The Columbus Center for Architecture is pleased to announce the first annual Camp Architecture for 2010. The new Center for Architecture, located at 380 East Broad Street, will be the primary meeting place for the day camp and serve as the launching site for excursions through Downtown Columbus and The Ohio State University.

Camp Architecture is a week-long day camp that will begin on July 26, 2010. It is open to children, ages 8-12 years (limited to 25 spaces). The week will provide campers the opportunity to be part of creative activities that enhance knowledge and educational skills, shaping ideas and experiencing architecture, under the direct supervision of architects.

Registration: If you have a child between the ages of 8 and 12, please download the Camp Architecture Registration Form and return the form to the Center for Architecture. Additional information and forms will be emailed to you. The fee for the week-long camp is $200.

Additional Information and Camp Schedule Available Here. 

Please contact Gwen Berlekamp ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to learn about sponsorship opportunities for Camp Architecture. 

President's Blog - March, 2010

From President Peter S. Macrae, AIA

In the past two weeks, I have attended several pre-proposal submission meetings with Public Sector agencies who were hosting the meetings to introduce their projects to interested design professionals. Others who were there with me, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, were as astonished as I at not only the number of firms present but that most of the firms were represented by their senior Principals. Upon arrival, I had many who said, “Call the AIA Chapter meeting to order, Pete…we’re all here!”

More telling than the reaction of the design community was the startled look upon the faces of the agency representatives when they saw how many firms their public advertisement attracted….even when the estimated construction cost of their specific project may have been very small. Of course they are delighted, since many of the firms and faces at the meeting were new to these public officials and they now have a much broader variety of experience and perspective from which to choose.

What these events indicate of course, is the continuing challenge imposed upon our design and construction community by a stagnated economy. We all are aware that nearly all opportunities for new work lie in public works, while private sector clients scramble to uncover financing for their very viable projects. One can only hope that current efforts to free up funding for design and construction projects will soon result in work for us all…after all, we have a new generation of architects waiting to be employed.

The good news is that market and business indicators recently point to a slowly growing US and world economy…the worst may be over but for now, I’ll see you at the next “All Call”.

-Peter

by Peter Macrae, AIA - 2010 AIA Columbus President

AIA National's annual February Grassroots event has come and gone for this year. I thought you might like to hear the impressions of those participants who attended from our Chapter. I'll start and you can read the impressions of the others in their individual contributions below:

Peter Macrae, 2010 AIA Columbus Chapter President
The highlight event of National Grassroots is always the trip to Capitol Hill to meet with the Senators and Representatives of the individual AIA Components from around the country. Both Sandy and Ruth speak of their experience on the Hill below...I want to lift up the "Blueprint for Economic Recovery" that was given to each team to leave with each of their legislators. The overall headline banner read, "LET'S CREATE JOBS THAT REBUILD AND RENEW AMERICA" accompanied by 5 talking points with beautiful, hand sketched, axonometric illustrations (presented on a  representation of an actual blueprint that was rolled-up to be laid out on the table in the meeting...then left behind...suitable for framing). The presentation piece was a huge hit...the 5 points, as culled from the AIA national web site, are as follows:

A new year brings fresh aspirations and hope... we sure need a little of both. To that end, we start with a new theme for 2010 Chapter Meeting programming under the comprehensive heading, "Architectural and Design Research". For those of you in attendance at the January 21st Chapter Meeting in the newly occupied, and thus officially launched, Center for Architecture, you participated in a compelling presentation by NBBJ on their ChangeDesign program. The three lecturers focused upon representative case studies demonstrating directly applied research to actual, domestic and international projects including an introduction to the firm's design process and methodologies for implementation. You can expect more on-message content in each of the upcoming chapter meetings. For February, we will have Denny Griffith, President of CCAD, preside over a panel composed of the Deans of CCAD's degreed programs with insight into how research finds its way into fine arts education. I urge you to attend and to experience the Center's energy for yourself.