Last week, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the annual Texas Society of Architects (TxA) conference in Forth Worth, Texas. I presented on early energy modeling for architects, highlighting our workflows at Lake|Flato. I was also representing the national AIA COTE Leadership:)
Today's post is a recap of the event.
The conference was held at the Forth Worth Convention Center. It is a great venue with several nearby hotels as well as restaurants and bars. This is the second time I have been to this concentration center this year:) I was there earlier this year with my publisher for a state CTE conference for educators.
As usual for my recap posts, all of the following photos are in chronological order. It is a fun way to share the overall conference experience from my perspective:)
Day One - Thursday
Right after registering, I ran into two San Antonians... Torrey Carleton, Executive Director at AIA San Antonio, and Allison Chambers, AIA, Principal at Ford Powell & Carson Architects.
Near the registration desk was a large group of high school students presenting projects from their architecture class. I dropped in for a while to hear a few great presentations.
Right after that, the first official TxA session also involved high school students. Six teams were selected from across the state with the individual and group winners being announced after a short video highlighting each teams project. I had just met the winning team and their teacher, Luisa Valenzuela, from El Paso, that morning at a Starbucks:)
Right after that class, in the same room, was my session on early energy modeling for architects. The session went well, with lots of questions. I highlighted some cool things we are doing with Autodesk Forma, and I even got to show a few screenshots of an interesting new feature from Chaos/Enscape (more on this in the near future).
Thanks to Aaron Vorwerk for the photos.
A great turnout...
The exhibit hall...
Only in Texas:)
Lake|Flato won two awards this year, and my colleague Adrianna Swindle won a professional achievement award!
Selfie with Chris Mundell AIA, LEED Fellow who is involved with TxA COTE and works at Parkhill.
Puppies!!!
That is one large brick...
A lovely nearby plaza with live music...
A cool installment in the plaza...
A great dinner hosted by Sierra Pacific Windows...
Day Two - Friday
Day two started out in a general assembly with awards and keynotes.
San Anontian Stephanie Aranda, Assoc. AIA won the Associate Member of the Year award.
Adrianna Swindle, Adrianna Swindle, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP, Partner at Lake|Flato Architects, won the Early Achievement Award!
An interesting keynote by Jared Della Valle from Alloy. He shared his unique business model where his company does design, funding, and real estate for their project... he showed a document where is signed for all three himself:)
San Antonian Allison Chambers, AIA, Principal at Ford Powell & Carson Architects, accepted an award on behalf of her colleague who could not attend.
El Paso friends from Exigo architects, who we are working on a project within in El Paso!
A great session on tall mass timber buildings in the exhibit hall!
DLT is amazing... we have completed a couple mass timber projects using this product.
Sierra Pacific had VR in their booth:) Picured here is Mary Stills from Parkhill, with whom we are also working on a project with!
A great session on the various pathways to AIA Fellowship.
The amazing Forth Worth Water Garden adjacent to the conference center designed by Philip Johnson!
I had a great time at the #TxA23 president’s dinner hanging out with TxA CEO Jennifer Briggs, current president Nicki Marrone, and President-Elect Derwin Broughton, AIA.
Selfie...
- Michael Peterson, Hossley lighting and power solutions
- Stephanie Aranda, GNA Architects
- Maddie Cameron, Structural EIT at Garver
Selfie with Derwin...
Day Three - Saturday
The Design Awards Showcase session featuring this year's winning projects.
Here is a cool project featuring a group in Austin helping people without homes in an engaging way.
Lake|Flato partner Greg Papay presented on the Will Smith Zoom School. This presentation always starts with "it's not who you think it is... it is not the actor"!
My last session was on AI in architecture... which was great. We already use many of the tools highlighted, but I learned about a few new ones!
Food trucks in the water garden for lunch!
Last two selfies...
UTSA architecture profession, Maryam Singery
Belinda Sanchez, AIA San Antonio managing director (at the airport:))
If you live in Texas, you should consider attending TxA if not already on your radar. Lots of great sessions and networking opportunities.
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