Annual Meeting Celebrates our Community in 2022

In December, AIA Pittsburgh members gathered in-person for the Annual Meeting & President’s Party. After Executive Director Michelle Fanzo and 2022 Board President Bea Spolidoro presented the chapter accomplishments from the year, members enjoyed an evening of networking in the Strada Architecture office in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Members voted in four new Board members to the 2023 Board of Directors:

• Stuart Coppedge, FAIA

• Joshua Lee, AIA

• Prerana Paliwal, Assoc. AIA

• Rebecca Schwartz, AIA

The meeting also welcomed 26 new AIA Pittsburgh members, honored 4 retiring architects and celebrated 5 newly registered architects. The Board Presidency was transferred from Bea Spolidoro, AIA to John Ryan, AIA; and the YAF Presidency was transferred from Greg Coni, AIA to Jason Andrews, Assoc. AIA.

Read the full highlights from the meeting here.

This is a question we grapple with on a daily basis in many ways: when we guide our clients to make the best decisions for their current budgets and future growth, and when we seek to address larger challenges like health and wellbeing, safety, homelessness, equity. There are many good answers to this question. For me, the value of an architect is to envision the future and to guide collaboration with our partners to realize that vision. We achieve this when we design spaces which honor our human dignity and celebrate our diversity, human spirit and individuality.

Significant challenges lie ahead: rising construction costs, market instability, Artificial Intelligence, climate change, housing for all people. Each one is daunting in its own way and in combination can be overwhelming to comprehend. Which is why I am grateful for the professional camaraderie and personal growth I receive from being part of our AIA Pittsburgh architecture community.

AIA Pittsburgh continues to ask the right questions in seeking solutions for these issues and providing a knowledge base to empower our members to do their best work. We are building stronger relationships with our industry and government partners to create more predictable procurement and permitting processes in the service of our projects. We are strengthening our position in the community to provide a united voice for the power of design.

This is the value of an architect: it is our ability to envision a better world, where our built and natural environments function in harmony. AIA Pittsburgh provides a forum for learning and for action to amplify the unique perspective of the architect, and show how design can make a difference. Get involved in AIA Pittsburgh and help us realize that vision.

- John Ryan, AIA 2023 AIA Pittsburgh President and Associate Principal at DesignGroup