Schedule

Click on session titles for additional information.

WEDNESDAY, November 2
Pre-Conference Day

12:30pm–2:00pm: Tour of Design Architecture Senior High (DASH)

All Pre-Conference day participants are invited to tour DASH

We are excited to offer a 90 minute tour of the Design and Architecture Senior High (DASH) as part of our pre-conference workshops. Located in the heart of the Design District, DASH is an award-winning Miami Dade County public magnet school with a one-of-a-kind art and design curriculum. It has inspired a host of other well-known design schools, and DASH’s philosophy of "Education by Design" is reflected in the programs it offers, which include architecture, industrial design, fashion design, visual communication (graphics), and entertainment technology (film). The tour will include an explanation of how DASH works, as well as what positive impacts it makes on its students and the local community. We will also hear from the lead teacher of the architecture program, school administrators and students .

Location: DASH - Miami Design District, 4001 NE 2nd Ave, Miami

2:30pm–5:00pm: A+DEN Workshop

K-12 Architecture Programming
Host: Jenni Groot, Chicago Architecture Foundation

Registration Required
Cost: $60 AAO Members, $80 Non-members, $40 Students.
Location: 3930 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 200


This half-day Pre-Conference Workshop is geared to program staff, educators and professionals who provide architecture, urban planning, design and/or engineering education and outreach to K-12 audiences.
View more information.

2:30pm–5:00pm: International Directors Council

Meeting
Host: Peter Murray, New London Architecture

Registration Required
Location: Dacra Conference Room, 3841 NE 2nd Avenue, 3rd floor


The International Directors Council is the AAO forum for executive leaders of architectural and design organizations with annual program budgets exceeding $500,000. There is no additional cost for this event, but advanced registration is required.


5:30pm–7:30pm: Opening Reception & Member Shorts

AAO hosts a cocktail reception for all Conference attendees at the de la Cruz Collection. We will also hear about projects from four of the Conference’s international delegates.

RSVP Requested
Cost: Free to all Conference Registrants
Location: de la Cruz Collection – 23 NE 41st Street, Miami

Scotland’s Urban Past
Rebecca Bailey, Historic Environment Scotland

Scotland’s Urban Past (SUP) is a five-year project supporting groups to investigate, record, engage with and celebrate the heritage of towns and cities. Rebecca will share opportunities projects like this can offer for reinvigorating local communities, empowering groups and establishing sustainable networks for collaboration in the future.

Countdown to the New DAC
Tanya Lindkvist, Danish Architecture Center

Tanya will discuss plans for the forthcoming Rem Koolhaas-designed home of the Danish Architecture Center, including new initiatives to drive audience and program development.

Vocabulary of Hospitality
Merve Bedir, Land+Civilization Compositions
Jason Hilgefort, Land+Civilization Compositions

The issue of Europe’s growing displaced populations is at the top of the agenda of many international leaders. Hear how Land+Civilization Compositions created an exhibition and public forum on the meaning of home and place for refugees in Istanbul.

7:30pm: Dine-Arounds

Dine-Arounds

Registration Required Cost: $40/person

This year, we're removing the hassle of splitting the bill on-site at the restaurant by asking you to pre-pay for your local dinner outing. Have dinner with a small group of your Conference attendees following the Wednesday evening opening reception. Participants will choose from several restaurant options published closer to the event date.

 

THURSDAY, November 3
Conference Day One

Morning Sessions: Miami Center for Architecture and Design (MCAD)

100 NE 1st Ave

8:30am: Registration Opens

Conference registration is located on the first floor of MCAD.

9:00am-9:15am: Welcome Remarks

9:15am-10:00am: Opening Address

Miami Rising
Manny Diaz, Former Mayor of Miami (2001 – 2009)

Manny Diaz is largely credited with transforming Miami through his administration’s innovative approaches to urban planning, sustainability, infrastructure investment and arts and culture. Throughout his time in office, he was an eager student on the affairs of city building, serving on the selection committee for the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (2007) and president of the US Conference of Mayors (2008), but a few notes on the range of efforts that earned him the American Architectural Foundation’s Keystone Award (2009). In this opening address, Diaz provides us with an insider’s orientation to Miami, tracing recent developments that have the city moving to a strong leadership position in the areas of cultural diversity, resiliency, placemaking, and design.

10:00am-10:30am: Coffee Break

Networking time with conference attendees. Light refreshments will be provided.

10:45am-12:00pm: Morning Plenary

Shaping Cities and the Built Environment through Philanthropy
George Abbott, Knight Foundation
Ron Bogle, American Architectural Foundation
Stuart Kennedy, Miami Foundation
Elizabeth Lynn, van Beuren Charitable Foundation

Rapid advances in the science of cities haven’t just piqued the interest of popular media, they’ve drawn in major philanthropies, too. While placemaking contests and participatory budgeting sessions are inching to the mainstream, it’s still a formidable challenge to explain the value of design. In this opening panel, we look at what’s driving the research and grantmaking decisions at three foundations making notable investments to improve the built environment. Find out what these leaders are learning, and what roles they see for AAO members in this “century of the city.”

12:00pm-1:15pm: Lunch

More networking time with your fellow Conference attendees. Lunch provided on-site at MCAD.

1:15pm: Buses depart MCAD to MDPL

Buses will depart from the front entrance of MCAD.

Afternoon Sessions: Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL)

1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach

1:45pm–2:45pm: AAO Members Meeting

AAO Members Meeting (open to all)
Michael Wood, Association of Architecture Organizations

This report on the Association’s business affairs and recent programming activities will highlight findings from the inaugural AAO Members Survey—at long last, a set of benchmarks for describing AAO Members’ financial and programming performance. Audience Q&A follows.

2:45pm-3:45pm: Connecting with AAO Membership: Notes from the Field

A rapid pitch share out of innovative, inspired approaches by Conference delegates solving programming and management challenges old and new.

Crafting Center Identity
Rick Bell, NYC Department of Design and Construction

Architecture centers, like museums, can inspire, provoke and cajole, creating and transmitting knowledge and sentiments that transcend the hustle-bustle of everyday life. Learn about the branding and public communication of these centers.

How to Punch Above Your Weight: Harnessing Partner Power
Angela Kyle, PlayBuild

Learn how this itinerant, design education start-up has leveraged innovative partnerships to grow its resources and build public awareness.

No Small Plans
Gabrielle Lyon, Chicago Architecture Foundation

In an ambitious mash-up of civic education and urban planning, CAF is resurrecting the famed Wacker Manual to suite todays educators and school students.

Curating the City: LGBTQ Historic Places in LA
Adrian Fine, Los Angeles Conservancy

The rule book to the modern preservation movement continues to be re-written. Future strategies may look a lot more like the LA Conservancy’s recent partnerships with the local LGBTQ community, a group committed to honoring their heritage sites.

Peacebuilding through Design Thinking
Maryam Eskandari, Harvard University & MIIM Designs LLC

As much as design styles and content change, some lessons never do. Here is an instructive tale about design observations, found in all places, through the making of an architecture exhibition celebrating the worlds 1.7 billion Muslims.

4:00pm–5:30pm: Walking Tour

Art Deco Walking Tour
MDPL Docents

Join docents of the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) for this review of the Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival, and Miami Modern (MiMo) styles of famed Miami Beach. You’ll explore hotels, restaurants, and other commercial structures with a visit to a number of interiors.

5:30pm: Buses depart MDPL to Miami Dade College

Buses will depart from the main entrance of MDPL to public program at Miami Dade College. Wolfson Campus
300 NE 2nd Avenue, Room 1261 (Building 1, 2nd Floor, Room 61).

6:30pm-8:00pm: Evening Public Program

Resilience and Citizen Action
Marissa Aho, Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
Tom Dallessio, NextCity
Caroline Lewis, The CLEO Institute
Otis Rolley, 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation
Susanne Torriente, City of Miami Beach
Ephrat Yovel, Counterpoint CS

On the heels of Miami being named a new member of the 100 Resilient Cities network, Next City publisher and CEO Tom Dallessio hosts a round table discussion with several leaders (national and local) working to advance public action on climate change. Going beyond flood mitigation strategies and other tactical responses, our expert panel considers the broader thinking and opportunities for addressing the social and economic challenges that will come to define the “resilient” city in the coming years.

8:00pm: Dine-Arounds

Dine-Arounds

Registration Required
Cost: $40/person


This year, we're removing the hassle of splitting the bill on-site at the restaurant by asking you to pre-pay for your local dinner outing. Have dinner with a small group of your Conference attendees following the Thursday evening public program. Participants will choose from several restaurant options published closer to the event date.

 

FRIDAY, November 4
Conference Day Two

Morning Location: Yve Hotel

146 Biscayne Blvd

7:30am: Breakfast

Hot breakfast provided in the second floor meeting room of the Yve Hotel.

8:00am-9:00am: Resilient Miami

The Kresge Foundation has been leading in the way in funding climate-resilience efforts that reflect the needs of low-income people. In this morning plenary, we learn about an inspired, Kresge-funded partnership between a duo of savvy Miami designers and a substantial leadership training organization. If you’re interested in partnering to leverage greater impact, this one’s for you!

Irvans Augustin, Urban Impact Lab
Gretchen Beesing, Catalyst Miami
Margie O’Driscoll, Bay Area Resilient by Design Challenge
Marta Viciedo, Urban Impact Lab


Resilient Boston: Architect to Student to Citizen
Gretchen Rabinkin, Boston Society of Architects & BSA Foundation

This rapid pitch presentation reports on another related Kresge-funded endeavor, this time a collaboration between community designers and students from a local university. Several practical take-aways for effective community engagement at the neighborhood scale.

9:00am: Buses depart Yve Hotel for Resiliency Tour

Buses will depart from the main hotel entrance for the Resiliency Tour.

9:00am–1:00pm: Tour

Miami Beach Resiliency and Preservation Bus Tour

The communities along the southeast region of Florida are some of the most vulnerable urban areas under threat of sea level rise. In living with its everyday effects, the City of Miami Beach has been pioneering several short- and long-term flood mitigation strategies. Alongside staff from the City of Miami Beach’s Sustainability and Resiliency Division, we will tour Sunset Harbor, one of the city’s first neighborhoods to see raised roadbeds and upgraded storm water infrastructure; Maurice Gibb Park where businesses are learning to interact with newly installed pump stations and other infrastructure; and South Point Park, where we examine the local dune system.

Afternoon Location: HistoryMiami

101 W Flagler St, Miami

1:15pm-2:00pm: Lunch

More networking time with your fellow Conference attendees. Lunch provided on-site at HistoryMiami.

2:00pm–2:45pm: Tour of HistoryMiami

Conference attendees will be treated to a brief tour of the museum and cultural complex designed by Philip Johnson (commissioned 1972; completed 1983). Free time will be allotted to browse the museum’s current exhibition, The Discipline of Nature: Architect Alfred Browning Parker in Florida.

3:00pm-4:00pm: Afternoon Plenary

Diversity & Cultural Production in Miami
Steve Adkins, Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
Meg Daly, Friends of the Underline
Cheryl Jacobs, Miami Center for Architecture & Design
Mikhaile Solomon, Founding Director, Prizm Art Fair

MCAD director Cheryl Jacobs invites a panel of local arts leaders to discuss current practices for promoting more inclusive programming at Miami cultural institutions. While Miami is blessed with a diverse population and a deep artistic spirit, we learn what lessons in cultural production can inspire change in other communities.

4:00pm-5:00pm: Afternoon Plenary

Miami as a Hub for Design
Avra Jain, Vagabond Group
Jessica Goldman Srebnick, Goldman Properties
Bernard Zyscovich, Zyscovich Architects (invited)

We end the Conference with an intimate conversation between two prominent Miami real estate developers, as they discuss the role world-class architecture has played in raising the city’s profile and, at the same time, challenging its ever-changing identity.

5:00pm: Buses depart HistoryMiami for Wynwood neighborhood

Buses will depart from the main entrance of HistoryMiami.

5:30pm-6:30pm: Tour

Wynwood Walking Tour

This storied inner city neighborhood has seen its share of ups and downs, but since the turn of the millennium has risen to become one of the nation’s great placemaking triumphs. Now home to more than 70 galleries, museums and restaurants, the neighborhood welcomes thousands of visitors every weekend who come to see the expansive collection of murals and street art displayed throughout the district. A fun, unique experience to cap off the Conference.

6:30pm-8:30pm: Closing Party at R+HOUSE

Join fellow Conference attendees for one last networking event at R+ HOUSE in the heart of the booming Wynwood Art District! Drinks and appetizers will be served.