The Last Day. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 5 of the Conference itself!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is the last day of the trip! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Would you have tackled the week any differently?
The Last day.
It is the end of the week and the last day of the trip! A welcomed lie in after 8am starts at the conference which meant our day started at about 10am!
We got up, finished packing, checked the room and sadly went to check out. We did however leave our bags with reception so that we could go for a last day exploration at the Capitol Building, the last ‘major’ site that we hadn't got up close and personal with.
We jumped in an Uber which took maybe 10 mins and got out at the Capitol Building. We took a look around and took some photos as we walked around the building until we got to the back (or front?) of the building, looking back towards the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the background. With limited time left to eat, collect our bags and travel to the airport before our flight, we got an Uber back to the hotel and grabbed some Brunch from The Smith Restaurant opposite. We sat outside ahead of our very long journey back to the U.K, ordered a Burger and chips and the most beautifully tasting buttermilk pancakes I have ever had with a beer and a brunch cocktail. After a very very nice meal, we crossed the road back to our hotel, chilled in the hotel cafe, grabbed a drink and then back into our last Uber back of the trip, back to the airport.
The Uber was quick and we passed the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on our way so another site of our list and then we checked our flights, picked up our boarding pass and headed to security. Security as became common on this trip took ages but the flight from Washington to New York was very quick and we got to see the NYC skyline as we landed which was nice! I was very nervous about our 1 hour connection but the flight was on time and we did not have to go through security like we did at Orlando.
Our final flight was from New York to Gatwick which made a lot more sense than the way we came as we were not going back on ourselves. The flight however was not as chilled, it was an overnight flight, in the middle 4 seats and my Partner was sitting next to a child who was not being parented by her Mother sitting next to her…i’m talking climbing all over the seats, kicking etc. Safe to say we did not get much, if any sleep so we booked into the Yotel at Gatwick which was honestly suhc a good idea and I could not recommend it enough. We had a couple of hours sleep, had a shower got changed and then we were a bit more awake and presentable to meet my mum in Central London for her birthday meal. We had a great time my mum enjoyed her gifts and then it was back up the country to Nottingham arriving just after 9pm after a very long day, but the most excellent week.
And that’s the week!
Thank you so for reading!
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Conference Day 4. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 4 of the Conference itself!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post Day 4 of the Conference itself! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Would you have tackled the week any differently?
AIA Conference Day 4.
The last full day. Sad. Truly, after such an amazing and informative week I was very sad to see it coming to an end and honestly as I am writing this as well. Still, the last day, waa good one! We started by making our way to the third and final keynote event of the Conference which today started with a speech from the next President of the AIA 2025 (and Founder of Practice of Architecture), Evelyn Lee who shared a video and some information regarding the AIA25 Conference to be held in Boston, I have, of course already started looking at flight and hotel prices.
We then got straight into the next keynote speaker, Ruth E.Carter, introduced by her cousin, an Architect if I remember correctly (I am very annoyed I didn’t catch his name, if you do - please comment below!). The talk started with a video showcasing Ruth’s insanely large and stunning portfolio which really set the scene as she took us through the story of her career focusing on ‘the power of storytelling and representation in design’, really well done. She ended her talk with the work most known to me, the costume design for Black Panther. It was fascinating to hear where the inspiration for each tribe and individual character had come from, revisions that had to be made and very interestingly the flexibility and adaptability needed to create a very well recognised headdress for under $30.
Leaving the final keynote, I of course took a photo in front of the advert for next year's conference and made my way to my second to last seminar of the week. Meme, Myself and I: Utilizing Social Media in Your Firm. This talk was not very well attended but I really found it valuable and I am 100% sure, judging by the multitude of questions specific to the attendees needs, that others in the audience found it helpful as well. It was actually run by the Director of Communications who was incredibly friendly, personable and engaging. (I must remember to add her on LinkedIn)
After the seminar and a quick stop at the AIA shop where I was gifted a notebook by my Partner which I was very thankful for and purchased a gift for my Mothers birthday, it was time for the very last seminar: Staying Relevant: PR, Branding and Storytelling for Design Firms. I sat at the front of the room for the first time, settled in and watched the room very quickly fill up. A very well presented talk full of Architects of all levels looking to learn how to stay relevant. I don’t have an architecture firm so I was mostly there to learn to help with archistudentnotes but I could see that the attendees were really finding the talk useful for their work too. It really felt like a brief intro into marketing that made me really want to look into it further as it is an incredible tool for every business. The talk ended, I passed over my business card as I took the speakers (because I am like that now of course… yes this was my one and only card that I gave out lol), and with that my experience at the conference was over! My experience in D.C however had at least another 24 hours so off we went to the African American Museum for the slot that my Partner had very kindly booked us earlier in the day.
The building, designed by David Adjaye is, inside and out and stunning building. Externally, it sits within the grounds of the Washington Monument, well placed with simple landscaping and then internally the space is open and light with the odd view out to the surroundings. We however found it kind of hard to navigate.
We heard a lot of people asking for directions and where to go and start if they had x amount of time and the information desk was helpful, don’t get me wrong, but it was also quite busy. We consulted the physical map we picked up from the information desk which was different from the online version and we were able to figure out where we wanted to start. We considered grabbing some food from the Sweet Home Cafe but the queue was quite long and we only had a few hours to explore before it closed.
We started in the basement at C3, slowly worked our way up to C1, came out into the main building and saw that there was no queue at the Sweet Home Cafe so we obviously had to go in and grab some food which was excellent. After lunch we stopped in the Contemplative Court which was stunning and then we explored the upper floors, starting at L4, jumping to the shop before it closed and then back up to L2. My partner then reminded me that the Black Panther suit was in the museum too, so we had to find it, took a bit of asking but it was on the Concourse Level in the Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures exhibition, if you were interested. So it was nice to hear Ruth E.Carter talk about the story of the costume and then see if person later in the day. We love a full circle.
We left the museum in high spirits, glad we got the chance to visit and headed to the White House as it felt like something we should definitely see before we left. Unbenowest to us, there was a protest going on which made everything busier than usual and THEN we ran into the Washington Pride Parade which just so happened to be between us and our hotel. No biggie, we asked if we could get through, we couldn’t but hey, that just meant getting to join the parade and festivities…. Yeeeeah, for about 2 miles… in the heat after a very long and tiring day. The atmosphere was great and glad we got to experience it, but very happy to get to the end of the parade route and get back to the hotel via a quick food pick up to rest our very tired feet!
Stay tuned for tomorrows post to find out what I got up to on the last day in Washington!
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Conference Day 3. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 3 of the Conference itself!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 3 of the Conference itself! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Would you have tackled the week any differently?
AIA Conference Day 3.
Up and out for the third day of the Conference, but second keynote event! There were, as yesterday, introductions by the CBS Senior White House Correspondent; Weijia Jiang which today were followed by the presenting of the AIA Gold Medal Award to David Lake and Ted Flato of Lake Flato Architects. I honestly did not know how much of a big deal it was but previous winners that I am sure you have heard of include Richard Rogers, Robert Venturi, Steven Holl, Renzo Piano,Frank Gehry… etc etc, so a pretty big deal! The speech by the winning pair that followed truly reinvigorated my passion and love for the profession. I do not think I have ever heard the phrase ‘It is an honour and a privilege to be an Architect’ but those were said and their whole acceptance speech followed the same message. A great working pair that really seem to love the job and working together.
‘It is an honour and a privilege to be an Architect’
We then had a speech from the AIA President 2024 Kimberley Dowdell. I am not sure if I have mentioned it already in this very long ArchiWeek submission but it feels special as a Black Woman myself to see a Black Woman leading a collective of Architects, especially where the profession is still working on diversity. So that alone was inspiring, her words in addition to that, again reinvigorated my love for architecture, made me see and think of ways it can help people from all walks of life, the importance of sustainability and doing everything we can to combat climate change and she really focused on the importance of diversity across the profession.
Not forgetting to add, one of my personal favourite quotes from her speech - ‘Your work should not be given away for free’ which you would be surprised to find, got a big round of applause from the audience. It is something I have seen in all 3 of my UK based architecture practices and I know from talking to others from other practices, that it happens a lot and really contridbutes to devaluing the profession.
The event ended with a more informal, sit down interview/discussion between the President of the AIA and the keynote speaker Dr. Sanjay Gupta where the focus was health, the disparities depending on where you live and your background and how architects can help to improve the health of the users of their buildings with design. I personally prefer the one person speaker focusing on particular topics but I still loved the talk and it really made me think about the impact an Architect has on the world.
Since we explored the Expo yesterday and I didnt have a seminar on my schedule until 2pm, it was time for a bit of sightseeing! I had visited D.C before and done some research prior to this trip so knew in the few hours we had, that a taxi straight to the Lincoln Memorial was the best way forward, as then we could slowly work our way back to the Conference Centre as we saw more sites.
So after a quick taxi ride we got out in the baking heat at the Lincoln Memorial and it very quickly became evident that since my last visit (7 years ago to be fair) a lot of work had been done and was in progress. A later sign would explain the works were part of a $69 million project to create a museum to sit under the Memorial due to complete in 2026. Check out this site if you're interested, structurally it looks like an insane task! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lincoln-memorial-new-underground-museum-2026-180981736/
They went about the work really well, sectioning off what they needed for the work whilst keeping retaining stair and keeping it accessible to all visitors. I assume they were doing work to the base of each column as well as they were wrapped to replicate the colour and form of the original column. Very nicely done and everything was very much appreciated once we got to the Washington Monument, looked back at the Lincoln Memorial and without looking closely, you wouldn't even really see all the work being done.
Anyway, photos were taken, we grabbed some food, stopped at the Vietnam War Memorial followed by the Martin Luther King Memorial and the Washington Monument, getting our first glimpse of the White House and the Capitol Building. We walked down the African American Museum (we will visit tomorrow) and took an uber back to the Conference for the afternoon's seminar.
The seminar today didn't really feel like a choice, it was something that was on my schedule, no question - A Dialogue with Kimberley N.Dowdell and Muyiwa Oki - Navigating Architecture, Sustainability and Equity .. basically a conversation discussing important issues between the President of the AIA; Kimberley Dowdell and the President of the RIBA; Muyiwa Oki. Following what I had learnt at my networking seminars yesterday I sat at a table already occupied, smiled and introduced myself (I am definitely finding it alot easier to speak freely which is great and I really hope I continue to do so). Back to the talk, it was really interesting. They discussed what you would expect; the climate emergency and how Architects should respond and fight for change, the importance of getting Architects in the media and showcasing the value of the profession and equality and diversity in the profession as well.
After the seminar I waited around to introduce myself to the President of the RIBA. It was a bit weird to meet him in the U.S considering we are of course, both from the U.K but I am glad we were able to have a very brief discussion and it was nice that he recognised the archistudentnotes name and I got a photo too. I give thanks for this entire exchange to the networking seminars yesterday as before them, there would have been absolutely no way that I would have put myself out there like that.
I left the room with a bit of a bounce in my step, met up with my Partner and started the walk home (the hotel), stopping for some gelato, as you do, on the way. After a quick hotel rest and refresh, we headed out to Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar which had been on my saved ‘Places to go list’. After a lovely meal, we headed back to the hotel via insomnia cookies, on the mind after watching this YouTube video a few weeks ago.
Stay tuned for tomorrows post to find out what I got up to on Day 4 of the AIA24 Conference!
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Conference Day 2. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 2 of the Conference itself!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 2 of the Conference itself! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Would you have tackled the week any differently?
AIA Conference:
Day 2.
Second day of the conference but the first Keynote event! It was a rather early start as we had to get to the Conference Centre for an 8.30am start. I was told that my Ultimate Pass got me and my guest pass priority seating so I wasn't too worried when we didn't arrive until 8.15.
We grabbed some water (its like 30 degrees), asked about the Ultimate Pass and they said we could sit in the reserved seating on either side of the red carpet….:O Cool cool.
Welcomed by the band (not us personally, can you imagine) we found a couple of seats, marvelled at the scale of it all and waited for the event to start. I had assumed it would be 45 mins of just the keynote but it actually started with some introductions from the MC for the keynotes; CBS Senior White House Correspondent; Weijia Jiang, The President of the AIA; Kimberly Dowdell and the CEO of the AIA; Lakisha Ann Woods, the presenting of the AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award 2024 to Douglas Ito and the Architecture Firm award to Quinn Evans both followed by really inspirational acceptance speeches. We also heard from the White House Climate Advisor, Ali Zaidi who made a speech concerning sustainability and climate change which was nice to see and it would seem a much requested link between government and the AIA.
Then it was the keynote, Arthur C. Brooks and what a way to start the keynote speaker programme. An excellent, engaging and charismatic speaker focusing on how to make your life happier and it genuinely changed the way I look at life. There were literally people crying in the audience with happiness and realization...it was that good.
Following the keynote I felt like I didn't need to go to any more seminars, lectures..I was just done, I had all the information I would ever need for life. Of course this was just a post-Arthur C. Brooks high (which I am sure anyone who has heard him speak has also experienced). So I kept my plan to attend the seminars, they however did not start till about 1pm today so we went to the Expo, which I believe was as a big as 4 football fields? Please fact check me.
There was loads to see, products, software, systems.. We of course beelined for the Lego area where Richard Paules had a stall set up where we could play ahem, I mean build with some Lego.
After my stunning success with the Lego we continued walking around and I headed towards anything that looked interesting which tended to brands that I recognised, Monograph, ArchiCAD, AutoDesk, VRay and Enscape, Sketch Up etc. I also found a new brand snaptude where we were given a demonstration on the product which was actually pretty interesting. What stood out to me was the work presented by ArchiCAD I believe where they were capturing building blocks in real time, running that image through a software and it was spitting out an AI image based on prompts that had been input which meant that the image would update as you experimented with different block formations. It was really interesting to witness!
During our browsing session, we came across a lonely Cybertruck. Which of course we had to get in, press all the buttons and pretend like we were in a car showroom ready to purchase.
It was actually kind of interesting to see it because on YouTube Videos and photos, it looked ridiculous but when you compared it to the size of US cars/trucks, it really wasn't. UK just isn't there main target market it would seem.
We then found the puppy park, filled with 8 week old very sleepy puppies.
I mean, the photo really just says it. I would have flown thousands of miles just for this.. (I wouldn't have, but I could have..)
I would say playtime over, time for a seminar but my next seminar was actually really fun a lot more interactive than previous seminars I had attended. It was a talk by Joshua René - PRO100 – Pro Series: I'm Not My Business Card!
Walking into the room, I was quite worried. I expected a huge crowd, not only because of the subject matter but because it was part of the ‘Pro Series’. This however was not the case, there were people scatterd around what was a huge ballroom, maybe 50 at a push for a room that could hold nearly 1000 people (I checked).
The session started a bit late, I assume to give some extra people time to arrive and then just before we started we were encouraged to move to the front so that by the time the talk started we were all on about 8-10 tables right at the front. Me being me, I would have disappointed with the turn out and it would have impacted my talk, Joshua Rene however absolutely took it in his stride.
He started speaking and you would have thought he had planned the talk for a small intimate group. It was his confidence that made me less anxious about the idea of it being a more interactive seminar and there being a need to actively talk to people. Talking of the interactive elements, there were two. The first involved filling out a fake business card with your name and your value e.g Hey, I’m: Aliya, Value: Empathetic. We then were asked to get up and find a new person to talk to, but we could not talk about our job, our job title. our credientials etc etc. I found this quite hard at first, one because I can get nervous, and two because I focused way too much on what I written on my business card and forgot that I could actually just talk the person.
After more of the talk where we focused on the importance of telling a story and really connecting with someone, we went again, this time filling out a card where we looked at your biggest accomplishment, what lead to it and any challenges. My ‘partner’ in the seminar went first and their biggest accomplishment was qualifying as an Architect well after they had originally expected to. They discussed the challenges they had, the impact of money and time and I felt like I knew them as a person rather than another Architect I had met. My accomplishment was being invited to the AIA24 Conference as I thought this was probably the most relevant. It allowed me to talk about where I was from, what I was doing and the impact of content creation.
This seminar led perfectly onto Authentic Connections: Learning to Love Networking. I sat a table towards the back but with someone already on it. Another person joined us later and encouraged by the note on the projection to talk to the person next to you, we did have a little informal chat before the session. During the session a lot of the same concepts were dicussed that were in the ‘I am not my Business Card’ seminar but this was great as it really just reinforced by learning. We had another interactive session where we had 3 minutes to introduce ourselves and tell a story based on an accomplishment. The first woman talked about her roller derby accomplishment and the second woman, with a bit of a push, talked about an award she had won. I felt so much more comfortable just speaking after this.
At the end of this session, as I was gathering my stuff one of you, Aidan Gonzales to be specific actually recognized me which was amazing! I am not used to this, especially being at a conference in America so I was a bit shocked but glad the work I have been doing is reaching loads of people across the world! Aidan is currently updating his Architecture Instagram account so show some support and give them a follow!
Next time, maybe a more informal meet up next time?
I’ll organise :) anyway, end of the Conference Day, quick rest at the hotel and then freshened up for some BBQ. On the way back we stopped off at Subway and picked up the now in the UK footlong cookie, because of course and headed back to the hotel.
I kept on saying I wanted to see the rooftop so we managed to get up there and see parts of Washington from above at Sunset. I know I keep sayign it, but really what is my life right now?
Back to the room, we had the footlong cookie and bed.
Stay tuned for tomorrows post to find out what I got up to on Day 3 of the AIA24 Conference!
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Conference Day 1. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post Day 1 of the Conference itself! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post is Day 1 of the Conference itself! If you are interested in reading my week from Monday click here!
Would you have tackled the day any differently?
AIA Conference:
Day 1.
It is the first day of the AIA Conference 2024! Up far too early, very on brand for me, in a very nice hotel in Washington D.C, not very on brand for me.
Whilst I was waiting for the sun to come up and the day to start, I looked through the schedule for the day on the AIA24 app whilst referring to my Google calendar schedule showing all the seminars I had already ‘softly’ added. I reviewed the scheudle and transferred the seminars I wanted to get into, into the app so I could refer to them throughout the day. It was still only 6am so I also drafted yesterday's travel day which you may have just read.
The first item on the agenda today is the First Timers Orientation event. Not really sure what to expect - not following my own advice in this post but that’s almost the point of this session - to get a better idea of what to expect over the next few days…I am already dreading having to leave the city to be honest but trying to focus on the present and really enjoy it!
But I am slightly getting ahead of the day, we get up, get dressed and although there was a shuttle advertised, we see that it was just a 10 minute walk to the hotel so we leave at about 7.30 am and walk to get there a bit early, get the lay of the land, sign in and get our passes. We spotted the centre which is a lot bigger than I thought, saw the signs for the AIA24 conference, entered into a very welcomed air conditioned atrium and went to pick up my Ultimate Pass and guest pass for my partner - thank you again to the American Institute of Architects!
Once all sorted, we got to the First Timer Orientation just in time which was a great way to start to the Conference and I am really glad I booked onto it in advance. We learnt about the history of the conference, what to look out for, the importance of planning to ensure you don’t miss a seminar or workshop - please refer to my Google Calender - and we got in our first bit of networking which involved a quick introduction to the person next to you.
Following the end of the introductory talk, I was off to my first seminar! WE110 – Incorporating Construction Management Practices into the Architecture Profession, I chose this one out of the 9.30am to 10.30am block as I didn’t and still don’t really know much about it to be honest. I’m only just working on my first couple of on-site projects so I have a lot to learn and this was a good start! I used my tablet to make notes, but of course had my notebook and pen with me just in case and then the seminar was done! I had a 30 minute break where I grabbed a drink and got my bearings for the next session; WE209 – Love & Liability where I was actually sitting next to the speaker of the first session. I’m not a natural socialiser but I pushed myself to talk and introduce myself, we had a nice conversation and got a book recommendation out of it as well!
Back to Love and Liability, this was one of my favourites of the day run by a couple - one an architect, the other a former architect now a practising lawyer. They went through three case studies, exploring what went wrong and the legal implications behind each one. It was very relatable and they as presenters were engaging and friendly so it was really interesting!
I had a couple of hours until my next session so we grabbed some brunch/lunch at the Unconventional Diner just around the corner from the Conference Center which had really nice food that was not too expensive. We left just in time to grab our spots at the WE304 – AI Generative Imagery for Architects workshop which was quite long at 2.5 hours but it was really interesting and interactive, covering how to AI, programs on offer e.g Midjourney and briefly discussed the ethicical considerations to be aware of using it.
Following the workshop I was very tired but was encouraged by my Partner to stick with my plan to go to my next seminar - How to Drive Business Growth Through Effective Lead Generation Strategies by the Marketing Director Justin Stephenson and I am very glad that I did. It was all about SEO, what it was and how to ensure your website makes the most of it. It was refreshing to see a packed room of Architects and Directors of a range of ages all seeing the importance of a good website and looking at how to improve it.
First Day done! Exhausted but inspired! Walked back to the hotel which was already becoming ‘home’ , had a very quick rest and then it was onto the Opening Night Celebration at the National Portrait Gallery, very conveniently just across the road from the hotel. We were checked in by security and entered the main atrium, think British Museum, with the large glass roof across almost an indoor courtyard. It was still light but there were projections flying about, drinks being offered, dessert tables, one with a conveyor belt of different desserts and loads of people entering the room.
Now… this is where my brain perhaps got a little overwhelmed. During the day I had been wearing new flat shoes, anyone who knows me personally, knows I am trainers (sneakers) all day every day type of woman and anyone with sense knows not to wear new shoes to an all day event.
Anyway, what could be an unnecessarily long story - my feet hurt so I could not wear the ‘nicer’ more formal sandal shoes I had brought. It is quite funny typing this now as it really was not a big deal but at the time it kind of broke my brain that I was wearing trainers to a formal event. I got very, very overwhelmed and I think the pressures of meeting new people and networking (very out of my comfort zone) during the day very much came to a head. I felt self-conscious, like I shouldn’t be there, and considered going back to the hotel to change into my more uncomfortable shoes (this would have been a dumb idea) etc etc. But, after getting myself together and some support from my Partner, we decided that the main room which was loud and very quickly filling up with people, probably wasn't the best space for me..so we started to look around the Gallery.
A very good idea indeed.
It was nice and quiet and whilst I was still a bit shaky, I felt like I could breathe. We looked at a few paintings and then I heard someone mention Obama and remembered that his portrait painted by Kehinde Wiley was here, along with all the other Presidential portraits. We explored, I took regular breaks to rest my blistered feet and we ended the night way more relaxed.
I reflected as we walked around and realized that I had been thinking of myself as far too important, and I needed to remember that I was a very small cog in a huge machine. Unfortunately a very common symptom of social anxiety which I was surprised that I had kept at bay all day to be honest.
We left the opening night, made the short walk across the road and got some very well needed sleep.
Stay tuned for tomorrows post to find out what I got up to on Day 2 of the AIA24 Conference!
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Travel Days. AIA24. Washington D.C. ArchiWeek.
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes
Archiweek
ArchiWeek is the sub-section of archistudentnotes sharing week in the life accounts from Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects from all over the world. It is free to read and free to submit!
This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission of my experience at the American Institute of Architects Annual Conference 2024 in Washington D.C! I was invited by the AIA due to the work I have done here at archistudentnotes so what better way to share my week than with a (rather long) ArchiWeek submission here at archistudentnotes.com!
This post covers my two travel days to start the trip!
Would you have tackled the days any differently?
Travel Day 1.
It begins! So today was a very long travel day and I am only really starting this ArchiWeek today because it is a Monday and I appreciate a bit of consistency. So, please skip to Day 1 of the Conference if you're not interested!
The day started waking up too early, packing and repacking my suitcase as we were flying with cabin luggage only, checking my passport was in fact in the bag for the third or fourth time since I put it in yesterday, ordering an Uber and then traveling down to London for our connecting train to Gatwick.
The train was fine and as expected, sat on a table of 4 which was ideal and grabbed some Yo Sushi at St. Pancras Station for a quick lunch that included a free portion of gyoza curtosy of my student discount with UNiDAYS (Not sponsored, but they save me a lot of money so check them out). We were then off on the train to Gatwick which dropped us off in the South Terminal, where our flight leaves from tomorrow but our hotel for the night was actually in the North Terminal - so we took the monorail (monorail!), walked to the Premier Inn Gatwick A23 which was a bit further away than the newer one but it was an easy walk and it was cheaper to book at the time and arrived at about 2pm.
We were thankfully allowed to check in early, spent… ahem - £8.50 on 2x pints of coke!!! Chilled, downloaded some games, movies etc for the flight, grabbed some snacks from the neighboring petrol station, got some dinner from the hotel restaurant and then a last minute baggage rearrangement before heading to bed. As if we are flying to Washington D.C tomorrow! (What is my life!)
Travel Day 2.
Okay, so yesterday was just the travel day into London and across to Gatwick, today is the big one and we travel nearly 5000 miles across the world. Too dramatic?
Our first flight was at 10.40am heading first to Orlando so we were up at around 6am to get the monorail back over to the South Terminal. Of course, there are some issues.
Issue No.1: My under the seat bag doesn’t fit into the checker thing (BA have recently reduced the size of their personal item). All the rearranging I had been doing the nights before came in handy as I had some spare space in my overhead cabin bag so a quick sort but annoying sort.
Issue No.2: We print our boarding passes and they say we need to see a Airline representative to sort out a Visa issue? Which meant even though we had no bags to drop, we had to queue for about 30-40 mins only to be told no issues (Obviously relief) but now we were slightly later going through security than I usually hope to be. We got through no issue, found some food (Starbucks breakfast sandwich - another expensive choice but we move) and we changed some money. Do not be like us and do at the airport, it was basically £1 to $1 -_- but we just changed enough for ‘emergency money.
Gate info appeared, we grabbed some snacks on the way to the gate, phoned the parents, got on the flight and went straight to the back where I had got us the two seater row which was very convenient and then we were off! (as I’m drafting this we have 8.04 hours left and we’ve just left really so looking at a reduced flight time which is good!)
Once settled into the flight, I got Barbie all ready to go after about 5 minutes of ads? Really can not escape them, thought about doing some work and drafting something up on my phone but decided against it and just chilled. Had a cottage pie if you were interested followed by some sort of savoury pastry that was meant to have chicken in it, though I tasted none, and then touch down in Orlando, Terminal C.
The airport was so so quiet, security was easy and we were admitted into the U.S.A! Now for the next flight which was in about 3.5 hours!
Now you may be wondering why we had a connecting flight when you can in fact get a direct flight to Washington…well, when I was booking the flights, the direct was more expensive and the potentiality view landing into the more local Washington airport and seeing all the sites seemed appealing so connecting flights to and from Washington!
Anyway, we transferred to terminal B via the monorail - checked into the next flight, chose our seats making sure we had a window to see those all important views coming into D.C, located the security queue we needed to go through, grabbed some food at Panda Express, very similar to chopstix and we finally went through the security queue which was about 30 mins. We were very tired at this point but we got through fine, jumped on another monorail to the gate and then had about 30mins before boarding started so we had some time to catch our breath before the next flight.
The last leg of the journey! The flight wasn't full so we were able to move seats and have a bit more space and after about 1hr 45 mins we landed just after sunset with views looking over the Pentagon, Washington Monument and the Capitol building. 100% worth it.
Off the plane, no security as we just had hand luggage, took a cab from the airport to the hotel which took about 15ish mins, another reason why the Ronald Reagan Airport was the best choice for us and got out at our hotel!
Oh the hotel, very very fancy. When I was looking at hotels The Riggs was the absolute clear winner, it was originally a bank, had a very wide hallway with high ceilings as you entered, a cafe to the left and the reception to the right, which was set up as it would have been when it was used as a bank.
The staff were exceptionally friendly, we got checked in, got up to our room and saw that not only had we been upgraded, there was also a very very nice welcome postcard from the hotel and the AIA (seriously who am I). I was tired and honestly, slightly overwhelmed so after a quick exploration of the room, and the view towards the National Portrait Gallery, it was a shower and bed after a very, very long day.
Wednesday
It is the first day of the AIA Conference 2024! Up far too early, very on brand for me, in a very nice hotel in Washington D.C, not very on brand for me….
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post to find out what I got up to!
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