This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Housing Knowledge Community .
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Edward Acker AIA ' LEED AP BD+C
Winchester VA
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I had a small practice for over 30 years in the lower Hudson Valley-northern New Jersey area. Two-thirds of my revenue came from commercial-industrial work in northern New Jersey, and the rest from custom residential work for many of my commercial clients and numerous house additions and retrofits of older historic homes for middle class and professional homeowners in the community where I lived. By far the greatest professional satisfaction and creativity came from respectfully renovating an older house and advancing its service life and usefulness for many more decades and seeing satisfied clients and friends in my everyday life, as these people were my neighbors, classmates of my growing children, members of my community, builders, craftsmen, and other professional associates. Our debate has to include housing retrofits and renovation, work very much suited for small practitioners.
In all those years I chose to volunteer my time and professional talent within my local community on citizen master planning committees, serving on an historic preservation commission and an ARB, and as an officer for a local non-profit civic improvement association. Service at the local community level gave me a chance to have real impact and gain visibility. It also showed others that architects can do something other than draw pretty pictures of expensive buildings. My buildings worked, looked good, and came in on budget for clients with limited funds.
As a sole practitioner I never had the time or inclination to also serve at my AIA chapter level, although I have been an AIA member since 1978. Since I came to the Washington DC area in 2004 I do see the relevance of having a national professional voice, but I also know from some personal experience that the national organization having a new leader every year can suffer from discontinuity, lack of consistent direction, and fairly high staff turnover in these turbulent economic times. I suppose Robert Ivy is now on board to rectify these problems.
Now, as a 70+ Emeritus member I still do consult with former clients up in NY and NJ for a modest supplement to my retirement income. I also volunteer here on my local Shenandoah branch of the USGBC-NCR chapter and on the board of a local historic preservation organization. I find the contact with both older and younger professionals and like-minded citizens stimulating and invigorating. I would hate to see the AIA force the Emeritus membership issue into an either/or practice situation. We have much experience and professional memory to pass on in our association with those coming up behind us to take over leadership of our profession.