AIA Wyoming hosted its 2025 Spring Conference in Cheyenne at the Blue Community Events Center on April 24-26. The theme of the conference was “Edges,” which focused on boundaries, transitions, interfaces and frontiers, either physically or metaphorically, in terms of ideas or technology. The four nationally recognized speakers were an exceptional group who seamlessly integrated the theme into each of their presentations. Speakers included the 2023 AIA Gold Medal Winner, a former AIA National president who recently published a new book, a university professor with experience building in Antarctica, and an AIA fellow with three recent net-zero projects. Kate Diamond, FAIA, LEED AP, was our first speaker on Friday. She is the civic design director at HDR and a design principal based out of their Los Angeles studio. She was the first woman to serve as president of AIA Los Angeles and currently serves on the AIA-LA COTE Committee and the Board of USGBC. She has also served on the National Peer Review Council for the U.S. General Services Administration’s Design Excellence Program since 1996. Kate’s presentation, “Barriers | Thresholds | Intersection | Integrations: an exploration of projects shaped by edges,” was a discussion of six of her key projects that achieved high levels of environmental performance, even though that wasn’t initially a goal of many of the projects. Three of her projects achieved net zero. Carl Elefante, FAIA, is principal emeritus of Maryland-based Quinn Evans Architects (recipient of the 2024 Firm Award) and a former AIA National president who recently published a book on sustainability, “Going for Zero.” Following his presentation and during breaks, he signed books for those attending the conference. Known for coining the phrase “the greenest building is … one that is already built,” Carl elaborated on that belief in his presentation, “Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future.” He argued that reusing existing buildings is one of the most sustainable things we can do, and that this makes architects especially relevant in the 21st century. He illustrated the amount of investment, both financially and in terms of carbon footprint, within existing buildings and the inefficiencies of demolishing old buildings. Insights from the “Edges” of Architecture BY ROGER P. STEWART, AIA Erik “Rick” Sommerfeld is an architect, associate professor, and director of ColoradoBuildingWorkshop, the design-build program at the University of Colorado Denver. The program has become a leader in hands-on, community-focused architecture, having completed notable projects such as the Colorado Outward Bound School Micro Cabins and Longs Peak Privies in Rocky Mountain National Park. Erik took the theme “Edges” to an extreme as he shared innovative buildings designed by his program, such as a research facility for NOAA Fisheries in Antarctica that was transported to shore on rafts and assembled without heavy equipment. In his presentation “Designing on the Edge — From the Rockies to Antarctica,” he illustrated how the designs required incredible creativity and innovative prefabrication and construction techniques for rapid deployment in remote, environmentally sensitive locations. The keynote speaker, Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, of Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects, is a widely respected designer and the 2023 recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. Her work includes the replacement of the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City and the redesign of the Chicago Riverfront. Her presentation, “Future Cities: Big Ideas and Small Solutions in Everyday Architecture,” explored how public spaces and places serve as essential infrastructure that make our cities livable, and how these public spaces express our history, values and future vision. Carol’s presentation was sponsored by a grant from the Wyoming Board of Architects and Landscape Architects and, as the last speaker of the day, was open to the public. In addition to the outstanding speakers, we had seven exceptional tours during the conference, as noted on the following pages. AIA WYOMING SPRING CONFERENCE 24 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .25
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