Join us as we announce the winners of the 2023 AIA|DC Chapter Design Awards. This annual competition places special emphasis and recognition on projects that exemplify the 10 Measures of Design Excellence. It's open exclusively to registered architects and invites submissions in four distinct project categories: architecture, interior architecture, historic resources, and urban design/master planning.

More details available here.

In this seminar, learn how to create unique, visually open public spaces with responsible materials and unmatched acoustics.

This course will cover the use of architecturally-aesthetic design solutions for open structure projects ranging from simple canopies to huge airport concourses. Many types of projects—schools, gymnasiums, natatoria, canopies, transportation facilities, conference centers, wellness facilities, multi-tenant buildings, perforated architectural screening, and more are addressed.

In addition the course describes how these systems have been engineered to achieve practical design features that contribute to USGBC LEED certification. These features include: building product disclosure and optimization; environmental product declarations; sourcing of raw materials; material ingredients; construction and demolition waste management; acoustic performance; and innovation.

The course will also focus on multiple unique shapes and features of deck profiles, span and structural performance, basic acoustic theory and performance (NRC Value, STC Value, ICC Value), access/utility concealment options, NFPA approved hanging devices, building code requirements ( U.L. Rating, FM Rating, ICC Rating),  paint finishes, indoor/outdoor air control, curved/arched structural systems, factory integration of daylighting solutions, and numerous visual representations of existing projects.   

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the many types of projects which can function as ceilings and roof decks with acoustic and non-acoustic structural components;

• Describe how these can be used to achieve LEED certification;

• Summarize basic acoustic theory and performance in these features; and

• Identify how these features comply with multiple building code requirements.

Presented by:

David Weber, Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager, EPIC Metals

David Weber has over 25 years of experience working in the construction Industry, initially in project management for large commercial contractors and the last twelve as a sales and marketing professional in the AEC industry.

Organized by: 

EPIC Metals

The Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo Conservation Biology Institute recently completed a multi-year major revitalization of the historic Bird House at the National Zoological Park, reopened to the public in March 2023. The historic 1928 Bird House and its Great Flight Aviary are contributing elements of the National Zoological Park Historic District. Modifications to the building were designed to LEED Gold standards with special consideration for frit patterns on the building’s glass making it more visible to birds. More than 80% of the historic masonry was retained, and the John Joseph Earley concrete was conserved. Join this tour to learn about the design and construction details, landscape changes, and its Migratory Bird Center exhibit.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Earley Studio’s polychromatic concrete techniques and conservation treatments applied through this project.
• Evaluate updated animal exhibits in a modernized historic structure.
• Analyze sustainability measures, including the use of bird-friendly glazing and design, both exhibit-based and throughout the Bird House renovation.
• Evaluate the design of the new addition on the historic Bird House and its presence in the landscape.

Presented by:

Katie Slattery, AIA, LEED AP

Principal, Quinn Evans Architects

Matt Sellers, ASLA

Landscape Architect, Smithsonian’s National Zoo Conservation Biology Institute

Organized by:

AIA|DC Public Architects Committee

AIA|DC Advocacy Committee

Many designers and architects have used or have seen his designs in some capacity, but do not know much about him. The Egg Chair, the Swan Chair, and even the AJ Lamp, are a few of the works that are now designers' favorites. This course will showcase the life and innovative works of renowned the Danish designer Arne Jacobsen and re-introduce some of his most obscure and famous design works (from textiles to architecture).

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the cultural climate in Denmark during the 1920s.
• Discuss Arne Jacobsen's early beginnings and art influences.
• Outline the definition of aesthetic and functional design and how they differ from each other.
• Identify architectural and design elements that defined Jacobsen's career.
• Discuss the legacy of Arne Jacobsen in lighting.

Presented by:

Mike Devlin

President, Alliance Lighting

Organized by:

Alliance Lighting

Join us for informal presentations of past study abroad projects by graduate students Andrea Hopkins and Michael Njo.

Gallery-goers are encouraged to ask questions about the projects and study abroad experience. Explore the entire exhibition before or after the presentations.

About Architecture Museum of Rome

^{By Andrea Hopkins, (current) Thesis II Graduate Student} 

The Architecture Museum of Rome resides at the Tiber River. The historic site's cultural heritage and the arch of Ponte Rotto inspired the design.

The project bridges the city's past and present. It aims to explore new and innovative ideas in architecture.

About Tiber Park

^{By Michael Njo, (current) Thesis II Graduate Student}

Tiber Park takes the form of a building bridge to create public greenspace at the Tiber River. The primary focus is not about moving people and vehicles across the river. Rather, the bridge serves as a destination.

Adding to the park design, the project employs environmental strategies. These systems clean the river and the air that passes over the exterior of the bridge.

The galleries will be open 12pm–4pm. Registration suggested; walk-ins welcome.

This free program is presented in association with ABroad Perspective, on view at the District Architecture Center through May 31, 2023.

The Gensler DC office is excited to announce an upcoming speakeasy in collaboration with AIA|DC Equity Committee by WIELD.

The speakeasy is open to young architects/designers in the DMV area and will be a conversation led by 3 panelists - women across the industry with varied focus and experience levels – who will share their voices, their challenges, and their successes with us. In coming together for this event, our intent is to create an atmosphere of open discussion where professionals of various backgrounds feel free to share their specific career-related experiences, reflect on how we can engage young emerging designers in the community more effectively and strive to create more equity in the workplace.

We would be thrilled to have you join and share insights on our current world, our professional/personal experiences, and our predictions for what’s to come.

Learning Objectives:

• Hear about challenges and success stories relating to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace

• Hone in on strategies for network-building and overcoming roadblocks through harnessing our collective resilience

• Address the importance of mentorship; how we learn from and grow our people

• Draw attention to the empowerment of emerging voices through personal brand-building and highlight the ways in which diversity drives innovation

Presented by:

Vivian Ramirez

Development Manager, SENECA GROUP

Vivian brings over 24 years of multi-disciplinary experience in project management, architectural and interior design, and Owner-side representation to Seneca’s Northern Virginia team. Her ground-up and interiors experience spans all phases from entitlement through stakeholder turnover in commercial-office, medical-office, multi-family-residential, educational, manufacturing, and retail sectors of the real-estate industry.

Vivian holds a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate Finance from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Design of the Environment from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of CREW in the DC area and actively volunteers in her community as a Commissioner with the City of Alexandria, the Communications Director with the Washington DC Penn Alumni Club, and a Girl Scout troop leader.

Kim Roy

CEO, HITT Contracting

From a young age, Kim Roy knew she wanted to become a builder. In 1999, her vision came true when she began her career in commercial construction with HITT Contracting. She rose through the ranks of construction operations and her considerable building experience and business savvy propelled her to increased leadership positions for the firm. She oversaw construction business units and a diverse group of corporate resources including business development, HR, marketing, preconstruction, virtual construction, and sustainable construction. In 2017, Kim was named CEO of HITT Contracting. In this role, she is responsible for defining key initiatives, identifying emerging markets and business opportunities, as well as developing the strategic plan for the company. She provides executive oversight for all corporate operations including HR, Finance, and Risk Management. Additionally, Kim leads the Leadership Council for emerging talent, the Corporate Steering Committee and the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee. Kim cares deeply about giving back in the communities where HITT builds and as such, she initiated and serves as President of the HITT Contracting Foundation.

Concurrently, Kim serves as President and active member of the board of HITT Holding Corporation, the parent company of HITT Contracting. She focuses on overarching management and performance of all assets including establishment of the governance of the individual corporations within the holding structure. Kim leads the M&A process for the firm, including prospective business reviews, due diligence, procurement, and integration.

Kim is an Independent Board Director for Brand Safway, a leading global provider of access, specialized services, and forming and shoring solutions to the industrial, commercial and infrastructure markets.

Selin Ozertugrul

Design Director, GENSLER

Selin is a Design Director at Gensler’s Washington DC office. With 25+ years of experience as an architect, she is responsible for the growth of Gensler's Cities + Urban Design, Residential, Lifestyle, and Sciences practices. Her outstanding portfolio includes several award-winning large-scale projects in US, Middle East and Europe, where she has served as an advocate for the design concept throughout the life of projects.

But what really sets her apart is her years-long-dedication to creating more equity, diversity and inclusivity in the realms of architecture and design. She’s incredibly passionate about mentorship, as she views fostering relationships with young emerging designers as not only an essential part of our practice but also a deeply fulfilling part of her work. With experience as a visiting professor at two undergraduate programs teaching architecture, identifying a certain curiosity and enthusiasm in others in relation to design comes as second nature to her.

She possesses a strong track record of applying her unique brand of zest and exuberance in her approach to design excellence, and is currently focused on ways to design and build more sustainably.

Sponsored by:

It’s back! Come to mix, mingle, drink, and network with others in real estate, design, development, and architecture.

Highlights include:
• Network with DC's architecture, design, development, and construction community;
• Food and drinks;
• Bring colleagues to discount your ticket; and
• All for a good cause as we give out this year's Barbara G. Laurie Scholarships and support the GREAT WORK of the Washington Architectural Foundation.

Bring a friend and your ticket price drops! Sign up today! 

Thank you to our sponsors:

DP+Partners, Inc.

Chiaramonte Construction Company

Clark Construction Group, LLC

Delon Hampton & Associates

Davis Construction

Michael J. Armstrong

Walter P. Moore

Gorove Slade

LXRY Studio

Marino\WARE

WAF Board Fund

Nello Wall Systems

Join us to celebrate the opening of ABroad Perspective, an exhibition of student design projects from The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning’s Foreign Studies Program.

Directed by Associate Professor Lavinia Fici Pasquina, the exhibition features thought-provoking architectural ideas from Rome, Italy, Valletta, Malta, and Pantelleria, Sicily. With these projects, students were introduced to concepts of sustainability, equity, and vernacular building materials and techniques, and they were challenged to incorporate the historical lessons of the past and the foreign country’s cultural diversity into a contemporary architectural intervention.

Light snacks and non-alcoholic drinks will be served.

ABroad Perspective is organized by Lavinia Fici Pasquina, Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning, and will be on view at the District Architecture Center from March 22 to May 31, 2023.

View a recording of this event on our YouTube Channel.

Join AIA|DC's Design Excellence Committee for a film screening and panel discussion highlighting the profound contributions of South American women architects in the world of creativity, design, and diversity.

This program is part of a 4-part series showcasing 4 countries: Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Chile. Each session will include 4 panelists from the represented country that will share their work.

The series explore representation of diverse typologies of unseen architecture in South American countries—including the agricultural pampas; the desert pacific beaches; and the Amazon jungle. All seen from the eyes of local women architects.

Learning Objectives:

• Discover how architects along the Pacific coast of South America use concrete as a material to relate to ideas of well-being; through the exploration of texture, light, space and reflection.
• Illustrate the design of modular social habitat and the implementation of public policies in rural Peru, and how these relate to education, health, and urban developments.
• Discuss the overall view of women in the design and construction business in South America, and how they are dedicated to activities related to the profession and gender, in order to reduce inequalities and the creation of Just Cities.
• Identify the challenges of settlement relocation and the design of Self Sustainable Cities in the Amazon rainforest.

Presented by:

Architect Elizabeth Añaños Vega



Arquitecta Elizabeth Añaños Vega graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She is a Public Manager specializing in the design and implementation of public policies and local strategies regarding education, health, construction, housing and urban planning.



Arquitecta Añaños has been the Vice Minister of Housing and Urbanism of Peru, where she led the National Housing and Urbanism Policy by 2030 and the Sustainable Urban Development Law, approved in 2021. She was an advisor to the Ministerial Office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in public investment projects focused on rural contexts. Between 2018 and 2019 she was Executive Director of the National Education Program of Peru, where she designed and executed strategies to reduce the educational gap at the national level.



Between 2015 and 2017, from the Ministry of Education, she led the design of prefabricated modular systems and alternative solutions for access to basic services in schools in emergency and rural areas in Peru, obtaining various awards for the "Plan Selva" project. In 2016 she obtained the National Architecture Award from the College of Architects of Peru, the "Social Habitat and Development" Award at the XX Quito Architecture Biennial (2016), finalist at the XI Ibero-American Architecture Biennial (2016) and received a Special Jury Mention at the XV Venice Architecture Biennale (2016).



Arquitecta Añaños has obtained various national and international recognitions, awarded for the Santa Elena de Piedritas School project at the Ibero-American Architecture Biennial (Rosario, 2014) and nominated for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize - MCHAP for Emerging Architecture (2016).

Architect Sandra Barclay



Arquitecta Sandra Barclay was educated as an architect in Lima and Paris. She obtained her Master’s degree in Landscape and Territory at the Universidad Diego Portales, Chile; and received the Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the University of Piura, Peru.

Arquitecta Barclay co-founded Barclay & Crousse Architecture in Paris, in 1994 and then established the studio in Lima in 2006. The practice has been awarded the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2018, the Oscar Niemeyer Prize 2016, the Peruvian National Prize of Architecture in 2014 and 2018, and the Latin America Prize 2013, given by the International Committee of Architectural Critics (CICA), among other international prizes. Her work has been published worldwide and was part of the main exhibition at the 16th Venice Biennale, 2018.

Arquitecta Barclay’s academic experience includes a 16-year tenure as Associate Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru; visiting professor at Yale School of Architecture; at University of Virginia; and at Harvard GSD.

Arquitecta Barclay has received the 2018 Woman in Architecture Award from the London-based Architects’ Journal and Architectural Review. She has also been a member of the jury for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2021, and for the 6th International Lafarge Holcim Awards, 2020.

She is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a foreign member of the French Académie d’Architecture. Sandra was co-curator, along with Jean Pierre Crousse, of the Peruvian Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale, 2016, which obtained the Jury’s Special Mention. She is also a Jury Chair of the Cycle 4 MCHAP (2022).

Architect Belén Desmaison



Arquitecta Belén Desmaison is an architect and urban designer. Her interests include settlement relocation, socially and environmentally just urban practices, social housing, planning, and urban design in the global South.



She currently teaches and conducts research at the Pontifical Universidad Católica del Perú. Arquitecta Desmaison is the coordinator of CASA (Ciudades Auto-Sostenibles Amazónicas) (Self-Sustainable Cities in the Amazon), an action-research project that explores settlement relocation in the Amazon Rainforest. Additionally, she is the Latin America and the Caribbean Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator of GRRIPP (Gender Responsive Resilience and Intersectionality in Policy and Practice), a research project that focuses on resilience with a special emphasis on gender responsive infrastructure, which seeks to understand and enhance people’s resilience to shock, and support the development of more sustainable infrastructure in all its diverse forms.



Arquitecta Desmaison was also the city lead for Lima in KNOW (Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality), an action-research project that explored, through co-production, how to reduce inequalities towards more just cities for all.



Arquitecta Desmaison holds a Master of Science in Building and Urban Design in Development from University College London and a B.A. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Human Geography at Durham University (UK).

Architect Patricia Llosa Bueno



Arquitecta Patricia Llosa Bueno is a founder of LLOSA CORTEGANA Arquitectos, where she collaborates with Rodolfo Cortenega. They founded the studio in 2005, after having worked independently for a few years. She graduated from the Ricardo Palma University in Lima and has a Master’s Degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya. She has been teaching since 2002 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Perú.





Arquitecta Llosa raises the practice as a space for professional reflection, carrying out multiple single-family housing projects, cultural, exhibition and especially educational buildings, among others.





She has been recognized with various national and international awards, including the Silver Hexagon at the XVII National Biennale of Architecture, Urbanism and Arts of Peru in 2016; Finalist in the MCHAP Award from the ITT College of Architecture in Chicago in 2016; First Prize at the XX Quito Architecture Biennale in 2016; and the ODA 2017 Prize, ArchDaily Work of the Year, in Santiago de Chile.





Recently Arquitecta Llosa published her first book, "The House is an Idea", in collaboration with José Luis Villanueva, a collection of reflections on single-family housing. Their research on the discipline has allowed them to present at various conferences both in Peru and abroad.

Organized by:

AIA|DC Design Excellence Committee

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

SILVER DONORS

-AECOM

-HOK

-MOYA

-Perkins&Will

BRONZE DONORS

-Avalon Bay Communities

-Cunningham / Quill Architects PLLC

-David Haresign, FAIA

-Francesca Franchi, AIA

-Frederick & Cederna Architects

-Gerald Briggs, FAIA and Randy Briggs

-HGA

-Landdesign

-Mariela Buendia-Corrochano, IIDA, Assoc. AIA

-rdc

-shalom baranes associates architects

-SMITHGROUP

-WDG

-Whiting-Turner

-William Hodges Hendrix, AIA

-Winstanley Architects & Planners

VENUE PROVIDED BY:

-CUArch

Porcelanosa will present its FITWALL decorative panel's advantages and uses. Attendees will be able to ask our presenter any questions related to FITWALL, followed by a Happy Hour.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will be able to explain the different uses and applications of Fitwall in a wide range of architectural projects for flooring and Ceilings

• Attendees will be able to compare Fitwall to other products and their advantages in the construction process.

• Attendees will be able to describe the range of product designs and colors and the various projects in which the range of products may apply.

• Attendees will be able to explain maintenance requirements, such as how to remove stains and tarnish, and identify recommendations on how to avoid damaging the product.

Presented by:

Santiago Manet, General Manager for Mid-Atlantic/Southeast at Porcelanosa USA

Organized by:

AIA|DC Latin American Interior Designers, Engineers, and Architects (LA.IDEA) Committee