Pumpkin Carving

Don't forget to come to pumpkin carving today! Architecture majors know how to carve a pumpkin right.

Happy Halloween!!

From your friendly AIAS.

Fall Quad Schedule

Check out Fall Quad Schedule.

***notice BEAUX ARTS BALL on Saturday night!!

AIAS Fall Quad in CINCINNATI

Hello all!

Hope you are getting excited about fall quad coming up! It begins Friday October 14, 2011. The conference will last until Sunday October 16. It is a great way to meet lots of architecture students from across the Midwest. Also, it is located in one of the greatest, exciting cities.... Cincinnati!

Here is some important information and sites to get prepared for the big event:

The facebook group link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Fall2011MidwestQuad

To register and get more information on the event visit: aiasfallquad2011.com

"Solutions?"

For anyone who did not receive the most recent issue of CRIT magazine:

“Solutions?” Let’s talk.

Brett Roeth

This editorial was first printed in issue 71 (Spring 2011) of Crit, the journal of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). It is reprinted here with permission and may not be reproduced without the express permission of AIAS.

“Think globally, act locally” is the sine qua non of the sustainability movement. These four words express the fundamental idea of a powerful system of ethics: individual actions have impacts beyond one’s immediate and obvious surroundings. While this motto guides many of our decisions about our built and natural environments, it seems not to have infiltrated our political, social, and cultural behaviors as pervasively. We watch civil uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya with a certain mixture of awe, confusion, and distance, not fully understanding that our nation formed out of rather similar sentiments and actions 235 years ago. We denounce the oppressive regimes that leverage fear to control the populace – without realizing that a regime founded upon antipathy has risen in our very backyard.

I’m speaking here of Arizona, a state which students at three NAAB accredited schools of architecture call home. Within the last year, Arizona has enacted laws with the stated purpose of curbing illegal immigration and protecting American citizens. Yet many contend these laws violate not only the fundamental principles embodied in the United States Constitution, but the civil and human rights of millions of persons, non-citizens and citizens alike. A growing segment of the American population understands Arizona as a place characterized by xenophobia, violence, and incivility.

You might be asking yourself, why is this an appropriate topic for an editorial in Crit? What does this have to do with architecture? What does legislation in Arizona have to do with me?

These events have everything to do with architecture: architecture and society are inextricable. Buildings are parts of larger environs. They define the boundaries of ‘public’ and ‘private’, frame our perceptions of the world around us, and create spaces in which people are either welcomed or shunned. Just as they have ecological impacts, buildings have important (but often overlooked and misunderstood) sociopolitical impacts far beyond their walls. The discipline of architecture is affected by so many facets of society – the economy, the environment, law – and we must acknowledge this. Architect and educator Neil Leach has written, “Buildings should not simply reflect passively changing social conditions; they should be active instruments of change,” noting that “architecture is deeply embedded within economic and other structures of power.”[1] ...

Farewell, class of 2011!

You will be missed!

Keep reading for the "final rap"...

End of the Year

As the year is wrapping up, so is the AIAS!

I'd like to thank you all for your contributions to the club, and I hope that you've had as much fun as we have this year! This year's Beaux Arts Ball was the biggest we've had in the four years that I've been here, and never before have we been able to raise so much money through fundraisers. We thank the graduate students who offered their time and skills to present through our Lecture Series, as well as our guests from Career Services and Past-President Brett Roeth-- and congratulate grad students Kris Kunkel and Brian Albrecht for entering the AIAS Student Design competition earlier in the year. I'd also like to thank my amazing exec board for all of their hard work-- planning fundraisers, the Chicago Trip, Beaux Arts Ball, Freedom By Design projects, lectures, workshops, socials, and everything else.

I've enjoyed watching this organization grow, and I can only see it becoming bigger and better in years to come. Tyler Rice and Kat Roosen have been busy planning Fall Quad 2011, our regional AIAS conference that our chapter is co-hosting with UC next fall. Fall Quad is a really exciting opportunity for us to show off all of the best qualities of our faculty & department, as well as the strength of our chapter.

We have also tried really hard this year, to make AIAS more accessible through our twitter, blog, and website. Though these are all new and works in progress, we hope that these enable students to better keep up-to-date with what's going on, and spread awareness throughout the department. We also hope that these tools will be used to promote events within the department, highlight student achievements, spread news within the profession, and connect with other chapters nation-wide.

I hope that you all continue to follow the AIAS and support what we do, we promise you won't regret getting involved!

See you all Sunday, at our bi-annual End-of-the-Semester Party!


Best of luck with all finals & presentations,
It's been real--

Sarah Pytlik
Your Former AIAS Chapter President

Architecture Never Looked So Good

Hey guys,

Carolyn has been working on a website for our chapter:

AIAS Miami U Chapter Website

Please check it out & leave comments, suggestions, advice, etc. We'd love to hear from you! It's still a work in progress, and we want to make it as useful and accessible as possible.

Sneak Preview.