Tuesday, August 10, 2010

AIA|LA & LAUSD: Working Together to Build Better Communities ::: Update from the August 9th Meeting.

On Monday, August 9th AIA|LA launched the first in a  series of monthly meetings with senior management at Los Angeles Unified School District.  It was an excellent meeting with plenty of passion and energy,  optimistic with the opportunity to work together and to establish a systematic dialogue to help facilitate meaningful exchange between the architecture profession and the leadership team of the LAUSD Facilities Division.

Three themes quickly emerged and energized the discussion:  

1.  Is there an opportunity for the architecture profession to interact more closely with educators to explore ideas and opportunities for innovation and improvement?

2.  Is there tangible and measurable data that can be shared that demonstrates the power of design to promote
a.) financial savings in operations, maintenance and energy-needs,
b.) healthier behavior and lifestyles in students and teachers with a design-quotient-index that calculates higher productivity, financial savings, increased cultural innovation AND delight, and
c.) higher academic achievements.  And, how can such data help influence the selection criteria of the architect and the criteria of the academic facility's program and objectives.

3.  If LAUSD is able to more acutely articulate its needs and challenges (especially in regards to the higher expectations for each facility's program), then will this higher-threshold of stipulations translate into a higher caliber of  design services being offered by the profession?  

Quite a bit was discussed about LAUSD's disappointment with the results of their recent design competition, and the architects participating in Monday's discussion explained why the results may have been so poor:  the loose parameters and lack of articulated stipulations didn't allow any innovative design solution as a response, i.e., the best designs are often a defined result of the most stringent constraints; that high-caliber architecture firms often decide not to enter a competition for one of two reasons, a.) not financially feasible or cost-effective due to the expense of hiring staff to execute the competition and b.) the architect selection criteria doesn't favor diversity and innovation of design talent, so firms chose not to compete or submit RFP/RFQ's.  Which is the age old argument:  how do we open up the playing field to foster greater design competitiveness?

It was agreed that for upcoming meetings, there should be less general discussion and more specific action-oriented discussion focused on next steps to ensure that AIA|LA is helping provide LAUSD with real answers and implementable ideas, as opposed to more theory and conjecture that can not be integrated into LAUSD's current culture of operations.  As James Sohn noted quite profoundly, LAUSD is like a giant elephant and the only tools it has to work with are its four giant feet (oh, and its trunk of course).

Participants from AIA|LA included:
Clifton Allen, AIA - Meyer & Allen Associates
John Dale, FAIA - Harley Ellis Devereaux
Helena Jubany, AIA - Jubany NAC Architecture
Julia Hawkinson, AIA - Parsons
Ted Hyman, FAIA - ZGF Architects LLP
Lorcan O'Herlihy, FAIA - Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects
Kevin Mulcahy, AIA - studioTBD CO_LA(B)_o r a t i v e
Mark Nay, AIA - STV Incorporated
Randall Stout, FAIA - Randall Stout Architects, Inc.
John Wyka, AIA - Barton Myers Associates, Inc.
Will Wright - AIA Los Angeles

Participants from LAUSD included:
James Sohn - Chief Facilities Executive, LAUSD Facilities Div.
Neil Gamble - Construction Div., LAUSD Facilities Div.
Richard Luke - Planning and Development, LAUSD Facilities Div.
Judy Johnson - Executive Team

The objectives of these monthly meetings will be to further expand the dialogue between LAUSD and the architecture & design profession in an effort to maximize the value of our schools and neighborhoods.

These discussions, we hope, will facilitate an opportunity to design healthier, more sustainable and more delightful learning environments - schools that will maximize the social, cultural and economic performance of our communities.  And, at the same time, we hope these discussions will foster a greater understanding about the value of design and the architect in the overall process that it takes to deliver these public facilities to our region.

As we move forward, AIA|LA will offer ideas to LAUSD on the following range of subjects:

a.  Contracting Reform – What are the areas of improvement that can help our A/E/C community in this time of stress?
b.  The Architect Selection Process – Are there means and methods that will both increase participation and transparency?

c.  Masterplanning Initiatives – What is LAUSD doing to ensure the best Master Plans for its next phase of work?
d.  Design Review Advisory Panels – How can we engage the A/E/C community to provide expert advice on the process of and the quality of school designs? 
e.  The Master Architect proposal – How can we return, even on a limited basis to a single entity that will design, manage and construct schools projects?
f.  Project Delivery Methods – A hearty discussion on the impact of 17406 vs. 17250  (Lease/lease-back vs. Design Build)
e.  Criteria Objectives - What defines an excellent learning environment?  What exemplifies design excellence?  What should LAUSD be asking for?  What are the tangible metrics of success?  Is there any hard data that connects design excellence to enabling better learning environments?

We've decided to schedule these meetings on the second Monday of every month, (8am-10am) at LAUSD Headquarters, 23rd Floor (red chairs).   Therefore, the next meeting will be on Monday, September 10 (8am).  INVITE ONLY.  Contact Will Wright for details.

Already, quite a few AIA|LA members have expressed interest in serving as a leadership resource.  As we focus each monthly meeting on a specific topic, we will pull from that leadership pool and rotate involvement in effort to utilize everyone's time and expertise as thoughtfully as possible.

If you have interested in volunteering your expertise, please contact me for more information = will@aialosangeles.org

At present, levels of interest have been received from the following:

AIA|LA & LAUSD Leadership POOL:
Clifton Allen, AIA - Meyer & Allen Associates
Henry Buckingham, AIA - Meter, Inc.
John Dale, FAIA - Harley Ellis Devereaux
Paul Danna, AIA - AECOM Design
Ming Fung, AIA - Hodgetts & Fung
Helena Jubany, AIA - Jubany NAC Architecture
Maria Garcia, Assoc. AIA - gkkworks
Julia Hawkinson, AIA - Parsons
Ted Hyman, FAIA - ZGF Architects LLP
Ryan Ihly, AIA - Barton Myers Associates, Inc.
Gerhard W. Mayer, AIA - Mayer Architects
Anthony J. Meza, AIA - 
Kevin Mulcahy, AIA - studioTBD CO_LA(B)_o r a t i v e
Risa Narita, AIA - Narita Architects
Mark Nay, AIA - STV Incorporated
Mehrnoosh Mojallai, AIA - Merhnoosh Architecture + Urban Design
Lorcan O'Herlihy, FAIA - Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects
Randall Stout, FAIA - Randall Stout Architects, Inc.
John Wyka, AIA - Barton Myers Associates, Inc.
Will Wright - AIA Los Angeles

For more information, please contact:
Will Wright
Director, Government & Public Affairs
AIA Los Angeles
3780 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA  90010
(213) 639-0777

1 comment:

  1. With regard to e above:

    e. How can we return, even on a limited basis to a single entity that will design, manage and construct schools projects?

    The answer already exists and it's called design-build project delivery. Of course, the "Master Architect" would have to contract for the work as well, and assume the risk.

    ReplyDelete