The Angle

There's nothing quite like a city alive with the buzz of democracy at work.  When we learned that Denver would be hosting the Democratic National Convention, I had no idea that it would transform our downtown so completely.  While most conversations over the past year focused on the projected economic benefit of having over 150,000 visitors and worldwide exposure delivered from the laptops of 15,000 media personnel, or the potential catastrophe of an under prepared security force, I recall very little discussion about what the experience would feel like. 

Denver had the foresight 30 years ago to convert one of it's core streets into a mile long central spine, dedicated to pedestrians and free shuttle busses.  It capitalized on a warehouse district that despite great architectural character, was languishing 15 years ago, developed sports venues in strategic locations, modified zoning guidelines and provided development incentives with the result being a budding, vibrant, mixed-use urban core.  Many of you have been here perhaps as recently as the National AIA Convention and are familiar with the city.  However, the experience of walking down the mall and being swept up in the electricity of political passions, opportunistic capitalism, and individual style statements is like nothing else I've witnessed. 

There have been some minor incidents but 99% of the action has been exceptionally civil, with Obama supporters trying to convince a group of women carrying Hillary placards (hours after her speech) to get on board with the Unity theme, protesters aligned with Recreate 68 or the Anarchists getting their message out, Republicans and Democrats attending the events side by side to experience the special nature of the occasion, and a noticeable respect for our first amendment rights.  (I'm still not quite sure how Anarchists organize at specific times and places while maintaining their commitment to anarchy but am proud they are doing so).  And one of the primary emotions that I feel is pride that we can have such a rich expression of diversity for multiple days running with a limited amount of blown fuses.

It's like a huge improv dance taking place in a setting that appears to have been designed just for this occasion.  Celebrities and ordinary folks alike flowing from small dialogue groups on economic or energy policy to restaurant stops, past vendors hawking Frisbees and a special 2008 DNC coffee blend to visits of the Performing Arts Complex or new art museum designed by Daniel Leibeskin.  A feast for the eyes and ears watching the motion and listening to the conversations.  True, we did have to close several major arterial streets to accommodate the free flow of pedestrians while maintaining security, so it wouldn't work as a permanent arrangement, but it's like a huge block party without most of the insanity that comes from too many Mardi Gras drinks.  The move to Invesco Field tonight will be a security challenge of major proportions as well, but we're anticipating the electric atmosphere that comes from participating in such a historic event with 90,000 of your closest friends and strangers.

I was inside the Pepsi Center Tuesday night and again the energy level was palpable.  All the big names looking to cover the obvious stories as well as those below the surface: from Reuters to the Wall Street Journal, the BBC to Al Jazeera.  Powerful speeches around consistent themes of energy independence and hope.  Governor Schweitzer of Montana spoke of the world energy crisis and the need to break our addiction to foreign oil and our costly reliance on fossil fuels.  He connected back to the idealism of JFK who demonstrated leadership and confidence by stating unequivocally that we would put a man on the moon, and Schweitzer implored us to have the courage to set similar bold goals for energy independence.  Hillary spoke passionately of leaving a legacy and filling the lives of our children with the possibility of hope.  Discussions after her speech took the position that she fully embraced the theme of unity and did what was necessary to heal party divisions.

Notable were local attempts to address sustainability issues at the convention.  With a lofty goal of reducing waste by 90%, a group of 1,000 volunteers set out to monitor how people were disposing of everything they were not willing to take home with them.  Instead of putting a recycle basket next to each garbage can and hoping for the best, they had landfill, recycle and compost bins and monitored every item with a trajectory toward one of the baskets.  I found it to be an entertaining spectator sport.  Part reflex test, part education seminar and part 'what's that substance?', the game was played with so much enthusiasm by the volunteers that they soon had several of the local custodial staff playing right alongside.  While they probably didn't hit their goal, I'm convinced they made a substantial impact in what got hauled to the landfill and thousands of people probably learned something about what common items are compostable and recyclable these days.

Also, in an attempt to make a serious dent in the number of discarded plastic water bottles, Denver Water handed out reusable bottles to the delegates and media with instructions to refill with tap water or at a mobile truck filled with chilled water.  And of the 500 or so Colorado State students that came down from Ft. Collins to help, many came in busses powered by bio diesel fuel.  Token gestures?  Major breakthroughs?  Carbon offsets alone can't justify the impact of thousands of us flying to conventions like Greenbuild, but until we can do virtual conferences, we'll have to learn from and build on moves like those above.

All in all, an amazing experience that keeps my faith in people from all walks of life.  At least until November.....  But we'll stay out of the partisan dialogue...

H. Joshua Gould, AIA, LEED AP
CEO, RNL

(Editor's Note: Many thanks to RNL, the firm that hosted the AIA Walk the Walk reception on Tuesday, August 26!)

Well, I have to wake up in only a few hours to catch a plane to Denver to attend the AIA reception there, but here I am glued to the television screen. Earlier in the evening, political commentators on every channel argued that this first night of the Democratic convention was lacking in substance and vigor. Senator Claire McCaskill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Jim Leach, a former Republican, among others took the stage. Neither represented the excitement a political party would want to present on opening night. And no speaker spoke about why Obama should be president and why McCain should not. As CNN put it, "You only have people's attention for a few nights," you need to take advantage of it.

But then we saw a tribute to Ted Kennedy, a scion in our political culture. As James Carville noted on CNN, no one--from any political background, belief, or opinion--could not be touched by the tribute to Kennedy. His long public service (only Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmmond are/were longer serving Senators) is truly astounding. Hearing him speak, one could not help feeling as though we are reaching the end of an era. No family has impacted American politics like the Kennedy clan. The Clintons and Bushes have much more to do to have anywhere close to as big of an imprint on our culture as the Kennedys...for good or bad.

Then came the potential future first lady. Michelle Obama's role would seem to be to give us an idea of Barack Obama as a person. What she did was more extraordinary.

"THE WORLD AS IT IS JUST WON'T DO; WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT IT SHOULD BE"
Michelle Obama said those words in arguing what she and her husband have been working towards the last 19 years, and why there is such momentum behind their, yes "their," campaign. She touched on the important timing of this convention (88 years this week since women received the right to vote and 45 years since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech). She took this opportunity to connect the Obamas to their working class roots to make them seem like every other American family. Instead of a pure bio speech--a common theme of the spouse's convention remarks--she framed the beliefs of the Obama nation. And trying to bring the Hillary devotees, she made sure to pay homage to Senator Clinton, saying she "put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling so our daughters and our suns can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher."

A night that started out slow and took a lot of criticism from the political pundits of the world quickly sped up with the inspirational tribute to Kennedy and the stirring words of Michelle Obama. Once pegged as a liability (Michelle Obama once famously said that "for the first time" she was proud to be an American), many can argue tonight that she is Barack Obama's greatest asset.

Did the Dems start out too slow? Are they taking cues from the 2004 Kerry convention and leaving the election unframed and missing the opportunity to peg themselves against McCain and Bush? What did you take from tonight's events?

Tomorrow, we head to Denver and see the convention firsthand. Check back and read our impressions and hear about experiences. And don't forget to share with us your take on all the proceedings this week and next!

--Hannah--

For those of us in DC, the speculation of who the VP candidates will be this fall is ever-present. It seems that every day a new name joins the mix, or another name falls off the infamous short-list. Countless reporters speculate on which senators, represenatives, or governors will be chosen, and those politicians in turn remove their name from the running or suggest they might be interested in the job, if asked (which they are...a lot).

A recent poll shared by Ron Faucheux, president of the Clarus Research Group (and a former staff member at AIA National as well as respected political forecaster), surveyed Americans on what qualities they would like in a VP candidate. What did they say? 

In recent years, sustainability has become a major discussion issue for many politicians, organizations, and citizens across the nation. For the AIA, it has been an issue even longer. Before it became a popular theme, architects have taken up the issue of stewarding the environment in their designs.

The AIA’s position statement on sustainable architectural practice states:

“The AIA recognizes a growing body of evidence that demonstrates current planning, design, construction, and real estate practices contribute to patterns of resource consumption that seriously jeopardize the future of the Earth’s population. Architects need to accept responsibility for their role in creating the built environment and, consequently, believe we must alter our profession’s actions and encourage our clients and the entire design and construction industry to join with us to change the course of the planet’s future.”

As a result of this strong position, and the personal commitment of many architects, AIA members have called and e-mailed to ask where Sens. McCain and Obama stand on many issues, especially sustainability.

Grist, an environmental commentary Web site, has a great comparison chart for voters to review where candidates stand on environmental issues. The site also has more general information and resources on the candidates and their environmental records and positions.

So what can you do other than educating yourself on the candidates’ position? Try to get the 2030 Resolution into the national parties’ platforms. The Republican Party has opened up the platform development process to the public. By going to http://gopplatform2008.com/intro.aspx, citizens can submit a text or video suggestion on what should be included.

The Democrats are taking a similar route. At http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listening/, the Obama campaign encourages individuals to host platform meetings and discussions about the issues important to them which they believe should be important in the fall election campaign. 

Want a suggestion on what to propose? The AIA’s 2030 resolution is available here. For more information and info, contact designvote@aia.org.

The Angle Blog will explore more issues important to architects in the coming weeks. Let us know the issues, topics, etc. that you want us to explore.

Next week, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) will hold their Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. Perhaps one of the most highly debated agenda times is Resolution 2008-07, also known as the “six-month rule.”  This resolution will require interns to report Intern Development Program (IDP) training units within two months following a six month training period or face the loss of those hours on a rolling basis for every day that the report is late.

In response to this resolution, the AIA Board of Directors, during the National Convention in Boston (May 15-17, 2008), approved the following position:

The Board also requests that a collaborative effort between the AIA and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) be established to satisfy documentation concerns through the examination of time sensitive reporting including:

• The evaluation of the new online system by an independent third party(ies) selected jointly by the AIA and NCARB;
• The appropriate review of the “timeliness” of reporting in this modern context; and
•  The development of recommendations concerning changes to IDP training unit reporting.

What do you think about the proposed “six-month rule?” Should NCARB regulate a reporting rule? If yes, what time period do you recommend?

In this week's Angle (June 5, 2008), AIA Codes and Standards Committee Chair Henry A. Kosarzycki, AIA, tells us why architects need to be more engaged in the codes development process. We ask you to share your personal stories on why such involvement is important, or what you think about architects' involvement in this area of the construction and building sector.