Blogs

Voices of Advocacy – Interview with Arathi Gowda, FAIA

By Joyce Raybuck, AIA posted 2 days ago
We continue our Voices of Advocacy series where we interview leaders from the COTE community who are advocating for important policy change. By sharing the stories of those doing substantive work, we hope to de-mystify the process. Throughout the series, you will hear stories from across the country that speak to varying advocacy issues and their local nuances. An interview with Arathi Gowda, Principal, FAIA, LEED BD+C, AICP, LFA about being a citizen architect, the importance of building coalitions, and why architects should lift and raise Joyce Raybuck and Hope Schmelzle Arathi Gowda leads Perkins & Will’s East Coast Regional ...

Interfaith Design Knowledge Community — AIA26 Conference Summary

By Alison Karfeld posted 4 days ago
At AIA26, the Interfaith Design Knowledge Community (IDKC) advanced its mission to encourage and support excellence in the design of worship spaces and their accoutrements through a rich slate of programs that engaged architects, designers, students, and allied professionals. As an association committed to fostering an interfaith forum for the exchange of ideas relating to religion, art, and architecture, IDKC used the conference as an opportunity to broaden its reach and deepen conversations about the role of sacred space in contemporary practice. Collaborative Forum The Collaborative Forum served as a warm, open, and safe environment ...

Public Architects at AIA26: A Recap

By Alison Karfeld posted 4 days ago
The AIA26 convention served as a perfect venue for the Public Architecture Knowledge Community (PAKC). Here are some of the events that the PAKC was involved in: The Joint PA-PD Open Forum: Designing for the Public Good The collaborative forum held with the Project Delivery Knowledge Community (PDKC), titled "Designing for the Public Good: Navigating Change in Project Delivery of Public Projects," was a major Public Architect highlight of the convention. The forum engaged discussion from 60+ professionals of diverse backgrounds, industries, and ages, who are involved in public architecture design and construction. The discussion ...

AIA26 HCD Tour Recap

By Alison Karfeld posted 4 days ago
By Karen Kubey, Assoc. AIA On behalf of the AIA Right to Housing Working Group, I was happy to co-organize two tours for the AIA26 Conference with Casa Familiar, Inc. , an environmental justice nonprofit in San Ysidro, and the legendary Ted Smith, pioneering architect of shared housing in San Diego's Little Italy. ____ Tour: Casa Familiar Walking Tour: Social Impact Design Innovation Local Tour Leader: Georgette Gomez w/ Casa Familiar partners Co-Organizer: Ceara O'Leary We toured Beyer Station Cultural Corridor, La Semilla Climate Resiliency Center, Living Rooms at the Border (architects: Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna ...

Follow COTE on LinkedIn!

By Alyssa Murphy, AIA posted 14 days ago
Did you know that COTE now has its own LinkedIn Page? The COTE community has a number of ways to connect - here on the AIA Community Hub, though the AIA COTE® LinkedIn Group, - and now through a dedicated AIA COTE® "spotlight" page on LinkedIn. This allows the AIA Climate Action staff and our own COTE Leadership Group to share news and information more readily and connect with a broader audience. Give us a follow, and invite your connections to do so, too! https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/aia-cote-committee-on-the-environment

Summer Leadership Summit: The pinnacle of health care architects—Insights from NextGen Scholar Noah Gaither

By Alison Karfeld posted 17 days ago
What is the value of attending SLS? Why should others come? This conference is unlike any other. By attending the Summit Leadership Summit, you'll be among the pinnacle of health care architects. The opportunity to be at forefront of how our profession is developing and how the most prevalent challenges in our industry are being solved is invaluable to thought leaders of all experience levels—both early and established. If you've attended in the past—other than being a NextGen scholarship recipient! — what was different or surprising about last year? Last year was my first attendance to the Summer Leadership Summit, so I’m ...

From Process to Practice: Sustainability in El Paso, TX

By Ellen Mitchell, AIA posted 22 days ago
Ellen Mitchell, AIA, interviews Laura Foster, AIA, about what sustainability in West Texas can tell us. Mitchell is the 2026 chair of the Committee on the Environment . This article is part of a series that she hopes will bring more voices to the sustainability conversation. Texas is too large—and too environmentally varied—for a single sustainability narrative to make sense. The questions that shape design in Austin or Houston don’t land the same way in El Paso, where the landscape is desert, the time zone is Mountain, and the proximity is closer to Phoenix than to Dallas. This fact became apparent in speaking with Laura Foster, an architect ...

Member spotlight: Mahbuba Khan, AIA, Public Architects Committee Chair

By Alison Karfeld posted 26 days ago
The Immigrant Architects Coalition, a 501©(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering foreign- born architects and designers to build successful careers in the United States has released City Shapers, Volume II, edited by Mahbuba Khan, AIA, PAKC Chair. An Immigrant Architect’s Story of Service, Resilience, and City-Shaping The stories in this volume move beyond arrival and survival to explore growth, leadership, reflection, and responsibility. Contributors represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds, career stages, and design disciplines; yet, they are united by a shared willingness to speak honestly about their journeys. These ...

The Road Less Traveled: Interview with new Fellow, Etty Padmodipoetro, FAIA

By Alison Karfeld posted 26 days ago
Etty Padmodipoetro, FAIA, NOMA Loeb Fellow . Photo by Joe Allegro Congratulations to the Public Architects Committee, BoKnoCo, representative Etty Padmodipoetro, AIA Massachusetts, NOMA Loeb Fellow, who was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows. How did your career develop? Early in my career, I was practicing architecture in the traditional sense, designing buildings or - as the engineers call it - vertical infrastructure. That was my path until I had the opportunity to work on the Boston Central Artery/ Tunnel Project (the “Big Dig”), at the time the biggest and most expensive highway project in the country. ...

Rivermark: A Retrofit That Reframed Performance and Plance

By Andrew Hassan posted 06-09-2026
Rivermark: A Retrofit That Reframed Performance and Place By Karim Muri, Vice President, Marketing Services and Strategy Development at Kingspan Insulated Panels North America In cities across the country, many existing structures were designed before today’s expectations for thermal efficiency; occupant comfort and carbon-conscious design became central to the way architects approach the building envelope. At the same time, these buildings often occupy prominent sites where appearance matters just as much as performance. Located along the banks of the Charles River, Rivermark in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had a highly visible address ...

AIA Practice Management Digest - June 2026

By Eva Read-Warden, AIA posted 06-01-2026
Financial Discipline How systems, strategy, and everyday decisions shape more profitable, resilient architecture practices Letter from the editor By Eva Read-Warden, AIA, Principal, Arkitex Studio Stewart Brand, in his book Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One , explores the art, science, and civilizational importance of maintenance. The book uses diverse examples, from the 1968 Golden Globe solo sailing race to military weaponry and vehicle repair, to argue that maintenance is a radical act of responsibility, essential for keeping everything running on nearly every level. This look at maintenance is both practical and philosophical ...

Leadership beneath the surface: Jeffrey Huber on practice, profit, and discipline

By Jaime Sobrino, FAIA posted 06-01-2026
by Jaime Sobrino, FAIA Editor's note: Coming to AIA26? Join us on Friday for a deeper dive into these topics: Jeff Huber, FAIA is our Practice Management Luncheon speaker! Learn more > Architectural leadership is often visible only through its outcomes—design awards, built work, and reputation. What remains unseen are the systems, decisions, and discipline that make consistent excellence possible. In a candid conversation with Jaime Sobrino, Jeffrey Huber, a recently named partner of Brooks Scarpa Huber (formerly Brooks + Scarpa) reflected on what firm leadership requires—and what architects often misunderstand about it. Huber does not ...

Why most architecture firms bleed — and what to do about it

By Darguin Fortuna, AIA posted 06-01-2026
By Darguin Fortuna, AIA, Alyse Makarewicz, AIA & Joshua Zinder, AIA Part 1: The problem nobody names out loud By Darguin Fortuna, AIA Architecture school teaches you how to design buildings. It rarely teaches you how to run a firm. That gap — between design excellence and practice sustainability — is where most small firms live. In this gap firms are not failing dramatically but eroding quietly, one uncompensated revision at a time. One scope addition is absorbed as goodwill. One initial consultation is given away for free. The work is excellent. The clients are often satisfied. And at the end of the year, the numbers don't work ...

Why architecture firms stay stuck in the boom-bust cycle (and how to break it)

By Eva Read-Warden, AIA posted 06-01-2026
By Ryan Sullivan, PE Architecture firms operate within an inherently cyclical environment. Project demand is influenced by broader economic conditions, including interest rates, access to capital, and development activity. While these external forces cannot be controlled, many firms experience a recurring pattern of instability that extends beyond macroeconomic cycles. This pattern, often described as a “boom-bust” cycle, is not solely the result of market conditions. In many cases, it is reinforced by internal business practices, including reactive pipeline management, insufficient profit margins, lack of forecasting, minimal reserves, and ...

Getting paid without getting sued

By Eva Read-Warden, AIA posted 06-01-2026
Introduction by Eva M. Read-Warden, AIA, PM Digest Editor As a firm owner it is part of my job to watch the books. How does that Accounts Receivable report look? What is the percentage of invoices that are being paid in a timely manner, and why are there those lingering past-due amounts? It seems like a simple concept: we agree to do work for a client, we do the work, then we invoice for the work. One critical part remains: the client must pay the bill! For design and architecture firms, securing timely payment is not just a financial necessity—it can be a critical risk-management indicator. Payment delays or disputes are often the first ...

Embedding circularity in your design process

By Melanie De Cola posted 05-26-2026
Article 1 authors: Melanie De Cola, AIA Director of Climate Action Pledge Programs, LEED Green Associate; Brad Guy, AIA , of Material Reuse LLC ; and Rodolfo Perez, Ph.D. of IWBI | All photos curtesy of Brad Guy. AIA’s Architecture & Design Materials Pledge is the result of years of convers ation between m emb e rs , manufacturer s , and mindfulMaterials , and remai n s root ed in the Common M aterials Framework (CMF) . The CMF w as co-created t o suppo rt all those interested in holis tically better materials , how to ...

AIA 2026 CAE Spring Conference Reflections

By Alison Karfeld posted 05-19-2026
From April 28 through May 1, education planners, architects, designers, educators, and thought leaders from across the country gathered in Seattle for the 2026 AIA Committee on Architecture for Education Spring Conference. Centered around the theme Designing Belonging: Reciprocity, Resilience, and Regeneration, this year’s conference invited attendees to explore how educational environments can strengthen connections between people, place, and community across the continuum of lifelong learning. Set against the backdrop of the Puget Sound region, known for its dramatic natural landscapes, ecological stewardship, cultural diversity, and spirit of innovation, ...

Post-Chicago COD Spring Conference Update: Third Places – Architecture that Belongs to Everyone

By Alison Karfeld posted 05-18-2026
OPC Obama Presidential Center Image: TWBTA, Antonio Dickey Rubenstein: University of Chicago, David Rubenstein Forum Image: Patrik Argast It was with great excitement that we welcomed nearly 100 AIA Committee on Design (COD) members to the 2026 Spring Conference in Chicago last month . Grounded in a shared commitment to design excellence, COD continues to champion the idea that experiencing architecture together—and in context—fosters a deeper understanding of the built environment. This year’s conference explored “Third Places – Architecture that Belongs to Everyone,” focusing on spaces that support ...

RUDC Letter from the Chair (May, 2026)

By Alison Karfeld posted 05-06-2026
RUDC is excited to announce that the Call for Speakers is now open for the RUDC Symposium this fall, developed in partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture as part of the Intersections Conference . We’re also looking ahead to our gathering next month at the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2026 in San Diego. Together, these events represent important opportunities to elevate the role of urban design across practice, research, and civic engagement. RUDC Symposium 2026 — Call for Speakers This year's symposium will take place October 1–3, 2026, in New York ...