New AIA President Promotes Safety, Sustainability
In an inaugural speech, George H. Miller called on members to design better schools, affordable housing, mass transportation, and sustainable communities that encourage better public health.
The American Institute of Architects inaugurated its 2010 president, George H. Miller, on Dec. 4. Miller, FAIA, a partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP of New York City, heads the 86,000-member association and has served as its first vice president this year. In an inaugural speech, he spoke of architecture's core values of safety, sustainability, beauty, health, and productivity and listed expanding the public's perception of the value of design as a goal for his term in office. He called on members to design better schools, affordable housing, mass transportation, and sustainable communities that encourage better public health.
"The challenges of the 21st Century will not lend themselves to the old way of thinking," he said. "Design should not merely be thought of as a tool, but as a collaborative process that offers opportunities for all of us -– client and the public, architect and engineer, elected officials and community organizers -– to pull together to address the challenges of our time. The current economic conditions have had widespread repercussions on the architecture profession, but it is important to remember that design offers solutions to many of the challenges facing our infrastructure and communities nationwide. The AIA is committed to driving positive change through the power of design."
Miller has a glittering resume and currently is management partner for projects stretching from Shanghai to Madrid to Virginia. His firm's bio for him says his notable projects include the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas; the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia; and the headquarters of the ABN-AMRO Bank in Amsterdam.
Also on the list is the headquarters building of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, completed in 1996 and located at 12th Street and New York Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, the building became the first building in the nation's capital to earn gold certification in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) program. The association has reduced daily water consumption by 39 percent since 2007 and recycles nearly half of all solid waste generated in the building, AAAS reported in July.