flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, elected 2015 AIA President

Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, elected 2015 AIA President

James Easton Rains, Jr., FAIA, and Thomas V. Vonier, FAIA, elected AIA 2014-15 Vice Presidents; John P. Grounds, AIA, elected 2014-15 AIA Treasurer


By AIA | July 1, 2013
Delegates to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention in Denver elected Elizabeth Chu Richter (AIA Corpus Christi) to serve as the 2014 AIA first vice president/president-elect and 2015 AIA president.  James Easton Rains, Jr., FAIA, and Thomas V. Vonier, FAIA, will each serve as vice president from 2014 through 2015; and James P. Grounds, AIA, as the Institute’s Treasurer from 2014 through 2015.
 
Currently a member of the AIA National Board of Directors representing Texas, Richter was president of the Texas Society of Architects in 2007. With the National AIA component, she has taken a strong interest in rewarding design excellence, serving on design juries, as chair of the AIA Gold Medal and Firm Award Advisory jury, a member of the AIA Regional and Urban Design Award jury, and multiple AIA component design awards juries. Her own design contributions were recognized in 2001, when she received an AIA Young Architects Award.
 
Richter is the CEO of Richter Architects in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her firm offers a wide variety of master planning, programming, design, interior design, construction documents, construction administration, and construction management services. Richter Architects received the 2011 Texas Society of Architects Firm Award.
 
“I’m hoping that my leadership will help bring the AIA into a more member-focused future, building greater public engagement and understanding, while also refining the Institute’s leadership structure and operation focus, said Richter. “More than ever, the repositioned AIA will be highly valued and globally relevant in its service to society in building a better world.”
 
James Easton Rains, Jr., FAIA Elected 2014-15 AIA Vice President
 
Mr. Rains Jr., FAIA, from AIA North Carolina, was elected 2014-2015 AIA Vice President at the AIA National Convention in Denver. Rains was the president of AIA Wilmington in 1996, president of AIA North Carolina in 2006, and became a member of the AIA National Board of Directors in 2010. In 2011, he helped lead the AIA’s national advocacy efforts by chairing the ArchiPAC Steering Committee, which guides the AIA’s bipartisan political action committee.
 
Thomas V. Vonier, FAIA Elected 2014-15 AIA Vice President
 
Mr. Vonier, FAIA, from AIA Continental Europe, was elected 2014-2015 AIA Vice President at the AIA National Convention in Denver. The founder and past president of AIA Continental Europe from 1994 to 1995, Vonier served on the AIA Board of Directors representing the AIA International Region from 2010-2012.
 
John P. Grounds, AIA, Elected 2014-15 AIA Treasurer
 
Grounds, AIA, from AIA D.C., was elected 2014-2015 AIA Treasurer at the AIA National Convention in Denver. Grounds began his involvement in AIA leadership in California, where he was AIA San Fernando Valley’s president in 2002. With AIA California Council, he became the co-chair for its planning and finance committee from 2006-2008, and eventually its president in 2009. After relocating to Washington, D.C., Grounds continued serving the Institute with financial management leadership as a member of the finance and audit committee from 2010 to 2012 while he was a regional director on the AIA National Board.
 
About The American Institute of Architects
Founded in 1857, members of the American Institute of Architects consistently work to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public well being.  Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders, and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit www.aia.org.

Related Stories

| Dec 17, 2010

Gemstone-inspired design earns India’s first LEED Gold for a hotel

The Park Hotel Hyderabad in Hyderabad, India, was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to combine inspirations from the region’s jewelry-making traditions with sustainable elements.

| Dec 17, 2010

Condominium and retail building offers luxury and elegance

The 58-story Austonian in Austin, Texas, is the tallest residential building in the western U.S. Benchmark Development, along with Ziegler Cooper Architects and Balfour Beatty (GC), created the 850,000-sf tower with 178 residences, retail space, a 6,000-sf fitness center, and a 10th-floor outdoor area with a 75-foot saltwater lap pool and spa, private cabanas, outdoor kitchens, and pet exercise and grooming areas.

| Dec 17, 2010

Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center

Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.

| Dec 17, 2010

Alaskan village school gets a new home

Ayagina’ar Elitnaurvik, a new K-12 school serving the Lower Kuskikwim School District, is now open in Kongiganak, a remote Alaskan village of less than 400 residents. The 34,000-sf, 12-classroom facility replaces one that was threatened by river erosion.

| Dec 17, 2010

Luxury condos built for privacy

A new luxury condominium tower in Los Angeles, The Carlyle has 24 floors with 78 units. Each of the four units on each floor has a private elevator foyer. The top three floors house six 5,000-sf penthouses that offer residents both indoor and outdoor living space. KMD Architects designed the 310,000-sf structure, and Elad Properties was project developer.

| Dec 17, 2010

Subway entrance designed to exude Hollywood charm

The Hollywood/Vine Metro portal and public plaza in Los Angeles provides an entrance to the Red Line subway and the W Hollywood Hotel. Local architect Rios Clementi Hale Studio designed the portal and plaza to flow with the landmark theaters and plazas that surround it.

| Dec 17, 2010

New engineering building goes for net-zero energy

A new $90 million, 250,000-sf classroom and laboratory facility with a 450-seat auditorium for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is aiming for LEED Platinum.

| Dec 17, 2010

Vietnam business center will combine office and residential space

The 300,000-sm VietinBank Business Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, designed by Foster + Partners, will have two commercial towers: the first, a 68-story, 362-meter office tower for the international headquarters of VietinBank; the second, a five-star hotel, spa, and serviced apartments. A seven-story podium with conference facilities, retail space, restaurants, and rooftop garden will connect the two towers. Eco-friendly features include using recycled heat from the center’s power plant to provide hot water, and installing water features and plants to improve indoor air quality. Turner Construction Co. is the general contractor.

| Dec 17, 2010

Toronto church converted for condos and shopping

Reserve Properties is transforming a 20th-century church into Bellefair Kew Beach Residences, a residential/retail complex in The Beach neighborhood of Toronto. Local architecture firm RAWdesign adapted the late Gothic-style church into a five-story condominium with 23 one- and two-bedroom units, including two-story penthouse suites. Six three-story townhouses also will be incorporated. The project will afford residents views of nearby Kew Gardens and Lake Ontario. One façade of the church was updated for retail shops.

| Dec 17, 2010

ARRA-funded Navy hospital aims for LEED Gold

The team of Clark/McCarthy, HKS Architects, and Wingler & Sharp are collaborating on the design of a new naval hospital at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The $451 million project is the largest so far awarded by the U.S. Navy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The 500,000-sf, 67-bed hospital, to be located on a 70-acre site, will include facilities for emergency and primary care, specialty care clinics, surgery, and intensive care. The Building Team is targeting LEED Gold.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Urban Planning

The magic of L.A.’s Melrose Mile

Great streets are generally not initially curated or willed into being. Rather, they emerge organically from unintentional synergies of commercial, business, cultural and economic drivers. L.A.’s Melrose Avenue is a prime example. 


Curtain Wall

7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks

It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021