AIA25 included a wide variety of courses and tours designed to engage and inspire us as architects. Mitch Blake attended a tour of Boston City Hall and learned how the building is being continually renovated to meet the city’s changing needs, as well as about the incredible transformation of the plaza surrounding the building, which is now much greener and more pleasant for community events. A walking tour of downtown Boston revealed the changing ideas about street lighting and the focus on lighting sidewalks, rather than streets, to control light pollution while utilizing lower lumen levels to create safety. It is interesting to note that the old gas light fixtures still create a nicer color and light quality that lighting designers and manufacturers are striving to achieve with more sustainable LED fixtures. Kermit Baker, FAIA, provided a session that was very revealing about the challenges of affordable housing across the United States. Roger and Mitch were particularly impressed with a session titled “David vs Goliath: How Small Firms Can Compete and Win.” Roger invited the speakers from that session to present at our AIA Wyoming Fall Conference in Sheridan, which they accepted. Finally, the vast exhibit hall was packed with an impressive group of vendors, service providers and other valuable resources. We recommend that our AIA Wyoming members, associates and affiliates take the opportunity to attend the national conference in the future. It is sure to be well worth your time and valuable to your firm, given the exposure and education available to attendees. We encourage firms to support and, if possible, supplement their employees’ attendance at AIA26 and beyond. 17
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