The New Now

The always excellent AIA Oregon Design Conference brings together speakers in architecture, design, art and other creative fields to spark far-ranging discussions that stretch our thinking as architects and human beings. Scheduled for April 26-28 at the Salishan Resort on the central Oregon coast, the 2012 edition of the biennial event will focus our attention on the “New Now.”

The organizers recently opened registration on the conference website. They’re still pulling together details and soliciting presentations but have announced a stellar roster of keynote speakers. They’ve challenged this group to set the tone for the conference, cause us to reflect, and provoke discussion and debate. Their presentations will be worth the price of registration by themselves:

Mark Frohnmayer

After blazing a trail in the computer games world, Mark became a sustainable business entrepreneur. He founded Arcimoto, a manufacturer of affordable, sustainable vehicles that aims to be a driver in the green transportation space. Mark was peer selected as one of the Pacific Northwest’s clean technology Pivotal Leaders and is helping Oregon reshape its vision for new opportunities.

Carlos Jimenez 
A former University of Oregon Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Design Professor, Carlos is a Houston-based architect and a professor at Rice University. He is a frequent lecturer, juror and visiting critic at universities and cultural institutions throughout the world, and is a long-time jury member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

John Sparano and Anne Mooney 

This husband and wife architect team, with offices in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, is internationally known for their rigorous research into materiality, history and regionalism. Committed to green design, they employ aesthetic and technical innovation and a heuristic process to achieve exceptional results.

Walter Hood 
A provocative artist and landscape architect, Walter is a national leader in landscape design and place making. Working primarily in central Oakland where he is breaking new ground in urban design, he is known as a “community whisperer” for his ability at understanding what people want and need. His accolades include a Rome Prize and a National Design Award.

If past history is any guide, the tireless AIA Oregon/AIA Portland staff and organizing committee will assemble a complementary slate of speakers and sessions certain to generate, in their words, a “melee of the minds.”

Jeld-Wen has generously stepped up once again to serve as the conference’s title sponsor.

Our workaday demands too often distract us from why we became architects in the first place. We need to pause and reflect every now and then, recharge our batteries, and look at the big picture. The 2012 Oregon Design Conference is our perfect opportunity to do so.

The New Now is here. What has changed? What are the new models for thinking and doing? How should we adapt? What opportunity does the future hold? Plan on attending the 2012 Oregon Design Conference and pursue the answers to these questions. Gather with your fellow Oregon architects on the edge of the continent to reexamine our world. I’m going to be there. Are you?

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Visit the 2012 Oregon Design Conference webpage for information and to register. Make your room reservations now! Call the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort Reservation Department at 1-800-452-2300, and mention the "AIA Design Conference" to receive special rates starting at $149 a night.