Dear AIA New Mexico Members, Associates, and Friends,
Along with overdue monsoons and the first scent of roasting green chile, mid-August brings to you this president’s message. A few photos have been added to engage your interest in what I hope you find an enjoyable and informative read.
AIA National Convention Highlights, Thoughts, and A.R.T
The 2016 annual AIA Convention was held this past summer in the city of Philadelphia. AIA New Mexico was represented by your component president in the business and voting sessions conducted by the Institute officers including John Padilla, AIA of the Santa Fe chapter and Institute Secretary. As president of the state chapter, it was great for me to see how the Institute works in conducting policy and electing its leaders for future terms of office. I can report that the process is well-organized and commendable for a professional organization of its size and variety of geographic representation. Adding to the significance of the convention was the elevation of New Mexico member Bill Sabatini to Fellowship status in the Institute. Bill was honored along with several other new FAIAs from the Western Mountain Region in a special reception put on by WMR during the convention. In the business session of the convention, AIA CEO Robert Ivy reported to the attendees that Congress has voted to eliminate Section 433 from the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which requires that new and majorly renovated federal buildings meet incremental targets leading to net zero energy consumption by 2030. He said that AIA is working hard to have these provisions restored. AIA New Mexico is already lobbying our congressional delegation to help in this effort.
As usual, the convention’s educational sessions were of the high-quality you would expect from AIA. But sometimes the best convention experiences are the smaller, unexpected events encountered while roaming the vast exhibition hall just taking it all in. One such event was a small-scale, informal (and apparently under-advertised) public interview session with two prominent observers of Philadelphia’s urban development and architecture scene. I found some of their comments interesting in the context of our own situation here in New Mexico and in particular, concerning Albuquerque. Several Philadelphia facts to ponder in that regard were mentioned by one of the interviewees, Inga Saffron, long-time architecture critic writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer on architecture, design, and planning issues. I invite you to check out her online column in the ‘Living Section’ philly.com to remind yourself what informed architectural criticism provided by a city’s newspaper of record looks like. Here are three things gleaned from that interview:
▪ There has been more privately-funded growth in Philadelphia in the past five years than there has been in the past fifty.
▪ You cannot increase density without investment in public transportation.
▪ Philadelphia’s historic character is often under threat due to insensitive urban development.
This discussion brought to mind the current hot button issues regarding the development future of our state’s largest city, however different in character and scale. These include Albuquerque’s comparative rate of development and the controversial Albuquerque Rapid Transit project or A.R.T.
As far as privately funded growth in Albuquerque is concerned, I think all will agree that it has been at a low level for the past eight years as it has been statewide. The boom in renovating light industrial buildings into brew pubs may be a notable exception along with a few select others. However, much of the other visible activity has been in public school construction and even that is in danger of slowing due to declining state revenues and recent challenges to the APS facility master plan. So what is to be prescribed to the patient to stimulate private growth?
