January 29, 2021

While not scientifically proven, it is well known in the AEC community that it takes approximately three years to become familiar with an edition of the building code. In unrelated news, the ICC publishes a new version of their model building codes every three years.

Architects play twister all day long. We wear many hats and have to juggle many balls, from being couples counselors to soils scientists to thermodynamicists to graphic designers. We help people weigh and make decisions. We are in the weeds of the micro to the big picture of the macro. We become experts in many fields throughout our never-ending “education” of a career.

Having joined the American Institute of Architects in 1983, I was not always the most active member. I became involved with the AIA Portland Design Awards program several years later but continued to stay on the periphery of activities. I always seemed to find time to attend events but never stepped up to get involved. As a sole practitioner, I always felt there was never time for AIA and wondered what it did for me.

At AIA Central Idaho, we have been in a growth mode right up till COVID-19 hit. We moved our lunch venue to a larger place to hold all the members while hosting unique and relevant guest speakers each month. Our chapter has continued to be invigorated with excellent officers. We changed our bylaws, allowing the president and president-elect to serve a two-year term instead of only one-year terms to promote more leadership stability.

Over the past several years, it has been my pleasure to advocate for AIA Idaho and the professional architects who strive to create safe, strong and beautiful places to live, work, learn and play in Idaho. Whether we are building a coalition of stakeholders to address emergency response and preparedness or updating our standards, architects are always working to make Idaho safe, strong, and beautiful.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the first edition of AIA Idaho’s new magazine, Idaho Architecture. I am honored to have the opportunity to help launch this exciting new media platform.

For many years, AIA Idaho has been serving our profession in various ways and with varying degrees of success. Every generation has had to meet the unique challenges of their time. 2020 has certainly presented us with our challenges. Although we were looking forward to hosting the AIA Northwest+Pacific Region’s conference and Design Awards event in Sun Valley and other activities throughout the year, all of them were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was certainly not the year we expected.