In this issue:
·Sign Up for AIANYS 2007 Convention Today
·AIANY Calls Architects to Support plaNYC
·Individual Jurisdictions to Set Timing for ARE
·Architects Gain accessArchitecture
·Students Build Connections at the Center
·Legislative Session Wraps Up
·Announcements: New Organization/Government Initiatives
Sign Up for AIANYS 2007 Convention Today
Courtesy AIANYS
Online registration for the AIANYS 2007 Convention, to take place October 4-6 at the Grand Hyatt New York, is now available. This is the first time the convention will be located in NYC, and with the theme “Past as Prologue,” the AIA continues its celebration of the 150th Anniversary of its founding.
To make overnight room reservations, call Central Reservations at the Grand Hyatt (1-800-233-1234) and identify that you are with AIANYS October 4-6, 2007. Reservations must be made by phone to receive the special group rate: $359 for single/double room plus taxes. Reservations must be made by September 12 to receive the special rate.
AIANY Calls Architects to Support plaNYC
The fate of the Mayor’s plaNYC 2030, including transportation plans such as the Congestion Pricing program, is now in the hands of the NY State Legislature and NYC Council. AIANY is urging all members to contact their city and state representatives. Let them know you support the plan and request them to push for adoption in time to receive available federal funding. Visit NYC Council, NY State Assembly, and NY State Senate. The deadline is July 16.
Individual Jurisdictions to Set Timing for ARE
At the annual meeting on June 25, member boards of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) voted to allow individual jurisdictions to determine when a candidate is eligible to begin taking the Architectural Registration Examination® (ARE). The AIA supports architectural registration boards allowing interns for licensure candidacy to take the ARE following graduation from a NAAB-accredited degree program and concurrent with enrollment in the Intern Development Program (IDP).
The adopted-as-amended Resolution 07-8 states: “To begin taking the ARE an applicant shall have fulfilled all requirements for eligibility established by his or her jurisdiction and shall have enrolled in IDP by establishing a Council record.” The resolution also states, “It is the intent and policy of the Council that all jurisdictions accept NCARB certification as a basis for reciprocal registration without the application of any other state requirements applicable to initial licensure in such state.”
Until now, NCARB has had no position on the sequencing of the three requirements for licensure (education, experience, and examination), however, it recommended candidates earn an NAAB-accredited degree, complete IDP, and then pass the ARE. For more information on individual registration boards, visit the NCARB website.
Architects Gain accessArchitecture
Access Architecture is a joint program between AIANY and Reed Construction Data to better engage architects in their business of publishing project leads, project plans, and project specifications to building product manufacturers and contractors. By creating an open network of information, architects share in the value of the content they provide by gaining valuable tools, marketing exposure, and project leads for no out-of-pocket expense. In addition to the direct benefits (firms get paid $35 for each accepted entry), Reed Construction Data will share the value of this content with AIANY and the AIAS. Specifically, they will pay $10 to AIANY and $5 to AIAS Freedom by Design program for every qualified project contributed. To register, click here or call 1-800-424-3996.
Students Build Connections at the Center
By Tim Hayduk, Center for Architecture Foundation School Program Manager
Skyscrapers float in the exhibition “Building Connections: 11th Annual Exhibition of K-12 Design Work.”
Sam LaHoz
The Center for Architecture’s storefront gallery and mezzanine have been filled with model bridges of the bascule, draw and suspension types, colorful groupings of skyscrapers, the landmarks of Chinatown, and many other specimens from New York’s built environment. The Center for Architecture Foundation’s annual exhibition, Building Connections, opened June 28 as guests were tantalized by the architectural models created by K-12 students who participated in the Foundation’s Learning by Design:NY in-school residencies and numerous Programs@theCenter.
Building Connections was opportunity for students from the metropolitan region to share their ideas about NY’s past, present, and future. The variety of projects reflects the Foundation’s involvement in many learning contexts. Students’ experiences are culled from engagement with buildings and neighborhoods near participating schools or from the Center for Architecture’s exhibitions. Student work offers a unique interpretation of NYC shown side-by-side with ideas presented by many of NY’s practicing architects.
The exhibition itself is a celebration of experimentation. 1100 Architect donated time toward design, prototyping, and installation of the exhibition’s unique system of strands that suspends each model. Fishing line was hung in a matrix that gives the models the illusion of weightlessness and suspended animation. The architects worked closely with Casey Maher in developing a graphic design that ties the works together. The collaboration also included the talents of Sophie Stigliano and Rosamond Fletcher, the Center’s exhibition experts who work wonders in transforming the galleries into dynamic visual and spatial experiences.
Legislative Session Wraps Up
The Senate went into recess on June 21 and the Assembly the following day, wrapping up a generally unproductive legislative session which some have described as the most dysfunctional ever. It is expected that the legislature will re-convene later this year. Here is a listing of where the AIANYS legislative priorities ended.
♦ Passed Both Houses
Qualifications-Based Procurement of Professional Design Services was passed by both the Senate and the Assembly. This bill extends quality-based selection of architects, landscape architects, engineers, and land surveyors to public authorities and public benefit corporations. AIANYS will be urging Governor Spitzer to sign the bill into law.
♦ Passed One House
Wicks Reform passed the Assembly with new threshold amounts: $3 million NYC, $1.5 million for Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $500,000 for the rest of the state. Two additional requirements were also included in the bill. If an owner enters into a project labor agreement (union only workers), the project would be exempt from Wicks. Also, contractors are required to list their subs at the time of bid submission. The Senate had previously agreed to this bill and may take it up upon re-convening.
Historic Tax Credit, the bill would amend the tax law in relation to providing a tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic properties and expands upon the tax credit enacted last year by authorizing additional homeowners to qualify and by removing the cap on commercial structures, passed the Senate.
Corporate Practice of Design Professions, the bill that would have allowed professional design firms to offer key personnel an equity interest in the firm, passed the Senate.
Smart Growth-Livable Communities, the bill that sets a smart growth policy for the State’s public works development in a manner that would maximize existing infrastructure and minimize the negative effects if dispersed development and sprawl, passed the Assembly.
♦ Crossed
Green Buildings and Sustainable Development passed each house but it was not the same version. The bill would require adherence to LEED’s Silver rating level and guidelines, and incorporate the use of life cycle cost analysis in new or substantially reconstructed state facilities.
♦ Died in Committee
Affordable Housing Initiatives, Design-Build, Funding for Prosecution of Illegal Practice, Good Samaritan Act, Civil Justice Reform, and Ten-Year Statute of Repose for Third Party Suits.
♦ Successfully Opposed
AIANYS was successful in killing three bills it opposed as part of its legislative agenda. Construction Threshold would have raised the threshold for construction and maintenance of buildings where the services of architects, engineers, or land surveyors are required. Died in committee. Design Delegation would have transfered responsibility of proprietary design to the architect-of-record. Died in committee. Damages for Delay would require public contracts to include clauses authorizing contractors to recover damages for delay for itself as well as on behalf of subcontractors. The bill passed the Senate, but died in the Assembly.
Announcements: New Organization/Government Initiatives
♦ NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) announced the beginning of public review on new regulations for commercial and community facility parking lots that impose new regulations for landscaping, perimeter screening of the lots, and requirements for canopy trees in planting islands within the lots.
♦ The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has released a “High Performance Buildings” video highlighting the benefits of sustainability, energy efficiency, and the financial opportunities available through NYSERDA’s New Construction Program (NCP).
♦ The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), together with the United Nations Environment Programme, Deutsche Gesselschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the Hewlett Foundation, and Viva, announced the publication of the Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide, the most comprehensive effort to date to provide detailed technical guidance for developing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
♦ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC is teaming with Scott Shuford, AICP, former Asheville planning and development director, and the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina Asheville to develop a practical manual for American planners. “Planning for Climate Change, A Handbook for City, Town and Rural Area Planners” should be completed in 2008 and is intended to guide planning and decision makers in areas such as land use, transportation, natural resources management, structure and site management, public safety, public infrastructure, economic development, and social services.
