American Institute of Architects

American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Washington, D.C. The AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach programs, and collaborates with other stakeholders in the design and construction industries. The current leadership of the AIA includes Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, serving as EVP/Chief Executive Officer, and Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, serving as the 2023 AIA President.
History
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) was founded in 1857 in New York City by a group of thirteen architects. The founding members include Charles Babcock, Henry W. Cleaveland, Henry Dudley, Leopold Eidlitz, Edward Gardiner, Richard Morris Hunt, Detlef Lienau, Fred A. Petersen, Jacob Wrey Mould, John Welch, Richard M. Upjohn, and Joseph C. Wells, with Richard Upjohn serving as the first president. They held their inaugural meeting on February 23, 1857, and invited 16 additional architects to join, including Alexander Jackson Davis, Thomas U. Walter, Frederick Clarke Withers, and Calvert Vaux. There were no architectural schools or licensing laws in the United States at the time, allowing anyone to claim to be an architect.
By March 10, 1857, they had drafted a constitution and bylaws under the name New York Society of Architects. The name was later changed to the American Institute of Architects at the suggestion of Thomas U. Walter. On April 15, 1857, the members signed the new constitution, having previously filed a certificate of incorporation two days earlier. The following year, the constitution was amended to include the mission of promoting the artistic, scientific, and practical aspects of architecture, facilitating professional interaction and camaraderie, raising the profession's standing, and uniting architects for the advancement of the field.
In the 1860s, architects from other cities began joining the AIA. By the 1880s, chapters had been established in Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. As of 2008, the AIA boasted over 300 chapters.
In the mid-1960s, a design competition was held to select an architect for a new AIA headquarters located at 1735 New York Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. Mitchell Giurgola Architects won the competition but failed to gain approval from the United States Commission of Fine Arts for the design concept. Subsequently, the firm resigned from the commission, and The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was chosen to redesign the building. Led by TAC principals Norman Fletcher and Howard Elkus, the design was ultimately approved in 1970 and completed in 1973.
In 2007, on the organization's 150th anniversary, the building was officially renamed the "American Center for Architecture." It also serves as the home of the American Institute of Architecture Students, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
Organization
Membership
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has a membership of over 96,000 licensed architects and associated professionals. AIA members adhere to a code of ethics and professional conduct designed to demonstrate commitment to upholding the highest standards in professional practice and dedication.
The AIA offers membership at five different levels:
Architect members (AIA): These individuals are licensed to practice architecture by a recognized licensing authority in the United States.
Associate members (Assoc. AIA): While they do not hold a license to practice architecture, associate members work under the supervision of an architect in a professional or technical capacity. They may have earned professional degrees in architecture, work as faculty members in architecture programs, or be interns earning credit toward licensure.
International associate members: This category is for individuals who hold an architecture license or its equivalent from a licensing authority outside the United States.
Emeritus members: These members have maintained AIA membership for 15 consecutive years and are either at least 70 years old or incapacitated and unable to work in the architecture profession.
Allied members: Allied members are professionals whose work is related to the building and design communities. This includes engineers, landscape architects, planners, and senior executive staff from building and design-related companies, such as publishers, product manufacturers, and research firms. Allied membership represents a partnership between the AIA and the American Architectural Foundation.
Many local and state AIA chapters offer student membership categories. While there is no national AIA membership category specifically for students, they can join the American Institute of Architecture Students.
The AIA's most esteemed recognition is the Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) designation. This honor is awarded to members who have made nationally significant contributions to the profession. Approximately 2% of all members, or slightly more than 2,600 individuals, have been elevated to the AIA College of Fellows. Prominent foreign architects may also be elected as Honorary Fellows of the AIA, gaining recognition within the college.
Structure
The AIA operates under the governance of a board of directors and maintains a staff of over 200 employees. While the AIA serves as a national organization, its reach is extended through its 217 local and state chapters. The chapters span across the United States and its territories. Additionally, AIA components operate in several international locations, including the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Canada. These chapters offer programming and direct services to support AIA members at various stages of their professional careers.
Service
The AIA monitors legislative and regulatory activities and encourages its members to actively participate in decision-making processes at the federal, state, and local levels. By engaging in community-based programs, the AIA works in collaboration with federal legislators and local governments to improve the design of public spaces, protect infrastructure, and facilitate the development of affordable housing that is accessible to all Americans while ensuring high-quality design standards.
In June 2013, the American Institute of Architects unveiled the "Designing Recovery" initiative during CGI America, an annual event of the Clinton Global Initiative. This initiative involved a design contest conducted in partnership with charitable organizations such as Make It Right, SBP, and Architecture for Humanity. The contest focused on single-family housing designs aimed at enhancing the quality, diversity, and resilience of housing in each community. The portfolio of designs, including those from non-winning entries, was made available to communities recovering from natural disasters.Dow Building Solutions sponsored the contest, providing a total prize money of $30,000. The prize was equally distributed among three winning designs from New Orleans, Louisiana; Joplin, Missouri; and New York City.
Professionalism
AIA members actively contribute to their profession and communities by participating in various professional interest areas, ranging from design to regional and urban development. They also engage with professional academies that foster the generation of new ideas and responses. Local components provide support to younger professionals through programs such as the Intern Development Program, Architect Registration Exam preparation courses, and employment referral services.
The AIA organizes an annual conference held in late spring or early summer, which attracts the largest gathering of architects worldwide.
Public education
The AIA attempts to meet the needs and interests of the nation's architects and the public by raising public awareness of the value of architecture and the importance of good design. To mark the AIA's 150th anniversary and to showcase how members have helped shape the built environment, the AIA and Harris Interactive released findings from a public poll that asked Americans to name their favorite 150 works of architecture.
At the 2007 Associations Advance America Awards, two of the AIA's public outreach efforts earned the Award of Excellence: The Blueprint for America nationwide community service initiative, and the Sustainability 2030 Toolkit, a resource created to encourage mayors and community leaders to advocate environmentally friendly building design. The national competition was sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership.
Honors and awards
The AIA recognizes individuals and organizations for outstanding achievements in support of the architecture profession and the AIA.
Honors Program
AIA Gold Medal
Architecture Firm Award
AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education
Institute Honors
For new and restoration projects anywhere in the world:
Institute Honor Awards for Architecture
Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture
Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design
Twenty-five Year Award
This award, recognizing architectural design of enduring significance, is conferred on a project that has stood the test of time for 25 to 35 years. The project must have been designed by an architect licensed in the United States at the time of the project's completion.For Professional Achievement:
Associates Award
Collaborative Achievement Award
Edward C. Kemper Award
Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture
Whitney M. Young Jr. Award
Young Architects Award
College of Fellows honor – Benjamin Latrobe Prize for Architectural Research
AIA Committee on the Environment AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects
Cosponsored programs
AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
AIA Housing Awards
AIA/HUD Secretary's Housing and Community Design Awards
Membership Honors
Honorary Membership (Hon. AIA)
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA)
Honorary Fellowship (Hon. FAIA)
Magazine
Architect: The Journal of the American Institute of Architects is the official magazine of the AIA. It is published independently by Washington, D.C.-based business-to-business media company Zonda Home.
Architect hands out the annual Progressive Architecture Award, in addition to the R+D Awards (for research and development). The magazine formerly conducted an Annual Design Review, described as "a unique barometer of the business of architecture."
Previously, the official publication of the American Institute of Architects was Architecture, which was preceded in turn by the Journal of the American Institute of Architects. Both of these publications are defunct.
The successor, Architect Magazine, is not owned by but is affiliated with AIA, and uses their name on their masthead.
Presidents
The following people served as presidents, all of whom were elevated to Fellows of the American Institute of Architects:
Richard Upjohn 1857–1876
Thomas Ustick Walter 1877–1887
Richard Morris Hunt 1888–1891
Edward Hale Kendall 1892–1893
Daniel H. Burnham 1894–1895
George Browne Post 1896–1898
Henry Van Brunt 1899–1900
Robert Swain Peabody 1900–1901
Charles Follen McKim 1902–1903
William S. Eames 1904–1905
Frank Miles Day 1906–1907
Cass Gilbert 1908–1909
Irving Kane Pond 1910–1911
Walter Cook 1912–1913
Richard Clipston Sturgis 1913–1915
John Lawrence Mauran 1915–1918
Thomas Rogers Kimball 1918–1920
Henry H. Kendall 1920–1922
William B. Faville 1922–1924
Dan Everett Waid 1924–1926
Milton Bennett Medary 1926–1928
Charles Herrick Hammond 1928–1930
Robert D. Kohn 1930–1932
Ernest John Russell 1932–1935
Stephen F. Voorhees 1935–1937
Charles Donagh Maginnis 1937–1939
George Edwin Bergstrom 1939–1941
Richmond Harold Shreve 1941–1943
Raymond J. Ashton 1943–1945
James Richard Edmunds Jr. 1945–1947
Douglas William Orr 1947–1949
Ralph Thomas Walker 1949–1951
Glenn Stanton 1951–1953
Clair W. Ditchy 1953–1955
George Bain Cummings 1955–1956
Leon Chatelain Jr. 1956–1958
John N. Richards 1958–1960
Philip Will Jr. 1960–1962
Henry L. Wright 1962–1963
J. Roy Carroll Jr. 1963–1964
Arthur G. Odell Jr. 1964–1965
Morris Ketchum Jr. 1965–1966
Charles M. Nes Jr. 1966–1967
Robert L. Durham 1967–1968
George E. Kassabaum 1968–1969
Rex Whitaker Allen 1969–1970
Robert F. Hastings 1971
Max O. Urbahn 1972
S. Scott Ferebee Jr. 1973
Archibald C. Rogers 1974
William Marshall Jr. 1975
Louis de Moll 1976
John McGinty 1977
Elmer E. Botsai 1978
Ehrman B. Mitchell 1979
Charles E. Schwing 1980
Robert Randall Vosbeck 1981
Robert M. Lawrence 1982
Robert C. Broshar 1983
George M. Notter 1984
R. Bruce Patty 1985
John A. Busby Jr. 1986
Donald J. Hackl 1987
Ted P. Pappas 1988
Benjamin E. Brewer Jr. 1989
Sylvester Damianos 1990
Jim Lawler 1991
W. Cecil Steward 1992
Susan A. Maxman 1993
L. William Chapin II 1994
Chester A. Widom 1995
Raymond Post Jr. 1996
Raj Barr-Kumar 1997
Ronald Arthur Altoon 1998
Michael J. Stanton 1999
Ronald L. Skaggs 2000
John D. Anderson 2001
Gordon H. Chong 2002
Thompson E. Penney 2003
Eugene C. Hopkins 2004
Douglas L. Steidl 2005
Katherine Lee Schwennsen 2006
R. K. Stewart 2007
Marshall Emmiett Purnell 2008
Marvin J. Malecha 2009
George H. Miller 2010
Clark Manus 2011
Jeff Potter 2012
Mickey Jacob 2013
Helene Combs Dreiling 2014
Elizabeth Chu Richter 2015
Russell A. Davidson 2016
Thomas Vonier 2017
Carl Elefante 2018
William J. Bates 2019
L. Jane Frederick 2020
Peter J. Exley 2021
Daniel S. Hart 2022
Emily Grandstaff-Rice 2023 (Current)
Kimberly Dowdell 2024 (President-elect)
See also
American Architectural Foundation (AAF)
AIA Columbus, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects
Architecture Billings Index
Boston Society of Architects (BSA), a chapter of the American Institute of Architects
Society of American Registered Architects
Architecture of the United States
Architecture of Washington, D.C.
Footnotes
External links
American Institute of Architects official website
American Institute of Architects Records at Syracuse University (60 years of primary source material)
Florida Institute of Architects Publications Digital Collection', including the American Institute of Architects' Florida Association's Florida Architect, Florida/Caribbean Architect, and others
AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) (archived 24 March 2011)
AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Awards (archived 1 May 2004)
e-Oculus, the AIA New York Chapter's e-zine (archived 29 July 2012)
ARCHITECT Magazine, the magazine of the AIA, published by Hanley Wood.
1857 establishments in New York (state)
Architecture organizations based in the United States
Architecture-related professional associations
Organizations established in 1857
Professional associations based in the United States