The American Institute of Architects has announced much of its speaker and session lineups for its 2021 Conference on Architecture. The virtual event has been scheduled for four days in June, July, and August: June 17 will be devoted to the theme of Firm Resilience, July 8 to Sustainable Practice, July 29 to Community Engagement, and August 19 to Building Efficiencies. Each date will feature a mix of digital networking opportunities, keynote speeches, and seminars. Tickets for the four-day event range from $499 for the general public, $399 for AIA members, and $25 for students and new AIA members who joined between April 17, 2020, and June 16, 2021, or who have rejoined in that same timeframe after a lapse of five years or more. Significant early bird discounts are available until May 5, reducing the standard registration fee to $125 and AIA member price to $99.
Each day will feature two keynote events. Roman Mars, host and creator of the architecture and design podcast 99% Invisible, will host many of the conference's keynotes, reprising his role at the 2019 AIA Conference on Architecture. In addition to introducing the day's themes, Mars will conduct interviews with the keynote speakers. The speakers and panels that have been announced to date are summarized below.
June 17
AIA has named internationally renowned chef, restaurateur, and humanitarian José Andrés as its June 17 opening keynote speaker. Founder of ThinkFoodGroup, a restaurant group that balances its culinary endeavors with humanitarian work, Andrés will focus his keynote address on values-based leadership.
Closing the day will be the keynote panel "Transforming the Business of Design," featuring SHoP founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA; Architecture Research Office principal Kim Yao, AIA; Bjarke Ingels Group CEO and partner Sheela Søgaard, and McKissack & McKissack CEO and president Deryl McKissack.
July 8
On July 8, the opening keynote panel "Selling Sustainability to Your Clients" will feature ARO's Kim Yao and Antoine Bryant, Assoc. AIA. Bryant is a project manager and director of business development at Moody Nolan, winner of the AIA 2021 Architecture Firm Award. Bryant is also a planning commissioner for the City of Houston.
Educator, author, and co-founder of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium Robert Bullard will give the conference's closing keynote on "environmental racism, climate justice, smart growth, and regional equity," according to an AIA announcement. Formerly dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, in Houston, Bullard is currently a distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at TSU. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
July 29
Shelley Halstead, founder of Baltimore–based Black Women Build-Baltimore, will open the conference on the afternoon of July 29. The nonprofit organization aims to help Black women build intergenerational wealth through homeownership and firsthand training in the skilled trades, including carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing.
Gabriella Gómez-Mont, founder of Laboratorio para la Ciudad, in Mexico City, will deliver the day's closing keynote, titled "Crowdsourcing Is for the Crowd." Also a journalist, visual artist, and documentary filmmaker, Gómez-Mont will discuss "the responsibility of architects to understand patterns in labor, construction, and technology ... to design creative solutions to complex problems," according to AIA's session description.
August 19
At the time of this article's publishing, information was available only for the closing keynote panel of the fourth and final day of A'21. The keynote panel "Whose Future Is It?" promises to bring together leading futurists to discuss the "successes and failures of our past futures, and offer new visions of the future that address contemporary issues."
See A'21's full speaker lineup and list of 50-plus sessions for the latest event information.
