January 2017 Happy New Year to all AIA|SD Members!
Starting 2017 brings the promise of another excellent year for the Chapter targeting continued member growth and diversity, outstanding programs, and significant community involvement. AIA|SD will reaffirm our ethical duty to foster the design of buildings that contribute to the public health, safety, and wellbeing of our environment and to speak out against negative impacts. We will advocate for policies that create long-term benefits, more workforce housing, resiliency and jobs for San Diego County. Our new Housing Taskforce will take on Housing Affordability, at all levels, as the County visions how to absorb another million people over the next 30 years. We will advocate for the Climate Action Plan, water resource and recycling management, ecologically sound infrastructure investments, accessory dwelling units, state of the art health care facilities, restoration and adaptive reuse of our historic buildings, regulatory reform and proactive urban design through our passionate committees.
As an AIA|SD member, you can be assured that your Chapter leaders are committed to offering many practice-enhancing benefits and providing a value proposition that exceeds your annual dues investment. Among our challenges is meeting the needs of members across a range of practice types. Our large firm members have their emphasis on large projects with sophisticated delivery models. Our many small firm members operate small design businesses in a very competitive marketplace. We believe we can assist all our firms to be nimble, more visible, and more efficient through the professional services and tools provided by our phenomenal staff and knowledge community leaders.
2017 highlights:
- Professional development workshops and construction site visits with dozens of continuing education programs exceeding AIA and state-continuing education requirements; many free of charge or at cost to members;
- Monthly meetings of our very active committees including: The Urban Design Committee (UDC), Committee on the Environment (COTE), Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN), Healthcare Committee, Preservation Committee, Women in Architecture, and a new Lean Housing Taskforce and a Small Firm Forum, allowing many opportunities for volunteering;
- Improved programs between AIA|Palomar and AIA|San Diego;
- Assistance to NewSchool and Woodbury in reaching out to firms to support NCARB’s Integrated Path to Architecture Licensure (IPAL) pilot program in San Diego with internships and shadowing;
- Our annual Design Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Archtoberfest events;
- A County-wide Regional Urban Design Charrette “Housing the Next One Million" in cooperation with Housing You Matters, SDAF, ULI, SDGBC, and SANDAG, among others, to vision the 330,000 more housing units required to meet this growth.
Your participation in programs and events and your willingness to offer guidance on sustaining our continued relevance, is essential to the Chapter’s ongoing success and viability. This year, we hope you will make the time to get involved, volunteer for an event, or join a committee. Next year, AIA|San Diego celebrates its 90th anniversary and will enjoy a proud legacy of service and achievement through its ability to adapt to changing environmental, economic and social circumstances. We thank you for your commitment to our organization and the values it upholds.
Sincerely,
Philip J. Bona, AIA 2017 President, AIA San Diego
