FORUM 2024: NOLA
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January 4-7, 2024
New Orleans Marriott
New Orleans, LA
The AIAS’ biggest conference is back, and headed to the Big Easy!
For the first time since late December 2019, FORUM is back in person! In case you’re unfamiliar with it, FORUM is the AIAS’ annual conference, and we invite all of our members from around the world to gather in a new city under a new theme, and spend a few days together. FORUM is often capitalized even though it’s not technically an acronym – so when people ask us what it stands for, we like to say that it’s a conference that represents everything we stand for: we empower voices, ideas, and actions for the future. And we especially love to do it together!
Through innovative speakers, seminars, activities, and tours, we will: learn about design, service, and leadership advancements in the field; meet, collaborate, and communicate with our fellow members from diverse schools and share perspectives face-to-face; get to know a cool city for its architecture, firm culture, and history; feature the work of our fellow students; and represent our chapters by electing the 2024-2025 Board of Directors.
FORUM will feature general sessions with keynote speakers all four days; a full day of career development, including a Career and College Expo, a Portfolio Review, and other relevant sessions; a Beaux Arts Ball; workshops; tours; and so much more. You won’t want to miss a thing!
Registration
SPECIAL ADVANCE RATE (through September 30)
Member (Individual): $295
Non-Member (Individual): $350
EARLY BIRD RATE (through November 30)
Early Bird Member (Individual): $325
Early Bird Non-Member (Individual): $380
REGULAR RATE (through December 5)
Regular Member (Individual): $375
Regular Non-Member (Individual): $430
GROUP RATE (for 6 or more individuals)
Early Bird Member (through November 30): $295 each
Early Bird Nonmember (through November 30): $345 each
Regular Member (through December 5): $345 each
Regular Nonmember (through December 5): $395 each
*Contact mailbox@aias.org to register via Group Rates.
ALUMNI/LEGACY MEMBER RATE (through December 5)
$75 each
HIGH SCHOOL MEMBER RATE (through December 5)
$25 each
AIAS CHAPTER FACULTY ADVISOR RATE (through December 5)
$50 each
REGISTER FOR FORUM TODAY!Hotel
The New Orleans Marriott is the official FORUM hotel. Other than tours, all sessions and events will be held at the Marriott, which is just a few blocks away from the historic French Quarter!
AIAS has negotiated a special FORUM rate of $189/night. Each room features two beds, so each room can accommodate 4 people. To take advantage of this special rate, register here. A limited number of rooms are available, so make your reservations early; at the latest, by Monday, December 18, 2023!!
New Orleans Marriott
555 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70130-2349
Schedule
Time | Programming | Location |
---|---|---|
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | FORUM Registration Open | Galerie Booth |
11:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | Council of Presidents (CoP) Orientation | Galerie 3 |
11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. | Council of Presidents (CoP) Opening Meeting | Galerie 3 |
12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. | CICADA Firm Tour | |
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. | Louisiana Children’s Museum Tour | |
12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | EDR Firm Tour and NOBIC Tour | |
12:00 p.m.-11:59 p.m. | Student Lounge Open
Sponsored by AIA. |
Balconies L-N |
1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | Lafitte Greenway Tour | |
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | Louisiana Children’s Museum Tour | |
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | New Orleans Jazz Museum Tour | |
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | So now, what? Leveraging the Learning and Teaching Culture Policy (LTCP)
The LTCP is a tool for advancing dialogue and fostering student and faculty cooperation around what a respectful learning environment looks like at your school. Join representatives from the Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force for some advice on how your school can hear students’ voices loud and clear! Speakers: Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force |
Galerie 1 |
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | AIAS JEDI Task Force Zine Exchange
In an effort to amplify the diverse voices of architecture students, the JEDI Task Force will be hosting a zine workshop and exchange. Attendees will have the opportunity to tell their story through architecture (academic, professional and/or social) in the form of a zine! Materials for zine making will be supplied but feel free to bring your own pencils, markers, or any other art supplies you wish. Speakers: JEDI Task Force |
Galerie 6 |
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | Do You Want to Be a Design Strategist?
In our increasingly complex world, technology, globalization, urbanization, and the competition for talent and resources collide every day at the level of the built environment, driving change and affecting cities, organizations, and people. Do you look around and think “Design thinking can address these issues?” Do you desire a challenging career that will utilize the full scope of your skillsets and talents? Are you eager to develop to your full professional potential in a dynamic global environment? If so, join us for Gensler’s Design Strategist session and take the crucial first step toward becoming a professional design strategist! Speakers: Gensler |
Galerie 2 |
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. | Preservation and Architecture in New Orleans: A Symbiotic Relationship
An introduction to historic preservation in the unique city of New Orleans and the vital role that architecture and collaboration plays in the field. Speakers: Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans |
Galerie 5 |
4:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. | Welcome/Opening Keynote Session
Speakers: Keynote Session sponsored by BEHR. Refreshments sponsored by Architectural Record |
Acadia Room |
8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. | Meet & Greet Reception with 2024-2025 Board Candidates | Riverview 1 Room |
Time | Programming | Location |
---|---|---|
8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. | FORUM Registration Open | Galerie Booth |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Mastering Your Professional Narrative: Strategies for Elevating Portfolios and Interview Success
Hey, future designers! This session is tailor-made for students and emerging professionals like you. We’re diving deep into the art of creating a standout portfolio, crafting an attention-grabbing resume, and mastering cover letters that leave a mark. But here’s the kicker – we’re spilling the Speakers: Kimberly Tuttle and Kimberly Tigner, Gensler |
Galerie 1 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Architecting the Perfect Resume
Sure, you have the skills and the experience, but how do you get your foot in the door and make the firms or companies take notice? Learn how to create the most effective resume to reflect your talent and make a valuable first impression. Speaker: Beth Lundell Garver |
Galerie 2 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Designing at Scale: Careers in Policy and Law
Politics is too important to be left to politicians. Architects have important expertise and perspective to contribute to public policy, but too often remain on the outside as critics. Yet key skills for good public policy include creativity, problem solving, and implementation–all things architects are good at. And much public policy directly affects the built environment and key social and environmental outcomes that we care about as architects. Casius Pealer was trained as an architect and a lawyer, and has been involved in local and national policy discussions in both housing and green building. Join this discussion to learn how your design skills can have an impact at the scale of public policy. Speaker: Casius Pealer |
Galerie 6 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Not Clear About Registration? Bewildered?: Eliminate the Background Noise!
What have you heard about obstacles to becoming an architect? Where do you go for the facts when you aren’t sure what is true and what isn’t? Fact versus urban legend? Come hear straight from the source – the facts and truths are here! Representatives from NCARB will expose myths about the path to architectural licensure and options available. Chart your path forward and avoid future tripwires. Speaker: Harry M. Falconer, Jr., FAIA, NCARB, HonD, Hon. FCARM |
Galerie 3 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | The Hand that Feeds (And All the Other People Too): Community Engagement in Design
In design, particularly in public-interest design, there are a lot of people with a lot of different thoughts and opinions, which leaves designers caught in the middle, left to make sense of it all. And that can be intense. In this session, we’ll look at community-focused projects and explore Speaker: Natalie Goodin |
Galerie 5 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Mastering Your Professional Narrative: Strategies for Elevating Portfolios and Interview Success
Hey, future designers! This session is tailor-made for students and emerging professionals like you. We’re diving deep into the art of creating a standout portfolio, crafting an attention-grabbing resume, and mastering cover letters that leave a mark. But here’s the kicker – we’re spilling the Speakers: Gensler |
Galerie 1 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Your Next Steps
Whether your path is directly into graduate school, working in the profession, or finding a way to pivot to a new discipline, we will discuss a wide range of topics that will help you prepare for life on the outside. Come ready to ask questions and explore what your life outside of school will look like! Speaker: Michelle Rinehart |
Galerie 3 |
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Portfolio Review | Galerie 6 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Women in Architecture Panel
Speakers: Hannah H. Hubbell, Assoc. AIA, Ashley Fetzer LeJeune, RA, and Kelli Cunningham, AIA, ASLA, PLA |
Galerie 1 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Project Management with SDA
For over 60 years, the Society for Design Administration (SDA) has promoted education and best practices in management and professional standards of design firm administrative personnel. This session will help you get a better understanding of some core project management concepts: proposals, contracts, and project initiation, as well as construction administration. Speaker: Stephanie Kirschner |
Galerie 2 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Your Next Steps
Whether your path is directly into graduate school, working in the profession, or finding a way to pivot to a new discipline, we will discuss a wide range of topics that will help you prepare for life on the outside. Come ready to ask questions and explore what your life outside of school will look like! Speaker: Michelle Rinehart |
Galerie 3 |
12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | Storum Open | Galerie 4-6 Foyer |
1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | Career & College Expo with Lunch | Bissonet-Carondelet Rooms |
4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. | Keynote Session
Speaker: Keynote Session and speaker sponsored by Gensler. |
Acadia Room |
8:00 p.m. | Free Evening to Enjoy New Orleans! | |
24 hours | Student Lounge Open
Sponsored by AIA. |
Balconies L-N |
Time | Programming | Location |
---|---|---|
8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | FORUM Registration Open | Galerie Booth |
8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m. | Faculty Advisor Breakfast
Sponsored by NCARB and Gensler. |
Riverview 2 Room |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Urban Revival: Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations, Past, Present, & Future (SDSU Research Session)
Speakers: Tylan Bear, Grady O’Neill, and Aliyah Immeker |
Galerie 6 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Design for Dynamism vs Design for Stability
How can we design for uncertainty? How can we move from catastrophe to productive change? The design of fixed infrastructures fosters a precarious stability and a false sense of safety which will become impossible in future climate scenarios. The alternative is to develop design solutions that prepare for uncertainty and multiple scenarios, challenging us to reframe our approach to site, scale and risk. This session will explore the role of designers in navigating landscapes of risk by presenting research and built projects addressing flood-prone landscapes at three distinct scales. This presentation will be followed with a panel discussion and audience questions. Speakers: Megan Spoor, Sean Fowler, and Margarita Jover |
Galerie 2 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | So now, what? Leveraging the Learning and Teaching Culture Policy (LTCP)
The LTCP is a tool for advancing dialogue and fostering student and faculty cooperation around what a respectful learning environment looks like at your school. Join representatives from the Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force for some advice on how your school can hear students’ voices loud and clear! Speakers: Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force |
Galerie 3 |
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | Community Design Panel
Speakers: Julie Kim, Mackenzie Stagg, Atianna Cordova, and Bryan Bradshaw |
Galerie 1 |
9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. | Change through Storytelling: Conversations with Queer Designers
Twenty-four queer architects and designers came together in 2023 to create a collection of essays aptly titled Out in Architecture, sharing their own experiences of what being queer in architecture and design means. Change through Storytelling: Conversations with Queer Designers connects students and future architects with authors as well as local queer architects and designers in an open dialogue where students can ask the questions they’ve always wanted to but didn’t know where to begin asking. This discussion will also provide an opportunity to have a larger conversation about student experiences, as well as how those architects can support students as they continue to push firms towards a more equitable and inclusive future. We welcome and invite everyone into this conversation to share space and stories together! Speakers: Out In Architecture Authors/Pride By Design/TX LGBTQIA+ Alliance Members |
Galeries 4-5 |
9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Metairie Cemetery Tour | |
10:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Shaping the Future of Cities: A Gensler Design Hackathon
Prepare for an enriching session aimed at harnessing the potential of design to contribute positively to our world. Through a design hackathon, we will delve into a thematic exploration of cities, communities, and the future. Following an insightful dialogue, participants will engage in our Speakers: Gensler |
Galerie 6 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Designing for a Future Scenario
This session will walk you through a future scenario consisting of the challenges that cities and architects will face as climate change affects the way we live in the future. Using techniques developed by futurist and game designer Jane McGonigal, you will be placed on the front lines to make decisions that affect future citizens in how we will adapt to our rapidly changing environment. Come and experience a glimpse into the future! Speakers: Laura Ward and Jeanne Homer, AIA |
Galerie 2 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Designing for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
This session explores how architecture and the built environment are embedded within equity, diversity, and inclusion issues. Based on the premise that architecture can never be neutral, innocent, and inert, the session unpacks ways by which processes of inequities and oppression are both intentional and unintentional. The session will also discuss resources and tools on how to make architecture and the built environment more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Speaker: Edson G. Cabalfin, PhD |
Galerie 1 |
10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. | Let’s get meta: Craft and Calm you can bring back to your school
Join representatives from the Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force in a restorative crafting time where you can take a break from the commotion of FORUM! Some lofi beats will be on, no talking necessary. Additionally, learn how to recreate events like this at your own school. Speakers: Student Health and Wellbeing Task Force |
Galerie 3 |
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Into the Streets: an antiracist, queer, feminist French Quarter walking tour
New Orleans’ French Quarter is world-famous for food, music, architecture and design. Often erased and obscured are the ways people who are Indigenous, of African descent, women and queer/LGBTQIA+ have created and changed this place. This tour situates the French Quarter’s architecture and design within past and present political movements like Reconstruction, labor organizing, feminism and queer liberation. Participants will learn and share strategies for surfacing similar histories in any place, through principles of design justice, antiracist and queer city-making. |
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11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Storum Open | Galerie 4-6 Foyer |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | From Hire to Inspire: Culture’s Role in Recruitment, Retention, and Recognition
In the age of authenticity and connection, the core of every organization relies on a strong foundation of company culture to maintain brand strength while encouraging growth in competitive markets. Building brand identity and maintaining it is equally as tough as it is important. In this engaging session, David Shove-Brown marries his vibrant personality with his plentiful leadership experience to give a run-down of the journey from establishing a genuine company culture. From there, he guides participants through tools to leverage culture to stay competitive, from internal interests of employee recruitment and retention to external publicity and marketing. David believes that strong, sustainable company culture is built not from the top down, but from engaging each team member in the process –– allowing them to express what they look for in an organization and providing opportunities to Speaker: David Shove-Brown, studio //3877 |
Galerie 1 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | The Value of Paint and the Energy of Color
Sponsored by BEHR. Understand the four basic components of paint and their impact on paint quality and performance, the improvements in Latex vs. (alkyd) Oil-base resin technologies, understand the impact of paint air pollutionregulations and limits of VOC – Volatile Organic Compounds –in modern coatings, and understand thecharacteristics of quality paints and coatings. Speaker: Peter Gaeta from BEHR |
Galeries 4-5 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements: The Roles of Built Environment Professionals
In 2022, 60.9 million people were newly displaced within countries by conflicts and disasters and needed shelter. International humanitarian shelter response needs to recognize that the primary shelter providers are crisis-affected people themselves. It is normally the people who are displaced by conflicts and disasters who build their shelters, maintain them, and upgrade them over time. To be effective assistance must support this process. This session will explore what role architects, engineers, and other built environment professionals can have in humanitarian contexts. Speakers: Joseph Ashmore, International Organization for Migration and Juli King, InterAction |
Galerie 2 |
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Project Management with SDA
For over 60 years, the Society for Design Administration (SDA) has promoted education and best practices in management and professional standards of design firm administrative personnel. This session will help you get a better understanding of some core project management concepts: Speaker: Stephanie Kirschner |
Galerie 3 |
1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m. | Lunch with the Alliance Presidents | Acadia Room |
2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | Quad and Region Breakouts
|
Various |
4:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. | Keynote Session
Speakers: Keynote Session sponsored by Arcat and Tau Sigma Delta. |
Acadia Room |
8:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m. | Beaux Arts Ball
Sponsored by AIA and NTMA. |
Acadia Room |
24 hours | Student Lounge Open
Sponsored by AIA. |
Balconies L-N |
Time | Programming | Location |
---|---|---|
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Storum Open | Galerie 4-6 Foyer |
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. | Experience 101
This workshop will examine the competencies needed to practice architecture. First, we’ll dive into the Speakers: Emily Anderson, AIA, NOMA, NCARB and Martin Smith, AIA, NCARB, CAE |
Galerie 1 |
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Council of Presidents (CoP) Closing Meeting | Galerie 3 |
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Constructing Celluloid: Design Careers in Film and Television
Production designer and Tulane M.Arch graduate, Mara LePere-Schloop, discusses available design careers in film and television as well as the actualization process of creating worlds on screen. Speakers: Mara LePere-Schloop |
Galerie 1 |
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. | Keynote Session/Announcement of 2024-2025 Board
Speakers: Keynote Session and speaker sponsored by Think Wood. |
Acadia Room |
7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. | AIAS Block Party | Carondelet Room |
24 hours | Student Lounge Open
Sponsored by AIA. |
Balconies L-N |
What do you get for your FORUM registration?
- Connect with architecture and design students and alumni from all over the world
- Hear from 4-5 keynote speakers on different aspects of leadership, design, and service
- One full day dedicated to career development, with relevant sessions, a Portfolio Review, and a Career & College Expo, where you can learn about potential internship or job opportunities, and meet with representatives from architecture firms, companies, associations, and university programs
- Tours, so you can explore the unique architecture, landmarks, and culture of New Orleans, our host city
- Three more days of educational sessions on various topics of interest to architecture and design students, including some student-led sessions
- Meet all of the candidates running for the 2024-2025 AIAS Board of Directors, and if you are a chapter president, vote for the Association’s future leaders
- Display your work or research during FORUM, and/or view other students’ work and research
- Enjoy the Beaux Arts Ball on Saturday, January 6, and other evening social events throughout FORUM
- Meet the presidents or other Board leaders representing the six association members of the Architectural Alliance (ACSA, AIA, AIAS, NAAB, NCARB, and NOMA)
- Buy AIAS merchandise, sell your chapter’s merchandise and purchase merchandise from other chapters at the “Storum”
- Spend casual time connecting with your fellow AIAS members at the Student Lounge throughout the conference
- And much, much more!!
Meet the Keynote Speakers
Danielle Del Sol is the executive director of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, which has as its mission to preserve New Orleans’ historic architecture, neighborhoods, and cultural identity through collaboration, empowerment, and service to its community. She was named executive director in 2018, and is only the fourth director in the organization’s 49-year history. She served for seven years before that as editor of Preservation in Print, the monthly magazine of the PRC, and as the PRC’s communications director. She is an adjunct lecturer in the Master of Preservation Studies program at Tulane University, of which she is also an alumna. She lives in Uptown New Orleans with her husband, three children, and a bunch of animals in a c. 1905 camelback shotgun that the couple restored in 2015.
Tifferney M. White is the CEO of the Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans, a position she has held since March 2023. Prior to that, Tifferney served for 5-1/2 years as chief learning officer of Discovery Place, which includes four hands-on museums with locations in and around Charlotte, NC. As President and CEO of Discovery Children’s Museum in Las Vegas, NV, from 2015-2017, she transformed the museum with a focus on collaboration with community organizations, the business community, and key stakeholders.Tifferney earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC. She also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She currently serves as vice president – governance for the Association of Children’s Museums.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Louisiana Children’s Museum (LCM) re-envisioned its mission to holistically address the health and development of children in a state that often ranks low in educational outcomes. The health and well-being benefits of intentionally connecting children with nature led the museum to relocate from an indoor-focused experience in New Orleans’ Warehouse District to a new campus encircling a lagoon in the 1,300-acre City Park. The new campus presents a transformative model for children’s museums, one that weaves together indoor and outdoor learning opportunities along with literacy, parenting, early childhood research and environmental education activities to create a holistic and supportive environment for children and their families. Mithun was awarded a 2022 AIA COTE Top Ten Plus Design for the design of the Museum.
Richard Franko is a dynamic leader and partner at Mithun with deep sustainable expertise and a passion for finding unique design solutions merging mission, place and people. His skill in designing places of immersive and experiential learning is elegantly expressed in his concepts for museum and educational facilities. His design leadership for these projects and workplace environments all integrate site and building systems to achieve greater levels of performance. His projects have received awards for both design and environmental excellence, a testament to his integrated approach to achieving client goals.
As the Global Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Jason Pugh promotes Gensler’s commitment to its Strategies to Fight Racism while furthering the firm’s efforts to address unique challenges within each region and community through a global perspective. A Principal based in Gensler’s Chicago office, Jason manages projects that engage the community at-large, leading them from schematic community-based master plans through full construction. His portfolio includes master planning programs centered on cultural connectivity, public transit, and mixed-use development along with architectural projects spanning hospitality, commercial office and retail, residential, science research labs, and large university campus medical facilities across the country.
Bryan Lee is an architect and leading design justice advocate. As the founder and director of Colloqate Design, a nonprofit design practice, Bryan is committed to using design as a tool for social change. Bryan is also a founding organizer of the Design As Protest Collective and Dark Matter University, which work to uplift the voices and perspectives of marginalized communities in the built environment.
Bryan has led two award-winning architecture and design programs for high school students, one through the Arts Council of New Orleans and the other through the National Organization of Minority Architects. Bryan is the National NOMA President-Elect and the South Region Vice President. Bryan has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the 2018 Fast Company Most Creative People in Business, the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices award in 2019, the 2021 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, and a 2023 United States Artist Fellow.
Emilie Taylor Welty is the co-founder of Colectivo, a New Orleans based architecture firm that mixes traditional practice with fabrication at a range of projects scales from educational spaces to coffee shops to Mardi Gras floats. Welty is also Director of the Architecture Program and Favrot Professor of Practice at Tulane’s School of Architecture. She is a leader in academic design/build and through work at Tulane’s Small Center she teaches students how to be better designers through making and wider public engagement. Emilie’s professional and academic projects have received international accolades and she was recently awarded the AIA/ACSA Practice and Leadership Award for her work in community engaged design-build courses.
As a principal at Lever Architecture, Chandra D. Robinson brings innovation and a commitment to equity in the architectural realm. Lever Architecture operates at the cutting edge of research and design, recognized for their pioneering work in timber construction. Chandra’s leadership extends beyond architecture; she’s vice chair of the Portland Design Commission and a dedicated advocate for equity in design.
Edson G. Cabalfin, PhD, is an educator, architect, designer, curator, and historian. He is the inaugural Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the School of Architecture at Tulane University while concurrently serving as Director of the Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Program and Associate Professor.
Edson’s research in the last two decades lies at the interdisciplinary intersections of architecture history and theory, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial theory, Southeast Asian studies, spatial justice, public interest design, and heritage conservation. His research broadly investigates how architecture and the built environment operate as a socio-cultural artifact and phenomenon. He is interested in uncovering the politics of architecture and design especially as it shapes national, regional, and local identities.
He received his PhD in History of Architecture and Urban Development from Cornell University in 2012. Under a Fulbright Fellowship, he obtained his Master of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2003.
Partners
Thank you to all of our partners who make FORUM possible!
Frequently Asked Questions
When is FORUM?
FORUM will be held from Thursday, January 4-Sunday, January 7, 2024. Programming will begin Thursday morning with the Opening Council of Presidents (CoP) meeting, and will conclude Sunday evening with a social event.
Where will the conference be held?
FORUM will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the New Orleans Marriott, which is the official conference hotel. Apart from some external tours, all sessions will be held at the Marriott, along with registration, the Career & College Expo, and the evening social events, including Saturday’s Beaux Arts Ball.
How can I register for the conference?
You can register for the conference here.
Is there a deadline for registration?
Early-bird rates are available through October 31; regular registration closes December 5. Onsite (late) registration will be available at the New Orleans Marriott.
What are the cancellation and refund policies?
The AIAS Conference Cancellation and Refund Policy will be as follows to assure consistency and is applicable to FORUM 2024:
The final date to request a full refund for conference registration is Monday, December 18, 2023. Registrants canceling their registration after December 18, 2023 will not receive a refund. The refund and cancellation policy will not be waived.
How do I book my hotel?
The New Orleans Marriott is the official FORUM hotel. Registration will be located here, as will all sessions, the Career & College Expo, and evening social events, including Saturday night’s Beaux Arts Ball.
AIAS has negotiated a special FORUM rate of $189/night. Each room features two beds, so each room can accommodate 4 people. To take advantage of this special rate, register here. A limited number of rooms are available, so make your reservations early; at the latest, by Wednesday, December 13, 2023!!
What airport should I fly into?
The New Orleans Marriott is approximately 15 miles from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
What will the weather be like in New Orleans during FORUM?
In January, the average high temperature in New Orleans is in the mid-60s. Evening lows are in the upper 40s to low 50s.
Is there a dress code for FORUM?
For most of the conference, feel free to dress as comfortably and casually as you’d like. You may wish to switch to business casual or more professional attire for the Career & College Expo, and bring your best outfit for Saturday’s Beaux Arts Ball!
It’s my first time attending; how can I make the most of FORUM?
You (or your school) paid good money for the conference, and the easiest way to make the most of it is to participate in everything you sign up for, and engage with everyone you meet.
Once you’ve made the brilliant decision to attend FORUM, life can only get better! You can make the most of the conference before the conference even starts by encouraging your friends to sign up with you. It’s not only cheaper to register in groups of six or more, but it also means that you’ll have a great group to hang out with and meet your fellow attendees.
When you get to FORUM, get ready to meet absolutely everyone! The more people you meet, the easier it will get to introduce yourself and get to know your peers. They’re going through everything you’re going through, but at a different school (maybe a school you almost went to, or the school you want to go to). You could meet your new best friend, new future colleague or business partner, a future boss, or even someone special – and it all starts with being approachable, inclusive, and kind. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, there are people like you at FORUM, and they’re looking for you, too.
We recognize that New Orleans is an exciting city with plentiful nightlife, no matter what your interests are. But the AIAS strongly recommends staying hydrated and getting good sleep each night so that you’re not a zombie during the mornings. You don’t want to be attending sessions with a groggy migraine, right? Look out for each other and be courteous to people who are looking out for you. Be safe, and make sure those around you stay safe as well.The time has finally come, time to prep your ROLL CALL! Roll call is one of the highlights of our national AIAS event! This is your chance to show off your chapter’s creativity with a chant, a skit, a video, or anything in between. Talk to your chapter president to coordinate what your chapter will be doing. If you happen to be the only member from your chapter attending, you can still get up and represent your chapter! Some examples may include (but are not limited to): A dance, a school song, architecture-related jokes, trivia, and anything else that will introduce us all to your chapter.
Guide to Uptown New Orleans - Provided by Tulane
FORUM Sponsorship Opportunities
Interested in FORUM sponsorship opportunities? Click here or read below!