing, which, according to Randy, challenges the contemporary notion that cladding is superior when it comes to longevity.


Our Session

I co-presented a session titled Building Climate Action Design Cultures: Technology, Workflows, and Teams with...
  • Simona Fischer AIA – Director of Sustainable Practice, MSR Design
  • Alissa Kingsley AIA – Sustainable Operations Leader, HGA Architects and Engineers

The session went well, and we received great feedback! To learn more about the session, see this previous post: click here.

By the way, I serve on a national AIA COTE subcommittee (Climate Action|Climate Justice) with Alissa!


Preparing for our session in-person the night before...


🠟🠟🠟Selfie w/ Abimbola Asojo PhD, AIA, IDEC, LEED AP, Associate Dean for Faculty, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Professor, College of Design at University of Minnesota

I serve on a national IES committee (BIM Standards) with Abi! I also present to her students on lighting design and visulization annually. Thanks to Abi for taking the session photo above.



Another great session with some parallels to our session was Sustainable Design Tools: Technology's Role in Supporting Shared Sustainability Goals.
  • Adam Ariano, AIA
  • Elizabeth Turner, AIA
  • Kathryn Van Nelson, Assoc. AIA
  • Richard Graves, AIA
  • Rachel Riopel, AIA  (co-moderator)
  • Adam Wilbrecht, AIA  (co-moderator)
I have known Rachael for years and presented with her at the AIA-MN 2019 conference. I also used to work with Elizabeth, at LHB!




One more session I will share... Good Energy Haus: Minneapolis’s First Certified Passive House Plus presented by Tim Eian. He shared the design and construction process for his own single-family residence in the Twin Cities.

Here is the program description:

"See Minneapolis’s first certified Passive House Plus come to life in a case study, from design considerations, materials, products, and systems to engineering, energy modeling, construction, field testing, and commissioning. Get a firsthand occupancy report on this climate-neutral home from owner/designer Tim Eian."



🠟🠟🠟Selfie w/ Deanna Christiansen, Continuing Education Director at AIA Minnesota

A big thank you to Deanna for all she does for the AIA.
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