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SMARTER TOGETHER Contributors

Bradley W. Johnson I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we learn, because I’m Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED AP
developing an exhibition for our gallery at the District Architecture
(“Federal Case” and “Mid-Century
Center that will focus on new school buildings in Washington, and
Makeover”), is senior associate with
how the designs of schools over time, both here and around the
Eric Colbert & Associates.
country, reflect the ebb and flow of educational theories.
As I have been researching the exhibition, one theme that has
Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA (“Not-So-
jumped out is just how much education historically has involved
Bungalow” and “Artist’s (Re)Treat”), is
separating some students from others. That might not be true of traditional
one-room schoolhouses, but the growth of cities and the application of a writer and architectural photographer
the Industrial Revolution’s factory model of organization to education based in Washington, DC, and founder
led to larger schools where students historically were separated into of the informal architectural appreciation
groups in any number of ways—by age bracket, grade level, assessed degree of ability, society Brutalist DC.
assigned vocational track, gender, and, yes, race. Segregation by race was declared unconsti-
tutional more than 60 years ago, but education today still features many other forms of sepa- G. Martin Moeller, Jr., Assoc. AIA
ration, including a number of those just listed, as well as additional dimensions of separa- (“Found Opportunities” and “Uncommon
tion that students create for themselves, such as the cliques that we all remember from
Spaces”), is an independent curator and
high school. (What group did you belong to?)
writer, as well as senior curator at the
National Building Museum. He is the
Welcome! editor of ARCHITECTUREDC.

Ronald O’Rourke (“Planes of Existence”
and “Small Spaces Made Right”) is a
regular contributor to ARCHITECTUREDC.
In more recent years, some schools have challenged these forms of separation, leading His father, Jack O’Rourke, was an
to things such as garden classrooms, which we have featured in some of our previous issues. architect in San Francisco for more than
Schools are built as centers of learning, of course, but in the educational theories that four decades.
underpin their design, they also act as mirrors we hold up to ourselves, telling us something
about our society at large. We hope to explore some of that mirroring effect in the exhibition
we are developing for our gallery.
The District Architecture Center itself is a multi-level center of learning, with students
ranging from youngsters who come to do projects in our children’s programs, to adults
who participate in Architecture Month or visit our exhibitions, to young and mid-career
professionals, to Fellows of the AIA who are in the capstone stages of their careers. And the
learning goes both ways, with teachers and group leaders learning all kinds of things from
their charges. The District Architecture Center has benefitted immensely from that two-way
learning, and we constantly use it to improve our programming.
We like to think of ourselves as an open and inclusive learning organization, and the
forms that can take can sometimes be surprising, even to other architects. Not long ago, a class
of students from the University of the District of Columbia dropped by to talk with me about
why they might want to consider joining AIA. In my conversation with them, I mentioned
the many committees we have here at the Center for professionals, covering topics such as
technology and design for wellbeing, and suggested that joining one of these committees
would be a great way to help start their careers. The professor of the class, Raj Barr-Kumar,
FAIA, stopped me at that point. “Students can join committees?” he asked. “That’s new!”
But why not? Young, energetic students have been some of our best volunteers, and it’s a
way for them to get involved with local professionals right away.
Professional societies traditionally have held themselves consciously apart from the rest of
society. But that model increasingly doesn’t work well in many fields, including architecture.
The best new designs today involve architects listening to, and working closely with, clients,
engineers, builders, surrounding communities, and others. That idea that AIA should hold
itself separate and apart is as outdated as the Fountainhead’s Howard Roark. The rarified
image of architecture reflected in that approach increasingly does not reflect how architecture
and building are now being accomplished. It’s a cracked mirror for today’s world.
The future of AIA looks more like the District Architecture Center, with people of all
ages and all walks of life learning together with the aim of making the world a better place.
As always, we hope you enjoy this issue, which is our annual issue devoted to residential
design. Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any comments.

Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA
Publisher
mfitch@aiadc.com
@marycfitch
WELCOME 5