A few of the 2010 Architecture Week activities.....

Charrette with Habitat for Humanity in Carpentersville, IL (above)



Images from the Architecture Week Open House at FGM Architects/Engineers in OakBrook, IL.
A list of other activities in Illinois include......


Proclamation of April 12-18 as "Architecture Week" adopted by:
State of Illinois General Assembly
State of Illinois Senate
City of Rockford
Village of Oak Park
City of Chicago

Numerous school visits all week

Also....

April 12-
AIA Northeast Illinois Poster Competition

April 13-
FGM Architects Open House-OakBrook
Kluber Architects Open House- Batavia
Wight & Co. Open House- Darien

April 14-
Energy Effiency in Residential Homes- Aurora Police Station


April 16-
Pecha Kucha Presentation Night in Champaign

April 17-
Habitat for Humanity Design Charrette in Carpentersville
Oak Park Architectural Photo Party

#1-"Celebrating Architecture" : Display Kiosks in Public Places

Public Display Kiosks are to be displayed (with permission) in city halls, libraries, train stations, or schools, etc. Among the features of these kiosks are:
- an explanation of Architecture
- distingushing “just building” vs. architecture
- one example of a historical architectural icon (photos/placards)
-local architecture to celebrate (photos/placards/drawing excerpt)
- Did you know?.....
- Green Building or Remodeling Tips for consumers
-“Working with an Architect”(how to) leaflets
-other "take one” leaflets
- “My Favorite Buildings are...”- A General Public fun survey ballot box
-other creative features

A kiosk design competition was hosted by the AIA Northeast Illinois chapter's Young Architects Group in March of 2009 for prototype kiosk designs (see examples above). Your local chapter may wish to do the same in the 1st quarter of 2010.

Your help is also needed to identify locations and to obtain approvals necessary to display these kiosks inside public places for the week of April 12-18th.

The kiosks are creative, affordably constructed, modular/reproducible, re-usable, low-maintenance, durable, tasteful, stable, eye-catching and truly representative of the great profession of architecture.

#2- Architecture Week Proclamation for Your Town (Example)

You may approach your city council about adopting this friendly Proclamation of Architecture Week. Stop by city hall soon so that there is enough time for procedures to take place:

Architecture Week
April 12-18, 2010

Whereas, architects serve the public health, safety and welfare of the citizenry by designing places for a broad range of human activities, creating environments where individuals, groups and communities may thrive, and;

Whereas, “Architecture profoundly affects people and the work of architects is essential to human well being and supporting the growth of each community and through recognizing the diversity of communities and interests within the state; seeking to find common ground to achieve better, safer, more beautiful and sustainable communities.

Whereas, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is guided by the duty and honor to serve architects, communities and the public at large; and In the spirit of civic engagement and public service share the fundamental principles as fellow citizens and as the voice of the architecture profession in Illinois, and;

Whereas, the American Institute of Architects has thereby established and sponsored Architecture Week each year to celebrate and increase awareness of the great architecture and its impact across the state, and;

Whereas, Illinois boasts some of the world’s most famous architectural buildings and designed spaces, both rural and urban; historic and contemporary; homes and skyscrapers and everything in between, and;

Whereas, Illinois had the nations very first licensed architect and architects who have practiced in Illinois are the most notable and respected in American history including Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Mies Van Der Rohe and many others, and;

Whereas, the more than 4000 architects and architectural interns of the Illinois today have been called upon by the AIA to participate in activities in the communities throughout the state during Architecture Week such as presentations, public displays, grade school visits, and civic design forums;

Now, Therefore, I, ________________, Mayor of _____________, proclaim April 12-18, 2010 as Architecture Week in the town of _____________ and urge all citizens to join the community in participation of Architecture Week activities and recognition of the great architecture of this state.

#3- Host an Open House at an Architect's Office

“HOW TO” HOST AN ARCHITECTURE WEEK OPEN HOUSE AT AN ARCHITECT’S OFFICE
(courtesy of AIA Northeast Illinois)
Schedule
4 weeks prior......
o Set up date of Open House with your office
o Contact high school guidance counselors to explain your offer to host students that are interested in architecture as a profession.
o Send information flyer to contact person at the school with date, program agenda and map to the office.
o Announce Open House to everyone at your firm and ask for volunteers to help with the Open House. Target recent graduates and intern architects and graduate that may have attended the high schools you are inviting. Students are really interested in hearing about what it is like during the first year of college. Also, have a few experienced architects on hand for parents to ask questions about the profession.
2 weeks prior.......
o Check-in with the contact person to remind them of the open house details and ask for to have student’s names that are attending by a set date.
o Discuss agenda with the volunteers in your firm and assign responsibilities.
o Prepare a “How to become an Architect” power point (sample provided –edit as desired) and/or other presentation material such as list of accredited architecture schools, list of recommended classes that colleges would like high school students to take (minimum requirements).
o Consider showing images of area projects that students may recognize or some the AIA Illinois 150 Great Places to emphasis the theme “Design Matters”.
1 week prior......
o Check-in again with contact. Explain that you need the final list of names by a set date (3 days ahead). Get spellings of names for nametags.
o Resend the details, agenda and map to your office.
o Make nametags for students. Include their high school on the name tag. Make nametags for all staff that are helping with the Open House.
o Arrange for refreshments, such as cookies, pop corn, pop and water.
o Prepare a hand out with key firm members e-mail contact information if the students have questions a later date and/or provide business cards.
Day Of.....
o Set up Welcome table with nametags.
o Set up refreshments.
o Set up and run through power point.
o Set up all other displays, etc.
o Take photos of students in your office.
After......
o Send a thank you note to your contact at each school and ask for feedback on the program. Consider a short survey that the students can fill out.
o Send press release with photos to local paper and to each school for their newsletters. (Refer to sample).
Agenda
o Refer to sample used by Wight and Company for 2009 Open House (edit as desired).

#4- School Visits and Presentations

School Visits and Presentations
School Visits & Presentations may occur in a variety of manners-

Developing and presenting "A Career in Architecture" toolkit for Middle Schools and High Schools:
-For guidance counselors
-For students
-For Parents

Delivering a school visit presentations to one of the targeted levels-
-Primary school age students (See Example Below)
-3rd thru 6th grade students
-Middle schools
-High schools

We invite you to join those who are now developing outlines for successful school presentations, developing a toolkit or actually making a visit to a school the week of April 12-16th.


Template Example:
A Primary School Visit

-Find a contact person at the school.

-Request an opportunity to present something different to the students, an introduction to “Architecture” . If a day between April 12-16 does not work well for the school, take an alternate date. The most important thing is to share your message with the children.

-Get an understanding of the school, the classroom, the teacher and the age of the students.

-Prepare the presentation material for the visit.

During The School Visit:
Consider techniques to get and keep the youngsters attention.
First ask them what they want to be when they grow up.
Then tell them what architecture is and what you do.
Tell them how everything in the room had to be figured out by a designer.
Ask them their favorite building (Is it a home, school, church, store, musuem, restaurant?)
Show some images of really interesting architecture.

Maybe try turning the audience into mini-architects themselves for a moment.
-Draw a picture of a simple building on a chalkboard or easel.
-Ask the children to draw that same thing with their crayons.

Consider bringing Lincoln Logs or Legos or predrawn paper cutout houses for the children to try.
Maybe have one child draw a simple house and the next child build it in Lincoln Logs or Lego.

If you have enough time let each child do both, most will enjoy it.

Compliment the children on their work and let a few describe their work.

Take some photos of the children with their creation and some together with you and the teacher.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
-Bring easel pad or make sure you have a chalkboard or whiteboard available
-Check to see if the school has crayons and paper for the students.
-It is real important to get some photos of your visit.
-Bring a easy-to-use-camera (and a photographer if possible)
-Thank everyone for their time later send a thank you letter to the teacher/principal or contact.
- Send the AIA office a note about your experience.

#5- Support a Not-for-Profit Community Organization

Architects may show the good will of the profession by supporting community based not-for-profit organizations in a variety of ways:
-Provide some level of pro-bono services to worthy causes (see 1 % Pro-Bono Program link on the left).
-Volunteer in a community building or rehabbing effort such as Habitat for Humanity, RebuildTogether.org, emerging efforts to assist Haiti, etc. (See links on the left)
-Host or participate in a design charrette for charity.
-Or many other ways...

#6- Public Architectural Presentations

Public Presentations can be very similar to school visit presentations aimed at targeted levels or can be for adult audiences also. Public Libraries, school auditoriums or even city halls can be excellent places to host these types of presentations. Some presentation examples could be:
-What is Architecture?
-Architecture in History
-AIA 150 Great Places -a narrated slide show
-Green Building and Remodeling Tips for consumers
-"Working with an Architect" workshop
-PK ("Pecha Kucha") Presentations

We invite you to join those who are now developing outlines for successful library presentations or actually making a presentation the week of April 12-18th