OCTOBER 2005 - Scott Stolarczyk, AIA

While we do not have an official "Architecture Week" like that found in Portland, right now comes pretty close for us in the Eugene area.  There are (and were) a number of events to catch that celebrate the work of our Chapter members to the public.  Each with a somewhat different focus and intent, they all are meant to help raise awareness of quality design and our dedication to it.

If you were at the Eugene Celebration at the beginning of the month, I hope you found time to stop by and vote at the 16th Annual People’s Choice Awards.  Held downtown with the gracious hospitality from the people at Oveissi & Company, this year’s event showcased twenty-six building and landscape projects from our members and members of the local ASLA chapter.  This was a great showing of work and it is exciting to see this annual event grow stronger each year in participation and in presentation.

Coming up next is the 2005 Design Awards, to be held Saturday, October 8th at the Downtown Athletic Club.  This event will bring in three jurors from out of the area to review projects from our Chapter and AIA/Southern Oregon.  It has been far too long since we have hosted this event and the program this year promises to be exceptional.  It will be interesting to see the comparison between what is voted by the community (during People’s Choice) and what is decided by a jury of professional colleagues as the top work out of many very exceptional projects.   As a side note, it is also our hope that we will again host the Craftsmanship Awards next year, setting up the alternating pattern between it and Design Awards.

Finally, soon after the Design Awards keep you eye out for our second insert in the Register-Guard.  This insert, fully created and paid for by our Chapter, highlights current projects and hopefully puts issues we find important, such as quality design and sustainability, farther forward into people’s mind and discussions.

These three events work to strengthen our presence in the community and provide well deserved recognition to our members.  Perhaps next year we can spring from this and create a true "Architecture Week" for our area.  The intent for building up from this is to provide better value to for being an AIA member.  There is much we can do together for advocacy, education, and outreach.  I hope that you have been thinking about how AIA can best serve you, and how you can be a part of the Chapter to make it grow and become a crucial partner to our local profession and community.

Scott Stolarczyk, AIA