Traditional Building Conference Series

Traditional Methods and Materials: Solutions for a Century of Challenges

The Traditional Building Conference Series delivers focused, relevant education for architects, contractors, craftspeople, designers, building owners and facilities managers in a time-efficient format.

This five-day interactive symposium offers insights from best-in-class experts and practitioners about historic preservation, adaptive use, urban infill, classical design, sustainable design, building restoration/maintenance and traditional craft.

Live events will be scheduled from Noon until 4pm each day; attendees will have access 24/7 to see on-demand events and access resources.

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Postmodernism: Complexity & Conservation

Challenges of Conserving POMO Materials

Join a virtual discussion of the social, political, architectural, and material challenges surrounding preservation and Postmodernism.

Earn 1.5 AIA LU| Elective

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The Landscapes of Frank Lloyd Wright

Discover how Frank Lloyd Wright, usually known solely as an architect, considered the landscape as an integral element in his work. Mark Bayer, Bayer Landscape Architects, PLLC; Stuart Graff, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; Jennifer Gray, Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Columbia University; Justin W. Gunther, Falling Water; and moderator Stephen Morris, National Park Service, discuss how and why the work of Frank Lloyd Wright was sensitively integrated within their natural landscape settings and enhanced by their designed landscapes. The discussion includes several component buildings of the joint Frank Lloyd Wright World Heritage Site announced in 2019 as the first modern architecture designation in the United States, and the recently restored landscape of the Martin House.

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D.C.’s Midcentury Master: Chloethiel Woodard Smith and the Livable City

Learn about Chloethiel Woodard Smith, FAIA (1910–1992), an American modernist architect and urban planner whose career was centered in Washington, D.C. She was the sixth woman inaugurated into the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, and at the peak of her practice led the country’s largest woman-owned architecture firm. Neil Flanagan, architectural designer and writer, Peter Sefton, independent architectural historian, and Catherine Zipf, architectural historian and author, discuss the career and legacy of Smith, whose work in the District includes Harbour Square, Capitol Park Apartments and Townhouses, and a study of new uses for the Pension Building, now the National Building Museum. The program is moderated by Susan Piedmont-Palladino, director, Washington Alexandria Architecture Center and consulting curator, National Building Museum.

Begin your introduction to Chloethiel Woodard Smith by attending Washington Walks Women’s History Month 2021 Virtual Experiences, which features a virtual tour of some of her projects in Washington, D.C., in a program that airs at 12:30 pm on this day.

Learn more and purchase your tickets online.

Embodied Carbon & Life Cycle Assessment in Traditional & Heritage Buildings

Join the AIA’s Historic Resources Committee as we explore energy efficiency in traditional and heritage buildings. We’ll discuss data driven approaches for adaptive reuse and compare the energy performance of traditional and heritage buildings against the impact of energy upgrades.

You’ll also learn how to articulate the need for a life cycle analysis designed specifically for existing buildings, and advocate for codes and standards that include embodied carbon and life cycle carbon calculation.

Earn 1 AIA LU | HSW

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Fiske and Marie Kimball: Shaping Our Experience of Buildings and Objects

Please join the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies for an investigation of the many ways Fiske and Marie Kimball shaped our experience and understanding of art and architecture in the 20th century. From his pioneering publication Thomas Jefferson, Architect in 1916 through his thirty-year connection with Monticello and position as director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fiske Kimball remained a powerful and influential voice in the arts. Dubbed “the dean of American architectural history,” his scholarship established the rich legacy of the past while his criticism and involvement with public monuments guided design in the present. As a preservationist, he played a critical role at Monticello, Colonial Williamsburg, Fairmount Park, and numerous other historic sites; as the director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1925-55), he not only built the collection but also determined the display of the objects. Marie Kimball, also a historian and prolific writer, published widely and is most well known for her multi-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson; her publication Thomas Jefferson’s Cookbook (1941) provided updated recipes for modern audiences; and as the first curator of Monticello she had a seminal role in the display and interpretation of its objects. Each of the speakers in this conference will share with us a different facet of the contributions made by this “power couple” of the early twentieth century.

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Lowcountry At High Tide

A History of Flooding, Land Reclamation, and Drainage in Charleston, South Carolina, 1680 to the Present

Join Virginia’s Historic Resources Committee for our bi-monthly lunch and learn program featuring a book talk with author and American College of Building Arts educator Christina Butler.

Earn 1.0 AIA LU | HSW

Register online.