Book Release: The Architecture of Ratcliff

A new book, The Architecture of Ratcliff (http://www.ratcliffarch.com/centennial), chronicles the legacy of Ratcliff, the oldest architectural firm in the San Francisco Bay area. Ratcliff turned 100 in 2006 and has made a significant imprint on West Coast design with five buildings on the National Register of Historic Buildings and more than two dozen additional landmark structures.

“The Architecture of Ratcliff, plain and simple, is a great read. It is the story of three generations of architects’ engagement in the major American architectural movements over the past century,” says Harrison Fraker, FAIA, Dean of the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley.

Looking to the future, the firm is addressing the most daunting challenge to the architectural industry: global climate change. Ratcliff created and provides a free Web site (http://www.greenmatrix.net) that promotes sustainable design. Examples of the firm’s environmentally-sensitive buildings include Blue Oak School in Napa, California, which incorporates a geothermal heating and cooling system in a renovated 1909 structure, and Berkeley City College, which will be the City of Berkeley’s first sustainable building as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The firm’s history provides a fascinating study of innovation along a path of exploration, discovery, and renewal,” says Woodruff Minor, author of The Architecture of Ratcliff. “In its commitment to sustainability, Ratcliff continues to build the future on the foundation of the past.”

Headquartered in Emeryville, California, Ratcliff is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 Firm of the Year Award from the California Council of the American Institute of Architects.

“Ratcliff is a reminder that our daily professional struggles can add up to something remarkable. This book is a 100-year proof,” says Fraker.

The Architecture of Ratcliff is generously photographed and extensively researched, offering readers a story of the development of the San Francisco Bay area since the great earthquake of 1906. The 224-page book will be available in January 2007 at the Museum of Modern Art Store, Builders Booksource, DeYoung Museum and other bookstores. It will also be available for online purchase at http://www.heydaybooks.com.

For more information: Liz O'Hara, Ratcliff, 510/899.6400, lohara@ratcliffarch.com

Call for Entries: COTE Top Ten Awards

CALL FOR ENTRIES

COTE Top Ten Awards

The AIA-Committee on the Environment (COTE) and its Top Ten Green Projects program recognize the benefits of sustainable design and acknowledge architects and their colleagues as leaders in the sustainability movement.

This is one of the best known sustainable design awards programs in the nation...the only one that measures qualitative and quantitative attributes.

Registration and submission deadline: January 17, 2007

For more information: http://www.aiatopten.org or Marsha Garcia, 202-626-7488, mgarcia@aia.org

Biomimicry for a Sustainable Built Environment

Biomimicry for a Sustainable Built Environment

Lecture & workshop in San Francisco by the Biomimicry Guild
hosted by the National AIA Committee on the Environment

lecture + reception only
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
5:30-8:00PM
130 Sutter Street, San Francisco (AIA San Francisco)
$10 (1 HSW)

Workshop
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
851 Howard Street (PG&E’s Pacific Energy Center)
$185 AIA members ($225 non-members) for workshop + lecture (required), materials, lunch (7 HSWs)

Biomimicry is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and imitates them to solve human problems. Applications range widely, from architecture, product design, and engineering, to software development, communication systems and organizational evolution.

Dayna Baumeister, PhD, co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild, and a team of biologists will lead a journey of discovery through an evening lecture and full-day workshop.

Who should attend?
architects, designers, landscape architects, engineers, planners, students and others curious about learning from nature and working toward a sustainable world

AIA-COTE will offset travel emissions via www.my-climate.org or www.greentagusa.org and encourages voluntary offsetting by participants.

For more information: register at http://www.aiasf.org/calendar/cal_detail.cfm?cid=1503

Small Firm Forum: January 4

Interesting Materials and Finishes

Thursday, January 4, 2007 from 12 Noon to 1:30 PM at the AIA East Bay Chapter office, 1405 Clay Street in downtown Oakland.

Kimberley Bry and Robert Malone will speak on:

"Interesting Materials and Finishes" highlights cutting-edge, innovative materials for design and building, from the clever re-use of commonplace materials to more obscure finishes. Topics include sustainable materials, advantages and limitations of surfaces, and information on sourcing these unusual finds. The Powerpoint presentation is constantly updated with new products, so even people in the trades will be inspired.

Kimberley Bry of Moxie Design coordinates the design and fabrication process with emerging and established artists for builders and architects. She also has been a professional artist for over 20 years. www.moxiedesign.info

Robert Malone founded Baywood Building & Design in 1978 and specializes in custom residential remodels, as well as restaurants and light commercial work. www.baywoodbuilding.com

All are welcome. Remember, it's a brown bag lunch affair, but soft drinks will be provided. Free to chapter members - $3.00 for non-members. 1.5 Continuing Education credits.

For more information: Miltiades Mandros 510.654.3800

Registered in Florida?

The State of Florida is requiring all registered architects to complete a 2-hour Advanced Florida Building Code course every 2-years, with the up coming deadline of 2/28/07. Please advised your members who are registered in Florida of this requirement and the option of taking a course on line or DVD that will fulfill this requirement.

AIA Florida is offering the Advanced Florida Building Code Accessibility Course, taught by Larry Schneider, AIA on their website, file://www.aiafla.org/. The AIA member price is extended to all AIA members in other states.

For more information: 850-222-7590

DRA Practice Management Seminars

Understanding Employee Leaves of Absence
Presented by Dealey, Renton & Associates

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Dealey, Renton & Associates
66 Franklin Street, Suite 210
Oakland, CA
510-465-3090

Registration begins at 8:15 a.m.
Seminar begins at 8:45 a.m. and concludes at 11:30 a.m.

Registration is free!!!

Speaker: Matt Bartosiak, Manager of the Consulting Helpline for the Employers Group

For more information: seminars@insdra.com

DRA Practice Management Seminars

Design-Build: Is it for you?
Presented by Dealey, Renton & Associates

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Dealey, Renton & Associates
66 Franklin Street, Suite 210
Oakland, CA
510-465-3090

Registration begins at 8:15 a.m.
Seminar begins at 8:45 a.m. and concludes at 11 a.m.

Registration is free!!!

Continuing Education Credits: AIA members qualify for 2 LU's. Please bring you AIA membership number on the day of the seminar or you will not receive credit.

For more information: seminars@insdra.com

Request for Qualifications

The Calistoga Joint Unified School District is requesting statements of Qualifications for REPLACEMENT OF TWO PORTABLE BUILDINGS. Deadline for submittal must be received by 5:00pm Wednesday January 17, 2007.


For more information: femi@aiaeb.org or call 510-464-3600 to recieve a faxed copy of the RFQ.

Curbed LA Interviews: Ray Kappe, FAIA

Did you see the Curbed LA interview with recent Exceptional Residential: Bay Area Regional Design Awards Jury Chair Ray Kappe, FAIA?

Curbed LA Interviews: Ray Kappe, FAIA
Monday, December 11, 2006, by Marissa Gluck

The latest in our occasional but continuing series of interviews with LA's architects, planners, politicians and thinkers who shape this city. Someone must have misinformed Ray Kappe, architect, academic and founder of SCI-Arc, about the importance of Curbed LA because he actually answered our emails and thoughtfully responded to our interview questions. Below, find his thoughts on sustainable architecture, the future of SCI-Arc, and why he rejects the "living legend" label.

For More Information: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2006/12/curbed_la_inter_4.php

APA Techinical Seminar

BUILD YOUR KNOWLEDGE
A Technical Seminar Presented by APA - The Engineered Wood Association

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Hilton San Jose
300 Almaden Blvd.
San Jose, CA 95110
Phone: 408-287-2100

Registration and refreshments: 8:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.
Seminar begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m.

Registration fee is $60 and includes a continental breakfast, mid-morning refreshments, a box lunch, and a comprehensive CD-ROM filled with useful design aid information.

Persons attending this seminar will be eligible to receive 5 AIA Learning Units, 5 AIBD Continuing Education Units, 0.5 Continuing Education Units, or 5 Professional Development Hours.

For More Information: http://www.apawood.org/seminars

Will BIM Be the Death of Design?

Staff at National AIA asked in October: Will BIM Be the Death of Design? Or will it free designers to enrich the creative process?

Have you joined in the conversation? On January 31, 2007 the AIA East Bay's monthly program will be a panel discussion on Integrated Practice--including BIM and how it might change how architects work in the office, with clients, and related agencies.

What are your thoughts? Comment here or at AIA's blog (link is below).

For more information: Will BIM Be the Death of Design?

Call for entries: EDRA/Places Awards 2007

Call for entries: EDRA/Places Awards 2007
Deadline January 30, 2007

Place Design - Place Planning - Place Research

The annual EDRA/Places award program recognizes good places and how people inhabit them. Awards are offered in planning, design and design research. EDRA/Places awards recognizes projects with significance beyond any one profession or field. The awards emphasize a link between research and practice. As these awards demonstrate, excellent design can be inspired by a careful understanding of people's interactions with places.

EDRA (Environmental Design Research Association) is an international association of design professionals, researchers, students, and others committed to advancing and disseminating environment design research. EDRA is committed to improving the relationships between people and places, and helping to create places that respond to human needs.

Places is a leading interdisciplinary journal dedicated to providing a forum of design for the public realm.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: January 30, 2007

For More Information: www.edra.org