Join AIA|DC’s Urban Design Committee for a tour of the newly constructed Lubber Run Community Center, led by key members from the design team. Featuring net-zero energy design and a landscape-focused approach to the surrounding park, Lubber Run Community Center offers a holistic response to an urban challenge – ultimately creating public space that is greater and greener for residents. This guided tour will offer insights on research methodology, design process, sustainable strategies, challenges and the lessons learned relating to this award winning project.

Photographs by Alan Karchmer

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key building systems and program elements relating to successful design of a community center
• Describe how public buildings are approaching complex issues relating to resilience & sustainable design today.
• Identify strategies for incorporating technology and best practices of design into design projects; and
• Describe how civic architecture can play a vital role in preserving and strengthening local communities, culture, and heritage.

Presented by:

Joe Celentano, AIA, LEED AP

Principal, VMDO Architects

Joe is a principal at VMDO Architects, where he is the Director of the Athletics + Community Studio. His almost 40-year background includes a long resume of work with college athletics facilities, including at the University of Virginia, the University of Richmond, and Roanoke College, among others. Joe has brought this athletics background to municipal work, including state-of-the-art community centers and park spaces. He most recently led the design team for Arlington County’s Lubber Run Community Center, a net-zero-ready facility that was the recent recipient of an AIA National Design Award.

Organized by:

AIA|DC Urban Design Committee

Sponsored by:

Join us for a two-day symposium in Washington, DC, where we'll navigate emerging trends and technologies reshaping urban design. Day one features rapid-fire presentations and panels. Day two offers immersive on-site tours and workshops across the DC region.

Day 1 Lectures and Panels:

CLIMATE RESPONSE: How Can Cities Increase Their Resilience to Climate Change? 

ADAPTING FOR TOMORROW: How Can Public Spaces Prepare for Future Challenges? 

LUNCH PANEL -  SPOTLIGHT ON DC PUBLIC SPACE BOOSTERS: Unmasking Lessons Learned Since 2020 

TECH IMPACT: How are Emerging Technologies Transforming Our Cities and Work?

THE URBAN SHIFT: How are Downtowns, Neighborhoods and Suburbs Changing?

SPOTLIGHT ON DC: Fostering Inclusive Growth in a Rapidly Changing Environment 

Day 2 Tours:

From Parking Lots to Places: The New Suburbanism at Pike and Rose, Montgomery County, MD

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) New HQ Tour & TOD

Union Market District

District Wharf

Pennsylvania Avenue with the National Capital Planning Commission

Anacostia + 11th Street Bridge Park

National Landing at Crystal City

National Landing at Potomac Yard + Virginia Tech Innovation Campus

View full program details.

A Model of Architecture for Society (MASS) Design Group was founded as a non-profit organization with the mission to research, design, build, and advocate for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity. MASS is a global collective of over 160+ architects, landscape architects, engineers, builders, writers, filmmakers, and researchers. Join Senior Principal Katie Swenson, to learn more about MASS’s innovative practice model and design methodology.

Approaching architecture as a purpose-built process requires a fundamental shift: to think not about what buildings are, but what they do and who they impact. Designers have a social and environmental responsibility to leverage the design and building process to heal and nourish our communities and imagine a more just and more equitable future where everyone flourishes.

That mindset shift - from deprivation to abundance - is rooted in MASS’s work, but also in their leadership practice, as a celebration of their collaborative team and the diverse perspectives and voices that make a collective model possible. It fosters a culture of inclusivity and diversity that is focused on breaking down barriers and making everyone seen and heard. By embracing abundance, architects and designers can prioritize humanity, seek out new opportunities for growth and development, and create work that is more fulfilling and impactful.

The Robert and Kay Lautman Lecture is a new annual program to honor two strong proponents of the Washington Architectural Foundation’s work. This program brings nationally and internationally renowned figures in the fields of architecture and art to lecture on the intersection between architecture, design, and art. The annual event will be recorded and made available to a wider audience online. We believe this special annual lecture will have the added benefit of highlighting WAF’s work in the community.

Robert Lautman was a renowned architectural photographer who served on WAF’s board. His wife Kay was well known in DC’s philanthropic community.

2024 Speaker:

Katie Swenson, Assoc. AIA

Senior Principal, MASS Design Group

Katie Swenson is a nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator. Her work explores how critical design practice can, and should, promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities. Katie has over 20 years of experience in the theoretical and practical application of design thinking and is a talented global public speaker and thought leader.

A prolific writer, she authored Design with Love: At Home in America, and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness. Katie was awarded the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture in 2021. Prior to joining MASS, Katie was the vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners, where, as a member of the second class, she led the Enterprise Rose Fellowship.

Katie also teaches at the Parsons School of Design at The New School, and lectures extensively on sustainable community development and affordable housing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from The University of Virginia. Katie was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2019.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify various ways to foster a culture of inclusivity and diversity in an organization.
• Explain how to leverage the design and building process to heal and nourish communities through community engagement and accompaniment.
• Describe the importance of shifting from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance to make space for more opportunities and shared successes.
• Discuss how sharing the stories and perspectives of many can help find solutions to create systemic change.

Organized by the Washington Architectural Foundation

Get ready to discover the history and culture of the Piscataway, the Native American tribe that lived in the Chesapeake area of present day DC.  Challenge your family to  build the iconic wigwam out of natural materials!

Wigwam comes from the Algonquian word wikewam for "dwelling.” There are different kinds of wigwams — some are more suited for warm weather, and others are built for winter. Different tribes have different styles of wigwams, but it is consistently a useful shelter.

Get ready to have a spooktacular time this Halloween by building your very own haunted house!  Haunted House Building + Storytelling = Spooky Fun!

We will read Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion for design ideas and architectural surprises that will make your haunted house the talk of the town. Share your own story!  Bring your family and your imagination, and let's make this the spookiest and most fun haunted house ever! And don't forget to dress up in your favorite costume!

If your child is interested in architecture, this is a great entry to it through toy houses! We are going to present on different aspects of “dream houses” as seen through the lens of Barbie houses. It is interesting to see how Barbie houses have evolved from the 60's, 70’s, 90’s, and up to the present day. We will teach kids how to sketch a blueprint of their dream house using simple bubble diagrams. Then, your child will receive a box of materials to construct a room to build three-dimensionally! Families can have fun building together!   

Maestrxs de Arquitectura is a unique lecture series created by LA.IDEA DC to recognize Latin American architects for their professional journey and accomplishments in the U.S. and globally. This lecture aims to inspire the Latinx design community and extend our reach to a multicultural and interdisciplinary group of professionals. The funds generated by the event are destined to support the various educational, networking, and community outreach events we host in the DC metro area every year. Past Maestrxs de Arquitectura include Cesar Pelli in 2014, Rodolfo Machado in 2015, Alfredo Brillembourg in 2016, Juan Herreros in 2017/2018, Hernan Diaz Alonso in 2019, Tatiana Bilbao in 2021, and Francisco Gonzalez Pulido in 2022.

2023 Maestrx de Arquitectura:

Monica Ponce de Leon, AIA, NCARB, is the founding principal of MPdL Studio and dean of Princeton University School of Architecture.
Among her many honors, Ponce de Leon received the National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum. She has also been honored with the Academic Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the USA Target Fellow in Architecture and Design from United States Artists, and the Young Architects and Emerging Voices awards from the Architectural League of New York. Her highly acclaimed and broadly published work has received 13 Progressive Architecture (P/A) Awards, 14 awards from the American Institute of Architects, including the AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture, as well as the prestigious Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects. In 2016 Ponce de Leon was inducted into the National Academy of Design.

Known as an educational force, Ponce de Leon is currently a professor and the dean at Princeton University School of Architecture. From 2008 through 2015, she was the dean of Taubman College at the University of Michigan. For over 12 years, Ponce de Leon taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, where she became a professor and served as the Graduate Program coordinator and was director of the Digital Fabrication Lab. Prior to her appointment at Harvard, Ponce de Leon was an assistant professor at Northeastern University. She has been a visiting professor or scholar at various institutions across the United States, including SCI-Arc, Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Miami, as well as Georgia Tech. At Georgia Tech, she was the first Thomas W. Ventulett III Distinguished Chair in Architectural Design. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions in academia, in 2018 Ponce de Leon received ACADIA’s distinguished teaching award, and in 2020 received the Architectural Record Women in Architecture Award for Educator/Mentor.

Ponce de Leon has a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, as well as a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify an internationally known Latin American architect and learn about how their multicultural and diverse background has shaped their architectural career.
• Illustrate their extraordinary contributions as a renowned architecture professional, by exploring ties between academia and practice.
• Discuss how computational design, digital fabrication, and robotics can enhance the design process.
• Discover projects in institutional, cultural, civic, commercial, and residential sectors and their success in project delivery.

Organized by:

AIA|DC LA.IDEA Committee

Sponsored by:

Learn to think like an architect by learning the tools of the trade!

This Fall, The Washington Architectural Foundation continues its partnership with ArtReach GW to offer Archi-Builder.

Classes will be held at ArtReach GW’s studio at THEARC on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:30pm, September 13th through November 15th.

Design and build your museum! This program teaches students the design processes used by architects. Students will work in teams to learn techniques that transform early ideas into a final design. Presentation skills will be fostered to prepare participants to share their new skills and experiences with others. The end project is to build a scale model of their own architectural design. 

This session is meant for youth in grades 3-8.

This program is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

This Fall, The Washington Architectural Foundation continues its partnership with ArtReach GW to offer Digital Design for Teens.

Classes will be held virtually on Wednesdays from 6:00-7:30pm, September 14th through November 1st.

This session is meant for youth ages 14 to 18.

Digital Design for Teens teaches valuable computer-aided design (CAD) skills to high school students. Part II is designed for students who have previously taken Part I or have other experience with CAD. Though many high-schools teach similar courses, the Washington Architectural Foundation and ArtReach GW team up to provide introductory education on digital drawing and 3D modeling for architectural, interior design, landscape architecture, civil and mechanical engineering purposes. Students will learn simple techniques they can practice outside of the classroom and apply for internships and educational opportunities. Digital Design for Teens is an excellent asset for any college applicant or job-seeker to have on their resume, and provides insight into the work involved in a modern design career. Please note desktop computers and laptops are preferred. Tablets are acceptable but not preferred.

This program is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Join us to celebrate the opening of our latest exhibition, Ricardo J. Rodríguez De Santiago: Present Futures.

With this exhibition, Ricardo J. Rodríguez De Santiago (@bytesandmortar) presents a collection of AI-generated images that raise questions on architecture, climate change, and politics in his native Puerto Rico. Using the power of AI, Ricardo creates imaginary worlds framed between pain and recovery to highlight Puerto Rican resilience in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Fiona.

Meet the artist and explore these thought-provoking artworks. Drinks and light hors d'oeuvres will be served.

The exhibition is organized by the District Architecture Center in collaboration with @BytesandMortar for the Suman Sorg Gallery.

_{Photo Credit
Shadows to Spectrum, courtesy of the artist.}