Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the president of AIA Utah in 2021. It’s staggering to me what has been accomplished within AIA Utah this past year under the still difficult circumstances of an ongoing global pandemic. Despite these challenges, we have been able to “Connect, Collaborate, and Celebrate” in this, our 100th year, through our Centennial Celebration in April, our Scholarship Golf Tournament, Annual State conference held in September, and our Awards Celebration Gala held in October. I have seen many of you in-person and online during these events and have made great friendships along the way.
I have been moved and inspired by the speakers we have had, by the excellent design work that was recognized, by seeing the hard work and dedication of many volunteers who engage in leadership, and as members of committees hold conversations about how we can improve ourselves as architects and improve the built environment in Utah.
Quickly, I want to highlight again the work of our committees this year:
The Honors and Awards Committee & Member Relations Committee held a wonderful awards event to celebrate architects and outstanding design work that has been done in the state. They also organized a brand-new student design competition which will be launching this coming year.
The Member Relations Committee supported the members through many events, especially the Conference, which every year is very inspiring.
This year, the Community Relations Committee focused their efforts on talking to some “AIA Legends,” many of whom are the founding principals of architecture firms within the state.
The Government Affairs Committee successfully defended architecture and provided critical influence and guidance for our state legislators to defend the quality of architecture, protect the health, safety and wellness of the citizens, and protect the value of our architecture licenses.
The Committee on the Environment (COTE) put on a great conference event and was recognized by our National President for developing a new podcast on sustainable design.
The brand new EQxD (Equity by Design) Committee organized a thought-provoking conference session and has big plans for next year.
The Urban Design Committee (UDU) planned many amazing educational opportunities that connected AIA members to their communities and allowed community members the opportunity to provide input from architects in their neighborhoods.
The YAF (Young Architect’s Forum) held several meetings to socialize and support young professionals and plan to hold many more events in the coming year.
The AIA Utah Northern, Central and Southern Sections have all been active this year.
For more information on AIA Committees, see the website, aia.org/resources/188521-aia-utah-committees.
Outside of committee work, we have been fortunate to collaborate with CDC Utah and Salt Lake City on the Empowered Living Design Competition that received 82 international design entries related to tiny home living. The competition winners were recognized recently at an event December 8. We are excited about the ideas we were able to present to the city to help with the problem of critical housing shortages within the city.
I’ve said before that I believe we as architects have skills that others don’t have in problem-solving because we are trained in “design thinking.” Juhani Pallasmaa said, “A profound design process eventually makes the patron, the architect, and every occasional visitor in the building a slightly better human being.”
I believe that beautiful, sustainable and collaborative design can create better buildings, and in turn, make us better people.
Thanks for a great year!
Sincerely,
Philip Haderlie, AIA
2021 AIA Utah Past-President
phaderlie@vcbo.com
