Message From AIA Oregon Emerging Professional and Young Architect Leadership

(standing, l to r - Nicole Becker, Mohamed Fakhry, and Evon Calebrese)

Please enjoy this week's Message From our AIA Oregon Emerging Professional Committee (EPC) leaders as they reflect on their A'23 experience.

Mohamed Fakhry, Associate AIA
AIA Oregon Portland EP Co-Chair, CoEDI Chair

This year AIA Conference in San Francisco was a thrill! It was my first but it most definitely won’t be my last! 

I had fun meeting, engaging, and networking with some of the industry most talented and inspiring architects, designers, sustainability leaders, environmental, and Design Justice advocates!

The keynotes, expo booths, happy hours, seminars, workshops, city tours, and firms visits I attended were each full of learning, uplifting, and hope carry!

Making the world a better place for us all to shelter and dance and aspire and celebrate who we are as community members from all creeds and shades and genders but humans beings firsthand, is hard work, it is exhausting but it can be done, one building clay, one street block at a time.

Attending A’23 reminded me of all those beautiful and important things we all endear as practicing and aspiring architects. However, the conference foremost, made me believe in the power of design to positively impact lives and to keep breaking the boundaries beyond what architects can wholeheartedly contribute, when it comes to rebuilding our broken and divided communities and pushing the layers of innovation, accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion a little farther within the profession.

Thank you to AIA Oregon for giving me the opportunity to attend and to my firm ZGF for accommodating my presence! 

Excited for A’24!

Evon Calabrese, Associate AIA
AIA Oregon, Portland EP Co-Chair

This was my second time attending AIA National but an entirely different experience. My first attendance was in 2016 as a fledgling designer with no clear direction. This time, with more knowledge, experience, and drive under my belt, I attended with a clear focus. 

My experience at A’23 centered around three themes:  

• Social Emotional Intelligence 

• Women in Architecture 

• Participatory Design 

In a session titled “Optimizing Team Collaboration” we learned about the neuroscience behind defensiveness and that our brain can process a defensive response much faster than a logical one, which is useful in survival situations, not so much for collaboration. By identifying the physical sensations, you experience when in a defensive state (for me it’s racing heart and sweaty palms), you can then find tools to help bring you out of that state: taking a deep breath or a sip of water or even admitting you’re feeling defensive. Another key tip from this session was how to make decisions efficiently on consensus. Rather than a “this is my choice” approach try thinking of things as “I can support this” / “I cannot support this” / “I need more information before giving an answer”. This type of dialog can move expedited decision making without getting stonewalled or conceding to the loudest voice in the room. 

Growing up my parents had a small architecture/landscape architecture practice. Not only was my mother a principal architect, at the time she was the ONLY licensed architect in our region of south/central Vermont. Her best friend from college was also a principal architect, so while I knew architecture was at one time a male dominated field, I thought since these two ladies are principals’ things have changed. The reality is, while architecture school is fairly even, as you move up the profession the disparity grows.  

Women make up:

46% architecture students

39% Associate members (this is the group I am in)

22% AIA members 

18% Firm Partners 

?% Managing Partners is unknown

I attended several sessions centered on participatory design and honoring lived experiences. 

In the session “Empowering Communities through Empathic Listening” we learned about the process of discovering and distilling ideas with a community using old-school tools like a disposable camera and the importance of creating an “experience map” for different personas. 

I also had the privilege of attending a workshop specific to behavioral health spaces that was led by two BH design specialist as well as a provider, and an architect who has experienced a psychotic break followed by psychiatric treatment. The presenter shared annotated sketches from her time in inpatient treatment which exemplified how undignified, confined, and sterile her experience was. A big takeaway from this session is as designers we often employ design strategies to promote dignity and autonomy, but if they do not align with the facility operations they will not work. This is not much different than handing over a NetZero building with no instruction manual or education for the building operators. 

Thank you to AIA Oregon and my employer Clark/Kjos Architects for sponsoring my attendance. I returned to Oregon with a bad cold but a ton of inspiration and motivation for tackling some of our states most pressing issues - mental health, substance use, and homelessness. I am also feeling extra motivated to obtain my architecture license and slowly move the needle on the percentage of licensed women.

Nicole Becker, AIA
AIAO Young Architect Representative to the Young Architect’s Fourm

As Oregon’s Young Architect Representative (YAR) on the National Young Architect’s Forum (YAF), I had the opportunity to help facilitate a table at the Mini MBA: Mastering the Business of Architecture session where there was exuberant discussion on what being a firm leader really means and the impacts of AI on the profession. The group discussed AI from the lens of excitement vs. fear and the ways AI can enhance our practice. Another takeaway of the conference for me was a session I attended, hosted by the Large Firm Round Table, as a panel of four large firm CEOs discussing EDI in their firms and taking a critical look at how we must take actionable steps now to improve the EDI in our firms. The 2023 Whitney M. Young Jr. Recipient, Robert Easter, FAIA, NOMAC was in attendance, and he reinforced his comment upon acceptance of his award that, “50 years ago, the percentage of architects who identify as Black or African American was 2%. Five years ago, it was 2%. Today is remains at 2%.” We have work to do. 

For me, one of the biggest joys of Conference is being surrounded by inspiring, talented, and innovative professionals that always leave me feeling engaged, re-fueled, and excited for the future of practice. I extend immense gratitude to ZGF for their support of my role as Oregon’s YAR and my attendance at Conference. Now let’s get to work creating positive change and impact in our communities!

Message from the AIAO EVP/CEO

Heather Wilson
AIA Oregon EVP/CEO

Honoring Juneteenth

On Monday, June 19, our AIA Oregon office (and many other AIA offices, including AIA National) will be closed in the observance of Juneteenth, a Federal Holiday created by the Juneteenth national Independence Day Act of 2021. This day commemorates the day that the last slaves were freed in the westernmost territory of the still forming United States of America. From the Juneteenth federal web page, https://www.govinfo.gov/features/juneteenth:

On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. This, however, was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January, 1863. This day, the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has become a day for African Americans to celebrate not only their freedom, but their history, culture and achievements.

On this day, my family and I will remind ourselves of our own portion of that history. I like to take out the photos of Ernestine Amanda and Charles Abraham Moore, my great grandparents, who were a part of the Exoduster movement that followed Juneteenth. They became homesteaders along with other newly freed slaves in the Great Plains. They were able to build a barn (where they lived in the loft), purchase a horse, and try to carve out a life in the harsh conditions. As my family has told it, Ernestine Amanda eventually told Charles to take her back to Paris, Kentucky; where they knew the life would be just as harsh in other ways (as they returned to Jim Crow life); but she admonished that at least she’d be able to wash her clothes without being surrounded by rattlesnakes.

I don’t have too many more stories about them. I try to make connection with what I have left, as I also suppose many of us do to honor Juneteenth. Whatever you do, I hope it is educational, safe, and impactful, as the holiday is also a call to recommit ourselves to the work of equity, equality, and justice our society. Enjoy, and I hope you connect with a story that resonates with you.

Message from the AIAO President-Elect

John Flynn, AIA
AIA Oregon President-Elect

Hello, Colleagues –

I hope you are all well and good, and looking forward to a relaxing-yet-productive summer.  I’m writing this week’s Message from a slightly different position on the AIAO Board of Directors.  I’ve been an At-Large Director for several years.  And this year, I’ve renewed my commitment to the organization and am currently positioned as the President-Elect for AIA Oregon.  Good for me?  Well, that kind of depends on you!  Let’s talk about engagement and volunteering.

We are a volunteer-driven organization.  We depend on ourselves – our members – to take the lead in developing programs and initiatives that benefit our profession and architects throughout the State.  We come from many different communities and many different perspectives.  But our values and mission are shared.  Architects can (and will) contribute to a better built environment, a better social fabric, and a better outlook on the future.  We have knowledge and resources; we have solid networks; and as design professionals, we advance creativity and bring meaningful solutions to today’s challenges.

So, here’s my pitch:

Interested in contributing to meaningful conversations amongst colleagues and related design professionals?  Join one of AIAO’s committees!  (Or start a new one!)  Join your Section’s Steering Committee!

Interested in a specific topic that AIA Oregon is addressing? – we have many.  Step up to participate in one of our current Task Forces!  More on this later.

Interested in engaging on issues that we address as a state-wide organization and a national component?  Consider a position on the AIAO Board of Directors!

There is so much you can do.  Even though so much of this engagement can be done from right in front of your computer screen, as we have started our return to a full slate of in-person/hybrid events and programs, the opportunities to participate are going to be more fun and exciting.

Here are a few current initiatives and programs.

1.     NEW HEADQUARTER FACILITIES FOR AIA OREGON

Planning for our future physical/virtual presence throughout the State is well underway.  The AIAO HQ Task Force is actively crafting a vision for where we want to “live” and how we want to come together in ways that matter most to our members.  We are reaching out to membership via Section get-togethers in the coming months to dive deeper into what local members need.  Please participate!  Contact your Section Leadership or AIAO staff (kwendland@aiaoregon.org) and sign-up for your summer events.

2.     DAT (Design Assistance Team) STUDY FOR DOWNTOWN PORTLAND

AIA Oregon’s Fellows Committee has initiated a community design process, supported by a grant from AIA National, to examine and recommend a vision for Portland’s central business district. The process is committed to making sure that as many voices as possible are heard.  The DAT workshops will take place this Fall.  So, if you (Portland-based or not) are interested in participating in an urban design exercise that addresses the future of Portland’s Downtown, please engage!  Contact AIAO President Kaley Fought (kaley@fwsarch.com), me (johnflynn@resolvearchitecture.com ), or AIA  Executive VP/CEO Heather Wilson (hwilson@aiaoregon.org).

3.     UPCOMING CONFERENCES

We’re gearing up for our next Oregon Design Conference in late Spring of 2024.  But here are two important events that are taking place this year that are well worth your time.

FUTURE VISION, presented by the Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, will take place this August.  As in years past, it promises to offer a well-rounded slate of seminars, panel discussions, and interactive sessions.  More information is forthcoming.

NOMA NATIONAL CONFERENCE.  The National Organization of Minority Architects’ annual conference is coming to Portland this year, October 11 – 15.  We’re very excited for our friends at the host chapter, NOMAPDX, and we’ll be promoting this conference in the months to come.  It promises to be a great opportunity for conversations and learning.  https://www.noma.net/conference-2023/

Clearly, there is a lot going on.  What better time to get involved and dedicate a few hours each month to your professional organization!  There are events in which to participate, there are committees in which to engage, and there are Board positions looking for candidates.  AIA Oregon needs you!

Thanks and best wishes to everyone!