The American Institute of Architects, Vermont Chapter (AIAVT) is partnering with the Constructions Specifications Institute, Vermont Chapter (CSI VT) to offer a new format for their annual ACX conference this year, which will take place on May 21st at the Hilton on Battery St. in Burlington.
New for this year's event, ACX VT invited proposals from Vermont nonprofits, municipalities, and community- based groups for pro-bono design and planning input, which will take place during the ACX conference next Tuesday in the form of a design charrette. A design charrette brings together a wide range of stakeholders along with a team of architects and designers to translate community ideas into workable plans in a very short time period.
Conference attendees will use their architecture skills and knowledge to work on real solutions to problems that are being faced by Vermont towns and organizations, including constituencies who are often underserved by the architecture and design professions. Deliverables will be in the form of concept drawings, graphic booklets, and small scale models, which participating project representatives will be able to take back to their organizations to aide fund raising, marketing, and gain community support for new initiatives.
Eight project proposals will be distributed among attendees, who will be divided into teams to focus on their assigned project. The received proposals include the following:
Assistance with the visioning of a Tiny House community intended to provide a solution to homelessness by the Addison County Housing Coalition; the creation of a community space and library for the town of Moretown; A request for help with design identity from the city of Vergennes for use in their master plan; Visioning for a more welcoming and useful Mint Makerspace for Rutland; The creation of a community center on a restored 1798 farmhouse in Pittsford Village; Better and broader uses for the Enosburg Opera House as a community space; Prospective improvements to the Enosburg Historical Society museum and caboose; input on the renovation of an existing town garage in Northfield to be used as a food and clothing shelf.
The daylong ACX conference will open with keynote speaker, Christine Hallquist, whose presentation, "Being Humanitarian in the Era of Climate Change" will address the ways in which those in the design and building communities can address topics such as the urban/rural opportunity divide, the role of transportation, energy and communication infrastructure, and how our policy goals in one area can create biases or disproportionate burdens on already troubled populations.
Following the keynote presentation will be a panel discussion, "Community For All: A Discussion of Inclusive Design", facilitated by Jill Pable, a professor and associate chair in the Interior Architecture & Design Department at Florida State University, and leader of Design Resources for Homelessness, a nonprofit resource for architectural designers and organizations creating environments that help people exit homelessness quickly and effectively. Jill will be joined by Kelly Stoddard Poor, AARP Vermont Associate State Director, Meagan E Tuttle, Principal Planner for Comprehensive Planning for the City of Burlington, and Laurie Stavrand, Community Partnership Coordinator for the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. Panelists will discuss Inclusivity in the practice of architecture, and how it seeks to welcome and provide experience of space to underserved and often excluded populations.
The event will bring together 125+ architects, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and business leaders from across the country to take part in hands on learning, and hear from subject matter experts.
AIA Vermont, the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is an organization of architectural design professionals dedicated to enhancing the quality of our built environment, and thereby the quality of life. The Chapter endeavors to bring together and serve all who are interested in the art and science of architecture. AIA Vermont aspires to increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of the architectural profession, expand the knowledge of all participating in the architectural process and improve the quality of services provided by architectural professionals.
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