AIA Wyoming Annual Fall Conference + Design and Honor Awards B.L.U.R. • Casper, Wyoming BY KATELYNN LARSEN, ASSOCIATE AIA AIA Wyoming hosted its Annual Fall Conference + Design and Honor Awards in Casper at the M Building on Sept. 28‑30, 2023. The theme of this conference was B.L.U.R. as it relates to every part of an architectural project: • Building: the act of constructing a building, site and whatever components are needed. • Lines: used to convey an idea to every part of the project, but also to the public. • Ubiety: though the architecture is important, so is the quality of the site and its impact on the environment. • Research: everyone takes part in the research of materials, programs, codes and beyond. B.L.U.R.’s purpose is to celebrate the collaboration with other people, whether design-orientated or not, and learn from their perspectives. Hence, we greatly encouraged the exhibitors and sponsors of this conference to participate in the sessions/events. The conference began with a golf tournament on Wednesday afternoon at the Three Crowns Golf Club. The tournament was used as a fundraiser for the Architectural Education Foundation; the proceeds went towards financially supporting Wyoming High School graduates who are attending architecture schools in other states. Pre-conference sessions began Thursday afternoon at Stateline No.7 Architects. These sessions include: An Introduction to Asbestos in Facilities by Jacob Ojeda, Vegetated Roofing Systems by Scott Patz of Rocky Mountain Reps Inc., and A Most Perfect Wall of All by Lee Dzierzanowski of Tremco Construction Products Group. The evening included two tours: one at the Hein House by Randy Hein, AIA and a presentation at Blacktooth Brewery by Lyle Murtha, AIA and Ansley Mouw, Assoc. AIA. Our Blacktooth sponsors were EDA and Brick and Bond, providing free drinks for conference attendees. The Membership Development Committee created a “speed mentoring” activity, encouraging people to mingle with a mentor outside of one’s firm and meet other pairs. Friday’s conference sessions took place at the M Building, the newly remodeled 1960s bank provided a grand space for both exhibitors’ tables and presentations, allowing the exhibitors to participate and listen in during the conference. AIA WY President Dale Buckingham, AIA welcomed everyone to the start of the conference. Paul Lewandowski, AIA of Paul Designs Project (Portland, ME), started the conference with his presentation on A Real World Approach to Embracing the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. Paul reviewed the 10 Principles of the Framework that represent good design in the 21st century and inform progress toward a zero-carbon, equitable, resilient and healthy built environment. He walked us through a spider chart to visualize how well a project would do in each category, using some of his own projects as examples. Lauren Griffith of Lauren Griffith Interiors and Liz Price of GSG Architecture hosted an interior Ben Channon Diane McGinley Lauren Griffith Liz Price Paul Lewandowski, AIA Scott Lindenau, FAIA 28 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .23 | www.aia-wyoming.org
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