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President's Takeaways: AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2026

Posted on Jun. 27, 2026  /  Subscribe 0

Hello, AIA Central New Jersey members.

Last week I was privileged to attend the AIA National Conference in San Diego, California. With some irony, I must admit that after 35+ years of practice this was my first time attending a conference at the national level. It was my great pleasure to do so both personally and professionally. The AIA conference provides a venue away from the day-to-day activities of practice to connect with our colleagues, make new acquaintances and network professionally. We gain an opportunity to share ideas and compare notes with other professionals from other parts of the country and through workshops push the boundaries of what the profession and practice of Architecture means to us.

Keynote speakers and award winners were all excellent. We congratulate Shigeru Ban and Duvall Decker on their awards this year. The Expo was exciting, informative and on a huge scale. All the seminars I took part in were fun and informative – of particular interest were sessions on biomimicry and regenerative design, truly inspiring workshops on the future of design and humanity. Of course, there was no shortage of building tours and social events to enjoy as well.

By far, the most impactful part of the conference for me involved participating in New Jersey’s voting caucus. From our partners at state level leadership, I learned that traditionally our delegates (the presidents of our various Sections) defer their votes to the state President who casts all NJ votes as bloc. While this is not a requirement of our state bylaws, it has been our tradition and ensures that if consensus can be reached within our caucus, our votes carry more weight in consolidation.

To build consensus, members of our caucus attended online town halls organized by AIA National weeks prior to the Conference to give the various candidates the opportunity to present themselves, their experience, and their platforms. Based on these valuable introductions, our delegation was able to quickly agree on a shortlist of preferred candidates based on leadership experience, national vision, as well as how responsive candidates might specifically be to New Jersey’s needs. At the Conference on June 10th, the candidates answered questions with little or no preparation, in person, at a caucusing session attended only by delegates. This event served to confirm our shortlist and allow our preferred candidates for each position to emerge. Of the three offices in play, President Elect, Secretary and At-Large Director, I am happy to say that two of those selected were NJ’s top choices.

Congratulations to those selected for office next year:

On a final note, the AIA Conference will be held in Philadelphia next year. I heartily encourage our membership to attend and make the most of the Conference when it is right here in our backyard!

All the best,

David

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