10 Things to Know About the American Institute Architects

American Institute of Architects Centennial photo By Bureau of Engraving and Printing Wikimedia

10 Things to Know About the American Institute Architects

The American Institute of Architects was formed back in 1857. Its headquarters are located in Washing, DC, in United State. The AIA mostly focuses on providing education, community redevelopment, public outreach to support the architecture profession, government advocacy and improving its public image.

It is a large professional organization for architects with more than 95,000 members. It was founded by 13 architects like Charles Babcock, Henry W. Cleaveland, John Welch, Richard M. Upjohn, Henry Dudley, Leopold Eidlitz, and Joseph C. Wells among others.

There are levels of membership in AIA such as Architect Members, International associate members, Associate members, Allied members, and Emeritus members. In this article, we have looked at 10 things to know about the American Institute of Architects;

1. Largest Professional Organizations for Architects in the United States

The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization with offices in different cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. It is said to be the largest in the United States of America. It is also one of the largest professional organizations in the world.

It has approximately over 90,000 members and it focuses on promoting the profession of architecture, educating, and providing resources to the members to ensure smooth architectural projects.

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2. AIA Offers Several Awards and Recognition Programs for Architecture and Design

Octagon House headquarters of American Institute of Architects photo by Aude Wikimedia

The AIA acknowledges architects, designers and organizations for their good works in architectural fields by rewarding them with awards. They have several categories of awards such as membership honors, institute honors, and honors programs.

Some of the awards this organization offer include AIA Gold Medal, AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education, Institute Honor Awards for Architecture, Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture, Associates Award, Collaborative Achievement Award and AIA Housing Awards among others.

3. It Offers Different Types of Membership

There are several types of membership in AIA organizations. You can either have a full membership, international membership, associate membership or emeritus membership.

There are some protocols followed for you to qualify to be a certain member of this organization, for instants, for you to gain an Emeritus membership you must have been a full member of AIA for at least 15 years.

When it comes to international membership it is only open to people who have an architectural license outside of the United States while Associate membership is for people who don’t have a license but are working toward it.

4. Governed by a Board of Directors

Photo by Viktor Ritsvall on Unsplash

The organization is governed by the Board of Directors which is composed of 16 people, the president, President-elect, and secretary among others. The Board Directors are always elected by the membership of the organization.

The duties of the Board are to ensure that they analyse issues facing the profession and organization and solve them as well as make useful decisions for the programs and services of AIA.

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5. AIA has over 200 local and State Components

The local and state components offer services and programs to members. When it comes to the local components it caters for several activities such as community service projects, community awareness campaigns, educational conferences, design award programs, post-disaster and urban design workshops and the Architect Registration Exam preparation classes among others.

When it comes to the state component of AIA it offers networking opportunities and educational conferences. They also play an important role in presenting members’ needs to the legislatures enabling smooth operation in the architectural field.

6. The American Institute of Architects was Founded in New York

This professional organization was founded back in 1857 in New York City. The aim of creating the organization was to “promote the scientific and practical perfection of its members”. The initial members who founded the AIA were a group of 13 architects.

The members held a meeting on February 23, 1857, and agreed to invite some of the 16 Beprominent architects to be part of them. Some of the invited members were Calvert Vaux, Frederick Clarke Withers, Alexander Jackson Davis and Thomas U. Walter among others.

7. The Former Presidents of the AIA

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

The American Institute of Architects has several former presidents who ruled and ensured the organization runs smoothly. Richard Upjohn was the first president of the AIA and ruled from 1857 when the organization was formed to 1876.

Some of the other presidents include Thomas Ustick Walter (1877–1887), Richard Morris Hunt (1888–1891), Edward Hale Kendall (1892–1893), Daniel H. Burnham (1894–1895), George Browne Post (1896–1898) Henry Van Brunt (1899–1900), Robert Swain Peabody (1900–1901), Charles Follen McKim (1902–1903), William S. Eames (1904–1905), Frank Miles Day (1906–1907) Cass Gilbert (1908–1909), Clair W. Ditchy (1953–1955), George Bain Cummings (1955–1956), Leon Chatelain Jr. (1956–1958), John N. Richards (1958–1960), Philip Will Jr. (1960–1962), Henry L. Wright (1962–1963), J. Roy Carroll Jr. (1963–1964) and Arthur G. Odell Jr. (1964–1965) among others.

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8. Benefits of Being an AIA Member

There are many benefits that architects under the AIA organization get. Each architect aims to become successful and have an easy journey in the architectural field.

The American Institute of Architecture have several advantages for its members such as giving them opportunities to network with chapter members, Allied memberships run a calendar year and are renewable January 1^st, they get a chance to be invited to chapter events, and they are able to subscribe to AIA Triangle e-newsletter and member communication.

9. AIA has Published Several Documents That Give Guidelines in the Architectural Field

To set the standards for the Practice of Architecture, the American Institute of Architects has published several documents such as the AIA Guidelines for Designs, AIA Contract Documents and Construction of Healthcare Facilities.

These documents play an important role in the architectural field and are very important to architects. They help architects learn new things and set their standards hence doing a great job.

10. It has a Program Known as the Architects Foundation

Architects Foundation leads philanthropic efforts that lays the foundation of architecture’s future inspiring, attracting and investing on new architects who will be professionals of tomorrow.

This foundation supports students pursuing a degree in architecture by giving them scholarships and providing financial support where necessary.

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