EERO SAARINEN: THE ARCHITECT WHO SAW THE FUTURE

We started the 2017 Film Night series with the screening of  Eero Saarinen : The Architect Who Saw the Future. Many thanks to Peter Rosen Productions for getting the documentary to us very quickly, and affording us the rights for the first United Kingdom screening, shortly after it had aired on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TV in the United States.

Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future, explores the life and visionary work of Finnish-American modernist architectural giant Eero Saarinen (1910-1961). Best known for designing St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch and New York’s TWA Flight Centre at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Saarinen also designed Yale University’s Ingalls Rink, The Morse & Ezra Stiles Colleges, Virginia’s Dulles Airport, and modernist pedestal furniture like the Tulip chair. His sudden death at age 51 cut short one of the most influential careers in American architecture. 

Saarinen’s son, director of photography and co-producer Eric Saarinen, visits the sites of his father’s work on a cathartic journey. The documentary also features rare archival interviews with Eero and his second wife, The New York Times art critic Aline Saarinen, as well as letters and quotations from Aline’s memoirs, voiced respectively by Peter Franzén and Blythe Danner. “Closure was something I didn’t have with my dad. But I forgive him for his genius,” said Eric Saarinen, ASC. “He figured out a way to be important across time, so even though he died young, he is still alive.”

The son of prominent Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and textile designer Loja Saarinen, Eero was surrounded by design his whole life, as was his son Eric, whose mother Lily Saarinen was a sculptor, artist and educator. Immigrating at the age of 13 to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA, Eero attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, designed by Eliel --who taught there and became the school’s first president, as well as the chief architect of the Cranbrook campus, with Eero designing details like gargoyles and chairs. Eric also grew up at Cranbrook with his parents, grandparents, their friends & collaborators, including his godparents, designers Charles and Ray Eames. 

The film was sold out a day in advance, with continued demand for tickets high on the screening day. It was very well received by those in attendance, and the discussion that followed was very lively. Apologies to those who weren’t able to attend, but we hope to see you at our next screening on 07 March of Daniel Liebskind: Welcome to the 21st Century, at 1900hrs on 22 November at the BFI. 

We look forward to welcoming more of you to that and other screenings, and many thanks to all who have attended!

Author: Christopher Musangi AIA

DANIEL LIBESKIND: WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY

After the successful January screening of Eero Saarinen : The Architect Who Saw the Future, in March we screened another highly subscribed movie, Daniel Libeskind: Welcome to the 21st Century, which drew a lot of discussion. Daniel Libeskind is one of the most important architects of the 21st century - and one of the most controversial. At once sensual and intellectual, his architecture plays with the geometry of perception. In unifying form and function, his work engages with the philosophical debate surrounding the culture of buildings and their history. The German architect is well known for his modern, if not sometimes radical, designs for buildings throughout Europe and the world. In an interview with Christopher Langer in 1995 Libeskind points out that "I'm not one of those architects that believes that architecture is just a commodity, a disposal item and you should calculate how much it costs to demolish it now because it's going to be demolished tomorrow. I'm not obsessed with technology and all these myths about the future being solved through technological intervention or building. I think one has to worry about what is fable in all this change that is taking place."

The film highlighted Libeskind's work and followed the creative processes that give rise to his buildings. It threw special focus on the design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the debate surrounding The Spiral, the former planned extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

During the lively discussion that followed this screening, AIA Members and others in attendance, expressed strong interest in having another movie screened in the summer. We don’t typically screen movies in the summer, but the Board approved an additional screening due to increased demand. We look forward to seeing you at our first Summer screening in June!

Written by: Chris Musangi, AIA

AIA UK CHAPTER ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

AIA UK CHAPTER ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The AIA UK Chapter Annual General Meeting is a unique mixture of social evening, continuing education event and business meeting all in one.  Following a long tradition from the 1990’s, this year’s AGM - held on Wednesday 18 January 2017 - was hosted by our long term sponsor, Herman Miller.

Herman Miller’s showroom provided an ideal background for socialising, including copious refreshments.  Mark Catchlove, Director of Herman Miller’s Knowledge & Insight Group, gave a presentation entitled “Fundamental Human Needs” that both amused and informed, while providing a welcome CEU for members.  The business side of the AGM was kept as succinct as possible, but the AGM remains as always the critical focus for the Chapter’s governance.

In addition to the essential approval of the Accounts and election of the new Board of Directors, this year’s business also included a motion to approve the revised Chapter Bylaws.  According to the new procedures, the AGM Minutes of Meeting are herein being emailed to the membership for review.   If there are no relevant additions, comments or modifications within the next month, they will be automatically approved.

2017 Board of Directors

OFFICERS

President: Fatos Peja, Int'l Assoc. AIA, RIBA
Vice President: Alex Miller Assoc. AIA
Secretary: Lorraine King, AIA
Treasurer: Anna Foden, Assoc. AIA

DIRECTORS

Lutz Barndt AIA
Amrita Raja, Assoc. AIA
Robert Rhodes, AIA
Bea Sennewald, AIA RIBA
Benjamin Lee, AIA  
Katharine Storr, AIA
Chris Musangi, AIA
Ecehan Esra Top, Int'l Assoc. AIA
Fariba Shirdel, AIA
Lester Korziliius, AIA RIBA
Michael Lischer FAIA
Yevgeniy Beylkin Int'l Assoc. AIA
Etain Fitzpatrick, AIA
Deborah Bartlett, Int'l Assoc. AIA

CHAPTER EXECUTIVE

Fiona McKay 

BOARD CORRESPONDENTS

Frederick Grier, AIA
Lulu Yang, Assoc. AIA
Nicholas Kehagias, AIA

READ MEETING MINUTES HERE

AIA UK Board - Volunteer Positions

Two volunteer positions have opened up on the board. They are as follows:

Publicity/Outreach Coordinator

The AIA/UK Chapter is recruiting a person responsible for raising the profile of AIA UK in London and nationally within the UK, who will:

• Disseminate information about our events to the mainstream press, architectural publications and on social media.
• Make sure that chapter signature events are announced and covered by relevant weeklies (BD and AJ), monthlies and websites.
• Build relationships with contacts in the architectural and mainstream press
• Build contacts with partner organizations (RIBA, Design Centre and others) to build cooperation for joint events and activities
• Reports to the Board monthly on publicity and outreach activities

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Newsletter Coordinator

The AIA/UK Chapter is looking for a person responsible for coordinating and editing the Newsletters who will pull together and publish a regular newsletter that incorporates highlights from Chapter news. The Newsletter Coordinator will:

• Serve as the key contact person, communicate with authors and work closely with the Chapter Executive.
• Regularly collect, organise, edit and publish the articles on the Journal section of AIA/UK's website. 
• Every 3 months, create a web-base Newsletter to be delivered via email to the Chapter Members.
• Oversee the deadlines, incorporate comments and final edit the Newsletter.
• Monitor the engagement, gather feedback and revise the web-base layouts to improve the Chapter Communications.
• Report to the Board monthly on deadlines, stats and feedbacks

AIA RIBA Keynote Lecture

On November 1 st the annual Keynote Lecture was given by New York-based Thomas Phifer, FAIA. The lecture was co-hosted with the RIBA and was held at the RIBA’s headquarters in Portland Place, London. 

Thomas Phifer is known for his highly refined modernist designs and he is probably best known for several courthouses he has designed in the US including Salt Lake City and Long Island. His lecture however focused on 4 museum projects – the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Glenstone Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Using this combination of completed and in-progress projects Phifer explained his design philosophy which has a particular emphasis on light, volume, and form

AIA UK sponsor Schüco generously funded the evening. Please remember them for your next project. For more images of the evening, please visit our Facebook Page.

Lester Korzilius, FAIA RIBA

AIA UK - Notice of meeting to vote on proposed amendments to the UK Chapter ByLaws

In 2015, AIA National initiated a programme to insure that component AIA Chapters complied with the Institute’s minimum core requirements in respect of “education, advocacy, governance and finances & general operations”.  The AIA UK Chapter passed AIA National’s inspection and received the highest accreditation. However, to maintain this status, we must insure that our governance procedures remain valid and up to date. Therefore, the Board of Directors has reviewed the current Bylaws and is proposing amendments to them. The proposed amendments to the Bylaws have been tracked onto the current Bylaws and can be reviewed HERE. 

Please direct any queries to chapterexecutive@aiauk.org Acceptance of the updated Bylaws will be subject to a vote of the membership at the next Annual General Meeting to be held on 18 Jan 2017. 

For ease of reference a SUMMARY of the changes is included below:

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED BYLAW AMENDMENTS

MEMBERSHIP:

• The eligibility, rights and privileges of Architects, Associates and International Associates have been revised to reflect changes in the Institute Bylaws (2.02, Annex A).
• Associate)” by way of clarification (multiple locations).- The term “Associate” is now generally revised to “Associate (including International
• 2.3), and the term “non-resident status” deleted as not required (2.04, 3.04)- The member terms “assigned”, “unassigned”, “allied”, “affiliated” have been clarified (2.0 to
• with different rights and privileges to reflect current practice (2.4).- The term “Honorary Affiliates” has been deleted and replaced by “Honorary Membership”

RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER INSTITUTE ORGANIZATIONS:

• The relationship with the International Region is now confirmed (4.1, Annex B, 6.341).

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• The category of “Board Correspondent” has been added to include unassigned, allied, affiliate and honorary members (or other Architect and Associates (including International Associates)) who can attend meetings but not vote (6.03, 6.37)
• There is now no limit to the number of years an officer or director can serve (6.21).
• director, or committee chair. (6.32, 6.342. 6.352)Board of Directors”. The Secretary is also now allowed to delegate some authority to another others to sign agreements, cheques, etc., with the agreement of “two thirds majority of the Board Director to sign contracts and agreements. The Treasurer is now allowed to authorise - To reflect current practice, the President is now allowed to delegate authority to another

MEETINGS

• The Chapter is now required to hold Annual, General and Special Meetings of all of its members, but not Regular (monthly) Meetings (5.0). Only the Annual Meeting is mandatory.
• Issues discussed at a General or Special Meeting can be voted on by direct mail or email. (5.25)
• Board Meetings are now to be held “at the discretion of the President, but generally during the first week of every month” (6.411).
• In special circumstances (and reflecting practicality), Board decisions can now be made outside regular meetings or by written communication, but need to be formally concluded in an actual meeting (6.41).

VOTING REQUIREMENTS

• In several instances the votes required to pass a motion have been altered:
• Election to Honorary Membership now to require majority vote of the Board of Directors (2.41).
• Change in Annual Dues now to require “not less than two thirds majority of the Board of Directors” rather than “all but one of its entire membership” (3.02).
• Waiver of Annual Dues now to require “not less than two thirds majority of the Board of Directors” rather than “the total number of assigned members present at a meeting” (3.04).
• An assessment of additional payments by Architect, Associate and International Associate members now to be levied only in “exceptional circumstances” at a “Special Meeting” of assigned members, but not on allied or affiliate members. (3.11).
• A Special Meeting now to be called by a “two thirds majority of the Board of Directors” as well as by the President and by 10% of all members (5.02)
• Removal of an officer or director now to require “two thirds majority” rather than a simple majority (6.24).
• A quorum is now clarified as a majority of the Board of Directors eligible to vote. To transact business, a majority of the Board of Directors present is required (6.42)
• Authorising expenditures in excess of the estimated income of the Chapter is now to require “a majority vote” at a “Special” Meeting”, instead of a two thirds majority at a regular meeting (7.022)

MISC REVISIONS TO REFLECT CURRENT PROCEDURES - Procedures have been updated to reflect current practice. For example:

• Non-payment of dues is now sufficient notification of resignation from the Chapter (2.06),
• Graduated fees for those admitted to membership after the start of the year have been updated (3.03),
• Emeritus and Honorary members are no longer required to pay to receive Chapter mailings.
• Notification of members in default of payments to this Chapter are now handled by AIA National (3.31)

MISC REVISIONS TO REFLECT CURRENT TERMS - The UK Chapter Bylaws were originally based on Model Bylaws supplied by AIA National. The “current usage” revisions have been made to reflect terminology as used by the UK Chapter. For example:

• “Executive Committee” has been changed to “Board of Directors”. Note - the change to Board of Directors is the only change NOT full tracked in the attachment.
• “Admission Fees” has been changed to “Annual Dues” (2.06).
• “Executive Director” has been changed to “Chapter Executive” (8.0).

MISC MINOR CORRECTIONS, CLARIFICATIONS AND UPDATES - Note – all minor corrections, clarifications, etc., have been tracked, but may not be individually listed in this summary.

• Several minor corrections have been made, including typos, internal inconsistencies, date corrections, re paragraphing, etc. we deleted.- In several instances ()s that were included in the Model Bylaws to indicate optional wording.
• Other clauses were revised to make their meaning clearer – for example, the Domain of the Chapter was better defined (1.03)