It is said that travel broadens the mind, and beginning in 2017 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is offering a new global travel program specifically focused on broadening the architectural mind.
Architectural Adventures, as the program has been dubbed, will offer small-group trips tailored for the discovery and appreciation of architecture. Every Architectural Adventures tour will feature subject-matter experts, hand-picked by the AIA, to guide travelers and enliven their awareness of the world’s architecture. The tour guides will offer an up-close view of not just the iconic landmarks and buildings in the various cities, but also an explanation of how the historical, political and cultural events helped shape the cityscapes.
Architectural Adventures provides individuals with the opportunity to participate in special excursions, gain exclusive behind-the-scenes access, and get insider knowledge to popular sights as well as lesser-known, yet equally fascinating architecture.
2017 destinations and highlights are listed below:
- Havana: In March, set forth on a six-day immersion in the Cuban capital that spans from Old Havana and the 16th century stone fort that guards Havana Bay to the city’s early twentieth-century Art Deco wonders and its most prominent contemporary projects.
- Barcelona: In March, discover Antoni Gaudí’s Modernist marvels and see the city’s medieval Gothic Quarter.
- Chicago: In April, explore the varied works of Frank Lloyd Wright and see why Chicago is known as the first city of American architecture.
- Lisbon to London: In April, cruise Europe’s Atlantic coast, stopping to see its most spectacular sites and structures, like the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and France’s Mont Saint-Michel.
- Northern Italy: In May, immerse yourself in the Renaissance world of Andrea Palladio and visit Venice for an exclusive tour of St. Mark’s Basilica.
- Cities of the Baltic Sea: In June, sail from Copenhagen to Gdansk to Tallinn to St. Petersburg to Helsinki to Stockholm, stopping to see the Baltic’s grandest designs.
- Along the Danube: In June, experience Central Europe’s signature cities, including Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest.
- London: In July, wander London’s charming back streets and towering triumphs like Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
- Portugal and Northern Spain: In October, take an epic 17-day journey from Lisbon to Barcelona by way of the seminal cities of the Spanish Pyrenees.
- China: In October, spend two weeks exploring Chinese culture and design in Beijing, Pingyao, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
Accommodations, most meals, tour transportation, and logistical details of the trip are included in the tours. For more details on booking availabilities and new trip announcements visit architecturaladventures.org.
Related Stories
| Sep 23, 2014
Third phase of New York’s High Line redevelopment opens
The $35 million Phase 3, known as High Line at the Rail Yards, broke ground September 20, 2012, and officially opened to the public on September 21.
| Sep 23, 2014
Cloud-shaped skyscraper complex wins Shenzhen Bay Super City design competition
Forget the cubist, clinical, glass and concrete jungle of today's financial districts. Shenzhen's new plan features a complex of cloud-shaped skyscrapers connected to one another with sloping bridges.
| Sep 23, 2014
Designing with Water: Report analyzes ways coastal cities can cope with flooding
The report contains 12 case studies of cities around the world that have applied advanced flood management techniques.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 22, 2014
NCARB overhauls Intern Development Program, cuts years off licensure process
The newly adopted changes will be implemented in two phases. The first will streamline the program by focusing on the IDP’s core requirements and removing its elective requirements. The second phase will condense the 17 current experience areas into six practice-based categories.
| Sep 22, 2014
Biloxi’s new Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum is like a ship in a bottle
Nine years after the Museum of Maritime and Seafood Industry in Biloxi, Miss., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina’s 30-foot tidal surge, the museum reopened its doors in a brand new, H3-designed building.
| Sep 22, 2014
Swanke-designed Eurasia Tower opens in Moscow
The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center.
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.