1. The Copy Machine
In their “Museum of Copying” at the 2012 Venice Biennale, London-based FAT Architecture principals framed mimicry as a conceit of design. Copying the work of others is fundamental to the design process and, at the same time, perilous to the architect that seeks an original expression. FAT principal Sam Jacob, who launched Sam Jacob Studio last year, will explore this theme and others in a lecture at the University of Toronto on Jan. 13. Learn more at www.daniels.utoronto.ca/events.
2. Mind Your Business
Registration opens next month for the 2015 AIA National Convention May 14–16 in Atlanta, where the theme of making an impact will be explored as a design imperative and a business plan. It’s the third time the AIA has been to Georgia since 1975, but the first time it’s been back since the city’s most recent building boom.
Anna Heringer Architecture and its eponymous principal seem to be everywhere at once: Bangladesh, China, Germany, Morocco, Zimbabwe—the list goes on. And in each place Heringer finds new ways to use local materials, resources, and forms to work across building types. Sustainable development networks will be the subject of her talk at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design on Jan. 21. Learn more at ced.berkeley.edu.
4. New Agreements
AIA Contract Documents just released new documents that include Master Agreements with coordinated Service and Word Order Agreements, a new Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc) Agreement, and a new Owner/Program Manager Agreement for use on a Single Project. Learn more at www.aia.org/newdocs, and get free samples of the documents.
5. Crafty
Some firms have created new platforms to optimize project delivery—take, for instance, Gehry Technologies (purchased by Trimble Navigation in September) and their design and delivery products, or KT Innovations (KieranTimberlake’s offshoot) and their Tally life cycle analysis app. These and other examples will be discussed at AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community’s “Architects Making Tools” conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5. Learn more at www.aia.org/tap.
