The Association of Architecture Organizations conducts year-round programs for its members, as well as select events for the general public. The primary function of these activities is to provide educators and representatives from architectural organizations with a forum for networking, resource sharing, and joint learning.
The Design Matters Conference is the world’s only dedicated annual meeting that seeks to bring top designers, journalists, and civic leaders into exploratory dialogue with those not-for-profit professionals and volunteers charged with creating cultural programs (exhibitions, tours, lectures and symposia, festivals and films, youth outreach) to spur broader public interest in architecture, urbanism, and culture.
Thursday, August 9, 11am Central Time
Cynthia Phifer Kracauer, Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation
Gabrielle Lyon, Chicago Architecture Foundation
Thursday, December 14, 11am Central Time
Presented by Association of Architecture Organizations
Sept. 14-16 2017 · Chicago, IL
For the next AAO Webinar, we’ll have speakers from three architecture centers that have either recently opened or plan to open soon: Seattle Center for Architecture & Design, Architecture Center Houston, and the Lipsey Buffalo Architecture Center.
The next AAO webinar is about the power of collaboration. Six nonprofits in Pittsburgh offer K-12 architectural education programs of one stripe or another, so they joined together to form the Architecture Learning Network (ALN) to help high school students navigate their options. What began with a shared calendar listing grew into a system of learning pathways and digital badges thanks to a grant from the Sprout Fund.
Presented by Association of Architecture Organizations
Nov. 2-4, 2016 · Miami, FL
Join us April 30, for the latest installment in our monthly webinar series. This month we will be investing the Market Street Prototyping Festival, an innovative partnership between the San Francisco Planning Department, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and dozens of artists and designers from across San Francisco. If you're interested in gaining practical tips about forging public-private partnerships, this is a helpful case study. Guest presenter for this webinar is Neil Hrushowy, Manager of the City Design Group within the San Francisco Planning Department.
Many thanks to everyone who traveled to Washington, DC last week to participate in this year's DESIGN MATTERS CONFERENCE! We enjoyed some terrific architecture tours, memorable keynotes, and valuable time networking and sharing insights with peers from across the country. A full event wrap-up will be published soon.
This inaugural event held in summer 2014 saw AAO bring together K-12 Architecture and Design Educators from across the United States for 2.5 days of shared learning and networking. Activities included workshops, presentations, tours, and special receptions. The gathering was hosted by the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum outside Detroit, Michigan.
Ever since roots for Modernism Week in Palm Springs were set down nearly a decade ago, architecture buffs and cultural tourists have been placing this destination on their proverbial bucket lists – a mecca for mid-century architecture and design and contemporary scholarship in these fields. And with this year’s AAO Members Weekend just days away we're excited to get the event underway!
BOSTON, MA – September 26-28
Left to right: Large Arch (Henry Moore); North Christian Church (Eero Saarinen); Miller House Interior (Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard). Photos: Columbus Area Visitors Center.
More than 130 delegates came to Dallas, TX to discuss connecting people and place for the AAO 2012 conference. We covered topics from the impact of urban parks to community change through design partnerships to toolkit sessions that offered information on strategic planning and fundraising. We hope all participants left with a renewed sense of energy and new ideas to apply to their work.
Our annual AAO Members’ Weekend offers terrific opportunities to catch up with colleagues and spend time with the AAO Board of Directors, always in a unique architectural settings or the hometown of a fellow AAO Organizational Member that plays the role of local host. In summer 2011, we traveled to Anchorage, where directors from the Alaska Design Forum organized a very memorable stay.
Thank you 2010 Conference Delegates! More than 160 delegates from across the United States and five countries converged on Chicago for a two-day conference of inspiring ideas and practical solutions. Keynotes were delivered by Next American City's John Cary, Architect Magazine Editor-in-Chief Ned Cramer, and British Council for School Environments' Director Ty Goddard. Practical learning sessions were directly guided by more than 20 AAO and A+DEN members, either sharing case studies of their work or lending "how to" advice for newcomers to the field.
A collegial group of 17 AAO community members was treated to a special weekend of private events, including dinner with the Taliesin Fellowship, tours of several Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on the campus, and an exclusive review of top students’ designs generated by a unique studio held at Taliesin. The weekend began with a wonderful dinner in a restored and repurposed old schoolhouse in the Wisconsin countryside outside Spring Green.
