Updates

American Architectural Foundation 2009 Accent on Architecture Awards Announced

The AAF has awarded 12 Accent on Architecture Community Grants to local nonprofit design and civic organizations that produce innovative public education programs. The Awards are given to programs that are specifically targeted to teaching children about architecture and design. Successful grant recipients enlist architects, educators, design professionals, community leaders, government officials, and business leaders to enrich the public's understanding and appreciation of architecture and design. Additionally, the Accent on Architecture grant program aims to strengthen long-term relationships between communities and local design groups.

The 2009 Accent on Architecture Community Grant Finalists are:

Architecture Foundation of Cincinnati – Architecture by Children 2009: “Transportation Station”

Architecture Foundation of Oregon – Marjorie Wintermute Architects in Schools Program

Center for Architecture Foundation – IS 220 Firehouse Design and Expo

Detroit Studio Community Outreach Program – Kids’ Hope Gardens: Children Designing Hope Gardens in Detroit’s Hope District

East Tennessee Chapter, American Institute of Architects – Creation of Student Manual of the General Plan

Ironbound Community Corporation – Brick City Young Architects

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning – Teen Spot Architectural Foundation

Learning by Design in Massachusetts; BSA – Kids Design a Sustainable Future

National Building Museum – CityVision

openhousenewyork – OHNY Kids! Education Program

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) – Urban Investigations

Vermont Design Institute – Atkins Field Design Project, Hardwick, VT

For more information about the Accent or Architecture Grants program please visit the American Architectural Foundation website

A+DEN Steering Committee Welcomes Three New Members

The A+DEN Founding Partners are pleased to welcome the American Society of Interior Designers, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the ACE Mentor Program to the Steering Committee in 2009. “We are thrilled that ASID, ASLA, and ACE Mentor have joined the A+DEN Steering Committee, and we look forward to the new opportunities that lie ahead. The Network as a whole will be strengthened by the addition of these new voices as we move forward and widen our reach in the field of design education” says Lynn Osmond, President and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a community of people—designers, industry representatives, educators and students—committed to interior design. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people’s lives. Its more than 40,000 members engage in a variety of professional programs and activities through a network of 48 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. ASID is the Founding Sponsor of InformeDesign [link to www.informedesign.umn.edu]a searchable database that enables designers to engage in evidence-based design by using Research Summaries focused on design and human behavior, created and operated by the University of Minnesota.

Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association representing landscape architects. Beginning with 11 original members, ASLA has grown to more than 18,000 members and 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, and 68 countries around the world. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship. ASLA works to increase the public’s awareness of and appreciation for the profession of landscape architecture. ASLA is an active advocate for the profession at the local, state and national levels on public policy issues including licensure, livable communities, sustainable design, surface transportation, the environment, historic preservation, small business issues, and more.

The ACE Mentor Program of America, Inc. is working hard to make sure there will be enough architects, construction managers and engineers to fill the industry’s needs ten years from now. The program's mission is to enlighten and increase the awareness of high school students to career opportunities in architecture, construction and engineering and related areas of the design and construction industry through mentoring; and to provide scholarship opportunities for students in an inclusive manner reflective of the diverse school population. ACE is a unique partnership among industry professionals — architects, interior designers, engineers, construction managers, college and university representatives, and other professionals from related corporations and professional organizations — who work together to attract young people to their professions. Industry professionals volunteer to become mentors to high school students in order to introduce them to the professions and encourage them to pursue studies and careers in these fields. In return, these industries get a much-needed boost of new talent.