By Erin Persky, Assoc. AIA, CCHP and Tommy Sinclair, AIA
The criminal justice system is facing a critical juncture: “reform” is on the horizon, but what this means and where it will lead are yet to be determined. The decisions made by justice architects today will have a lasting impact on the relevance of architecture professionals in the discussion of justice reform, and those individuals currently young in their justice architecture tenures will be faced with the consequences of present-day decisions for the duration of their careers.
Fortunately, many of these young professionals possess keen insight into factors influencing emergent trends. For this reason, it is with pleasure that we introduce the AIA-AAJ Emerging Professional (EP) subcommittee. The Emerging Professional subcommittee is committed to evolving justice architecture and supporting the emerging professionals who practice in this complex field.
The EP subcommittee will strive to provide a platform for the dissemination of EP ideas; encourage EP involvement in all areas of AAJ; inspire collaboration among EPs on original projects; urge firm support of EP conference attendance (AAJ and other relevant content-areas); and, most importantly, stimulate career-long relationships among EPs. We will endeavor to make this subcommittee a foundation for future generations of justice architecture specialists.
There are a number of emerging professionals currently participating in (and leading!) AAJ subcommittees and conferences, working closely with experienced justice professionals to generate and disseminate knowledge pertinent to justice professionals. Their contribution is critical to the quality of content distributed by the AAJ and we hope to see this continue.
The implementation of separate Emerging Professional and University Outreach subcommittees is an acknowledgement of the distinct needs of each demographic. While the latter, as Lorenzo Lopez describes in the Introduction to the University Outreach subcommittee, is intended to garner student interest in this project type, AAJ Emerging Professionals have already demonstrated a commitment to justice work. We sincerely hope that this subcommittee supports the retention of engaged, intelligent professionals in the practice of justice architecture and in the global criminal justice discussion.
If you are interested in participating, please contact Erin Persky at erinpersky@gmail.com or Tommy Sinclair at tommy.sinclair@hok.com.
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Erin Persky is a correctional and courts programmer with Jay Farbstein & Associates, Inc., and is currently a member of the AAJ Leadership Group (LG). Erin will act as LG liaison to the Emerging Professional subcommittee.
Tommy Sinclair is an Architect with HOK. Tommy will serve as Chair of the Emerging Professional subcommittee.
(Return to the cover of the 2016 AAJ Journal Q1 issue)