Dear COTE Members,
Throughout January and February, the COTE Leadership Group (LG) organized the work of AIA COTE Subcommittees. We focused broadly on our capacity for outreach and planned discourse at the intersection of design practice, climate action, and climate justice. We are now preparing to award practitioners and students for design excellence through COTE's programs. We're two months into 2022, and there is much to share about COTE's upcoming events for advocacy and outreach, as well as opportunities for you to bring your vision to COTE through acts of service:
The COTE LG welcomes new LG members and liaisons Brittany Porter, AIA, representing the Young Architects Forum, and Kendall Claus, Assoc. AIA, representing the COTE Network. As liaisons, Brittany and Kendall will be integral to COTE's work at local, regional, and national scales. They will amplify the work of various practice communities, helping AIA COTE strengthen its programs and resources. In addition, Kathleen Lane, AIA, the newly appointed Managing Director of Sustainability and Resilience, joined the COTE LG at planning meetings. We anticipate coordinating with Kathleen throughout the year, recognizing the significant staff- and volunteer-led efforts underway within the AIA. Finally, COTE LG member Kjell Anderson joined the AIA Strategic Council's sprint on carbon literacy. The sprint, led by Thomas Hartman, AIA, aims to build upon the findings of the Council's recent report on Scalable Climate Action.
Together, these activities reflect AIA COTE's commitment to outreach that will promote the accessibility and evolution of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. To that end, the COTE LG confirms that the COTE Network will be the home for The Common App for Awards Alignment. The Common App facilitates the work of award juries by consolidating metrics on architectural projects and their performance. Since its introduction in 2018, several leaders of AIA chapters have effectively used the common App to integrate the Framework into design awards programs. The COTE LG and the COTE Network will support, maintain and align the Common App with the Framework as our understanding of metrics evolve.
On Earth Day, April 22nd, the AIA will announce the winners of the 2022 AIA COTE Top Ten Awards and 2022 AIA COTE Top Ten for Students Competition. AIA COTE will celebrate their accomplishments with a toast in June at A'22, the AIA Conference on Architecture in Chicago. (If you are attending, we hope you will join COTE for the toast and for our sessions: Performing Beautifully and the Open Forum.) Both AIA Staff and COTE volunteers work to deliver and plan these programs throughout the year. However, are you aware of volunteers who form our technical review group? See the story for a list of this year’s technical reviewers. "The unsung heroes of the COTE Top Ten Awards program are the technical reviewers," says Michelle Amt, AIA, and COTE LG member. "It's a tremendous amount of work, but it makes the COTE TT the most robust design award out there."
The COTE LG, with AIA staff Melissa Wackerle and Melissa Morancy, Associate AIA, are presently planning the 2023 Awards and Competition programs. Instructions for the 2023 Student Competition will be released this spring, in time for students now completing their thesis and capstone project to prepare entries for the next competition cycle. COTE LG members Elaine Gallagher Adams, AIA, and Betsy del Monte, FAIA, seek volunteers to join this work: COTE members, please reach out to your alma mater or local university to provide practice-based mentorship throughout the Student Competition. Mentoring students through the AIA COTE Top Ten for Students Competition is a rewarding and fun way to inspire the next generation of architects!
Previously, AIA COTE announced its commitment to initiate essential work examining the intersection between design excellence, climate action, and climate justice. We have officially launched the AIA COTE Climate Action and Climate Justice subcommittee, led by COTE LG members Lori Ferris, AIA, and Christiana Moss, FAIA. Thank you to the COTE volunteers who have already agreed to join this effort. If you are interested in contributing to this work, please reach out to us via cote@aia.org (or to a member of the COTE LG or me) and indicate your interest and willingness to work with us to evolve this new initiative.