From The College of Fellows

This first article will be an introduction into what we will try to achieve this year with the monthly Fellows news article. I would like to thank Stu Chait, AIA, for involving the Fellows with this newsletter and hope that we will be able to communicate to the members of New York State AIA the many things that the Fellows do for the profession. The purpose of the College of Fellows is to stimulate a sharing of interest among Fellows, to promote the purpose of the institute,to advance the profession of architecture and to be of ever increasing service to society. I as your New York State Regional Representative along, with Adrienne Bresnan, FAIA,New York City Regional Representative,  will try to keep both the Fellows in the state as well as those of you who are not fellows, informed of the Fellow activates both in the state and at National.

I will also share with you what other states are doing to utilize the knowledge and talents of their Fellows to help the profession.  As many of you know, there are about 3,000 Fellows around the country and New York State has approximately 300 or 10%. In the past several years approximately 80 to 90 AIA members are elevated to Fellowship. Fellow Regional Representatives are organized in the same manner as the AIA Board of Regional Representative that make up the National AIA board.It is not by population however, and there is only one Fellows Regional Representative for each Region. The Fellows Representatives meet once a year at the National convention. When I became Regional Representative in 2002, I divided the state into sections and requested the following people to become part of the New York State Fellows Regional Representative Committee, so that there would be representation around the State. The members who are now part of that committee are: Lee Bearsch in Binghamton, Ann Chainteuil in Rochester, Delaine Jones in Albany, John Sullivan in Westchester, Adrienne Bresnan in New York City and myself on Long Island.  These 6 people are there for you to call on whenever  you need Fellowship assistance. Now that everyone has the frame work of the State Fellows, in the next article, I will discuss what the Fellows around the State have been doing and their future goals.

AIANYS Honor and Design Awards Revisited

At the 2004 AIANYS Board retreat, one objective that was agreed to and written into the 2004 Long Range Plan was to re-design and update the AIANYS Honors and Awards Program to be more relevant to the public and the current practice of the profession. Due to the diligence and hard work of the Honors and Awards Committee, and the unanimous approval of the Board of Directors, we have done exactly that.

Effective in 2006 will be new design award categories: Residential*, I nstitutional, Commercial/Industrial*, Urban Planning/Design, Historic Preservation/Adaptive Reuse, Interiors, and Unbuilt.

Both Residential and Commercial/Industrial will be sub divided by: Small Projects - Less than $ 500,000 and Large Projects - Greater than $ 500,000.

Unbuilt projects will recognize work by practicing emerging young architects (licensed 10 years or less) and architectural students. Attention will be focused on the process of design. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding examples of recent, commissioned architectural designs not yet built or complete, as well as academic work by faculty or students of an architectural school within New York State.

The Honors Program has been revised as well. The jury has been revised to include past Honor Award recipients. Two of AIANYS's most revered awards have been re-dedicated. The Kideney Award has been re-dedicated as the James William Kideney Gold Medal Award , to be recognized as the highest award that AIANYS can bestow on one of its members. The DelGaudio Award has been re-dedicated as the Matthew W. DelGaudio Service Award , to recognize outstanding and distinguished service by an AIANYS member. The President's Award has been re-established to recognize non-traditional areas of architectural practice.

Perhaps the most exciting news is the overdue creation of four new awards: the AIANYS Educator Award , to recognize notable contributions and accomplishments by an architectural educator within New York State; the AIANYS Intern - Associate Award , to recognize notable contributions and accomplishments by an intern or associate member of AIANYS; the AIANYS Student Awa rd, to recognize notable contributions and accomplishments by a student member of AIAS within New York State; and the AIANYS Firm Award , to recognize notable achievements in design, community service, education, and service to the profession and the AIA by an architectural firm within New York State.

All chapter leadership should be on the lookout for the call for entries early this spring. I believe that everyone will agree that the new diversity of the Honors and Awards Program reaches each and every aspect of our profession. From students and educators, emerging young professionals, and small practitioners to large firms; I welcome everyone to participate in this year's program.